Ch-Ch-Changes...

---

So I realize that 2020 has gotten away from me... almost entirely, except for that little post back in April.  Which doesn't feel that long ago.  It's scary how fast time flies.  Even during the current pandemic.  Although it has not affected us as much as I'm sure it has others around the world.  The worst it has done for me is caused me to lose my position at Delta Dental, that I started in November of last year.  It happened twice, first in March when it was announced that the full-time workers were being told to work remotely.  Us temps were told that we weren't allowed to do that, so we would just get a mandatory unpaid vacation until resuming on April 7.  Obviously that didn't happen, so they ended up begging us to come back, this time saying we could work remotely, which lasted about 2 weeks before they eventually let us go with (what I think was) some bogus reason that temps were not in their budget.  What sucks is that the job was opening up for a permanent position too, if the virus hadn't hit.  Honestly though, they did me a favor, seeing as the communication between management was majorly lacking.  And I didn't want the stress of dealing with that, day after day anyway.

It also opened up a new opportunity for me to actually work remotely for another company, with much better communication, which is what I've been doing since late April.  And I am no stranger to working from home, so I have really enjoyed being able to do that again.

Anyway, I've also been trying to get back into foruming, via sorting through and fixing links on my forum. [ Shameless plug time >> CYN! ] It's difficult though, seeing as I have nearly 17 years worth of posts to sift through.  Haha.  It also gets me back into spending time in Photoshop again, kinda.  I feel like I've lost sight of my skill in graphic designing since I returned to working out of the house.  Even now that I'm working from home, I feel like I never have any time.

I'm going to stop there, before this gets too long.  Just wanted to post a quick update.  I'm planning to try to write in here more often! 😊  Feel free to leave me a comment with what you've been up to, if you want, whoever happens to stumble across my blog!

Something New

---

So let's just ignore the fact that I did not get off to the kind of start I wanted to this year, regarding that clean slate.  That being said, I've been thinking lately that I really need to get back into some type of writing every day, or at least as close to every day as I can possibly accomplish.  So to make it a little easier as far as what to write about, I thought I'd put together a list of journaling prompts to help me.  And I'll use one of those prompts every day (or time) that I write an entry here.  So we'll see how this goes.

`````````````````````````````````````````

Something got me thinking about the online journals I used to maintain in the past, first on Angelfire, which actually led to the origin of my forum's title, which is kinda neat to remember.  I called it "Life, In a Nutshell" and I thought of each entry as a sort of 'nut' in my life that I explored (cracked) when opening the shell it hid behind.  Hence, "Crack Your Nuts."  Yeah, I know how corny that sounds.

After that, I used MySpace's journal feature, back when the site was hugely popular.  I miss those days sometimes.  Facebook was only available for eligible college students, at that time, and while I was in college then, I liked MySpace better.  Oh and I'm forgetting Xanga, that had to be my absolute favorite online journal option, mainly for their customization options.  There was a brief stint with LiveJournal as well, but I mainly just created an account there so that I could comment on other friends' journals.  I ended up using Facebook's journal feature also, as their popularity increased.

Anyway... I better get started on those prompts so I can hopefully start tomorrow at the beginning of a new month. 😉

Crack Your Nuts ♥ 14th Anniversary

---

CYN (my forum) is officially FOURTEEN YEARS OLD today!  We are now a curious, self-conscious, hormonal teenager. 😜 How crazy is that?!

If you are reading this, please feel free to head over there and congratulate us for staying in existence for so long!  (Or just leave it in the comments here)  There were times when it was iffy, but I've managed to overcome those moments and keep it going, if only for sentimental reasons.  I'm so grateful for the friends that I've met through Proboards (and other foruming software) and have had the pleasure of knowing throughout the years! 💜 

One of my first moderators was only 13 years old (mind you, a VERY mature kid for his age!) when the forum started, and he's now in his late-20s!  That's just crazy.  Of course, I myself was in my early-20s when I created it, and now I'm in my mid-30s... it's just astounding how quickly time flies.

Pining for the Past

---

So, I know I missed quite a few days since my last post.  I just haven't really felt like detailing every day lately, so that's the reason I'm going with.  Let's just leave it at that.

Yesterday, I played around with Discord a bit, creating a dedicated server for my forum, mainly because I wanted to get more familiar with the program and stuff, since I'm still a slight newbie.  And I really like it.  So much more than Skype!  Plus, the phone app doesn't drain my battery the way that Skype's did.  I made a graphic for my forum's 14th anniversary as well, which I used when creating an event on Facebook, to try and get some more activity there.  Facebook also reminded me that I'd become friends with one of my original members 10 years ago, so I shared that with her and we got to talking and she ended up coming back to the forum AND joining the Discord server also! 😁 Which makes me happy.  I really miss the old days and her being back makes me reminisce on how it used to be with forum-ing, before Facebook & other social media took over.  I so wish I could bring that back again.

I woke up with my arm hurting a bit this morning, and after a few brief moments of confusion, I realized it's from yesterday when I was outside with Dozer and he went for something that he saw on the side of the house (probably a cat), yanking my arm suddenly, so much that it felt like he pulled it out of socket... but luckily for me, I still have some of my muscle relaxant medication, so I took one dose, because my neck was hurting a bit this morning as well.  Ugh.

Annoying way to start my day.  And I fear that it's only going to get worse, but that's another story entirely.  One that I'd rather not get into right now.  Or ever. 😠

Waiting [Impatiently] for Tomorrow...

---

Sooo, I've noticed now that the people who started this challenge with me have kind of dwindled down in their postings lately.  I totally get it, but it just makes it less fun when there's not so much activity anymore.  It's reminding me of forum-ing actually, because the same concept applies.  And I've tried so very hard with my forum for so many years, only to be disappointed by that sudden drop in postings.  I've already made peace with the fact that it'll never be like it used to, but it's still sad, especially on the days when I'm nostalgic for the past.

Anyway... I really was not in the mood to clean today... AT ALL.  I did end up getting the vacuuming done, as well as unloading/reloading the dishwasher, and cleaning off the kitchen counters, except for the pots & pans that still need to be washed.  But I think I'll save the rest for tomorrow morning, to give me something to do while we wait for the delivery guys to get here with our fridge, since I know I am going to be bouncing off the walls with impatience until they get here!!  Hell, if I felt better right now, I'd be doing that already. 😛

I think we're about to head out to dinner now though, or at least I need to remind the hubby that we need to eat soon, because we had a late-ish breakfast and skipped lunch and my tummy's getting hungry.  I was trying to convince him to go pick it up and bring it back home, so that I can eat at home in pain, instead of at the restaurant, but he wants to go there so that he can get a free refill on the special-flavor-of-lemonade-that-I-can't-remember-what-it's-called-right-now.  Ugh, on to suffer in public, I guess. 😉