Hello! I’m Cien. I’m 21, and I just graduated from college this past May so I’m just starting my foray into the working world. I’m still not quite used to things yet. :’D

On a typical work day, I set two alarms - one for 4:45 and one for 5 and end up actually getting up around 5:05. I have a really fluffy comforter and a soft bed, so it’s really hard to get up! I’m still living with my parents, so when I get up my mom and dad are awake as well. My mom is a teacher at a nearby high school and my dad is retired. While I’m barely awake and eating breakfast across from my mom (I usually have toaster waffles or toast with white chocolate peanut butter), my dad is putting together our lunches, which is super nice of him to do every morning!

My mom and I are both out the door by 6. I need to leave earlier rather than later, aiming for between 5:50-5:55. Technically my drive to work should be about 35 minutes, but there’s usually a crash or two on the freeway which is a big pain. If traffic seems to be slow, I have to get out my phone and turn on Waze to figure out an alternate route since I’m not very familiar with the roads in the area. I usually listen to NPR while driving, and I end up at work any time between 6:35 and 6:50.

Work starts at 7, so if I get there really early I sit in the car and look through twitter for a while. I try to enter the building around 6:50 so I have time to put my bag in the locker, my lunch in the break room, and use the bathroom.

Currently, I work at a warehouse putting together orders. It isn’t really mentally challenging like my college coursework was, but it’s definitely tiring. The warehouse itself is fairly bland - rows and rows of inventory, as well as a section for big items that don’t fit in the aisles. In the big item section, there are also sections for pet supplies (lots of big 40 lb bags of dog and cat food and heavy boxes of litter) and for drinks, like 24 packs of water and soda.

My day is full of either “stowing” (putting away new shipments of inventory) or “picking” (going through the building putting together items in an order), or a mix of the two. Sometimes things happen like a bunch of Coke products arrive, so I have to move a whole bunch of soda, or we get a bunch of 1-hour orders. 1-hour orders need to be delivered to the customer within the hour, which means that people have to stop whatever they’re doing to go pick that order so it can be given to a driver and arrive on time. They can get pretty hectic!

Order windows close at 8, then every second hour after. This means that every order that is promised to be delivered between 8-10 must be put together and labeled before 8. We have a break at 10, which is when I eat my lunch (usually half a sandwich - brie, ham, and lettuce is my favorite).

My shift ends at 12, but I don’t get home until 1. If I’m hungry, I might stop and pick up some fast food or a drink, or make something at home. (Generally McDonalds, Panera, or a sandwich at home!)

Now, it seems like I’ve got the rest of the day free, right? Unfortunately not.

I’ve been having a ton of issues with the system at work which was negatively impacting my pay, among other things. After I wind down and eat again if I’m hungry, probably around 2, I’ve been getting on the phone with HR. These conversations are draining since the company I work for is big and the person I’m talking to usually can’t fix my problem. There’s a lot of playing hot potato with the issues I’m having.

If I’m lucky, I’ll have some time to myself. I’m usually dead tired, so I either nap, watch videos on YouTube, or play a few games of Overwatch on my PS4. If not, then I’m looking at and applying for other jobs in another city.

My family eats dinner between 5-6, and we’re usually done eating and cleaning up around 7. My dad cooks, and he makes a lot of different things! We eat a lot of veggies, fish, rice, and pasta. I have to go to bed at 8 to get enough sleep to not feel sick, so I spend that last hour doing pretty much nothing. Playing with my cats, reading, or watching some more videos, usually!

And that’s pretty much a standard day! I’m trying my best to make time and energy for Mycena Cave, so I thought I’d try to get back into it with this. It’s already past my bedtime, so I’m signing off for now. Thanks for reading!

I’ve been holding off on this submission because my “days” have had anything but routine lately. I guess that’s what happens when you disown yourself and go on a road trip halfway across the country, moving from California back to Kansas, but, well, that’s the way the crumble cookies, am I right, mate?

So, let me tell you, my days have slipped into routine just in time for this event, and I couldn’t be happier about it.

The scene is Kansas, 2016. It’s fall here, and the leaves are starting to change color, but the grass here is actually green - a sharp contrast from the drought-brown (if that’s not an official color, it should be) that cloaks the hills of south California. Kansas, the land of “rolling” “hills,” flat as a board. We saw, like, a bazillionjillion cows on the drive over. Haha…

I’m living stopgap in a friend’s place for a few weeks while we figure out an apartment, so even this daily life is going to come to an end soon, but hopefully once I have an apartment I’ll finally get some stability. So for now, I’m living it up in beautiful, boring Kansas suburbia, 10 minutes from the Wal-Mart and 500 miles from anything actually interesting to do.

People live in Kansas because they want quiet, comfortable lives. It’s only a temporary stop, for me.

I’m Chandelure on Mycena, but all my close friends call me Elsh. My actual name is Jack, and I’m an ex-art student who’s currently out of school and unemployed. Living the life at the ripe old age of 19, haha. College seems a little out of the picture right now…but I don’t have any loans to worry about, so for now the main agenda is “survive.” My friend Rayquaza and I are planning to save up here in Kansas before moving back to LA, because that’s where the animation industry’s at - and it’s also where I’ve set my sights.

Until then, though, it’s going to be self-improvement. And, uh, getting a job. And a place to live. And setting up bill payments. And wifi…

...Well, that’s for this week.

I’m staying in Rayquaza’s room right now while I take a breather from a bad home situation and work up the energy to start apartment/job applications. Most mornings consist of waking up to his alarm (he’s still got school, so I’m basically just the gremlin that lives in his room right now) and making fun of him while he gets ready for class. There’s a lot to make fun of, even if I’m super grateful for his help. He usually has some time before class actually starts, since he’s so responsible, so we like to banter. Neither of us is really big on breakfast - he doesn’t eat it and I can’t eat right after waking up - so we pretty much just pack up for his class right after waking up.

I like hanging out at his college, since it’s a chill environment. Even though I’m a misanthrope and hate everyone there, it makes for good people-watching, which is great sketching practice.

We hit up lunch around town. Nice thing about a suburban community is there’s tons and tons of chain restaurants all over the place. We can take our pick from like, 50-60 different fast food joints, or, if we’re in a pickier mood, there’s some really high-end stuff just a little ways out near the city. Though, of course, since we’re both broke college kids, we have to be careful about when we splurge.

