I have the nicest, most patient UI/UX teacher IN THE LAND...

I have the nicest, most patient UI/UX teacher IN THE LAND because I swear I'm out here MISunderstanding the assignments - repeatedly.

There is a process we're following, and the first step was deciding what to design, then to gather information. Got it, no problem, done. ✅ Now we're doing layouts.

Our homework was to do hand-drawn sketches of what the app might look like on a mobile phone. So I did the first sketch. They said it was a "rough" and it was fine if it was messy.

Tonight, they had me re-do it using a program and said I could type the words, so I did it. One of the instructors said the bottom was a little confusing, so I fixed it.  But you can tell it's hand-drawn because it's crooked. Second image - Done! ✅

My teacher met with me and did the third drawing in the same program. I thought I was supposed to keep it as hand-drawn as possible, so I didn't use the rectangles/squares tools. Okay, it definitely looks nice.

But... When we got off the chat, I was like "She just re-drew what I drew." And Shaun disagreed. And I'm like "THEY ARE THE SAME THING!" And Shaun was like "You don't literally mean that, do you?"

But like, yes?

And she did a few versions and was like "Maybe there's an image here or a video there." And I'm like "What image and what video? We didn't discuss that. We don't have that."

And it has been explained to me that I'm supposed to be making this stuff up out of my head. But literally, nobody told me that. And how do you know if the image will fit? Or the video? We don't have any of that already. I made the design based off the information I had.

I made the whole Polish ALL the Things! app without doing this process. I made the things I wanted and then arranged them like puzzle pieces. My navigation bar is alphabetized. Shaun said this class definitely isn't how I normally work (though my work turns out great), and also that it's weird that my navigation is alphabetical.

I know this is going to sound so crazy, but I don't think I've ever struggled so hard to understand what I was supposed to do. Shaun said that I'm thinking extremely literally, and my teacher agreed. She said she struggled with this before, too, so thankfully she is working with me. But I just feel like the biggest asshole, although I'm not being intentionally obstinate.

Still waiting to hear back about my assessment, but...

Still waiting to hear back about my assessment, but this is 100% me.

Butt to butt with the 'Beans.

Butt to butt with the 'Beans.

Also, why does he do this? 😂😂😂

Bear's "Tuck me in, Papa" face.

Bear's "Tuck me in, Papa" face.

So pitiful. I worked him too hard today. 😂😂😂

I don't know why I thought...

I don't know why I thought I could do any indoor repotting with this dog awake. 😂

I set up in the floor, had a trash bag for the old dirt, and got started. Bear came to sniff the dirt - no big deal. Then he just nonchalantly took his big old paw and scraped the trash bag right out from under the pot I was emptying. I dumped dirt all in the floor.

Then he started nosing some plants, which was fine, until he started throwing paws at them, too. He likes to mimic what we do, so I'm sure he just wanted to help me empty pots.

The last straw - the one that made me decide to wait for his bedtime - was when he found my pumice box. He tentatively sniffed and then put a paw in, then was suddenly furiously digging pumice out all over the floor with both paws. 🤦🏻

I had to clean up and decide this wasn't going to be something I can do right now. 😂😂😂

Look how satisfied he looks. We did our task together. Best helper in the land. 10/10. 😂😂😂❤️❤️❤️

I did some more night-repotting last night. 😂

I did some more night-repotting last night. 😂 I'm just more awake and all of my dirt and tools are in the house. I'd rather bring the plants in for a sleepover than drag the dirt and tools outside.

I knew that one of my agaves had a bunch of pups on her, but one of my plants surprised me with some hidden babies. Most of them seemed to need more time attached, but one was large and detached basically by itself. It's a little Quasimoto looking dude (for now), but that's ok. 😂

I was shocked by how green they were despite being in the bottom of the pot!

I actually did a little repotting today...

I actually did a little repotting today. I started small:  On my 3 nursery trays of Teddy Bear Cholla, Opuntia Little Rita, and Agave offsets. I wasn't up for it earlier in the day, but after Bear went to bed (because he ALWAYS gets hurt with the prickly plants around), I brought the plants in and did it in front of the TV. 😂

You would think that with as many plants as I have that I would be really great at caring for them by now, but I don't think I have been. They are succulents, so aren't necessarily very picky, but that doesn't mean I don't feel bad for incorrect soil mixes or lack of fertilizer. There is a difference between surviving and thriving. In any case, I want to be better.

This part may be controversial:  I used Gemini to get a plan in place to help me fine-tune my care. I'm aware of the environmental impacts of using AI, but it's not going anywhere, and I personally do not use it in a way that I believe to be frivolous. I hope I don't lose friends over that, but I'm not going to lie or omit the truth. I literally feel like I can't NOT tell y'all. I don't know why. But it feels very dishonest and I can't function like that.

I let it know what soil components I have, as well as what types of plants I have. Taking the greenhouse and the dry weather/high altitude into account, it gave me ratios for what soil to mix and use and told me in foot candles the type of light the plant needs. I have a light meter, so now I can find the best placement for everyone, be it in the greenhouse or the house house. I also have a schedule for when to apply pesticide and fertilizer. I can generally tell when they need water, so I don't need too much help on that.

I don't yet know if I have ADHD and/or Autism, but having a care guide with specific instructions that take into consideration all of the factors I provided feels like a huge relief. I've always preferred written instructions/lists because then I can just follow the rules and be ok. I've been researching plant care for years and have made enough progress that I don't lose many these days, but some have clearly been struggling and/or not doing as well as I would expect/hope, and I wanted to fix that. Using Gemini helped me see where I was going wrong without more YEARS of research and trial and error on living things. It always hurts my heart to kill a plant, so I'm trying very hard to avoid it.

Anyway, that's all I managed to do today. I hope I can go hard and get everyone that needs repotting repotted by Monday. That would be nice.