Better than last time I commented on this thread! My gastritis has taken a turn for the better which has had a huge positive effect on my mood. I got some extra hours in work too, after working part time for ages due to being sick. I’m hoping to pick up some private students for online lessons after the summer to earn some more money so I can move out of my house which has been the plan since 2020 but it’s been delayed at every turn 😭 2025 is going to be my year… Possibly

The gastritis is… bad. And I’m tired of working through the pain. But my friend made me dinner this evening which was amazing because I’m so tired of making food that’s suitable for me to eat.

Never take ibuprofen on an empty stomach.

Thanks for these!

You know it’s funny, I live in a place with no extreme temperatures but that’s really wet and I’ve realised that we don’t have shoes to match our climate at all. Lots of people have recommended boots to me (which is a great shout, don’t get me wrong!) but I already have a lovely pair of waterproof winter boots that I have already gotten resoled once by a brilliant cobbler. I’m specifically looking for sneakers that are waterproof because boots are too warm and life’s too short to hang around all day in a pair of wet canvas shoes (remember it doesn’t have to be raining for feet to get wet - one step in long grass or a puddle will do it).

It’s why I love my eccos and have bought so many pairs (now on my fifth). It just seems so wasteful to drop them in the bin when the stitching goes on them.

These are great! Thanks superkret :)

I haven’t used calm in a long time but my favourite ones to start were the body scans because they’re so simple. I used to set the timer to something really short like 3-4 minutes to start and I did them on my break in work in a call centre job.

Sometimes it helped, and sometimes it was frustrating, but it acted like a temperature check on my emotions. If it was frustrating I knew I was more sleep deprived or stressed so it let me know I needed some more self care, like an early night or some time to myself.

I’d like to echo another commenter’s advice of looking into therapy if you can afford it. At the same time as I was getting into meditation I also got CBT therapy from a fantastic therapist and it was one of the best things I ever did. If you have any questions about it feel free to ask.

Best of luck OP 💕

The Blindboy Podcast brought up this problem (adult children living with their parents because of the housing crisis) on one of his recent podcasts, but he framed it from the point of view of the adult children. I’m interested to hear what kind of struggles you face on the opposite side, apart from what you’ve just mentioned here. How did you picture your life when you got to this stage and how has that changed?

I have a few pairs like this but some are newer than others and I hate matching an older one with a newer one bc I can feel the difference in stretchiness 🫠

So weird that you mention the iron deficiency because a friend of mine literally just suggested that too. I follow a mostly plant based diet and I’m low on iron to begin with. Not only that but being sober means I don’t get as many meaty takeaways as hungover treats, I wonder if that has affected my nutrition. Will put myself on some iron tablets and report back!

I don’t mind cleaning that much but the laundry really gets my goat because I can’t just DO it. You get me?

Like, the dishes for example. I do those, or I put them in a dishwasher where they’re cleaned and dried and it’s just one thing.

With the laundry I have to separate everything so I can’t even wash stuff all at the same time. Then it takes two hours for the washing machine to be done and then they’re wet. And if I leave them too long in the washing machine they get that mouldy damp smell so I have to wash again. And then there’s the drying. Hanging up socks should be illegal, it takes so long and for what?? One wear and then they’re back in the laundry basket? Kill me.

Oh now your stuff is dry? Now you have to take it to a secret third place (your wardrobe). It takes so much time and energy to get the washing and drying done that the last part often doesn’t get done.

And. It. Never. Ends.

Someone PLEASE invent a wardrobe that does mini loads of laundry and also hangs your clothes to dry but also that doesn’t make your home mouldy.

Or even just. A smaller washing machine that operates with a crank and only takes a few turns to wash your clothes so that I don’t have to leave it for two hours in a washing machine and forget about it.

I don’t think I’m being articulate at all here but whatever. Laundry needs to get its shit together. We live in the future and it still SUCKS.

This creature is in fact a bittern!! Or me on day three of a music music festival trying to ease the pain in my legs while still getting a good look at the act playing.

I learnt about them from this tumblr blog

You’re right I’m all vaxxed up! It’s a real head scratcher. I don’t have any physical symptoms other than being tired and having a sore head but the mental symptoms are awful! And of course having no physical symptoms (no cold symptoms) makes me feel like I’m faking it ughhh.