After that, Rayquaza heads off to work and I am left to wallow in my glamorous torment. Just kidding! Usually I end up taking a nap, since I’m still adjusting to Kansas time (and I guess I sleep better during the day anyways…secret vampire!) It’s usually around this time that Rayquaza’s cat ends up accosting me for pets. Since I am as a slave to her beautiful existence, I can’t refuse and end up petting her for…hours and hours…

In between the petting, though, I try to get some work done. Commissions, apartment hunt/job hunt, etc…there’s no rest for the wicked, they say. If I have some spare time, I buy hats on Team Fortress 2.

I main Pyro, because of course I do.

Rayquaza gets back from work late, so we usually just exchange some banter and fart on each other a bunch before we get ready for bed. Since he and I both have computers and games, we also like to game a bit or relax with an episode of Criminal Minds or something before we sleep. He’s got a bunk bed; I take the bottom bunk (it’s the one with the cat on it).

And then I drift off to sleep…yeah, right. Computer time until I drop from exhaustion, full stop, 200%!!!!

...Maybe that’s why I sleep so much during the day. Haha.

7:00 am: A shrilling alarm of doom goes off, signalling yet another day of attempting to be an adult.

(I ignore it.)

7:15 am: The second shrilling alarm of doom - because I don’t respond to the first one - goes off, signalling that my ‘15 more minutes’ are up and I actually have to get up and be an adult. Cue groaning and moaning as I drag myself over to the washroom to make myself more presentable for work. On the way to the washroom, I flip the switch on the kettle, needing a caffeine injection for being up this early.

7:30 - 7:45 am: Grab lunch made last night out of the fridge, pour coffee in a travel mug (with optional swearing over forgetting to buy milk for coffee) and out the door in a frantic, please-don’t-have-forgotten-anything mess.

7:45 - 8:30 am: Pray. Lots of praying over the public transportation that is never ever timely and 90% of the time if I leave ‘on time’ I get there too early and if I try to give myself 10 extra minutes of sleep, 100% guaranteed to be late. Although my day officially starts at 8:30, most of the time I end up there at 8 am and just mess around on my phone a lot.

8:30 - 11:30 am: I’m currently on clinical rotations at a mental illness and addiction hospital so mornings consist of rounds around the units, updates about patients and if they have any new concerns. These meetings can last all morning so it’s recommended to bring coffee and a little discreet snack! (I always feel as I fidget and yawn a lot and I feel terribly disruptive but I can’t help it, I’m a yawner).

11:30 am - 2:30 pm: Lunch + independent work! This consists a lot of working on problems identified during the morning meetings as well as reading through patient’s charts to see if anything has changed or needs to be changed in their medication. There’s a lot of good food places around where I’m working so I get tempted to eat out a lot…must…resist…

2:30 - 4:30 pm: I meet with my preceptor and go over my work as well as visit patients as needed to follow up with any issues they may be having! After that, at 4:30 I, as they say, ‘get the hell outta dodge’.

4:30 - 5:00 pm: For some reason, the transportation system is always more reliable on the way home than the way to work. It’s a conspiracy I tell you. Conspiracy.

5:00 pm - ????: This is when I make Horrible Life Decisions including staying up far too late and regretting it the next morning. I also exhibit very little impulse control during this time and often is when I end up online shopping the most often. I also stay up far too late curled up in bed reading manga.

(It’s still worth it.)

A Day In The Life Entry - Chickpea

If only this contest had just been a wee bit earlier…  I could have written something exciting and fabulous about my day to day life as a MSc student at my dream school. As it happens, I’m a recently graduated, jobless millennial. This is my first break in education since I was four years old - currently 22- so I can’t deny that it’s a bit of a relief to have a break. Although I hope that that is brief! I had moved out for my undergraduate degree as I undertook it in another country, but recently I have moved back home with my dad and stepfamily. Where I live at least there isn’t a big pressure to move out and get a place of your own as soon as you’re able. Adult children tend to stay at home for a little longer, and contribute monetarily when they are able to get paid employment. They’re great people and we really get along, so I don’t feel like it’s a step backwards to have returned home. I even have my own room, although it’s technically the dining room. We’re not very well off, but we live in a four storey Victorian house in the suburbs of a city. Our home is the middle two floors, with a neighbour occupying the top floor and the basement belonging to the local government. They store things down there apparently, but I’ve never seen anyone come in or out. Of the many, many houses I’ve lived in over the years, it’s definitely in my top 3! The city that we live in is on the banks of a large river, not so far from the sea. It’s famous for it’s musicians more than anything, and has undergone a lot of regeneration recently. It’s really cool how the old blends with the new. Although I wasn’t raised here, I feel totally comfortable, as though it’s where I was meant to be.

The day in our house starts at 4am. This is because one of us works at a bakery, although thankfully it is not me! The pipes in the house are very old, so if they need to shower I generally get woken up at this point as the boiler is in my room. From then on, it’s pretty non-stop with everybody else waking at 6-6.30 AM. If I’m feeling particularly motivated, I’ll wake up and eat breakfast with everyone. For cereals we usually just have granola or bran. I usually add raisins and mixed dried fruit to mine, or soft fruits if they’re in season. Because of the bakery job, we initially had a butt ton of bread in the house but I think at the moment we’re sick of the sight of it. I know I am. We have a well stocked tea drawer, and I drink a lot of it. Black is okay, but masala chai or rose petal are my favourite. I estimate I drink about six cups of tea a day. Lately I’ve weaned myself off taking sugar in them, because I don’t have any cavities - and I’d like it to stay that way! I usually eat another piece of fruit. Pink Lady apples are my favourite, but sometimes there are only oranges. I am lazy in the morning and don’t have very tough fingernails, so I tend to just slice up a big orange and nibble the segments instead of peeling them.

After the humans eat, I then feed our pets. Currently we only have two cats and one fish. I have a big fat goldfish named Caesar Salad (reasons for the name lost to the mists of them, although she has lived in three towns and two countries in her life) for whom I’m currently sourcing an even larger tank. If you’re not aware, goldfish actually need a whole lot of space to grow happily! We also have a brother and sister pair of cats, who are about a year and a half old now. They are rescues, and had a foster mother before they came to us. They’re the result of a Russian Blue queen in heat escaping her owners house. Based on their patterns, I’d say they are both half tabby tom, although kittens in the same litter can have different fathers, so who knows? They have very distinct personalities, but both are equally concerned about whether or not I will be giving them breakfast. For the record, I have never failed to do so yet. But every day, they seem just so horribly concerned that I won’t.

