Five(ish) For Friday

 Posting on December first is part of the NaBloPoMo tradition for me. Can I stretch it to December 2 this year? We shall see.

1. I am taking an actual rest day today. Lately I've been pushing myself to still go for a good walk and do yoga and some weights and stuff even on rest days, because I usually feel better if I get outside or do something. But Tuesday I did this and Wednesday my back was absolute misery all day at work. I need to get to physio or get new orthotics or something, and I don't know quite what, but for today I'm just resting. Reading and writing and petting Lucy.

2. Eve has had an absolutely insane November even by November In Third Year standards. She was a bit mopey at the beginning of the year and I suggested that maybe now that she was settled into her program she should consider dropping a course and doing some extracurriculars. Her housemate was auditioning for the Arts and Science musical and she said she was jealous but it would be way too much work on top of her courseload. But she texted me back that she had decided not to drop any courses but to audition for the musical anyway. She told them she only wanted a background role so it wouldn't be as demanding. They said "are you sure?" after her audition and she said, okay, give me whatever. And she got one of the three lead roles. It's not a big university-wide musical, it's one that the students write every year that pokes fun at their program and has parody songs, but it was really good last year and it's been an amazing experience for her. I told her that when she has her inevitable breakdown this year at least she can do it in song. I also told her that she's gotten really great marks for two years, so like, been there done that, try something else. She's still getting pretty good marks, but she's learned to let go a little, and I think that's a great thing to learn.

Video audition

3. Angus presented his thesis proposal a couple of weeks ago and it was received well. He sent us the form he had to fill out for 'using human subjects' and we said it sounded dystopian. He retorted that he ONLY HURTS THEIR MUSCLES. He is studying lower limb power in relation to throwing velocity, so when I asked him if he needed me to send the lab coat he left at home in the summer he said "to protect me from flying sweat?" He also has a workout blog. So, you know, like me, except not remotely.

4. My mom and dad made fun of me (gently) for still buying the kids (adults) advent calendars, so I have ordered a crossword one for my dad and a mocktail one for my mom. Because I am both kind AND petty.

5. Look, actual footage of Engie: 

6. Special thanks to Nicole and Steph, my ever-faithful commenters. I comment on all their blog posts too, just sometimes with a delay because I read blogs on my lunch break but my work computer thinks both their blogs are porn, which they hardly ever are. I loved Steph's comment about my kids' names, especially because sometimes I don't KNOW people are using pseudonyms for their kids and, even though I completely understand why, when I find out I feel a tiny bit like a chump. (This is when people just use straight-up fake names, not, like, Captain Jelly Belly and Miss Bananapants, I generally figure those out on my own). 

7. I got a new CPAP because my old one was apparently under a recall which I didn't find out about for a long time. The new one is smaller and shinier and works fine, but I couldn't rent the same battery pack from my supplier for camping that I had before. I talked about the one we ended up buying in one of my camping posts, but to get recommendations for the best one, I joined a group for women who use CPAP machine on Facebook (I don't know why it would be different for women, but I saw it and thought what the heck). It made me exceedingly grateful that I don't have to jump through all the insurance hoops that people in the U.S. do. I got a diagnosis, I went to a supplier, the provincial government paid for half, and that was that. I'm not sure that is still the case, but I got the new machine for free so it's not really a consideration for me for another ten years or so. So for insurance purposes, the machine keeps track of your usage and stats, and look at this, what in the creepy dystopian fuck: