ANA Y2 D218

 IT'S NYE! Tomorrow will be the first entry in 2024. It will be late. I am NOT bringing my laptop with me. That's right. I am going to travel today for the first time without a laptop. Setting a precedent for the new year. We spent the majority of the day at the salon yesterday. From 12:30 until 6 and then dinner. Our hair looks fabulous. We both slept in single positions to make sure it stays for tonight. We're leaving around 1:30 to the hotel. Party tonight! WOO! I am looking forward to it. C called in at 5am this morning. She is calling in tomorrow too. Will she go back? We don't know. Will they fire her? We don't know. We don't care. Seriously. She needs out of there and this may be the catalyst that was needed.

ANA Y2 D217

Up early not intentionally. Stupid cats were driving me nuts. I got one bringing us gloves and the other crawling all over me. I have no idea where Merlot is finding these damn gloves but she keeps bringing them to us in bed. Ugh. The other one is just being a pain in the ass.

Had a decent day. Good last therapy session of the year. C came home from work ready to quit which I support. We went to our friend's salon and spent from 2 until about 8 helping her set up her new space. We assembled so much damn furniture. Hung mirrors, wall decorations, etc. She bought us pizza for helping. Got home and played video games and went to bed around 11:30.

Today is new hair day. Very excited.

ANA Y2 D216

Back up at 4:30. Bleh. Don't like it. This whole time I've been "off" with the exception of one or two days, it hasn't felt any different than normal because of getting up way too fucking early. I do have therapy this morning and I had to be up anyway, but it's still annoying.

Major goal accomplished yesterday. Our new baker's rack arrived around 1pm and I spent an hour getting it all assembled and setup. The amount of cabinet space it freed up was incredible. I can now move things around in that kitchen and start the new year organized. Very happy about that. Picture in a minute.

Besides that we didn't do much of anything else. I did finally cook a real meal after many days of eating leftovers. I did a nice seared tuna with salad, soup, and gyoza. That felt good. Otherwise yesterday was one of those few days that felt truly like a vacation day. 

Pic of new setup. I am happy with it:

ANA Y2 D215

Now this is sleeping in gang! 7am. That's how you should enjoy time off. Of course we were up until almost 1am because we were playing a co-op video game together. But that's also the first time in a while we stayed up past midnight and on a weekday no less.

I was very productive yesterday. I have a couple of goals I want to achieve during this time off. Yesterday I managed to knock one off my list. While C was at work, I gutted the hall closet, bathroom drawers, and medicine cabinet and gave them a thorough reorganization. It was so cathartic. Got rid of old expired medicines, hair dyes, and the like. Threw out things I don't and will never use. Stacked and folded all of the towels and sheets. Made it easier to get to the stuff we need. Put everything in organized bins. Man it felt good when I was done. Took me a few hours, but it was worth it. I want to do the same for the kitchen too but I need the new rack to arrive first. That will be coming today. Once it arrives and is assembled, I will be able to pull everything out of the kitchen. Wish me luck on that project.

C brought home McDonald's at like 3pm so we didn't really eat dinner. She was hungry as she didn't get a single break at work. We watched some tv, then settled in to play a game. Took us a while of re-configuring network connections so we could play together but in the end it was worth it. We had a wonderful time.

That's about it. Five more days until I have to do any real work. I'm going to try and enjoy every moment of it.

ANA Y2 D214

I slept in a whole hour! Woo! Go me. I am officially off until 1/2 so fuck it. I can sleep.

Had a good day yesterday. Wrote another blog post for work, cleaned up stuff for end of year. Productive day. After, we went to the Walmart to get some hangers. When we were at C's sister's on Monday, her mom dumped all the stuff she had still in her house on us. The whole car was packed. I did learn just how much stuff fits in the new car. But that meant that between Xmas clothes AND old clothes we both needed hangers bad! The store was surprisingly calm. We didn't wait at all. No craziness. C also got a new cover for her tablet. She's been stressing about that since she got it. Mine comes with a docking station so I am less stressed. I have $50 credit with google and can get the nice one they have for like $30 when I am ready. It's on back-order right now anyway. We ate through a ton of leftovers for dinner then watched the new Nicolas Cage movie. We got about halfway before someone fell asleep. Not me of course. We also made a big decision yesterday. We found a baker's rack we liked. We did some furniture rearranging and we're going to use it for all the kitchen stuff. Thursday will be kitchen gut day. Today I am going to gut the hall closet. We will start the year with an organized house dammit. Yesterday was clothes and closets, today is hall closet, tomorrow is kitchen. Oh and of course I took down Christmas yesterday. You know how I am. Shit is over, put it away. The house feels better already. I also unpacked all of the Xmas gifts. Didn't put anything way yet, but got rid of a ton of packaging. Garbage comes today and I wanted it all gone. C set up her new monitor which forced her to clean her desk too. Something that was overdue. She also went through her mail and found her stupid company was automatically rolling her into their 401k. WTF? Apparently thanks to Bush that's legal. Um no. She turned that shit right off. So that's where we're at. Organizing, cleaning, getting shit in order for a brand new year.