As far as my family are concerned, I then immediately get on the job hunt and chores for the day. The truth is I often nap a little longer. Terrible, I know. Still, I try to dedicate time to the hunt every day. So far it’s been disheartening to send out so many resumes and cover letters and hear nothing positive back, but that’s just how life is I suppose. I’m not particularly worried about it, as I have a roof over my head and food to eat. While I am jobless, it falls to me to make sure the house is in good order. It doesn’t take a long time to keep on top it if you do something every day. I try and rotate from room to room, of which there are only five or six for me to maintain given that everyone is responsible for their personal room. I’m also in charge of taking the cats to the vet for their checkups. Normally this wouldn’t feature into a typical day entry, but sadly due to his medical issues it is becoming part of a regular day for the boy. I take the bus to the local animal hospital, with the carrier on my knee. He doesn’t like it. Neither do I.

In the middle of the day, I then consult the meal plan for the week and check the cupboards for ingredients. We have a box of fresh fruits and vegetables delivered weekly, and we do tend to cook from scratch. We’re not big meat eaters, so I don’t often have to supplement this beyond some cupboard staples. If need be, I put on my coat and make for the local supermarkets. There are two facing one another, one a well known European ‘bargain’ store and the other a more upmarket place with a deli. If I just need normal supplies, I head for the cheaper place and get ready to be greeted by some cryptically labelled cans in Norwegian or bafflingly shaped plastic gadgets. I recently applied for seasonal work here, so now my routine must now include a short prayer to the gods of gainful employment that I might be accepted.

In the afternoon, I usually take the bus into the city. I have a student pass that is still active, so at the moment that’s a free activity. This could just be to browse the local shops, or a museum. Our local libraries are extremely large and well stocked, so it’s generally not a problem that I am currently without a computer of my own. When I’m on the move, I’m usually tapping away on Skype or Mycena, but the truth is I’m pretty much always on my mobile phone! Even this entry I’m writing there. Truly I have thumbs of steel. Often, in the afternoon I will meet up with a friend and we will catch up at a local cafe. It’s a cozy place, but a little strange in that you pay not for the items you consume, but for the time you spend there. I play a lot of Magic the Gathering here, and there’s even a club that meets every Friday. I find it harder to meet new people outside of the routine of school, so this is a good opportunity for me. Other than that, two or three afternoons a week, I hop onto the train and visit the person I’ve currently dating in their hometown or my family in the next town over. When visiting family, I tend to remain at my grandmothers house as that has always been our central hub. I will pretty much see everyone over the course of the afternoon if I stay there, and can usually count on watching a few of my cousins or my uncles dog while people take care of errands. Being away for so long, I enjoy being back in the middle of things like that. Unless I am visiting a cafe with a friend or at my relatives houses, I’m not good at eating lunch and snack more than I should. Mixed nuts in particular are my weakness. Although they’re good for protein, they’re actually quite calorific!

When I return home, I begin to make dinner in the hopes that everybody will return on time to eat it. I love to cook, and I’ve surprised myself by actually turning out to be pretty good at it. I usually make a large main dish, with several smaller ones and an accompanying sauce or dip. Typical meals for us would be something like stuffed courgettes with couscous, feta and a cayenne yoghurt, or a big pot of biriyani with sides. If I know I won’t be able to make it back in time, I will set up something in our slow cooker for everyone, or pre-roast some vegetables that can easily be made into a meal with rices or couscous. After everybody serves themselves, I take my portion and usually eat it while watching the small TV in the kitchen. Once everybody has returned their plate, I begin to wash everything back up. My sibling attends a specialist school for students looking to go into healthcare, so I can usually help them out with any homework. Unless it’s math. Not so great at that.

In the evening, I will return to that supermarket complex. This time, I’m heading for the fancy stuff. That is to say, I know when they mark down the fancier food and head out on the hunt for bargains! I feel like it raises everyone’s spirits to have something special to eat every once in awhile, or to have nice tidbits to offer a guest. I’m just now realising how much of my life centres around food… Hurrying back with any prizes gleaned, I can pretty much rely on having the rest of the day to myself if I so desire. I spend it playing through the pretty impressive backlog of games I couldn’t play while studying, or taking part in a tabletop game (Dragon Age RPG) I have over Skype. I also do tarot readings at this time. Everybody heads to bed around 9:30 PM, but I stay up later. How much later? It depends. But you might be a little worried if you are my Skype contact. I usually let the cats hop onto the bed. This is usually a really bad idea. I’ll probably never be able to turn down those sad eyes, though.

This morning, I turn off my alarm instead of snoozing it, so I wake up at 8:56am, rather than my normal 8:15/8:25. I should have realized since my dog was rolling around and a little more in my face than he normally is. Still, its cute to wake up to my dog next to me. We have had him for a little over a month now, he’s amazing. ANYWAY… I am pretty frazzled, cute pupper or not, since work starts at 9am. There’s a little wiggle room, but I know I’m definitely going to be late…

I get to the train at around 9:10am (I am pretty fast at getting ready… I’m pretty low maintenance haha) I’m running late, but I look pretty cute. I’m wearing a fall patterned dress with black leggings, and tan booties. I wore a cardigan and a jacket, its pretty chilly in the mornings now in Chicago, where I live. I take the train downtown to work, and today I do not get a seat. During rush hour you rarely do at my stop, the trains are already pretty full. I am used to standing up though, I read a book on the train.

I get to work at around 9:40am, I luckily don’t get in any trouble, my boss isn’t in yet. I tell everyone what happened and they are nice about it. I get to work! I work for a real estate listing company, and I just switched over to something new, so I am a bit slow with work, but I am picking it up pretty easily. My job is to update availability information for buildings owned by Management companies, so its essentially data entry, I look at their websites and update the info we have on ours. Its kind of tedious, but compared to what I used to do, making phone calls, its pretty chill. I work at a computer and my office is pretty laid back so I can listen to music. I have the room to myself, my office mate isn’t in yet as well, she’s at the same meeting as my boss.

By 10:05am I am really hungry, I rarely eat breakfast at home, usually I grab something quick to bring, or I grab something on my way in, but since I was running late I hadn’t eaten. One of my co-workers Is going out for a smoke break, and asks if I wanna come with. I don;t smoke, but I definitely want food so I join here outside for a bit and then grab McDonald’s breakfast. There’s a McDonalds in our building so I eat it… way too often. The sausage biscuit for breakfast is really good. We go back upstairs and I eat it while I work.

