It's the very beginning of summer now, and I haven't blogged in a while. I fully intended to post a separate winter blog, and I actually wrote most of it, but I got caught up in how I thought I should end it and kept avoiding it until it just felt like it was too late to post it.

I had mentioned in my last life update post that I wanted to write about our dog Kona who passed away in November. At first this was going to be an entire post by itself, but no, that was too painful. Then I decided it would be a section at the end of the winter blog post. I still couldn't do it. Honestly, at this point, I don't think I can write about her except in a few short paragraphs. I loved her so much and I miss her so terribly, it's just too much for me to revisit in a longer format, at least for now. I know how I feel about it, I have my memories of her intact, and I can share as much or as little of it as I feel like sharing, at my own pace. I'm not obligated to share anything (I'm talking to myself, here, dear reader—no one ever made me feel like I was except myself).

I pass my hand over the smooth surface of her wooden urn many times every day, and smile back at the photo of her smiling face that I see so often. I think of her a lot—sometimes I laugh, sometimes I cry. Sometimes I still think I'll see and hear her when I walk in the door after being out somewhere, and sometimes I marvel at how quickly it seems I've adjusted to not having a dog around. Sometimes I feel like I'll go crazy without a dog, since I've never gone this long without a dog in all of my years as a conscious human being (we adopted our first when I was 3). I think of her whenever I eat canned tuna—she loved the stuff. For her sake, I make sure to really savor it.

I guess consider that my write-up about it, aside from mentions here and there into the foreseeable future, whenever it's relevant. Maybe I'll change my mind and write a bigger piece someday, but maybe not.

Well, onward to other life happenings. Things I've been doing, and media I've been enjoying. Honestly, part of what's kept me sane since her passing has been keeping myself busy, so there's much to talk about.

I'll go over some things specific to winter first before I move onto spring.

• The winter weather was too mild. Nice for driving since snow can really get in the way of that, and nice for getting out and about, but not enough precipitation.

• Christmas was nice. I mean, would have been far better if Kona was with us… But we made the most of it. Good food, cozy vibes, shopping for gifts wasn't overly difficult. I got some new pajamas and gift cards to help with some purchases I already knew I wanted to make, like a new pair of winter boots! They're pink, warm, and comfortable! The last pair I had were cute, but unfortunately too narrow, so I had to try again.

• New Year's is never terribly exciting for me. I'm not into parties, but I do always stay up until midnight, have some good snacks while I wait, and think about the past year. Once again, wishing I could have stepped into 2026 with Kona still by my side, but I never took the time I spent with her for granted, so it's okay.

• Like a lot of folks nowadays, I'm not big on resolutions, but I guess you could say I stepped into the year with a few intentions. I want to exercise more days than I did last year—so far, I've definitely succeeded! Also, spending less time getting sucked into internet rabbit holes—a perpetual struggle, but I'm doing okay with this. Lastly, continuing with my plans to approach writing and drawing seasonally. I'll talk about this more later, but so far, this has mostly worked well.

• At the end of December and beginning of January, I took some extra time off of work. I like the week between Christmas and New Year's, and I needed to use some vacation time, so this sounded like a good idea to me. It.. Wasn't quite as nice as I was hoping it would be, honestly. I ended up floundering a lot on how to best spend my time, and I also think the loss of Kona was hitting me harder than I expected it to. Also, I had car trouble, but I'll talk about that more later. Well, I did spend one afternoon making my favorite sugar cookie recipe that was passed down from my late grandmother. They were super tasty, as always!

• I mentioned in a previous post that the string lights I had hanging in my room burned out entirely. Well, I replaced them! With an even longer string! Probably doesn't sound very exciting, but I love these darn things, so it's very exciting to me! Naturally, I got rainbow colored ones. Since I've had some bad luck with string lights, I was worried about these, but I've used them every day for over six months now and they're still working great, no dead bulbs.

• My winter writing time went incredibly well. I finished the first in a fic series dedicated to my beloved OT3 (Kazuki, Enta, and Toi from the anime Sarazanmai)—a fic I started in 2022. Before I got to work on finishing it, there had been a 2 year gap from the last time I updated it! Ugh, I just hate leaving things unfinished for so long. But I'm stubborn, so I resolved to either finish it, or delete it and move onto other ideas. I'm very glad I decided to finish it.

  And, when that fic was done, I started the next in the series. I got two entire chapters done. And I'm pretty much exclusively a longform writer, so my word counts can get pretty big. I just really like to write about the mundane details of everyday life, and I don't like to rush anything. With those two chapters complete, I've gotten to a pretty exciting part of the story.

• Watched some of the Winter Olympics, mostly figure skating and random highlights of other events. Had a really nice time with it, the figure skating was especially exciting. I used this time to crochet, and I crocheted A LOT!