ANA Y2 D213

We had a wonderful day yesterday. It was long and busy and I was up from 4am until 11:30pm with no real downtime in between, but it was worth every minute. Started the day by making whipped cream and waffles. Separated out the presents for us both. 81 this year total. 37 me, 35 C, 9 for both of us. Now I had three external she didn't have which means for once I technically would have had less. Hence the need for "both of us" presents. We got some really practical things this year. Indoor hydroponic garden, seeds to go with it, induction burner, pan to use on it, clothes, C's new monitor, and we both got new tablets. I also for the very first time in my life got Barbies!! I got two - the Margot Robbie one from the movie and the Holiday Edition. So excited to have gotten them. We also got a new blender which I can't wait to use. But our ability to use our presents was cut short as I had cooking to do. I got everything cooked and put in trays by 11am. Then got myself ready. I knew various family members would be there and wanted to be as conservative as possible. I wasn't going to embarrass C in any way. I choose simple makeup and a long dress. I did get multiple compliments on it so I think I did good on that front. There were about 12 people there total. Finally met her dad face to face. The surprise guests were her grandparents (sort of, grandpa and step grandma who no ones likes apparently). I also met her sister's boyfriends and held mine own with them. I'm not sure how well my food went over because there was more left over than I expected. Oh well. I think it might have been too much for the mid-westerners. Especially the radishes. But we had fun, I got good gifts from the secret santa. We headed home around 7:30 and we were back home by 9. We spent time setting up our new tablets and breathing. 

Now today I do have to work but I have a specific task to complete. Once that's done I am free until next week. Let's get her done.

ANA Y2 D212

MERRY CHRISTMAS BITCHES!

It's finally here!! Present time!! WOOO! I cooked yesterday and bounced off the walls. Used the leftover lamb to make lamb poutine. Came out awesome. Now, I have presents to open, food to make, and shit to do.

May you all have a wonderful day and we will talk more tomorrow!!

ANA Y2 D211

Our party was a success!! What a wild day! Was up early and went full non-stop until about noon. Cleaning, prepping, organizing, running to the store for last minute things. I realized I no longer had a baking pan which was a serious problem. We had to hit the store for that and some kind of dessert. In all my planning I forgot about dessert. Back to GFS we go. We got everything we needed and started planning. It was the kind of day where I needed to keep everything written down or something was going to get missed. I had my lamb in at 11am on the dot. The lamb cooked for 7 hours and turned out perfect. Was super happy with the results. Our friend brought a new person we had never met so there was some anxiety about that. Turned out to be a really nice person. We went through four bottles of wine between six people over 4 hours. Works for me. Everyone had a blast. 

Today I do nothing. We have 18 hours until Xmas. Tonight we watch our regularly scheduled Xmas Eve shows and wait for Santa.

May you my dear readers have a wonderful day today and a beautiful tomorrow.

ANA Y2 D210

Yesterday was just insane. Ups downs and everything in between. I got up early to pay bills and move move move. Unfortunately C's body had other plans for her. She woke up throwing up, fever, etc. Her fucking job gave her shit about calling in on a Friday. The guilt trip was disgusting. If she's sick the last place she should be is around food for fuck's sake. I left her in the fetal position in bed to go to the store. When I got back she was so upset at the guilt she was getting ready. I tried to stop her but to no avail. Fucking people. I then settled in to work. I got two brand new blog posts written. Over 4000 words. I took a break in between to go to the Mediterranean store for stuff for tonight. Came back, finished the second one. I was feeling great. It was around 1:45 or so. I went into the other room to try to catch a nap and after laying down for five minutes I hear a noise. Fucking cat was under the tree pissing. I saw red. Just went ballistic. She had been crawling under there and pissing on presents for god knows how long. Ruined a bunch of shit. I have never intentionally harmed an animal in my life but yesterday only the gods stopped me. As I was dealing with this C came home. I told her to get that thing out of my sight before it ended up outside. I was livid. I was able to wash the clothing items she peed on but it just pissed me off. I moved the majority of the presents into the other room to avoid any more issues. From here on out I refuse to acknowledge its existence. It's dead to me. You don't fuck with Xmas. Ever.C was still pale and came home to throw up. So here I am trying to fix the Xmas presents, put her to bed, and calm myself down. It was not a good couple of hours. Obviously C didn't want to eat dinner and I ended up having some of the leftover pizza. C was being stubborn and not going back to bed so I left her tucked in on the couch with a bucket (her idea). I managed to get into bed around 10:30.