Around 11am, by boss and my office mate get in. Its nice to have someone else in the room with me. I’m used to working in a room with more people, and I just moved to the room where its just me and one other person so its nice to have her there. She is going to the Kanye West show that night, and I tell her I haven’t listened to Life of Pablo yet (i am really bad with keeping up with new music…), so we decide that’s the music for the day. We listen to the whole album.

As mentioned before, my job is kind of tedious, and we’re allowed to watch stuff in the background. I start watching some Pokemon Nuzocke YouTube videos, ShadyPenguinn and TheKingNappy’s Soul Link Nuzlocke. I like watching let’s plays of games that I’ve played before, because I don’t have to pay 100% of my attention to them. As I work I ask a few questions, but they are mostly like… “We do this right?” and I am correct. My office mate, who trained me on this job, says that I am picking up everything really nicely, which is good. I was really nervous about messing up all the info on a massive building or something, but I haven’t yet (knock on wood!!).

By 1pm I’m not that hungry, but one of my old office mates asks if I wanna go to Wendy’s, and I know I should eat something so I say yes. I usually eat lunch at around 12:30pm or 1pm, but since I ate so late I’m not super hungry. Wendy’s isn’t too far and its a nice walk. When we get back I eat and take a break, but I get back to work pretty quickly. At around 2:10pm I am looking at Facebook for a moment and see that its my friend’s birthday, so I text him “Happy memeday”. At around 3pm I switch from Let’s Plays to Project Runway… I am really behind on this season and I have a few friends who have been poking me to watch it. I am still working!!! Promise! After about 4pm our database is kinda slow off and on, which is annoying, but luckily I am able to avoid losing any work.

At 5:30, its time to leave! I make a stop by the bank before I head to the train I need to get quarters to do laundry. I get home at around 6pm, and my dog Wally is so excited to see me! He is super cute and its one of the highlights of my day to see him all wiggly and excited. I take him for a nice long walk, it’s very Fall out…. and nice day for a walk. By the time we get home, my boyfriend is home and the dog is excited to see him as well! My boyfriend makes some ramen for himself, but since I ate lunch late I’m not hungry yet. I actually don’t eat anything else that day… just not hungry for some reason.

Right now I’m obsessed with Stardew Valley. I put tons of hours into Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life, so I love Stardew Valley. We also watch American Horror story! Lady Gaga is a witch. I love it. Otherwise I’m just boopin around on the internet while doing laundry. Its right in our building so its easy. I am really bad at folding my laundry right after I do it, but today I am determined to do it so I can keep everything tidy, and I do so while my boyfriend gets all snuggled into bed with the dog. I join them once I’m done… nighty night!!!

Bonjour! I’m Knight, though some may remember me as Ryontail. I’m a sixteen years old high school senior living in the woods of a very french community.

On a typical weekday, I wake up at seven, or more accurately, i wake up at a quarter for seven and just pretend to be asleep until someone comes to wake me up. That someone is usually my mother, accompanied by my two very hungry cats. My mom usually gets me my clothes for the day while I get poked and screamed at by my cats.

I check my Ipad really quick, do my dailies over here on Mycenacave and check any webcomics that may have been updated on that day. I then get dressed and go to the basement to go feed my cats. (Their food bowl was moved downstairs when we got our dog) Now that I’m able to walk around without tripping on a feline, i start to prepare myself a breakfast.

By that of course I mean i shove two waffles in the toaster and check my remaining internet accounts for any news while they cook. Once the toaster pops (and almost always scares me), i get out a plate, put my two waffles on it and absolutely DROWN them in syrup.

After I’m done drinking my waffles, i go brush my teeth, make my bed, put on my hoodie and put anything that i may have unpacked the day before back in my bag. (Usually my sketchbook) My mom then helps me get my hair looking decent, and dyes a few blue streaks for me. After that it’s waiting for the bus, which passes around 8.
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At school, the first thing i do, after reaching my locker, is taking out my sketchbook and my pencil case. Then i head out to the library, where my artist friend is almost always waiting, and drawing on her phone. (Let’s call her DanDan)

The bell for the first class rings at around 8:40, i say goodbye to DanDan and head over to tenth grade social studies class. Since i had nothing at my first period, i had to go see a teacher to take me into their class, no one wanted me except the social studies teacher haha. This teacher teaches both social studies and cooking, as such, her class is divided in two, a classroom and a kitchen. I hang out in the kitchen, usually drawing in my sketchbook or working on homework for other classes. I like listening to the students in this class, they are so freaking entertaining wow.

I’m pretty sure first class finishes at 9:45, but don’t quote me on that, i can hardly ever remember when the bell rings.

After that is the twenty minutes homeroom class, where they give the day’s announcements and activities, if any. Nothing much happens here, i usually spend it drawing or working on unfinished homework, none of my friends share the same homeroom as me.

Since i have an online art class after that, i head to the downstairs computer lab, along with DanDan and another one of my artsy friends who for the sake of simplicity i’ll call Shade. Online Arts is mostly reading things, actually, though occasionally we get to play around with wacom tablets and photoshop, especially Fridays and Wednesdays. I don’t like my online teacher very much.

I forgot to mention that we get 10 minutes breaks between most classes. During this time between second and third period i usually grab a granola bar from my lunchbox, I’m always starving about here.

Next is my french class, and thankfully the last until lunch. Currently we are mostly reviewing grammar rules and reading a book called “Le voile de la peur”. It’s a good book really, while not usually my style it doesn’t involve elves or explosions or aliens or robots I found myself really hooked.

At lunch I sit with DanDan, sometimes Shade comes to sit with us, sometimes she doesn’t. I’m not gonna lie Shade is often my outlet for my transformers fangirling since she’s about as obsessed as me, meanwhile DanDan just looks at us like o-o. Shade never stays for long, and now that i think about it, I don’t think i’ve ever actually seen her eat. DanDan and I then proceed to nerd out about video games and steven universe.

Oh my lunch? I inhaled it two minutes into lunch break.

I have another online class after lunch, media studies. I really like my teacher, she’s friendly, but i don’t like the class all that much, and I’m falling behind due to being sick a few days this week. It’s basically an introduction to journalism, and i only took the class because i needed a certain number of classes on my choice list from last year. Hooray.

