Going from 'I can't' to 'Hell yeah, I can' (#ulog)

Well, I'm not exactly sure how you do a #ulog, never having done one before, but there's a first for everything, I suppose, so here goes.

I had a really exciting day. I've messed up my sleeping schedule by quite a bit, I don't really know how, but the fact is I now go to sleep around 4-4:30 in the morning and wake up at noon. I don't particularly mind, especially since I get a lot of things done at night, so that works.
So, yesterday I woke up at a nice 12.30, aching for my coffee. I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but I'm a coffee addict, of sorts. You know how some people say 'oh no, I'd be up the walls if I drank coffee'? Well, I'm not like that, never have been. For me, coffee is more of a taste thing, I love it, it perks me up a bit, but nothing huge. I have adrenaline rushes and bursts of energy, but they usually have nothing to do with coffee.

Me, hiding behind my favorite coffee mug - normal morning activity

Anyhow, I was just dying to get my morning coffee and I checked my phone, like you do, only to find my best friend had messaged me, asking if I'd like to do lunch.
As you can imagine, waking up at 12.30, 2 is not considered lunch in my book. But I figured she's really busy and I haven't seen her in a while, so what the hell. You can't imagine how weird it is trying to pretend you're a decent human being who wakes up at a normal hour. I sat on the side of my bed, squinting at my phone and trying to make sense. We agreed on a quick brunch, and I somehow pulled off the feat of having my coffee and being dressed and on the street in one hour.
If you don't get this, then you don't appreciate coffee. Shame on you.

We went for a healthy, nutritious meal consisting of veggies, grain, some meat and loads of dairy. We're very considerate that way, you know? Yeah, it was pizza.

Someone once said the only thing you need is good food and good friends, and if no one said it, well, they should have. Because it's totally true. The Pizza Hut we went to is already an established tradition for us. We've been going since we were about 12 and it really hit me, talking about what's new in our lives, how much we've both grown. As a kid, you keep waiting to grow up, you think it'll be like magic, one day, you'll turn into this smashing, cocky grown-up. But it's really a gradual thing. You don't even notice it happening, everything's normal, yet here you are.
And it's lovely to see your friends grown-up, see them turning into wonderful people, with all these amazing qualities. I mean really, looking at some of the kids our age, I'm surprised we both turned out so well.
It's great being old friends with someone (we've known each other for some 9 years now), especially from such a young age, because you get to watch them grow and you see them blossom and gather skills. You witness the formation of a wonderful grown-up and it's really beautiful. And naturally, you feel proud at who they've become.

So, we had a lovely, relaxing, fun lunch, topped on with some more dairy, this time of the frozen kind (hey, it's good for ya) and then parted ways. I guess we would've stayed longer, but I had a prior commitment.

I've been playing video games with my kid brother since I don't know when and we were just caught up in playing Sonic Forces on the Switch. I've always cared a lot about the promises I make to my brother. To me, it seems really important to keep a promise to a child, because then, they grow up, and who knows where those disappointments might show up. Besides, I really enjoyed the game.

It once again reassured me that he's not wasting his time with these games. The game play itself (well-designed, in my opinion, and with some really cool features) was often interrupted by cut-scenes and dialogue bits between the characters and the writer in me was really impressed at the complexity of the characters. They had backstory and character development, they had driving forces behind them, motivations, fears. For short, it was a really well-developed story, in my opinion. Naturally, I liked the villain more than the heroes, but that's a different story.
Besides, we spent several hours playing through, with him helping me on the sections I couldn't do. It's not a waste of time, it's bonding. And it's fun.

So, after I was done with that, I had to rush out the door because yesterday, I had my first job! Yaaay!
Well, not a paid job, more of a volunteer thing, but I was still really stressed, because I didn't know how the people would be. And I was assaulted by all these nagging doubts – what if I don't keep up, what if I do something stupid, what if I make a fool of myself, what if I can't?
The tiny voice in my head was trying to convince me I couldn't do it and slowly, it was doing just that. Still, I marched on through the pouring rain (just my luck), ran through innumerable puddles until my feet were soaked, but got there almost on time.
It was a volunteer job at a show (an Abba musical, of all things), where we were in charge of access, you know, scanning tickets and all that. And immediately, I was surprised at how nice everyone was, even if they knew each other well and were old-hands at the job, they were all really friendly and helpful.
A really nice dude set my phone up and explained everything and we were good to go. At first, there weren't that many people and I was quite shy, so none came to me to scan their tickets and this dude kept redirecting them to me, so that I could learn.
But as the hour of the show drew near, people began coming in hoards, it was really astonishing at how many they were and for a good half hour, we were all swamped, tickets coming at you from all directions, people coming from behind you wanting to go back out.
'Hello-thank you-have a nice evening-enjoy yourself-hello-thank you-have a nice evening-enjoy yourself...I was on a loop!

As you can see... a lot of people... - source
Luckily, we didn't have any problems, on our end, no double tickets or anything and most of the people that came to me were really nice. Most of them were older and they were really fun, joking with us, some even helping.
I was actually talking about that, afterward, with some of the other volunteers – you really meet some nice people, doing this. I had one lady who had some 5 or 6 tickets (which obviously takes a bit of time), the kind you have to tear away a bit of them and she saw I was struggling to hold my phone under one arm, and to also do their tickets and she began helping me, tearing some herself.
Nice people, I tell you.

After the massacre

Then, after we were done, we spent some time just hanging out, making sure everything was okay, helping if we could and talking.
It was weird. The event was at this big concert hall, very elegant and at some point, there was just me and this other girl, both in black clothes, dark makeup, sitting in the corner, talking about poetry.
I loved it. I came out feeling so happy and refreshed. Because that feeling of I can't had turned into Hell yeah, I can!
It was brilliant and I can't wait to do it again. So, overall, I had a beyond awesome day that charged me with happiness and positivity!
And I hope you did too.

Thank you for reading,