I hadn't felt that I had time to post my other days as they were happening, and I didn't feel the need to write more than what I wrote in my practice groups, so I haven't been on here as much. But I'll copy and paste them below. A member of one of my groups tragically lost her daughter and some of us have been dedicating our practice days to her, so that's what those hashtags are for. I can't remember if I included them in past posts or not, but right now I'm copying + pasting from the FB group, which is the easiest place to see all my posts at once for archiving here, lol.

Day 103/2022 - 10/27/2022

20 more minutes of Buffy. Idk what’s wrong with me! Well, yes I do. I had a big big cold. I suspect it was RSV bc we have an outbreak and most people I interact with have kids. I’m on the up but I’m conscious enough of my own feelings (unlike with COVID) that I’m just sleeping and eating mostly lmao

#36daysofgratitudeforgina - Day 3/36
Today I‘m grateful for good parents. They make good kids. They make good people. I think you see where I’m going with this. I’m just stuck on how no one should have to part from their baby.

Day 104/200 - 10/28/2022

Had a bit of a quirky practice day. My friend sent me a video in the morning and said, "Dare you to steno this without listening to it first." Well, I had some free time, so I said, "Gladly!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ccGjar4Es

So there was that... I didn't do too badly. There's subtitles on the video, but I didn't look at the video as I wrote, so I had no idea what some of the words were. Haha. That's 3 minutes, 48 seconds.

Then I did some personal writing (8 minutes) in steno before jumping into editing with Plover, which is technically steno, but doesn't count. Then I did 200 wpm jury charge at home and rewrote some of an old job. (5 minutes + 10 minutes)

Altogether almost 27 minutes.

#36daysofgratitudeforgina - Day 4/36
Grateful for jokes and laughing. I know some funny people. They make life very bright.

Day 105/200 - 10/29/2022

Almost forgot to post! 3 episodes of Adventure Time. Hopefully this is the last day of ~lazy~ practice.

#36daysofgratitudeforgina - Day 5/36
Grateful to have been born when I was and where I was. I know nothing is perfect. But there are so many places and times where the quality of life I luckily have would be unimaginable.

Day 106/200 - 10/30/2022

Practediting. Using steno to edit, going to messy sections and rewriting them separately. I did 15 minutes at least, but it was hard to keep track. Of course I spend hours fiddling with my layout for every transcript still jdjdiemsnfiejs. My margins got all messed up and were a bit too wide so I just started over with guidelines that no one told me about until like two weeks ago.

#36daysofgratitudeforgina - Day 6/36
Grateful for whoever bought digitalstenographers.com and made it an explictly pro-steno website for anyone who goes looking. Grateful that we all do our little part for our profession. Grateful, again, for you all. Maybe we should steal “digital court reporting” as a term, eh? This gives me ideas.

Day 107/200 - 10/31/2022

29 minutes of hardcopy. Been reading about aliens in a pretty oldddd book. Basically it's ghost stories. But I do believe in aliens. 👽 I think that's pretty normal these days, no? It's amazing how that used to be a controversial take.

#36daysofgratitudeforgina - 7/36
Grateful for having my life, again. It’s just not hard. Happy.

Day 108/200 - 11/01/2022

225 Q&A, 10 minutes of backup audio from work = 15 minutes. I've grown a lot! This was a hearing from January 2022.

#36DaysOfGratitudeForGina - Day 8/36
Today I'm grateful for medicine. I got prescribed a medication for a combo of migraines and anxiety. Modern medicine is really close to magic. I was nervous about telling the doctor that I had heard anything about beta blockers for test anxiety but I basically had to when they came back for a part two of my consultation, lol. He didn't seem surprised or disappointed in me or anything.

#RememberGina - Day 1/100
There are less than 200 of us in here, but I don't know everyone very well. I learned that Stephanie is tough as hell and her love for Gina is inspiring.

Day 109/208 - 11/02/2022

#RememberingGina - Day 2 of 100

15 minutes of air steno to Beach Too Sandy. I don’t loveee air steno but my hands are hurting. Two really long, really tough days in a row. I have got to get better about asking for breaks. I hate the idea of people stuck waiting in court but omfg I also hate the idea of osteoarthritis. And the short-term pain sucks a lot too.

#36daysofgratitudeforgina - Day 9/36
Grateful for the universal rule that bad days precede good days. Maybe not IMMEDIATELY, but I’m grateful that a good one is waiting around the corner.

Day 110/208 - 11/03/2022

#RememberingGina - Day 3 of 100

Spent 15 minutes practicing from my BriefIt list for a very specific type of calendar. The kind of calendar that tends to go long. Guess what? I can remember briefs when my comfort depends on it. I think I'll stop stressing about remembering them and instead focus on moving my fingers less. That connects to my memory better. I want to write shorter so I can have a longer career and so I can write out the stuff I absolutely HAVE to write out. 🙂

#36daysofgratitudeforgina - Day 10/36
Grateful for my spirituality and all that it does for me when I pay attention to it. The astronomical midway point between the summer solstice and the fall equinox in a few days. That's the new year in some faith systems, including mine. 🥰

Day 111/208 - 11/04/2022

[#RememberingGina] Day 4 of 100

10 minute warmup to complaints (hard copy), 10 minutes on finger-saving briefs.

[#36daysofgratitudeforgina] Day 11/36
Grateful for my cat, even though she pooped in the tub.