Last class is the most fun. Not only does my favorite teacher teach it, two of my best friends are in it. (That would be Shade and Voyd, who i’ll just name that after his username on everything and his roleplay character.) The class is called Audiovisuals. Translation: We f*ck around with a camera and the apple mac computers to make something that looks vaguely professional. I usually end up chatting with Voyd a lot, who’s been starting to inform me on a massive roleplay world that he and some of his friends have. He really wants me to join in since he found out i like roleplay.

School ends at 3:40 on every day except Wednesday. (School end one hour earlier on that day, all the classes are 55 minutes instead of an hour and there’s no homeroom) I then have to wait what feel like an hour on a bus ride, though it’s probably only 15-30 minutes. I usually listen to music during this drive since i don’t really know anyone. My choices of music include: Titan Souls OST, Dark Souls OST, Shadow of the Colossus OST, Abzu OST, Journey OST…. I like video game soundtracks apparently.
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When i get home I do a quick check of all the sites i visit on my ipad. Mycenacave, DeviantArt, Tumblr, I actually don’t frequent too many places now that i think about it. After that there’s no routine really, my familly is known for eating at all hours of the evening, I really can’t pin point it haha.

If my mom’s home then i may watch a tv show with her, if my dad’s home i might just go straight to my room and play ipad games, if no one’s home i may sit on the couch and blast my own music or watch netflix. Sometimes Voyd may have told me at school to go on Discord to chat, then i’ll go straight there when i arrive.

After a while though i will almost always go to my room, either to watch youtube on my ipad (with my cat deciding that it’s a good idea to sleep on my face) or go on the computer to chat or write things.

Around 7pm I’ll often drop what I’m doing and get out either my ipad or my sketchbook to draw, especially since it’s inktober right now.

Around 9:30 i’ll start to get ready for bed. Changing into pajamas, grabbing a late snack (usually frootloops, sometimes toasts), brushing my teeth and putting on my retainers. I go to bed at 10, though i often stay awake staring at the walls and at the ceiling for a long…. long time.

I am but a simple Frey, who would like no more than to sleep my mornings away and awaken with the peaceful chirp of birds and daylight peeking through the curtains.

I am not afforded that luxury.

The alarm goes off at 5:30 AM, both due in part to my fiancee’s (Raja) early job-start and my need for ample drive-time.  It is dark, it is silent, it is dreadful.  It is also hot due to the south Texas humidity and heat.  This directly clashes with the fact that I am not a morning person, which makes rolling out of bed a chore.  I give myself 15-20 minutes to fully wake up before I drag myself out of bed and am greeted by my children.

(Hello, I am brat-cat (Josie).  See the curtain back there? I looooove clawing curtains!)

(I am brat-cat the sequel (Paisley).  I am less destructive than Josie but I make up for it in ATTENTION-NEEDING. LOVE ME ALWAYS.)

These two greet me immediately and follow me around wanting food.  I try to get food for myself first, which inevitably fails, so I put a few pieces of cat food in their bowls as a distraction and go to get something to eat.  Sometimes if I am running a bit behind I just pack something to eat later, but otherwise I get a bowl of oatmeal or cereal and kill a bit of time.  I then pack my lunch (sometimes for my fiancee too if they want) before getting dressed and ready to go.  Normal attire is business-casual, and often with a tie, because I love ties.  I take forever and a day on my hair unless it was freshly-cut, getting the faux-hawk just right, before running to grab my stuff and head out the door.

Then I sit for awhile and sludge through the morning commute.  Traffic in the city is ten levels of awful and no matter if I leave extra early, I almost always get to work either right on time or a few minutes late.  It’s a game of ‘will I survive this?’ even if you drive safely.  This is probably the most stress-inducing part of my day.  Work is a normal 15-20 minutes from where I live, and during rush-hour I get there in 30.

I start at 7 AM, which is normally a time when few people are in the office.  I will hit my two month anniversary at my job next week, where I am a city employee working for Solid Waste.  What seems like less of a glamorous job is actually really intriguing, and I am known now to babble endlessly about the internal politics of local government and Where Your Trash Actually Goes.  I am an analyst for Planning and Innovation, so my team does the legwork of analyzing numbers, trends, customer habits, and other metrics to fully understand how to make operational decisions and give suggestions.  I was hired to also do GIS work, which stands for a Geographic Information System - essentially, manipulating geographic data for visual display on a map.  I can’t show exact maps that I make, but I can show an example of a GIS map (thanks Google!):

(pretty maaaaaaaaap)

Once my team comes in (there are only six of us!), we get to work on projects currently assigned to us and collaborate.  I share an office with the senior analyst of the group, and most of us are total nerds, so there are jokes and memes throughout the day.  Thankfully I have a large window from which I can gaze upon all of the lush trees from the Texas hill country that I can see.  Meetings are thrown in there as well, and sometimes training or presentations.  We recently had a member of the team depart and I was given some of his work to catch up on, so that is a learning experience all on its own.  Lunch happens whenever I am hungry around the midday hour (sometimes I forget to eat if I’m really into something) wherein I take a break to get away from the computer.

I work long days on a 9/80 schedule, which basically means I get every other Friday off while making the time up by padding the rest of the days around it.  I work about 9.5-10 hour days this way, which I still am not used to.  Days can sometimes crawl on by, which are only alleviated by hot cups of tea and blasting music while I work.  Oftentimes an Oreo break is required (we have a snack cabinet where Oreos and Cheez-its seem to be the Number One and Number Two Brain Foods of Choice to keep us going).  Once 4:45 PM hits I head out, around the time when rush-hour traffic starts to rear its ugly head.

Every other day I hit the gym so on a gym day I muddle through traffic (again) to go work out.  I change there, spend an hour with cardio and weights, then go home.  Gym days get me to the house by 6:30 PM, so by that time I am starving.  Fiancee is already home and because of the late hour, I immediately get dinner started.  Once food is in the oven I get a shower in and try to relax a bit.  We eat late, though I am trying to do more prep ahead of time so I can simply throw something together and go instead of taking the time to prepare everything at once.  8:00 is often dinnertime, then I flop on the couch and relax for a little while.  The Children usually pester me with purrs and claws.

