SweetLittleVampire

What is time anymore?

I feel like the days bleed into one another, and I find myself having to look at a calendar or a phone more often, just to figure out what day of the week we're at. I guess lockdown will do that to you, haha!

How is everyone doing out there in this lovely Lost Spring of 2020? Everytime I go out to do groceries, or to run other important errands that cannot be avoided, I look at the flowers and the blooming trees and wish I could just - you know - sit in the park and enjoy the sun for a whole afternoon. With a book, preferably.

I am a bit of a homebody. I rarely go for walks, because I'm not one who likes going for walks on my own...and the only one who could come with me is my mother. Who cannot walk that long or far because of her MS, so...yeah. So this confinement thing should be easy peasy lemon squeezy for me, right?

Turns out having the option to go out whenever I please, to stay outside as long as I wish to, and to meet the people I would like to spend time with, is something that I greatly miss. It weighs on me more than I'd like to admit..and so I'm trying to distract myself with various things.

I have been reading quite a bit during the last month - mostly fan fiction though. I'm still stuck chin-deep in The Untamed/MDZS fandom, and ooooh boy, the people in there are so brilliant! The fic writers? Their ideas?? The execution??? I can only stare in awe. I mean it's really next level (I find that, in general, many pieces of fan fiction are often better than actual published works, which is super interesting to me). The fan artists are just as good, like wow.

There is one fic writer who actually lets me read ahead and brainstorms upcoming chapters with me - it's the one I drew all the merman thingies for. Not only to say Thank You for that, but also because there's just something about that story that makes me all dreamy and wanting to draw ALL. THE. THINGS.

And there's another one who might be starting to write a Hobbit!AU for The Untamed...and it looks like I'm partly to blame for it.

You know, part of me hesitates to post all of my fan art I do for that fandom on here, because as of late, that's more or less everything I'm doing...and I don't wanna bore you guys. 
Another part of me is like "F*ck it, it's your gallery, you should be allowed to post whatever inspires you!"

And I will still draw other things (I owe DatNachtmaehre some cherry-blossom themed OC goodness - NO I HAVE NOT FORGOTTEN, JUST YOU WAIT), I promise I will - I just tend to hyperfixate on whatever brings me most joy at the moment. So it might take me a while. I have things planned for my stable OCs and my horses and stuff, so yeah, that will come. Eventually.

I cannot even explain why a show about magic warriors in love in Ancient Fantasy China brings me so much joy - it just does. I also met a couple of lovely people and bonded with them over this fandom; I consider them friends by now. Isn't it wonderful that something like that is possible?

...I think you have all figured out that the sole purpose of this journal is to further distract me, lol. What have you all been up to? How are you spending your time? I'd like to hear from you!

Hooooooh boy. It's almost mid-March, and I haven't updated this journal yet in 2020? It's about time!

So, I'm officially on the hunt for a new job. Which isn't as easy as people are telling me ("You've got amazing grades!"/"Your internships were fantastic!"/"Your last boss was very happy with your work!"), because in my field, there simply aren't that many jobs available. I've applied to some, but didn't really have luck so far; I know that one of them got taken pretty much the same day as I sent my application in, some never replied, and one was pretty recent. If they are considering me, I'm not sure when they would even call me for an interview, since phone interviews aren't really a thing here. With the Coronavirus outbreak and the country going into (partial) lockdown, this might take a while.

Who would have guessed that we would be faced with a worldwide epidemic, right? I'm trying to stay as calm and rational as possible (wash your hands, people!), but I'm still a bit nervous. I have quite a few family members and/or loved ones who are immunocompromised or in a high risk group because of  some sort of prior health complications, and - I would be lying if i said I wasn't worried. I guess it's only natural to be worried when faced with a threat that you can't see, since it's, you know, a virus, and they tend to be not that visible.
 
Unless you've got a microscope strapped to your face 24/7.

But yeah. Schools and other educational institutes are going into lockdown here starting Monday (March 16th, 2020)for two weeks, and it won't be possible anymore to visit people in hospitals or nursing homes during that time. Bus drivers aren't to open their front doors anymore, and the front row of seats have to remain empty to protect said drivers.

It's - weird. I mean it's good that something's being done to slow down the virus, but it still feels a bit unsettling. Again, I'm not panicking, and I probably won't, but it still makes me very nervous.

What else is new? Oh yes, I fell into another fandom. XD Those of you who watched me for horses or Grindeldore or something else: I apologise profusely. I am still into more or less everything I was before, but I tend to hyperfixate on one thing at the time, and at the moment that's The Untamed (also known as Mo Dao Zu Shi, or even Cheng Qing Ling). It's based on a Chinese novel, and it has magic and mystery and drama and romance. it's extremely entertaining at times, but also just as heartbreaking, or even heartwarming. An emotional rollercoaster of the best kind! The characters are well-developed and loveable. There's a manhua (manga-style comic), a donghua (an animated series), an audio drama, and a live action show, which is what I have been watching. DatNachtmaehre has watched the donghua, and she recommends it for the overly expressive donkey and the hilarious ice cream commercials.
Anyone else watching? If so, what do you think of it so far? Did you like it? I'd love to discuss!

Ah yeah, and I got myself a Switch Lite, and I'm inpatiently waiting for the new Animal Crossing game to drop. XD

How are you all faring during these trying times?

Hello everyone! I promised a holiday update - you're getting a holiday update!

Just - let me preface that, almost up to the last minute, DatNachtmaehre and I weren't sure if we would be able to even go on this trip.

You see, my mother caught a severe case of blood poisoning.

That was quite the, erm, interesting story - she bought a stuffed pastry for me. Which I don't like, which my mum, of all people, should know. So I was like "You can have it" - which would have been fine, but she kinda forgot it existed and rediscovered this fossil of a pastry at the back of the fridge a week later. And ate it.