Now, moving onto spring (or things relevant to both seasons).

Enjoying the season and events:

• The weather has continued to mostly be nice. Thankfully we've also gotten some rain to help make up for the lack of snow in winter. The temperature was kinda all over the place—one unseasonably warm week, followed by a colder week, etc. It was warm enough early in the season that the plants started growing back sooner than usual, but since we can still get snow and freezes into spring, we unfortunately had one disastrous event that caused all of the leaves on some of the trees around town to wither, including the one just outside my bedroom window. I was very worried after this happened, but I'm happy to say that they have bounced back.

• I went to a local anime convention for one day near the end of March. Never been to this con more than a day, it's pretty small, but it's still nice to quickly pop in, put together a cute outfit and itabag, see the sights, see the cosplayers, see what's available for sale, go out for a good lunch or dinner, and then head home. One of my favorite convention events is AMV contests, and in past years I've found the AMVs at this particular con to simply be okay. I'm happy to say that the quality stepped up a lot from the last year I attended (2024), I was very satisfied.

• I will be attending another in-state anime con at the beginning of September, but aside from that, I've decided to avoid out-of-town trips this year. Not just because of rising costs but because I'm just not feeling it. That's probably the same thing, honestly. But I truly have gotten into a good rhythm with my personal hobbies and I'm very interested in focusing on that right now. (Also, I'm seriously considering going to an out-of-state convention next year, and that's going to be a lot easier to afford if I just stay home and keep myself entertained for a while.)

• We had a visit with my brother, sister-in-law, and nieces at the end of March. Honestly not much to report here, it was short and we didn't do anything big together. They would go off to do their own thing for much of the day and then come to our place to have some meals together and just hang out and chat. I crocheted small Easter baskets for my nieces and my mom used them for the Easter goodies she got for them, they really liked them!

• My birthday was on May 24th! I kept it simple and lowkey this year. I went to a small art museum in town for the first time in years and had a nice time there, and the family and I got donuts at a very good local shop as my birthday dessert. My birthday gifts were gift cards for the Nintendo eShop, because I couldn't think of anything else! I honestly don't even have any games in mind to buy right now, but I know I'll be needing them eventually. It's nice to have them on hand.

Health:

• In winter, I attempted to adjust my sleep schedule so that I could go the gym before work on weekdays. This was a failed experiment, I cannot wake up that early on a regular basis without it really messing me up, and the gym gets waaay too busy after work. But knowing for sure that the gym simply isn't going to work for me has freed me from thinking that I absolutely had to start going, and now I've been exercising more sincerely at home. We've had a treadmill for many years that still works perfectly fine, so I've been going for almost daily 30 to 45 minute walks on that, at fast walking speeds and a slight incline. I use the time to watch things on Youtube or new anime episodes. On weekends, I also add in strength training via Ensemble Training, an exercise app featuring Ensemble Stars characters coaching you through the exercises. I probably need more intense strength training eventually, but it's what I can handle right now. I made an attempt at idol dances, too, but that's also a no go right now. I just don't have the space for it. So, by eliminating some options and no longer having to think so much about what to do, I've settled into what feels like the best exercise routine I've ever had up to this point.

• (Warning for discussion of tooth stuff) Starting at the end of April, I began having consistent pain in one of my molars. Manageable with over-the-counter painkillers, but worrisome. I needed a dentist appointment anyway for a routine cleaning, so I went to have it checked out. They told me I needed a couple fillings and a night guard, but didn't see anything wrong with the tooth in question. I got the fillings, but a little after my birthday I went to an endodontist for a second opinion on the tooth that was still bothering me. Ended up getting a root canal that very same day! And wouldn't you know it, I feel much better! The tooth now needs a crown, and I'll get that taken care of soon. Pressure from clenching and grinding definitely didn't help this tooth, so I'm looking forward to getting my night guard to help prevent this issue from reoccuring.

Hobbies:

• Continuing my seasonal hobby work, I switched from writing to drawing in spring. Unlike my writing, this didn't go quite as well. By no means a failure, I did draw a lot—much of it in my sketchbook and for my eyes only—but I wanted to jump right into digital art again and couldn't for about two of the three months in the season. I felt like I had lost a lot of confidence, not really happy with the things I had drawn the last time I had spent time on it, and it was messing me up. I spent a lot of time questioning why I was even drawing at all, even wondering if I should give it up for good. At least for the spring season, I did overcome all this, and I suppose that was still valuable. But I do hope this won't be a problem when I return to drawing in autumn. I don't want to give it up, I just need to keep my priorities straight. And my main priority is simply having fun and sharing what I think is beautiful and cute with the world. For the technical side of it, I feel like what little practice I did get in during this time helped me get just a tiny bit looser and faster, which I appreciate since I've been frustrated by how long my process can take before.

