thankfully I got to sleep in a bit this morning, much needed before I start my long week. I work every day until monday next week and most of those days are early days. I am already running on low energy but I’m very unprepared emotionally as well, not feeling very comfortable there. kind of dreading it, which really sucks because I’d like to not already start burning out, ya know?

school was enjoyable today. my instructor taught me a 180 degree haircut which turns out to be long layers, very easy concept, but the combing to get it to where you need it to be in order to cut it is the challenge. we also learned a flat top today which I made pretty flat, but boy oh boy was that thing crooked.. it was so ridiculous but absolutely worth the learning experience.

I also got my hair cut today by a classmate which was really nice. I’ve needed a haircut and have been purposefully growing it out so someone can cut it. the guy who cut my hair got nothing but good feedback which was really cool to see a classmate succeed like that. it doesn’t sit the same which is a little annoying but otherwise, it feels good. tomorrow we get to do theory work and haircuts if we want to.

back to the story about my weekend. so I saw a few other people from my past which was very sweet to see them and spend time together. it was difficult to recognize some people but most everyone who showed up looked the exact same. it was a good reminder of how many people were my friends in high school and how many people considered me a friend that I didn’t recognize. one person asked my name and when he read my name, he got super excited and jumped up and down and hugged me yelling the whole time about how he didn’t even recognize me and he was so excited to see me. it honestly made my entire night. another friend of mine showed up that I didn’t realize how much I had missed. we’d done a project in science together in freshman year where we had to draw a baby and I have the photo of us holding our drawn out picture. it’s hilarious. by now, if that kid were real, it would have been 14 years old.

after the place we started, we walked over to another bar down the street. I got to talk to more people there and reminisce about the high school days. I didn’t couldn’t recall most of the things they were talking about like teacher’s names or some of the systems we used to adhere to in our daily schedule. I remember some facts if they’re verbalized but not much off the top of my head. high school was a weird time. overall though, it was informational to fill in some of the gaps in my memory. nothing too important to report on my time spent there.

after that, I got to spend some time with my sister and her husband. I enjoy spending time with them. the waitress we had was AWESOME. she asked all the same questions I usually ask customers when I asked her to surprise me with a drink. the drink that came out really was tasty and smooth, as it was shaken.

I spent the night at my bestie’s house and slept in his bed which was like a cloud. so super comfy. boy made sure it was all clean for me which was the sweetest thing. he’s the coolest. I got up relatively early the next morning and got ready for the tour of the high school which renovated for a handful of years. we go to walk around the whole school, which has two floors now. it was really wild to see how much has been added. it really is it’s own campus. they have an entire welding and small motors shop, woodshop, robotics, media, the list goes on. it’s so ridiculously fancy. don’t even get me started on the bathroom pass process..

after that, I headed out to my mom’s house in CO which was another 8 hour drive. the drive itself was nice. the quiet/alone time was much needed, as it really always is. got to spend some quality time with my mom during the evening. I brought her some of her favorite food, quiche, which was such a joy to see her be so happy to get to eat it. I’m glad I can bring her little presents that she so deeply enjoys.

the next day, I headed back towards home. unfortunately, about two hours from home, one of my mantis studs fell out. I’d been having issues all weekend with it not being able to stay together unfortunately, so I went into the piercing shop as soon as I got into town. thankfully she got me a new one. I was fine during most of it but passed out when she was putting the taper in my nose, of all things!

upon getting home, I unpacked all my stuff and had a relaxing night. I needed a slow start to a busy week. I am not sure how I’ll feel by the end of this week but right now, I’m just feeling frustrated that I have to participate. I’m working on turning my mindset around but this one is a strong feeling that’s difficult to weed out of my normal routine. it was great to be able to travel some again. I miss being free of work specifically. I wish I could travel this big world all the time.