(no subject)

I got burned out on Final Fantasy Online for a while, but lately I can't seem to get enough. The expansion pack came out recently and since then nearly everyone on the game has been leveling up the new jobs...which means that the old jobs are in high demand for parties. I haven't had so many invites...ever. I put up my party flag, warped to my home city, changed jobs to get a chocobo, and instantly got an invite for a party that was a 20 minute choco ride or a 40 minute, nearly impossible for my level walk away. Luckily, I could warp there, which they didn't know and seemed very pleased about. I got party invites while I was already in a party. So I guess that's the difference. When I stopped playing a couple months ago, I was spending my whole playtime sitting in Qufim Island waiting for someone to invite me to a party. But now I'm gaining levels much more quickly and not standing around for ages waiting.

I've also been very motivated to do most of my weekly cooking in one day. It really makes the rest of my week easy. So yesterday I made carbonnade a la flamande, chili, and the best friggin' apple cider glazed ham on the planet. I got the ingredients for, but did not make, pasta e fagioli and black bean soup. If I can stretch the food I made yesterday through the week, then I can probably save the other two soups for next week. The pasta e fagioli doesn't hold well, so I have to make it at the last minute. Also, ham is incredibly expensive, but I think I got at least four meals out of it. And also, with the weather we're having right now, soup is all I want.

I've noticed that I've started having more time for a lot of my old hobbies, which is really nice. Dominic is starting to be more self-sufficient and doesn't need a constant eye on him. I've gone back to work on the blanket I started crocheting a few years ago, I started baking bread again and making more complicated recipes, and have been picking up the video game controller again. It's nice to see parts of my old self emerging again.