Day 112/208 - 11/05/2022

#RememberingGina Day 5 of 100

6 minutes of lit - 1 minute warmup, 5 minute proctored practice test. Omg. Proctor U is SO frustrating. I used it without a single issue a few months ago and today it kept disconnecting. We spent an hour troubleshooting. They were sure it was my connection speed, but that was fine. They tested it with the screenshare on. I deleted a bunch of security programs my computer had come pre-loaded with and disabled as much of the Windows Defender stuff as I could, but it was still glitchy. UGhhhHH

Hands hurt super badly still from overdoing it at work. Really painful. 🙁 Just got 9 more minutes in and called it quits.

#36daysofgratitudeforgina - Day 12/36
Grateful that the test is the most of my problems, I guess.

Day 113/208 - 11/06/2022

#RememberingGina Day 6 of 100

3 legs of the RPR for real plus one minute of warmup each. Did some of my own warmup too. Didn’t pass any of them, but I was calm enough to transcribe. And I still feel okay. That’s a big leap for me lol

#36daysofgratitudeforgina - Day 13/36
Grateful for the extra hour of sleep.

Day 114/208 - 11/07/2022

#RememberingGina Day 7 of 100

Warmed up before work for exactly 15 minutes. (oops. I forgot to say what I warmed up to. Hard copy + witness lists.) My wrists and hands are still a little tender so I made a doctor's appointment and I'm on a lighter calendar for work. But my appointment isn't for a while. 🙁 I felt sooo weird practicing so little. Idk what people do all day. 😭 And it's not like I can do a lot of editing.

#36daysofgratitudeforgina - Day 14/36
Grateful for students.

Day 115/208 - 11/08/2022

#RememberingGina Day 8 of 100

Warmed up before work for just a few mins. Drilling. Came home to do a couple 160 lits. Just trying to practice hitting keys as softly as possible to reduce strain. Ayiyi. Feeling a little bit better.

#36daysofgratitudeforgina - Day 15/36
Grateful for wrist braces.

Day 116/208 - 11/09/2022

#RememberingGina Day 9 of 100

20 minutes writing various court things... conversations, then complaints from hard copy, then my own silly little drills. I feel lots better today and could write. It was trash, but I was doing it. lmao

#36daysofgratitudeforgina - Day 16/36
Grateful that the city attorney's office wants transcripts of two first appearances to help train an attorney??? That's like free money wtf they're all the same

Day 117/208 - 11/10/2022

#RememberingGina Day 10 of 100

13 minutes of drills with AOE and AOU vowels instead of A/O and then a JC practice test take.

#36daysofgratitudeforgina - Day 17/36
Grateful for my partner :~)

Day 118/208 - 11/11/2022

#RememberingGina Day 11 of 100

34 minutes that never got out of the warmup phase. Thanks, Buffy! Totally pain free today, just wiped out. Last night there was a bunch of hubbub at my building and I had to call the cops bc someone was getting the ever-loving shit beat out of them by someone who was threatening to kill them. I slept a loooong time in the middle of today.

#36daysofgratitudeforgina - Day 18/36
Grateful that nothing escalated. I worried I was just making things worse but I don’t think I did 🫠 Hope no one finds out it was me that called though because ahhhhh those are my neighbors and the person doing the beating lives across the hall.

Day 119/200. - 11/12/2022

#RememberingGina Day 12/100

Practiced drills with alternate vowels for 30 minutes. Wow, I'm rusty on a lot of those. Did the Burlington derailment audio one time through. Dropped a lot. Going to take break and then practice some more. Feeling productive and reflective. May write a little post-practice blog 🥰

#36daysofgratitudeforgina Day 19/36
Grateful for the good days.

Day 120/200 - 11/13/2022

#RememberingGina Day 13/100

Practiced drills with alternate vowels for about 20 minutes in the morning. Just kept switching them. Wrote an hour to a podcast while analyzing my form with a mirror. Seems okay. Lots of editing… one of those days when I curse myself a lot. Haha. Means a good day is around the corner.

#36daysofgratitudeforgina Day 20/36
Grateful for "Bee and Puppycat."

Day 121/200 - 11/14/2022

#RememberingGina Day 14/100

Today I haven't practiced yet, but I wanted to share that I've been meditating and thinking about steno a little while I have. I burnt up with how much I needed time doing nothing and decided to meditate as many days out of the week as I can. I've gotten a few days so far. I read about it first because I remembered that guided meditation always made me anxious, but I actually didn't know anything about other types besides the stages of yoga where one sits and exists. (Seems similar, anyway.) I read that meditation can have a goal. The loftiest goal is very, very ad advanced, and in the meantime, we must focus on something attainable. I thought really hard about it and decided that I want to be able to conjure up a specific type of joy for myself out of nothing. I've been seeing a red candle and focusing on keeping it lit in my mind. At first I cupped my hands around it and the flame remained small and spluttering. Then the candle grew taller and its flame was still weak. Then it became stronger. And once the flame was strong and steady, a place unfolded in my mind. I was there. It was a prairie the first day. (It didn't happen until yesterday.) The second day -- today -- it was a big white room of wood in front of a large window and the candle changed color, from red to green. The feeling I'm focusing on is very much the feeling of being good at my job and building this skill successfully.

Onto the practice.

One RPR Lit practice test take. Then drilled it. Got really into the nitty gritty so I can analyze my mistrans and untrans. Drilled them. Drilled sentences. Took them fast to see what my fingers did. I stacked a surprising amount on my test. That's what I get for never looking at my drafts.

#36DaysofGratitudeForGina Day 21/36
Grateful for me. Today I like me. I'm glad I've got me. :^)