  If you haven't seen my art yet, please take a look at my gallery. If I'm not too tired I'll be adding some new pieces to this page when I'm done posting this blog, but if not then I'll get to it soon.

• Things I crocheted (I should probably make a crochet gallery page, too!):

  • Finished the rainbow striped runner for a dresser in my bedroom that I talked about in my last life update post!

  • Two doilies with heart-shaped borders, to go under the urns for our dogs Kona and Radar. A sad reason, I suppose, but I was actually quite happy making them. I had never made doilies before, and I really enjoyed it. The lighter weight yarn was a little difficult to work with, but I made it happen.

  • A set of mini Christmas stockings, at my Mom's request. She gifted them to a very long time friend for her birthday. Not seasonally appropriate, the friend's birthday is not near Christmas, but they were easy and fun so make, so I was happy to do it. I might make more for my Mom, too.

  • Started a tissue box cover that will look like a cake when it's complete. The base is done and already on my bedroom's tissue box. I also completed the piped frosting that will be sewn around the edges. But I got hung up on the strawberries, couldn't get the shape right. So, this has been on the backburner for a while. I want to revisit it soon, it's bugging me that it's not finished even though I've had plenty of time to do it.

  • Currently working on a simple, uh… Rectangle?? Very small blanket?? Out of a cake of yarn that I got a while ago, when I was very new to crochet and didn't know what kind of yarn I like best yet. This particular yarn makes its own multicolored stripes—not my preference now that I know better. But I do think this project is turning out cute. I just wanted a simple, mindless project to use it up and make space for more yarn. I think I'll use it as a back cover for an armchair I'll eventually get for my bedroom.

  • A small, pink doily for my mom for Mother's Day, in addition to another gift. It looks nice under her flower vases. It was fun and easy and I might return to it for myself sometime.

Miscellaneous:

• I mentioned earlier that I had car trouble. Well, I had more in spring, too. In winter, I had scheduled a simple routine maintenance on one of the first days of my vacation. When I went to start the car to go to this appointment… She wouldn't go! What I didn't realize was that it was a dead battery, it seemed more serious to me at the time, so my first try on getting her repaired was a mobile mechanic. That was a complete waste of time, a massive runaround. Frankly a big reason why my vacation wasn't as nice as expected, these people were terrible to me (I didn't lose any money, though). Never attempting that again unless I somehow have no other choice. I got her towed to the shop and got the maintenance she needed done on New Year's Eve.

• As for spring's work, I decided to fix a longstanding issue: She needed a new headlamp. It had been giving me grief for a while. It was expensive, but very worth it. I did a couple other small things on my own, like installing new windshield wiper blades, and now she feels as good as new. Might need new tires soon. For now, it can wait, but summer will be time for more routine maintenance, so I wonder what they'll tell me after that inspection… Am I going to need to shell out for big repairs every season!?

• I finally invested in an HDMI adapter to get my main computer hooked up to my television, so I can now watch whatever I want on TV. I just have an easier time actually watching things if it's on a TV, maybe because that's what I grew up watching everything on, so this has been big for me! And let's just say this has also made it easier for me to cancel certain subscription services.

• I've been taking Fridays off of exercising and creative hobbies and using my free time to watch stuff, play games, lay around in bed, get extra sleep. I've been loving it! Saturday and Sunday evenings often end up this way, too, so it's not just one day a week!

• We're starting to consider adopting another dog... But we're not ready yet. There's some work that needs to be done around the house to be ready for a younger dog. Will we have adopted one by my next life update post? Guess we'll find out.

I have a lot to say about media that I've been (mostly) enjoying in this time, so I decided to put this in its own section.

• Kimi to Idol Precure ended. I already wrote a long, almost entirely negative review for this, so I'll just say I was incredibly relieved when it was over. Never thought I'd say this about a Precure season, but I wish I had dropped it. It absolutely wasn't worth watching in full.

• In much better Precure news, Star Detective Precure has been running for several months now! And it's already been extremely promising. Even if it doesn't end up being a new favorite, I'm already quite confident I will like this one way more than Kimi to Idol Precure. Very interested to see what's up with Cure Eclair and Cure Arcana Shadow and to see where all of the mysteries of this show go. Luluka/Arcana Shadow has made big waves online, and I'm glad for it, honestly. I can't deny it, she's also my favorite so far. I really enjoy that this season has been constructed so carefully to give the audience many different mysteries to wonder about, regardless of what age group they belong to.

• I had already gotten through a few episodes previously, but I put more time into watching Himitsu no AiPri. It's a pretty fun, cute show, and also has some really heartwarming moments. It's actually made me cry a couple of times! It does feel pretty slow at times, though, and I'm not feeling too attached to any of the characters, so I wonder if I want to finish it. Also has a weirdly large amount of low effort recap episodes? But I will say, its early episodes felt like a balm on my soul when I was still slogging my way through the end of Kimi to Idol Precure.

