Often what people call “dandruff” is not actually dandruff. You might have dry scalp, which causes flakyness and the dandruff shampoos do nothing to help (I’d argue they even make the dryness worse!)

In my case it was dandruff and what made a huge difference is to wash twice in a row (lather, rinse, repeat). I leave the shampoo in my head for a bit on the second wash while I do my other shower business.

If you have the option the borrow one form the library that’s a great! In my knowledge those small sewing machines are really lacking in basic features, you’ll probably save time and frustration borrowing the library one.

If you have more questions ask away :)

A lot of people mention podcasts, but what really helps me do boring tasks are audio dramas. They are shows meant to be listened to. These are different from audio books where you get a narrator, they have sound effects and several voice actors playing different characters.

Some good starting points IMO (all on Spotify)

• Wolf 359
• Wooden Overcoats
• The Amelia Project
• The Bright Sessions
• We Fix Space Junk

Is your thread cotton? I personally always have trouble with cotton thread snapping, so I prefer poliester.

The thread snapping might also be fixed by rethreading the machine, so you can try that as well.

About the back stitch, it’s a shame your machine does not have it. I consider it an essential feature, but I understand you’re just dipping your toes. Most full size entry level machines should have it, and they can be pretty cheap second hand.

If you are turning your piece make sure you lower your needle into the fabric before lifting the presser foot.

If the top thread is the black one and the bobbin thread is the white one then your top tension is waaaaay too low. Set the tension to a middle value and adjust from there. Don’t forget to rethread the top thread after adjusting the tensions by big amounts. In general it’s also a good troubleshooting step.

About finishing the end threads, part of the issue is the tension. If you fix that it will get better, but the correct way to finish the seam is with a back stitch. Most machines have a button dedicated to that function, see if you can find it on yours.

In some situations it is also acceptable if you pass over one of the threads to the same side as the other one and tie the ends yourself. The back stitch is preferable because it’s faster and less fidly

Before Your Eyes. I was going through some major stuff at the time and I’ll associate the game with that summer forever. It has a very unique mechanic and it ties into the game really well without feeling like a gimmick. Takes about 3 hours to complete, so not a huge investment either.

I personally like fanfiction.net better than AO3, but I believe AO3 is the bigger one

I just buy notebooks to keep by my side and serve this purpose. This prevents me from having loose sheets everywhere that can get lost.

I keep the three on my desk, the most recent two filled ones and my current one, and it has happened to me to go search one of the old ones for some random info I know I scribbled in there and need later.

I don’t know if this is normal, I can sometimes remember the side of the sheet I wrote something in, the approximate height, ink color and sometimes how far along the notebook it is. This helps with search, but even without memory like this I still think it’s easier to search a notebook than a bunch of loose sheets

I’ll preface this by saying I understand it might be hard to get into this mindset, I’m not trying to be patronizing or reductive of your feelings.

I try to appreciate tiny little things in my day. Pleasant smells, seeing the beauty of everyday items, the warmth of tea, how pretty the sky looks when I happen to notice it.

Along the years I’ve collected little things that bring me joy to use, like nice dishes and mugs, a pretty pen with a color I love to write my notes in, clothes I feel cozy in. I don’t acknowledge them every time I use them, but they bring me little moments of appreciating what I have and the beauty of everyday items.

This is one of those chicken and egg things, I don’t know which causes which, I can tell you I consider myself quite happy with my life, I’m very grateful for where I am in life, even though my family and I have been heavy a rough year in terms of circumstances.

As for passions, I love learning and crafting, lately I’ve been focusing more on sewing, but I haven’t had much time to dedicate to it. I like spending time with my husband, just doing boring grown up stuff like buying groceries is better with company :)

I hope you get better soon!

Is this from the Finch app? I should re-download that at some point