Which she shouldn't have done, because there was egg and milk in there, it had turned bad, so she got food poisoning.

Fever, diarrhea, no throwing up - but the fever severely affects my mum's MS, so that was no fun.

Now apparently what happened is that her kidneys were majorly overwhelmed with flushing out the toxins out of her body, which got her a kidney infection - which then spread onto the bloodstream and got her aforementioned blood poisoning.

This all happened within the span of two to three days, with me being gone for most of two days, because I had to go to work.

So an ambulance was called, and my mother spend two nights in Intensive Care, and two weeks in regular hospital stay. Which meant quite hectic two weeks for me, between work - I mean I have a flexible schedule, but I also had a press conference to attend and to prepare, which I have to attend no matter if I have the day off or not -, visiting hours, grocery shopping, housework, and public transportation. Because yours truly does not have a car, and thus has to rely on buses. In a city that, right now, is a huuuuge construction site where bus schedules get changed what feels like every ten minutes.

She was released on a Friday, we were supposed to leave the Monday after, and up until the Wednesday before that Friday, it wasn't even clear when exactly she was going to be released.


(Side note: I know my mother, and I took a close look at her the weekend before we left. I would not have gone on this trip if I hadn't been 100% sure that she was fine. And she was - went for coffee with friends the day after I left, and had fun with the neighbour cat. Also we were like a 2-hour drive away from home, so if an emergency had occured, I would have been able to hop home easily.)

So the timing was quite perfect, actually! Now we had some folks tell us "Why are you going there off-season? Everything's closed, the weather is sh*tty, and it's freezing!"

Which -

1. Not everything. Many things, but there are still enough interesting things to do around, and fun places to visit.
2. Yeeeah, the first two days were rainy and bleak, but you know what? Perfect museum weather! Also after that we had super sunny days, and even one snowy evening.
3. Yep, it was indeed cold, but that's what coats and hats and gloves and scarves are for!

We had a wonderful relaxing time, which we both needed. Lots of walks were taken, lots of nice food was eaten, lots of birds and squirrels have been observed - and lots of fun was had. The part of Germany we were at is gorgeous in Autumn; I've chosen a few for you to see. None of them have been photoshopped; the leaves were really that stunning.

Helloooo, it's me again!

I mean i've already mentioned this in my last journal, and it's still - what? Three weeks?
But I absolutely cannot wait for this to happen, so to brighten my mood on this very  dreary and blergh day, Imma go ahead and post this:


That's right, two holidays this year! And why not? Holiday N°2 is waaaay less expensive, and we both worked hard this year...so I think we deserve it. We'll hop over the boarder to Germany and stay in a little cottage for a while.
Not sure about the general wi-fi situation (we should have some, but you never know), so maybe we'll be able to say Hi.

If the wi-fi situation should be a good one, I'll probably be posting a few snippets on my tumblr (sweetlittlevampire.tumblr.com) and my instagram (@sweetlittlerima) if you're  so inclined to see what we'll be up to. Expect loads of food pictures though.

It has been a while, hasn’t it?

I know, I know, compared to other people I update my journal quite frequently, but still – the last one was from July, and tomorrow us already October 1^st…so I figured it would be time.

I’m getting a bit anxious, since I’ll have to start looking for a new job soon. I knew this one was only for a year, and I’ll be here until the end of January (that’s when my contract runs out), so I knew this day was coming.

I also know that I got extremely lucky with this job. Like, it’s a decent one, and I got it on the first try, with no prior experience. Granted, they were desperate, but seems I’m not doing that bad of a job, after all. I know how hard it  is to find a job in this day and age, and I’m really dreading the process of having to look for a new one. Alas, bills don’t pay themselves, so we gotta do what we gotta do. Also, I’m pretty sure the person I’m replacing wants her job back after her maternity leave, so I don’t think there would be a chance of this place keeping me. Unless she quits, which is pretty unlikely.

What I’m looking forward though is holiday in November, again – as always – with DatNachtmaehre  . We won’t be going far, just over to Germany, but I think we both so so need this short time off, just to recharge and spend time together. The last holidays were so brilliant, and we both didn’t want to return home, so I think we’ll enjoy this one as well.

Besides we’ll be at a place where we can also do lots of stuff should the weather be blergh, which…I mean it’s November in Europe; I don’t expect it to be super sunny and warm all the time (although it could be sunny. It could also be rainy as heck, or even snowy. We’ll just have to wait and see, I guess!).

I’m also wanting to take up bullet journaling again. I started last year but actually never continued, and I think I know why: I was too focused on the “Pretty” and not enough on the “Practical”, and ended up pressuring and overwhelming myself too much. This time around, I’ll dial it down a lot – I still want this thing to look pretty, simply because I dig pretty things, but practicality will be my main priority. I think this will help me narrow down what I actually need and want, and I can still decorate it to my heart’s desire without it feeling like a chore very quickly.

That’s why I want to start anew in a new journal, and I’ll use the old one to plan out spreads and the like. I’ll have until January to plan everything out and start the new journal with the new year. That way I won’t be overwhelmed.

Maybe if I particularly like a spread, I’ll post it, if you’re interested in that kind of thing, or post it on my tumblr or Instagram and link it in a status update for you to see.

The next month I’ll be diving back into Inktober, and this time I’ll try to be more consistent and actually not give up after a week or so? Because it’s actually really fun and creative, and I really enjoyed it last year – but honestly? I got super lazy…so this year, I’ll try to be more prepared and get more of these drawn. It gives me something to do during my lunch breaks while I’m waiting for the line at the coffee machine to disappear, lol.

Are you enjoying autumn/fall? What have you been up to so far? Let’s have a chat in the comments!