If one of our shows has a new episode on Hulu my fiancee and I catch up on it, or we play on the computer or play video games.  I’m trying to finish Pokemon Omega Ruby at the moment in preparation for Sun and Moon, so that and petsites/character building keep me busy at night.  If I am exceptionally tired I have the bad habit of passing out on the couch until bedtime.  This is something I am also trying to break myself of, and get my butt to bed earlier.  We normally call it a day at 10:30 PM or so, then rinse-wash-and-repeat.

I fall asleep craving the weekend.  Mercy please, I need more sleep.

( and your friendly PSA because I am going to be That Kind of Person: RECYCLE, FOR THE GOOD OF THE PLANET. :);;;;;;; )

Morning:
I usually wake up between 7:00am and 8:00am and I lay in bed for about an hour. In this time I text my girlfriend mostly while cruising through social media. I’ll do this until I feel like it’s time to get out of bed and get ready for the day. Then I usually start the morning by asking my mom and dad if there’s anything I can help with that day (which usually consists of driving my sisters around or taking care of the dog) then I make my breakfast which usually consists of eggs and a good cup of coffee. I usually sip my coffee for a long time while sitting in front of the fire. That’s when I start the job hunt, I either look for new jobs on job boards, work on my resume, or work on applications. And I’ll do that for most of the morning. Around noon, my dad and sometimes my mom come home for lunch. Sometimes I make lunch, sometimes my dad does, and sometimes my mom.

Afternoon:
After lunch, my parents head back to work, and I start studying. I’m taking the LSAT in December, so I usually use my afternoons to study and prepare. Then, at around 2:00 and 3:00 I’ll take my dog on a nice long walk. We usually go 2-3 miles. Then I head home to study some more and help my mom get my sisters to all of their activities. Once I’ve done the sister chauffeuring, I head home to relax a little bit on social media or on pet sites. And I wait for my girlfriend to be done with her job so we can call/FaceTime before dinner. Then I’ll eat dinner and maybe run my sisters around some more.

Evening:
In the evenings, I usually help with the post dinner cleanup and some other house tidying and cleaning. Then I like to sit by the fire again and snuggle with my doggy. I’ll usually hang out with my parents in the evening and watch TV with them. My dad really likes the news, so that’s what we usually watch. When I am ready, I’ll go to my room and watch Netflix or just surf around the internet. And I will do that until I get tired and then I’ll go to sleep.
Right now my life isn’t super exciting, I’m working hard to get employed again and workIngrid towards going to law school and somehow getting geographically closer to my SO.

I’m a student, so my life is fairly boring. I attend school five days out of seven, and take some tuition on the side for weaker subjects and Taekwondo for fitness.
In the morning, I’m up at 6:30am. I’m not exactly a morning person, but I have to wake up at that time to not be late to school (Sometimes I ignore my alarm and go back to sleep, which usually results in a mad scramble for books and necessities when I oversleep).

I don’t eat breakfast because I get horrible stomachaches when I do. I don’t usually have time for breakfast anyway, so all’s good on that front. My mom drives me to school on most days (I’m very lucky in that aspect) and it’s mostly a silent drive since I fall asleep way too easily.

That’s my usual school gate I get in from. No one can get in unless they’re a student because the school’s been having some security issues. Morning assembly starts at 7:45am most days, and the whole school gathers in the Central Plaza to sing the national anthem and all that good stuff. School proper starts at 8am.

Before school starts, I usually sit with my friends because we aren’t in the same class and try to spend as much time together as possible. We tend to get into the same kinds of things too, so its always fun with them. Right now we’re all into Mystic Messenger (I’m on Yoosung’s route now) and not sleeping because of it.

Depending on the type of subjects we take, our timetables end differently. My friend ends regularly between 1:30pm to 2:30pm, while mine varies between 3:30pm to 6pm. I don’t really have much to say about lessons since they’re pretty self-explanatory, so I’ll skip that. Lunch break is anywhere from 11:30am to 2:30pm, and we get food from the cafeteria/canteen. I usually eat a bowl of noodles. It is about $2.40. I usually get a drink too, the packet drink in the corner called Just Tea costs about $0.60. My lunch breaks are generally long, so I either study or take a break at my class bench. Most people around here study so sometimes I get pressurized into studying too even when I feel like sleeping, oops.

I don’t particularly like my school, I’m here because I don’t really have any other choice. The environment and pressure drives many people to do things that they shouldn’t, which is very sad.

After that its lessons again, all the way until 4pm. Today we get some of our exam results back, and I guess I did alright. After school I don’t do much, mostly I’ll hang out with my friend/s until about 6pm before heading home. I can’t get home too late because the area around my home is really dark and quite scary when it’s nighttime.

I usually log onto Mycena Cave and Flight Rising periodically throughout the day, but most of my activity is at night when I’m at home. I don’t leave my room much, other than to eat food. In my room I either study or play some games, but nowadays when my exams over its more of the latter. I recently picked up tarot reading too, so I get some practice in at night.

On school days I usually get to sleep by 11:30pm to 12:30pm, and then a new day begins.

I often get up about 6:35.  My husband works overnight so I get up to fix him supper and myself breakfast.  Nope not two different meals just odd breakfast for me.  While we eat he tells me about his workday and I tell him how the evening at home went.  Sometimes one of the family comes out and we all have a nice conversation.  After that he goes off to bed since he works 12 to 14 hour shifts and I begin my day.  I start to clean the house and then usually have to stop to see where the horse or goat that just walked past the window got out of the fence.  At least it wasn’t the cow this time, she hates me and plays keep away like a champ.  Since it has been so hot and I am outside already I check water buckets, troughs and bottles.  Horses, goats, rabbits, chickens, ducks, dogs, cats and a cow drink a lot of water and they can’t just go to the faucet for a glass.  Now back to cleaning.  I finish my house chores about the time for a doctor’s appointment.  Not always mine but if it is one of my kids or my mother in law (she is about to turn 88) I am not asking my husband to give up his sleep to drive.  (I know it is supposed to be a typical day.  Last week we had 9 in the 5 days)

At the doctor’s office I have to coordinate the next appointment.  It gets interesting when 3 different doctors feel they just must see us back on the same day and time.  I have gotten very good at juggling.  Now home to lunch.  Often a sandwich or soup.  Now another quick look outside for any escapees.  We live on a dirt road but there are other people also and I don’t want any livestock accidents.