• I've also watched a couple episodes of the follow up series Onegai AiPri, and I actually think I like this one a little better so far. It is a bit early to tell, but for me, it just boils down to vibes. The setting is nicer to me, the character designs are cuter to me, the girls look more interesting to me. We'll see if I'm right, I guess!

• I'm a little behind on it at the time that I'm writing this, but I'm watching Magical Sisters LuluttoLilly. Not much to say about it yet except that it's incredibly adorable and has impeccable character designs and has me quite curious about its direction. I was even inspired to draw fanart of the sisters. I've sampled a few other Studio Pierrot mahou shoujo series shows and honestly they haven't grabbed me, but I think I can see this one through to the end. Very sweet and catchy music, too.

• I've been watching the anime adaptation for Go For It, Nakamura every week, and I'm loving it. Lots of secondhand embarrassment to be found, which can be hard to endure sometimes, but it's also very funny, and it's all worth it to get to see how Nakamura and Hirose's relationship progresses. I don't expect the series to end with the two of them dating or anything, and I'm not sure I even want to see that happen quite frankly, but I wonder if the anime will end with any hints in that direction that weren't in the manga. Episode 6 in particular was really something special, it made me cry and it gave me an even deeper understanding of Nakamura and Hirose as a pair. Not just that Hirose is slowly opening up Nakamura's world, but that Nakamura is doing something similar for Hirose by encouraging him to close his world a little bit. To not be so accommodating to others when he doesn't want to be. It was so beautiful and I would happily re-watch just this episode on its own. Also the city pop ending themes get me so excited every time, they suit the gorgeous retro art style of this show perfectly.

• Episode one of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You is another one I watched a while ago. I had no specific reason for not watching more, probably just slipped my mind, I had no problems with that episode. But on a whim, I decided to pick it back up. And now I'm hooked LMAO. I've watched the entirety of the two anime seasons that are already out and am looking forward to the third. I even picked up the manga from the point where the second season ended and I'm slowly getting through it, enjoying it a lot.

  While I don't usually go for heterosexual romance, polyamory in the mix makes a lot of my usual preferences go out the window. The series is also pretty gay--the girlfriends are all friends with each other, but some of them clearly love each other on a different level, too. Rentarou (the boyfriend of the series) is such a powerful non-creep, respectful and accommodating to a literal superhuman degree, that he basically negates my issues with het romance. There seems to be a joke in the fandom that boils down to "you start off wishing you had all those girlfriends, but eventually you end up wanting to be one of the girlfriends," and it rings true to me. I'm a lesbian and even I think I could be happy dating Rentarou. Yup, this is a fun one for me. Full of a lot of horny anime tropes that I think many modern day anime fans would not be on board for, but I suppose I've been around the block enough that I'm immune to it and can zero in on what I like about it without things I don't like bothering me. It's extremely funny, but it's also surprisingly cozy. The fantasy of basically being set for life with an incredibly supportive social group that's so huge and varied that the majority of your needs and wants are covered is a very nice one for me. Comfort is the name of the game for me, I love comforting things more than anything, and 100 Girlfriends is chock full of it.

  I'm only a little past chapter 100 of the manga (out of around 250 at the time I'm writing this), but so far, my favorite girlfriends include Nano, Mimimi, Yamame, and especially Ahko. I relate to Ahko a lot--low energy girly who loves cute things more than anything--and I absolutely adore her character design.

• I watched the 10th anniversary Dream Live for Ensemble Stars--specifically the day one performance because it had a special ending segment with the units Alkaloid and Crazy:B, two of my favorites that my two oshis belong to. Dream Lives are live shows featuring screen projections of the characters, similar to Miku Expo. I was a bit frustrated by how the live stream worked--had to wait a week after the actual performance to see the archived version, and I only had exactly one day to watch it. Stricter rules than I had previously experienced. But thankfully nothing got in the way of me seeing it, so I enjoyed the heck out of it. Pulled out my light sticks and everything! My top favorite unit, Special for Princess, appeared in a Dream Live for the first time, and I was so happy to be able to see that. I love their entire discography, so naturally I was very satisfied with their performances.

• I went to see the Super Mario Galaxy movie at the theater on opening weekend. In the afternoon, though, because I wanted to be home for dinner and there was less of a crowd at this time. I agree with critiques that this movie doesn't have much substance to it, but listen… I'm a big Princess Peach fan. I even wore a Peach shirt and brought a Peach plush keychain with me to the theater. I just love to see her do whatever, and she got to do plenty of whatever in this movie. Was it particularly well constructed plot-wise? No. Did it look cool? Yes (especially the puppet show scene, that one had me wondering how they made it). Did I get to see my girl be beautiful and awesome? Yes!! So I was happy!