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It's 2026 now dontcha know
2 months ago
General
Hello.
How are you?
Genuinely. How are you? Are you okay?
I keep failing at writing a journal mainly cause I want the first one of the year to be inspiring/good/positive and I keep failing on that front so end up deleting them.
I'm gonna stick to the good stuff in this journal...so....
2026 is the year of the return of con-going. Me and Paul are heading to Scotiacon in Feb https://www.scotiacon.org.uk/ then Ainmhicon in April https://ainmhicon.ie/ and then Confuzzled in May https://confuzzled.org.uk/ WIth a trip to Brussels set in March (I got Paul eurostar tickets for his christmas as it was one of the few trains I knew he hadnt been on)
So we are officially back on with travelling which is going to be exciting.
Also As folk may or may not know I passed my course so im officially a qualified Counsellor. I recently had to update my professional indemnity insurance to let them know I was no longer practicing as a student and during that process I also discovered I was covered to take international clients. I assumed that I would only be able to work with clients living in the UK, but actually what it just means is that clients fall under the UK guidelines of my practice. So that's opened me to the possiblity of taking some folk for online counselling sessions (cause travelling to the UK to chat to me for a 50 min session and back again might get a tad time consuming/expensive)
I have set up a professionl profile on the counselling websites which Ive already had some enquiries through, which was unexpected as my supervisor said it can take up to 18 months before you start attracting clients. so that caught me a little off guard but hopefully I can start helping people officially.
I also got confirmation that my graduation ceremony is happening at the end of the month so thats another thing to look forward to even if it's just ceremonial (Ive already actually got the diploma)
My whole family is coming down from Scotland in July, which is also something to look forward to and in equal measures be terrified of. Theyve only been down once since I moved here back in 2004 and that was for my wedding in 2008, so it'll be weird to have them all in my house. Weird but lovely. Its one of my sisters 40th birthdays so they're gonna be spending it down here near london. Its also my husbands fathers 80ths birthday the week before. This is gonna be the year of travelling and parties I think...
Which for an introvert like me I am equally excited and horrified about Hahaha...aaahhhhhhh
Meanwhile book 3 of shine should be out this year, pacified perfection should be finished CTN should be restarted as a result and generally more art should be happening all over the place.
I am quite out of the loop on social medias and most internet stuff mainly because in my free time ive been reading all the dungeon crawler carl books (3/4 of the way through book 5) they accidentally sucked me in so hard I havent been immersed in a series like this before I met my husband (I used to read sooo sooo much and with the end of my course I promised I would let myself read some fiction rather than theory books) so its been nice to engage in that for a bit but as a result i think i could have probably done more drawing....but here i am now drawing lots so im making up for lost time.
If anyone is waiting for things please feel free to note me or get in contact I will never be grumpy about people prodding me for updates on art owed.
Here's hoping we all make 2026 a kind and supportive year.
How are you?
Genuinely. How are you? Are you okay?
I keep failing at writing a journal mainly cause I want the first one of the year to be inspiring/good/positive and I keep failing on that front so end up deleting them.
I'm gonna stick to the good stuff in this journal...so....
2026 is the year of the return of con-going. Me and Paul are heading to Scotiacon in Feb https://www.scotiacon.org.uk/ then Ainmhicon in April https://ainmhicon.ie/ and then Confuzzled in May https://confuzzled.org.uk/ WIth a trip to Brussels set in March (I got Paul eurostar tickets for his christmas as it was one of the few trains I knew he hadnt been on)
So we are officially back on with travelling which is going to be exciting.
Also As folk may or may not know I passed my course so im officially a qualified Counsellor. I recently had to update my professional indemnity insurance to let them know I was no longer practicing as a student and during that process I also discovered I was covered to take international clients. I assumed that I would only be able to work with clients living in the UK, but actually what it just means is that clients fall under the UK guidelines of my practice. So that's opened me to the possiblity of taking some folk for online counselling sessions (cause travelling to the UK to chat to me for a 50 min session and back again might get a tad time consuming/expensive)
I have set up a professionl profile on the counselling websites which Ive already had some enquiries through, which was unexpected as my supervisor said it can take up to 18 months before you start attracting clients. so that caught me a little off guard but hopefully I can start helping people officially.
