We’re almost half way through the year and I feel like I haven’t gotten enough of the things I love done. Music, writing, reading, gaming, and crafting are important to me and I’ve been stuck doing the renovation. Not just that, but it’s been one thing after another. A saying that used to bug me when mom said it, but now I’m living it. I got stopped by a massive RA flare, then there was taxes, next up was the ant saga, then it was a condo inspection for pests (that turned out to be a nothing burger for me, but wasted my time anyway), and now the actual unit inspection this week. On one hand, I love that my home is much cleaner. On the other, I was planning to do all this right after the current phase of the renovation was done.

I swear, if I hadn’t returned to sword swinging, I would be in much worse mental shape at this point. Hopefully, after the inspection is done on Wednesday, the world can leave me alone to finish the renovation, so I can get back to the rest of my preferred life.

They actually asked me if I was renovating. Three different floors in the kitchen, buckets of grout, paint cans, power tools, and a partially completed backsplash. No, I just like my home to look like hell for fun. I just looked at the woman and said, “Yes.” Kind of made me wonder what else they have seen in some other units though.

In gaming, I need to talk about Disney Dreamlight Valley. I know I’m a bit late to the movement, but I think it’s truly a genius move by Disney to come out with this game. I find myself wanting to watch and, in some cases, own copies of the films after playing this game. I’ll regularly get random songs stuck in my head like Under the Sea. The nostalgia fueled marketing that this game brings about is phenomenal. And it’s something that most of us little folks are nowhere near being able to do for our own IPs because we’re virtually unknown. Even writer friends I know who are award winning are not known to the degree of Disney.

Frustrated with how the glass tile work has been going, I got a Dremel with a diamond blade that shows exactly what I’m wanting to do on the package for the blade. The blade cost more than the tool did. Next up is learning how to use it because the last time I used a Dremel, the blade flew across the room. That would be the reason I didn’t jump to this option sooner. But I think it’s time I get over that and learn how to use the thing because they can be quite handy and maybe I’ll love it once I learn how to use it. I got a lightweight one that fits well in my tiny hands. That may also improve my chances.

After work on Friday, I tried out the Dremel. It worked out fairly well. It’s not super fast, but it works. And I can even polish the edges with it as needed. It’s not perfect, but I think that’s more of a skill issue since I haven’t done this before. But I think it’s going to work out just fine once the grout is in place.

Yeah, the very corner isn’t perfect but my teapot normally lives in front of it anyway, so it’s not going to be noticed. One the left side, the five half-ish pieces were done with the Dremel. I have a one-inch trim to go above the backsplash later on. With ten near half pieces and 3 long pieces that needed to be trimmed slightly, I felt pretty good about the progress on Friday evening. And I’m no longer scared of the Dremel. It requires some patience as one needs to gingerly touch the blade to the object, but it’s much better than using a glass cutter. And I didn’t want to even try my actual tile saw because it would have been too hard to put these little half pieces through safely.

Sunday had me in pain, but I went to martial arts anyway. I probably shouldn’t have. My back is still upset from the fall last Saturday. The pain was almost gone, but then I got this spasm out of nowhere. I figured moving might help, but I stubbornly decided to start the other martial art and it involves a lot more oblique and twisting motions.