friday is the most exciting day of the week for some people. right now, I am not those people. luckily, I don’t work tomorrow evening, but I do work the morning shift at doghouse. also, did I tell you there were a bunch of mushroom decorations put up? super exciting for me. there are a handful of mushrooms on strings that have been hung, and we have two bay windows that are now full of mushrooms, wood, leaves, etc. also, my boss put a bunch of stephen king books in there which was a nice addition. anyway, huge sidetrack from the weekend. sunday is the grove day, so I’ll be there until we close, which really isn’t bad. just lots of work and homework in between.

doghouse actually went really well today, though honestly it was a slow moving day. it was pretty steadily busy throughout my shift actually so I got thrown into drinks all day, thankfully. I had a lot of fun and felt like I had a lot of control over my craft and output. it feels nice because I haven’t felt in control in too long there at that shop. I finally can work towards falling into a groove now, which is huge. my coworker was actually nice to me today when we did talk. he actually complimented me on how well I was doing, which like, thanks, but also, yeah, I do know how to do my job, you just have to let me. right before he left, he said something along the lines of “we finally found our groove, thanks for that” or whatever he said, then fist bumped me. I don’t know man, that’s just itched me wrong all day, cause like.. I’ve been fine and grooving; it’s you that’s been a problem. thanks for getting into the groove finally? my guy, you’ve been throwing off the emperor’s groove this whole fuckin time.. but anyway, at least it’s getting better and he’s finally backed off of me a little bit. he actually let mistakes slide and assured me it wasn’t a big deal. like okay? idk just itchy. p.s, my boss does wear the coolest shoes, who are all picked out by his wife, the other owner. it’s adorable and he’s got such a large collection.

anyway, school was okay today. I had a girl from the grove come into the barber shop to be my model for the day. I shampooed and conditioned, cut both a 180 degree cut and curtain bangs, and then curled it which took damn near the whole class. I don’t really know how much of that was me and how much of it was actually just the amount of stuff I did, but after a while, it got boring, and honestly a little sad watching my classmate’s clients come and go while I’m still working through mine. nobody else shampooed or had to work with super long, dense hair, or heat style, so I am trying to feel less out of place. however, my instructor didn’t have a single piece of feedback or cuts to make on my finished look, which is quite impressive considering how out of control I felt with the hair. it was everywhere, I was parting it this way and then that way, and wasn’t even sure I hadn’t missed some. it was fun and nice to finally have my first in school cut, but honestly, I really wanted something more challenging. the long haired cuts we’ve learned have been really quite easy to remember and recreate. it’s the short haired cuts that worry me and I have no experience in. I would very obviously like to get going on those and get some practice in considering the opportunity ahead of me. otherwise, it was enjoyable to be able to finally be cutting and working with hair. it felt natural and not really scary, not that one at least.

did homework and this and hopefully I’ll get some rest in before my early shift and lots of homework tomorrow. I am excited to continue on my homework, I think I just wish my brain had more capacity to continue on it longer. I’m doing well though. overall, I think I’m handling things incredibly well for being neurodivergent and having a lot of new experiences and environments all at once. dis big world ain’t gonna get me down.