Daily Update, January 4, 2024

    I found big news for folks on City of Heroes: Homecoming, the game and server for it that I play so much, Thursday morning. The Homecoming server has finalized a new license with NCSoft, the company that owns City of Heroes, the game we play on it. They'll be able to continue as the free server funded by donations that they have been. {SMILE}

   I had my video counselling session an hour later than usual because my counsellor was busy into the time, we normally do it. I thought it went pretty well. {pause} My counselor thinks I could try some things I've been trying like donate buttons on my blog. It's pretty low traffic, but would anyone mind me using it and you as a kind of guinea pig/test run for those? Because I'd like to set up a story blog soon, and I think I'd be less likely to bog down making them then if I'd made them once before? {Smile}

    I got a call from my financial adviser this afternoon. She was able to help me with the questions I had, and I had a few of them. {Smile}

   I also got a brief visit from the secretary of the nursing company today; our monthly touching base, paying and stuff. {Smile}

   I ate lunch and dinner with Mom and read to her before that. She was awake and responded a couple of times. I began with scripture and thoughts about it. Then I read a Christmas letter from a friend, and cards from her cousin and sister. After that, I continued _Mele Kalikimaka: Christmas in Hawai'i_. Next, I read a story from _Disney 3-Minute Bedtime Stories_. I ended with the 4th of January's story from _366 Stories for Bedtime_, "A Most Unusual Morning." Isobel woke up feeling in her bones that something was different. She ran to the window to find that everything had changed. The ground was covered with snow, hiding the grass, the path, and the flower beds. It was even up in the trees, since there was no wind to blow it out of them. She wondered where the birds were, since they were usually flying and chirping when she woke up. She watched the sun rise a fiery red, and wondered if it was red from anger at not being able to wake the world. Then a bird did appear, chirping as it landed on a branch, knocking off some snow. Isobel laughed and ran to tell her mother about this unusual morning. {Smile}

   I walked around the driveway nine times again this morning. It took 13 minutes, which could be about the same when I don't have the seconds set up. I did my head exercises during a lull in the role-playing I did with Sapien. Then I did my arm resistance exercises while waiting for another role-play to start. My sitting arm exercises came later, with 8 1/2 minutes of salsa dancing after that. Yes, 8 1/2 minutes, my full warmup. I was too tired for my walking exercises, leg exercises, or standing arm weight training exercises, and I'm still not ready to try the arm swinging exercises with all the trouble my shoulders have given me over them, but between the walking and the added salsa dancing, I'm increasing my daily exercise nicely. {Smile}

   I read some articles before walking around the driveway, then came inside for my counselling appointment, since it was later than usual. After lunch with Mom, I cleaned myself up. Then I read comics around the phone call and visit from the nursing company secretary. I was ready to go into City of Heroes: Homecoming when I remembered yesterday's daily update, so I wrote that up and shared it before going in particularly late. I got together with Pierogies, and we teamed up for a mission or two before he left for the day. I still had time to catch the later short, large-group event and do some paperwork before reading to Mom. {Smile}

   After dinner, I got back too late for the late night short, large-group event again. I found a friend, Sapien, from the chat world that led me to Homecoming. He was on a low-level character, so I got one of mine, and we got together. He was interested in roleplaying, so that's what we did. Then I started to write this up. The friend I role-played with the other night, Caleb, said hi as I was settling down the little character I'd been roleplaying with Sapien on and another little character who I'd started to check.  I finished settling them down, then got the character I'd roleplayed with Caleb on the other night.  We had a nice follow-up roleplay. It looks like this might happen more often. Then I did my exercises. I wrote this up, making notes when it got late. I slipped in reading a little web fiction in the middle. Again, I finished writing this the next day. {Smile}