During the late afternoon I do the laundry since my dryer is loud and I like to let night shift workers sleep.  I used to work at night so I know how it is.  I have very bad knees so by this time I am ready to sit in a comfy chair and read or crochet for a while.  I usually talk to my married daughter about now and see how she and my granddaughters are doing.  Her husband is rarely there since he works very long days as well.  About 6 I go out to feed all the animals.  My middle girl had surgery just over a week ago so she can’t help much even though most of them are hers.  Often I get help from my other at home daughter when she is not too sick.  When we finish at home I go up to my mother in law’s house.  We have a few small goats up there because she thinks they are cute and they help keep the brush from growing up too much around her place.  Plus keeping them there gives me a reason to check in on her every night without making it seem she is a burden.  She actually is a really cool person most of the time.

I get home about time to help my daughter hook up her one 18 hour feeding for the day. (Yep Nephele is mine) I eat my supper which is often that breakfast food I missed out on earlier.  Then I usually go to bed.  Watch tv or read for just a little while then off to sleep to do it all again tomorrow.

I wish I could wake up earlier than 7am but honestly I just can’t anymore. I’m a huge morning bird though and once I’m up I’m ready to take on the day! Breakfast options are a bit limited mostly because my roommate sleeps in later than I do and I feel terrible for waking people up so I decide not to microwave or prepare anything with crunchy wrappers. I grab a couple peanut butter snacks and hit the road right away.

I don’t work too far away from where I live, so it’s a nice walk. I have to go up and down a few hills, and there’s lots of construction, but the city is still rather quiet in the morning and the buses run by every few minutes. When I get to my workplace, it’s still rather empty, but nice.

Work goes by in the blink of an eye! Soon I’m out wandering campus again getting ready for my classes. I walk back on the path by the lake, bypassing a lot of the foot traffic now crowding up the streets. The leaves are just starting to change color and a few people have arranged them in letters along the road home. A lot of people on bikes whiz past, taking this trail as a shortcut. I barely make it back home before I get a text from my friend asking if I wanted to grab lunch with her.

Lunch is a wonderful time! We both grab the same meal and head upstairs since the dining area was full. She and I sit around chatting for a long time, but as lunch ends I realize that my classes start half an hour earlier today and I sprint out the door! My journey is mostly downhill so it’s not too bad of a trek. My computer science lab class goes by in a flash as my partner and I complete our code with time to spare! As the clock hits the half hour mark, I’m already out sprinting up the hill to catch my next lecture.

Front row seats are still open, courtesy of my friends who actually manage to get to their classes in a timely fashion. The lecture flies by and the people next to me almost fall asleep a few times but we all manage to get some good notes and understand what’s going on. Near the end of the lecture, I’m checking my clock, ready to get to band. As the professor dusts off his chalky hands, the room shuffles around and everyone packs up their notebooks. Running down stairs and out into the fresh fall air never felt so good.

Band rehearsal started a bit early today and I have to sneak into the percussion section. I’m allowed to arrive late since my schedule is a mess but I still feel bad anyways. The rehearsal goes well though and I noticed how much I improved on one of the songs. The percussion section is called out to play together to refine our section. Every second we spend working on hitting patterns together with the band waiting on us is excruciating, but when we finally sync together it’s incredible. We’ve lined up our notes, our breathing, our movements, everything. I don’t have a part in the last song so I listen and wait. I watch all the other percussionists at work. It’s incredible how talented everyone here is.

When band lets out I’m on the road again for the last time. Dinner is held with a seminar, and I just so happen to be signed up to eat dinner with the seminar guest speaker. Again, the band conflicts with the dinner, so I have to sneak in a few minutes late. Miraculously though, another friend sneaks in with me, just having returned from another band. We sit together and talk with our guest. The dinner is wonderful but I barely notice it over the chatting. Except the cake.

The cake was very good I would never forget the cake.

The speaker has brought her three daughters with her and they’re all drawing as we discuss science and whatnot. When the guest leaves the table and begins her speech, the youngest daughter turns to her neighbors and shows off her artwork. I pull out a notebook and draw a picture of a bird while the speech continues. Trying to silently rip out the paper, I hand the girl my artwork and ask her to color it. She returns it to me a few minutes later with a wide grin and I hand her another picture, this time of a cat. This goes on until the speech ends, and the girl runs up to give me a hug and all the drawings she made that night.

When I get back to my dorm I’m swamped in math homework. Luckily, everyone else is too and I have neighbors stopping over chatting and discussing the lecture today. As we debate calculus answers, one brings up the dinner speech tonight, saying that she’d sat behind me and had seen me making coloring pages for the guest’s daughter and how cute it was. I argue that it was also a good excuse for me to draw instead of take notes on the lecture. I show her all the pictures and decide to hang them up on my wall at some point.

Night falls earlier than ever and I go to bed a little early. Homework is done, class conflicts are done, and the rest of the week is looking great.

So, I don’t have a consistent daily routine. Week to week stays mostly the same, but no day is identical for me. I’m going to go with what is a typical Thursday! It’s pretty typical college student life, I think?

I’m not at all a morning person. I’m a grump in the morning and have a very hard time waking up. I need a minimum of three alarms in order to get myself up. On Thursdays, my first alarm typically goes off at 8am. I’ll usually lay in bed for at least 10 minutes, but occasionally as long as 30-40 minutes. I’ll roll over and grab my glasses, then lay in bed (usually cocooned in my blankets) and mess around on my phone or computer. Then, I’ll dash out of bed, throw some random clothes on, and race to school (hopefully with the correct books + materials).

My first class of the day is from 9:45-11. It’s ENG 305 - Children’s Literature. Hopefully I’ve remembered to bring all of the books and handouts for that day’s discussion and hopefully I’ve read enough to be able to actively participate! Occasionally we get pop quizzes too. This class can be really interesting or really boring depending on the day. It’s tough for me because, as I’ve already mentioned, I’m not a morning person. I’m also not very good about being prepared and having all the readings done, but I get by. I do love to write and some of the books are really good, so that’s nice. The teacher is very intense though and it’s not as fun a class as it sounds like it’d be.
My second class of the day is from 11:10-12. It’s ASTRO 101 - Introduction to Astronomy. This is the most boring class I’ve ever taken in my entire life. We’re basically studying the history of the universe, blah blah blah. THERE IS ZERO SCIENCE IN THIS CLASS!!! I usually just sit there on my computer playing on here or FlightRising or on Facebook. BLEH!
Now I have a 2 hour and 45 minute break. During this time I’ll eat and be lazy. I usually go to the library for most of this time because it’s comfy and because I tell myself I’ll be productive and get work done. Occasionally I do get a little bit of work done. Mostly I just play around on my computer and occasionally watch Law and Order SVU.
My third and last class of the day is from 2:45-4. It’s PSYCH 223 - Abnormal Psychology. This class can be very interesting, very boring, and occasionally triggering. (I’ve been diagnosed with Depression, Anxiety, possibly ADD, and one very inaccurate attempt at diagnosing me with Bipolar Disorder). I find this material very interesting, but the reason it’s sometimes boring is because there is a lot of repetition between psych classes. As I have already taken many psych classes, not all of the material I’m learning is new. Occasionally I leave this class 10 minutes early to make sure I’m on time for babysitting.

