Feeling

I’m feeling many things. Today is Mother’s Day in the US and it’s a hard day for me. This Mother’s Day marks the 9th anniversary of when I last spoke to my mom. A week later, she passed away. As you can imagine, I’m feeling a bit sad as I remember her. I miss her so much.

I’m feeling thankful because as I remember my mom, I remember all the things she did for me. When I was in high school, she’d make sure I had a hot breakfast before I left for school. She always took care of me when I was sick or not feeling well. She gave me hugs whenever I asked for them. I could talk to her about almost anything. I always felt loved.

I’m feeling proud of myself for finishing this semester. It was much more difficult emotionally and physically than last semester and I didn’t give up. I’m glad it’s over and I’m excited to find out what my grades are later this week.

Finally, I’m feeling a bit nervous because I start a new semester on Wednesday. I’m only taking one class, though, since it’s summer. I’m actually retaking my computer programming class from this semester since I couldn’t get caught up after getting so sick in March. Wish me luck!

Blogging

It has been quite the week! I blogged almost every day this past week. This week on the blog:

• Wyrd & Wonder the Fifth: Week One
• Top Ten Tuesday #16
• April Monthly Wrap-Up
• Review: Dear Emmie Blue
• The Horse and His Boy: A Disccusion

Reading

I haven’t read a single thing this week. It has been such a crazy week. I’m going to try to get caught up on the read-alongs I’m participating in for Wyrd & Wonder. I’ll focus on THE SUMMER TREE by Guy Gavriel Kay and THE DARKEST PART OF THE FOREST by Holly Black. I’d also really like to read my IRL book club’s May book CARVE THE MARK by Veronica Roth, but I don’t know if I’ll have time.

Listening

In honor of Star Wars Day on May 4, I thought I’d share my favorite Star Wars music written by the fabulous John Williams, of course. The track’s called, “The Hologram/Binary Sunset.”

For those of you who aren’t as big into Star Wars as I am, it takes place in Episode IV: A New Hope when Luke looks into the sunset just after R2-D2 escapes, looking for Obi-Wan Kenobi on Princess Leia’s orders.

May the 4th be with you!

Watching

Corey and I finished watching Moon Knight on Disney+. It was awesome! Oscar Isaac was amazing. Also, I called the mid credits scene on the last episode.

We saw the new Dr. Strange movie on Thursday. I thought it was fantastic. I loved it. I enjoyed every minute of it. It’s easily one of my favorite Marvel movies. Corey, on the other hand, felt the opposite, lol.

We watched the season finale of Star Trek: Picard and I cried during a couple of scenes. I’m excited to see what season 3 brings.

Finally, we also watched the pilot of the new series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and we both really enjoyed it. I think it’s going to be fun and I look forward to seeing how this series plays out.

Loving

I loved spending a few hours yesterday with my friends. We went out to eat for lunch. It was a lot of fun.

I also got to see some other friends yesterday. They’re more family than friends. Anyway, they came over to help Corey load a moving truck to put some of our stuff in storage. We’re in the process of “staging” our townhome so we can put it on the market next weekend. Corey really appreciated the help.

Wanting

I want our place to sell quickly. The sooner it sells, the sooner we can move into our new place and I can unpack my library. I packed up my library yesterday and I already miss sitting in my sanctuary. #firstworldproblems

Needing

I need to get used to having Twitter again. About four years ago, I deleted pretty much every single one of my social media accounts, except Instagram and Goodreads. And, I mean deleted them. I didn’t deactivate them so I could come back one day and get all my content again. I deleted my accounts. Social media was contributing to my depression and other struggles.

Last week, I decided to rejoin Twitter for Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon because a lot of the socialization for the readathon happens on Twitter. I made a deal with myself that if Twitter starts affecting me negatively again, I’ll delete my account and not look back. And, with going through DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) this past year, I feel so much more prepared to deal with Twitter. I’m staying away from accounts and topics that I know trigger me. I’m mostly following bookish people so that it remains fun and carefree.

If you want to follow me on Twitter, my handle is @jenni_elyse.

How was your week? Anything exciting happen?

Feeling

I’ve been feeling a little bit sad again for the past couple of days. Like I said last week, I’ll be graduating DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) in a few weeks. This means I’ll no longer go to group or see my therapist each week. My therapist will still be available if I need him. I just won’t have a set appointment day and time. I kind of feel like a fledgling about to be pushed out of the nest for the first time.

Blogging

This week on the blog:

• Review: Dread Nation
• Top Ten Tuesday: Birthday Edition
• April Book Club Discussion

Reading

I finished reading DREAD NATION by Justina Ireland last Sunday evening. You can read my review by clicking the link above if you want.

I started reading STALKING JACK THE RIPPER by Kerri Maniscalco this week. As I said last week, I’m fascinated by Jack the Ripper and, so far, I’m really enjoying this book. I love the banter between Audrey Rose and Thomas. I also think I know who “Jack the Ripper” is in this fictionalization. I hope to finish the book today.

I checked out DEAR EMMIE BLUE by Lia Louis because of Wendy’s charming review on her blog this week. I’m going to start reading that today, hopefully. Afterward, I’ll read THE HORSE AND HIS BOY for April’s Narniathon21 installment. Hopefully, I can finish both of these before next Sunday. Wish me luck, lol.

Listening

Whenever I feel sad, I love listening to “Dragostea Din Tei” or the “Numa Numa” song by O-Zone. I know this is a very polarizing song, lol. You either love it or hate it and I love it. “Dragostea Din Tei” can instantly put me in a good mood when I sing along to it.

Watching

I was so excited when I saw that season 5 of The Great Pottery Throwdown was finally available on HBO Max. I love The Great Pottery Throwdown so much and this season was so much fun. I loved all the contestants and enjoyed watching everything they made. My two favorite episodes of this season were 5 and 7. On episode 5 they had to make garden gnomes and on episode 7 they had to make sgraffito wildlife table lamps. I loved AJ’s gnomes and otter table lamp. AJ’s (they/them) style the whole way through the season was just so adorable and quirky. I always looked forward to seeing what they made. There are 10 episodes in total and I watched them all this week.

Corey and I also saw Fantastics Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore on Tuesday for my birthday. I really enjoyed it. I thought Mads Mikkelsen did a great job as Grindelwald. I really loved the story. If all the controversy surrounding the series kills the franchise, I think the ending was done in a way to give fans some closure. However, I look forward to the next installment if there is one.

Loving

I love my nails. I got my first mani-pedi in almost 6 months yesterday. It’s one of my favorite things to do in the spring, summer, and fall. (I usually take a break in the winter to help save some money.) I love wearing sandals, but only if my toenails look nice. Last year, I discovered as I was going through DBT that manis and pedis move me closer to one of my values and help me build a life worth living.

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Wanting

I’m not sure I want to take any classes this summer. I know it’s good for me to stay busy. I also know school moves me closer to several values and help me build a life worth living. I just feel a little worn out after this semester with being as ill as I was for almost a month. Maybe taking the summer off would be good for me or maybe I need to suck it up and take the one class I was planning to.

Needing

I need to do really well on my trig final because I bombed my last test and got an 83% on the previous one. My teacher drops our lowest test score. I was hoping to do well on this last test so I could drop my 83%, but yeah. I got formulas mixed up and made really dumb mistakes. I was also pressed for time. Hopefully, I do well on the final.

How was your week? Anything exciting happen?

I’ve been learning in DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) that life is full of dialectics, or two opposing truths. In this case, the two opposing truths are: 1) I don’t agree with JKR’s stance regarding trans people, and 2) I still love and will always love Harry Potter.