I’m a huge believer of listening to my body when it’s in distress so I’m HOPING all this couch time will speed up my recovery.

Make some posts in your favorite communities here. We need the content

Aye aye captain 🫡

Best of luck with all your language learning endeavours!

Agreed. Plus you can’t see how much butter is in the sauce when someone else prepares it! Pure musselly bliss

I’ve been struck down by some mystery illness. My head hurts but mostly I’m just fatigued and my mental faculties aren’t where they should be. I teach languages yet I can’t remember words for basic things right now! So I’m taking a few days off to recover. Hopefully will be back in by the end of the week.

In other news, I’ll be five months off alcohol this week. Social situations have become easier, I’m getting used to being a little bit goofy at parties and my friends have been super supportive! One even looked shocked when I held my partner’s beer at a festival a few weeks ago and made a joke saying they couldn’t remember the last time they saw me with a beer! It sounds small but it meant the world 😊

As I’m confined to my couch for the next little while I’m probably going to be a bit more active on beehaw! Hope you’re all having a nice week!

Mussels ftw

This is not what anyone wants to hear, but the truth is as an adult you can’t perfect a language without studying it. Obviously there are exceptions to every rule! Some people pick up language more naturally than others. But in my experience it’s the students who put the work in outside of class that progress faster.

It’s also true that we have strengths and weaknesses in language (sometimes even in our native language). A person who aces an oral exam might do terribly in their writing exam. A good student is aware of their own flaws and practices in the areas they find hardest.

In terms of how to study, it depends firstly on your level and secondly on the area you want to work most on: reading, writing, listening or speaking.

If you are at A1 level, you will benefit most from being exposed to language aimed towards that level, i.e. grammar books, language learning podcasts etc. When you reach around a B1 level I recommend looking at real life target language examples such as TV shows, books, news articles and so on. There’s not much point coming to them too early and being discouraged by how little you understand.

If oral language is what you struggle with the most, try to find a conversation circle to practice with. Many of these can now be found online thanks to Covid!

Writing is one of the hardest areas to progress in, in my opinion, because realistically you want someone going over anything you write with a fine tooth comb to point out any mistakes. If you need to get better at writing in your target language I highly recommend hiring a tutor or trying out a class that focuses on writing.

Sorry if this isn’t the fun answer you want to hear! But don’t worry, my students think I’m a buzzkill too 😅

I’m a language teacher and I’m using Duolingo to keep me humble! Every language sounds like gibberish in the beginning.

That being said, it overstates its own benefits. I only learn when I take detailed notes alongside the app. When I don’t, nothing really sticks

I’m so sorry to hear that. My apologies, I can’t say I have any specific advice from a place of experience. I hope you have a strong support network outside of your immediate family that you can lean on at the moment, it’s hard to find space for yourself and your own emotions when you’re also trying to support other people. I wish you and your family all the best x

I fought against my nature for years and tried the “push through the pain” method for most of my career. I burnt out of yet another job at the beginning of this year and decided I never wanted to work 9-5 again. I retrained to be a teacher and now I give afternoon and evening classes. I do sub work on the occasional morning but I won’t do two days in a row.

I’m finding a lot of my executive functioning is better now that I’ve had enough sleep! I’m no longer living in survival mode constantly.

The improvement in my quality of life is incredible. I feel like one of those people who starts their day at 5am now. I have time in the morning to eat, exercise and get ready for the day before I head in to work. But instead of getting up at 5 I’m getting up around 10 instead. It’s glorious.

I changed my job recently to something that pays less, but that I don’t have to think about outside of work. I was burnt out in my previous role in an office to the point that I couldn’t get out of bed without crying. Things are really looking up now (apart from the finances, but I’ll work on that!).

I also try to plan around my menstrual cycle. I tend to get quite tired in the week before and week of my period so I try to schedule more down time in these weeks and then try to squeeze in more social activities, exercise and creative pursuits in the other two weeks. It’s like my body has a built in “reset” mode, and when I listen to it it does wonders for my mental health.