I miss being on this site a lot :( good times....

hows everyone doing. im currently a store manager for a pet store lol

I just wanted to chat and see how people were doing and see who is still active here!! Whats up with your lives

Meh...right now my step mother is in the hospital with what we suspect was a mini-stroke so she is undergoing therapy to rebuild her strength. She had a aortic valve replacement surgery last year and her recovery is...slow.

On a lighter note I am learning to make more things with crochet than just coasters. :)

Aw im sorry to hear that and i wish her the best! Hopefully shes able to rebuild her strength well.

crotchet seems really cool! ive never been good at tactile stuff like that so i really envy people who can commit to stuff like that !!

Crochet is not as hard as some people think; personally I find it easier than knitting because with crochet if you mess up a stitch it is easy to see 'cuz it is right on that row so you can undo the stitches to that point PLUS you don't have to worry about having a bunch of stitches falling off because you use a hook and not needles.

Knitting is tricky as you have to knit closer to the tips (not at the tips just close) and you don't want the stitches too tight or loosely-goosey either.

As for my step mother..I hope she recovers too somewhat but it is hard to tell.

Thank You for your kind words :)

Hoping to become more active on here again (I still come on every December for the daily Melody gifts but sometimes forget to come on as often the rest of the year!). Life has been pretty busy, I have to say. I've been at my day job for five years now (teaching assistant at a primary school); I've never been very assertive and it took me a while to earn some respect there, but got there eventually (my job was especially tough last year and I think my bosses appreciate the things I had to do for them).

My life changed completely during lockdown though, besides my job. On the side, I co-founded a little computer games company and we released our first game in September 2020, with two more games currently in production. I also got on the property ladder that December, which I'm very pleased about. Then, in April 2021, I started publishing a weekly comic strip on Instagram (having my own comic strip has been a childhood dream of mine). One of those things I'd been meaning to do for years, but struggled to find the time to plan things. Lockdown helped (I was out of work for a few months in 2020, as the school could only allow a few staff members to come in, so found time to fine tune my characters and jokes during that time before publishing the first few comics the next year).

I also got back on stage this year. I've performed in local amateur theatre groups since I was ten, and of course with everything going on in the world we had to put our shows on hold. I've been in two one-act plays and a Christmas pantomime this year. Feels good to be back!

On a sadder note, more recently my aunt has been diagnosed with incurable cancer. We don't have a prognosis yet and she is currently in hospital, but hoping to get out before Christmas. I've since been seeing my uncle on a weekly basis since. They've been living in Portugal for the past twenty-something years, and have only recently moved back here to the UK. In fact, they've just bought a bungalow within walking distance of my flat. They're not quite moved in yet (my uncle's been busy moving their furniture over from the place they're renting, between visits to the hospital) but it will be nice to be able to see them and help them, especially now that they will really need it.

Anyway, lovely to meet you both! Thanks for starting this forum thread, it was a good idea!

wishing your stepmother all the best <3 it's cool that you're working on your crochet skills! A friend tried to teach me (on more than one occasion) and was amazed at my complete lack of fine motor skills I think! I'm fine with drawing and animating cartoons, but the second I have to create anything with three dimensions, and somehow things just go... very wrong... XD

I am so sorry to hear that your aunt is stricken with such an illness and I do hope she can go home before christmas too. I am also impressed with your entrepreneurial skills, ambition and tenacity. It is good to have something, anything to work on and for no matter how big or small, right? I admire your ability to go after what you want and more importantly you had a dream too. Not many, including myself, has that. :)

thanks so much for your kind words! My aunt is out of the hospital today temporarily. She has to go back this evening as she is still being monitored, but she's really pleased to have one day of freedom (with everything that's been going on). We're just having to take one day at a time for now.

I want to work at a pet store T_T

I'm broke from spending every penny of mine on presents, but the holidays have been nice<3

I'm doing good! I'm not really a veteran here but I figured I'd comment anyway. I'm currently on Christmas break from school which is nice. I had a great Christmas and I hope you all had a great Christmas/Luminaire too!

Hello, Hope you are doing great today.

Right now I am not feeling so great' with my father passing away unexpectedly this past December then having to pack and move, tying up loose ends and stuff.

Today I found myself almost crying because I am alone. My dad is gone and he was the only person I could talk to about things like current events and stuff and because he grew up in Switzerland and in a different culture and era he had a different perspective on things and was not the type to be influenced by propaganda.

So I will be moving in with my mother until I or we can find something better; I mean, we can talk but her horizon and perspective is different and so our conversations are not ever gong to be like what dad and I could discuss So just feeling down, sad, lonely...

My whole life has been upended and will have to try to adjust to a new environment and new way of living so...I just have to take things one day at a time..one hour at a time..