I also got confirmation that my graduation ceremony is happening at the end of the month so thats another thing to look forward to even if it's just ceremonial (Ive already actually got the diploma)
My whole family is coming down from Scotland in July, which is also something to look forward to and in equal measures be terrified of. Theyve only been down once since I moved here back in 2004 and that was for my wedding in 2008, so it'll be weird to have them all in my house. Weird but lovely. Its one of my sisters 40th birthdays so they're gonna be spending it down here near london. Its also my husbands fathers 80ths birthday the week before. This is gonna be the year of travelling and parties I think...
Which for an introvert like me I am equally excited and horrified about Hahaha...aaahhhhhhh
Meanwhile book 3 of shine should be out this year, pacified perfection should be finished CTN should be restarted as a result and generally more art should be happening all over the place.
I am quite out of the loop on social medias and most internet stuff mainly because in my free time ive been reading all the dungeon crawler carl books (3/4 of the way through book 5) they accidentally sucked me in so hard I havent been immersed in a series like this before I met my husband (I used to read sooo sooo much and with the end of my course I promised I would let myself read some fiction rather than theory books) so its been nice to engage in that for a bit but as a result i think i could have probably done more drawing....but here i am now drawing lots so im making up for lost time.
If anyone is waiting for things please feel free to note me or get in contact I will never be grumpy about people prodding me for updates on art owed.
Here's hoping we all make 2026 a kind and supportive year.
Hope I can run into you at Scotia and say hi!
The bad
Most of last year was a shitshow to say the least. Fractured knuckle, shitty family member trying to make me out to be the bad guy after manipulating their way around basically since they came back into our lives i stopped letting them get away with it and they played the victim to a point where they tried to get the cops involved. Still ongoing bullshit from that but hopefully they are out of my life forever this time and will not try and manipulate my mother like she was doing. Dog also died so that was just the final cherry on top.
The good
October I finally scrapped together enough money (hard to do when you don't have a job and still have other things to pay for) to see a psychiatrist to finally get my ADHD looked into after a lifetime of issues and no other reason for why it made sense. Got a diagnosis, got on the drugs and it has changed my life in a positive way i could not have imagined before then. Unburdened by the psycho family member and able to actually think clearly for the first time in over 30 years I made the choices to start living for myself again. Basically finding out who I actually am again. Experimenting with myself and finally came to a conclusion that I am Trans and I need to learn to love myself as I am so that has been a trip.
The complicated.
Health care system here had some dumb decisions made so I need to scrounge money to see the psych again and get the authority for my GP to take over prescription of my ADHD meds so I gotta scrounge hard to get money for that by March 23rd this year which once again is hindered greatly by the issues of not having a job still. In addition to that I am waiting on an appointment to get a spinal injury looked at that I did in mid November. Brachial plexus injury half my left hand is intermitted numb if that does not heal by itself I will need surgery to reconnect the damaged nerves.
So far the year is going better then the last but that is a low bar to clear.
I live in the US. That should tell you quite a bit about the bad right now.
I'm also bisexual and more girly than most guys. I'm not properly trans, but enough where I'd definitely be targeted if I dressed the way I liked fully. It's definitely stressful and I'm trying to get out. I'm going to Ireland this year with some old family paperwork to see if I can get heritage citizenship. Failing that I'm going for a cyber security certification so I may be able to get out using a skilled worker visa or something. I hear that's always in demand abroad.
I might just say after giving over a large stash of time to your studying, plowing into books for enjoyment and that is entirely understandable.
How's it going here?
Well with some issues with payments for being unable to work resolved as H M Government made a mess of things following changes at least I know where that is and I know when I can move over to State Retirement having had a beige envelope explaining that.
I did iron out some issues with my younger brother that had run for several decades which does make the few times I see him easier going although the issues between him, Dad and the rest of the family remain.
Talking of which Dad is getting along fairly well when he decides to follow advice dealing with cancer and type II diabetes (which seems to be a family trait) although he is a handful at times, lashing out emotionally.