Usually I babysit until around 9, though sometimes earlier and sometimes later. Most of the time the mom has cooked dinner and I will set it up. I make sure they’re fed, clean up, behave, get their homework/responsibilities done. The older boy has a tutor that comes over. It’s honestly a pretty easy job, not much to do, though the kids aren’t very well behaved. They fight with each other constantly, and are disrespectful towards each other and towards me. They’re sweet kids, but they act out when I’m there because I’m not the parent and I’m not crazy strict. (Their parents are super crazy strict).

Usually we hang out for a few hours tops. We’re both pretty tired and he’s a very busy guy. He’s usually eating dinner and I’ll either eat with him or steal some of his food. Sometimes we play pokemon go. We usually just hang out, chill, relax, catch up for a while before he heads home.

The rest of my night will probably be spent on this couch, maybe some time in the kitchen because I love food. I probably won’t do anything productive, because Thursday is the last day of my week. I have no class again until Monday, so I can finally relax! I will most definitely be playing on various pet sites. I will probably check facebook and my email. I will most likely watch Law and Order and catch up on any other tv shows if I’ve fallen behind. (Currently that means Once Upon a Time and New Girl - soon The Walking Dead). Maybe I’ll watch a movie or read, though I don’t do either very often - certainly not as often as I should (reading especially)! Eventually I will brush my teeth and go sleepytime back in my uber comfy bed!

This is going to be a typical Thursday, as it is my busiest day. Don’t tell anyone else, but the rest of the week mostly consists of staying at home and procrastinating all the work I should be doing.

On Thursdays, my first class starts at 11am. I like to get there early, so I wake up at around 7:30 to get ready. Breakfast, choosing an outfit, all the boring stuff. The longest part of my morning routine would probably be my hair. It’s quite long – it goes down to my hips, and is very curly, so its quite a task to tame it and make it stay. Even worse is summer, when it turns into a mane of frizz.

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By the time I finish, its about 9am and its time to leave. I know what you’re thinking – it’s a bit early isn’t it? Well, parking at my university is absolutely awful. So I have to park off site, walk to the tram stop, and then catch the tram onto campus. Even worse is that the parking around the tram stop fills up, so unless you get there before 7am (which I am NOT doing), I have to spend quite a while looking around. This usually makes me quite mad, because drivers around here are also awful. At least I have the tram ride to calm down.

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Once I get to Uni, I’m usually a bit early. So I find a conference room to sit around in, and check my daily websites; Mycena and Flight Rising. If there’s not much else to do in the way of actual school work, I’ll sit on chat until it’s time to head into class.

For those who don’t know, I’m a law student. So my first class up is Urban Planning Law. This is a workshop. I only have one friend who chose this class with me, as it is an elective. The rest of the students in the class are split between law students and planning students, so the knowledge range in the class varies significantly. If I’m going to be quite honest, I often feel like I have no idea what I’m doing in this class. The planning students have a significant advantage. So I often try to sit next to them, because when we work in groups it’s definitely an advantage to hear their point of view and how they would approach the different questions. This class finishes at 1pm.

My next class isn’t until 3pm, so I usually head to get some sushi from the on campus food places (or Mexican, whichever has the lesser line). After this, my friend and I will usually either sit in the library to work on some Urban Planning lecture things (We have weekly quizzes, so sometimes we take this time to complete these), or we will head to the University Bar to sit around and chat. (No drinks, I have to drive later !!)

This time goes quite quickly. At the library sometimes we even go to play the xbox’s, or if we’ve planned in advance we book ourselves a room. We are sometimes productive, but when we have nothing else going on we’ll both be in our own little worlds, wasting time away on sites like MC or tumblr.

Next up is an Administration Law lecture at 3pm. This is easily my hardest class. Thankfully it’s in my favourite lecture room, which makes it a bit easier to pay attention to. The teacher is quite interesting to, and definitely more fun to listen to than some professors I’ve had in the past. I spend the lecture time taking notes, but I’m usually also messaging people too. I find it hard to concentrate on one thing at once.This lecture goes until 5pm.

At 5pm, I then have an an Administration Law tutorial. This class is full of a different range of students, from 2nd years to people in their final year of law school. This also makes things intimidating, as a lot of them are about to finish their time at University this semester. Meanwhile, I still have 2 years left. Still, like Urban Planning, this means I can hear answers from much more experienced students, who likely have more of an idea about the subject than I do. This professor is also fun, so it makes the time go by quickly. This finishes at 6pm.

After this, I have to make the tram ride and walk to my car in the dark. This is easily the scariest part of my day, as its not in the greatest area. Usually I have someone to walk with me, or drive me to my car, so it’s not too bad. Making the drive home at night can be fun, as I do like driving alone with my music playing. It’s one of the few times I get truly to myself where I don’t have to worry about other people hearing.

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After this, it’s time for the gym. I usually go with my boyfriend, and it’s the only time we get to see each other on Thursdays because I’m gone all day. He works all day anyway, but I have quite a late finish at Uni so it doesn’t leave much time. We usually spend an hour at the gym, which is quite fun. (Though definitely exhausting). This is a new addition to my daily routine, so lets hope I can keep it up!

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Once home, its dinner time. Sometimes my family has even eaten without me. The rest of my night then consists of sprawling across my bed and watching some of my favourite shows; currently I am binge watching The Good Wife. While I do this, I will also be playing Mycena, or writing papers that may be due. I do this until I feel tired, and then head to bed (Anyone who knows me knows that usually I won’t sleep until about 2am, so there’s a long period of procrastinating and binge watching shows!)

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