I should be with our mutual friends at Easter and Halloween.
Any road duck, I look forward to seeing you in person this year.
For unknown reasons I've been holding out on Dungeon Crawler Carl, Chrysalis, Beware of Chicken, Cradle, The Land, and Wandering Inn.
Not that it really plays a part in the plot, but I did appreciate that Carl was a Coastie; waiting anxiously on the next book (yeah, it's a good series)
We're continuing our path of tying up loose ends! Currently importing around 200 hours of tapes filmed during our childhood to help process past things and we're going to use some of that train footage to make some DVDs for sale! Fittingly, we're also going to be vending at both furry and train events all year long, which is super exciting!!!
Sounds like a busy start for you, and I'm happy to hear the positives, but I hope whatever negatives you left implied and unspoken get handled, so you won't have to carry that heft in your heart or mind.
But I also hope you have a great time with all the cons and travel plans, and remember to stay safe out there! <3
As for me, I'm doing alright. Had too much time off near the end of '25, which definitely took its toll on my mental state, and family continues to shrug me off whenever they try to form plans and I ask for actual info (at Christmas dinner on the 24th, I was asked if I wanted to join the family for a cruise in the new year, but the topic shifted and I got no more info than that, then on the 29th they followed up and said they needed to know before January 1st, yet still couldn't give me any info, which forced me to say no, then a week later my brother says our aunt is an idiot and the deadline was January 1st 2027, so I'm given a chance to change my mind, but mom and aunt still won't give any more info, so I don't even know what month it's meant to happen in, which makes taking time off from work very hard to do, though I am still interested, if only to get to spend more time with my brother), but in happier news, my brother moved back to town recently, so I'm not quite as isolated, even if I still need way more socialization than I'm getting.
Oh, and I mustered the courage and asked my local theater if there was any chance of getting Iron Lung (Markiplier's first movie, based on the game of the same name) shown over here, and they said the higher-ups in charge of that stuff had already reached out, but since we're not in the US, they haven't gotten a reply (yet). Here's hoping tho!
I usually mind my own business but I wanted to say, heck yeah Dungeon Crawler Carl! I'm all caught up on the books, and I've listened to most of the audiobooks as well (I highly recommend them -- also top tier audiobooks that translate better than you might think). Book 5 was my favorite -- I really hope you enjoy it!!!
Congratulations on the clients! I hope your career takes off in all the best ways!
Have safe and happy travels to your conventions!
^0^
I'm doing all right, new job is better in some ways and annoyingly the same in others. We finally got some snow and winter weather. The holidays were mostly quiet and peaceful...
But I am very concerned about the cult of personality and his threatening more countries with military invasions because of made up reasons.
I wish you si much this year, you reminded me that I also wanted to try con with other Bab, as I need to build a friend circle... But those look so scary.
I wanted to go before Brexit, then through it was no-longer possible, never got a passport and now even my ID is expired... So not this year but I'll try to have it all in place for next year.
I'm guessing you don't do meet and greet, but would love to say hi to one of the most influential person in my life someday. I hope the train through France will provide nice scenery :D
Seeing your path from science job (playing with mud :P) to mental health job is very inspiring, many want to change careers, but most feel like it's impossible.
Your a proof that it's not, and I hope this motive a lot of people to do it to !
Have fun going to all of those cons. Maybe one day I will have the courage to go to one myself.
I started that series years ago when a friend told me about it and I've been hooked ever since. Though that goes for the entire LitRPG genre^^
Glad to hear you are enjoying the books as well =^-^=
There is also other stuff that adds to this back and forth of emotions but that's not for here
So yeah, it's definitely been a crazy year, especially for being only 2 weeks
ps: my parents both love the Dungeon crawler carl books, i always hear them playing on audible at night. hope things go well for you star
Cheers to that! It's a rough road, but we're all still here and still trying our best. I saw you read my own latest journal so you have a gist on how I'm doing, ha ha... Been reading your updates as well and rooting for you from afar. We can do this, all of us <3
That book series sounds cute, and it seems like a few other commenters are fans as well! I'll have to check it out.