Today I have to start the lamb, clean the house, and prep for company. Six people including us tonight. I did some picking up yesterday but I also have laundry to do this morning. I put the leaf in the table already. Still have to dust, vacuum, and general straightening. People are coming around 6. Tonight should be fun. It better be. I need it.

ANA Y2 D209

 Got shit to do today. Bills. Store. Write blog posts for work. No time. No time. Move move move.

Sigh. Life.

Had a good day. Most of it spent doing one final session with my good group. 5 hours of the day with them. Did some catch up the rest of the time. Went to our friend's salon around 4 to help her move into a new space. We were very honored as she wanted us to help her design the layout and flow of her new space. Came home, made swedish meatballs for dinner. Watched Children of Men. Went to bed.

Okay, must concentrate on shit. Go go go.

ANA Y2 D208

We are into double digits people! Only 91 hours to go! WOOOO!

Do you know how many variations of that woo word I have added to dictionary with varying degrees of the letter O? I'm ridiculous. Anyway, I digress...

Spent the whole day teaching. I did get a beautiful and wonderful surprise midday. C came home at 2pm and gave me a dozen red roses. Just because. No reason other than she loves me. Made me cry. Not going to lie. I don't think I have ever been given roses without any reason. Flowers, yes. But long stem roses? Nope. Made me giddy. I love them and I love her.

During my class I did manage to convince them to do another 1/2 day today. There were so many questions and they were all so excited to learn things that I just couldn't say no. They were such wonderful people. We're getting paid for it. We're going to bill them $1000 for a 1/2 day which means I am more than covering my costs. Plus it's less thumb twiddling and pushing paper for me. This leaves me with 12 hours to figure out this week. Then it will finally be Xmas.

Made tacos for dinner. Relaxed on the couch. Had a nice quiet evening. C looked up things she wants to cook and make for Monday dinner. Went to bed a little early because we were both tired but not too crazy. She also is working with our friend on possibly getting a new job in an office where she would have a more steady schedule. Trying to set that up to start in Jan. That would make a huge difference for both of us. Let's cross our fingers.

Okay, time to do some other work to fill the rest of today.

ANA Y2 D207

We're so close to Xmas I can taste it. Ugh. It's right around the corner. 115 hours. Almost down to double digits. Just three more work days and I not only get Xmas but time off. Another day of teaching today and I have a bunch of small mentoring stuff arranged for Thursday. That will keep me going. I can make it.

Spent all day teaching yesterday. Finished around 4:30. Didn't feel like cooking or doing much of anything after so we grabbed a pizza. Now we have leftovers for the week too. Perfect. We watched some TV, relaxed, went to bed around 10. All in all, a normal calm day. The group I am teaching is very engaged, very smart, and a pleasure to teach. It does drain me a bit more because I have to be on top of everything, but totally worth it.

The snow has pretty much melted. Will be gone I would wager by end of today. The house across the street has been getting a lot of showings. I hope he gets a bidding war. Drive my house up! Go go go! Maybe we will be able to move next year. Fingers crossed. Arranged with C's sisters our plans for Monday. I am feeling really included and liked by them and it means a lot. I get I am coming at this from a different perspective than in the past, but it's like this is how your relationship with your partner's family should feel if that makes sense. I don't feel like an outsider like I have with B's family. It's not weird or uncomfortable reaching out to them. It's nice. We have some additional friends coming on Saturday for lamb night. Up to 6 total now including us. This is going to be fun. A baby Xmas party. We're going to be cleaning all morning Saturday and I will be in the kitchen a lot, but you know I like that anyway.

Look at me being all verbose. Sheesh.

ANA Y2 D206

Finance people piss me off. I've always had trouble with them because I don't fit neatly into a box. I'm not a consultant. I'm technically not management. I'm not Marketing. I'm not IT. I do all of the above. So they get annoyed when I submit my hours. Too much here. Too little here. Go fuck yourselves bean counters. It's the end of the year. What do you think is going on? See with other people they're hourly consultants who only bill when there is work. I'm salary so they want play by play. Yet if you asked these same people what they did all day they'd be hard pressed to cover every fucking minute of the day. Annoyed.

Took C to the doctor yesterday. Regular appointment. Nothing exciting. Blood draw. Refills. Went without issue. Only issue was the weather. It decided to start snowing and while at first it wasn't much, it did end up leaving enough to cover. It will probably be gone today but made driving a challenge yesterday. Also very windy out which didn't help. Nice being in a new car with new wiper blades. Made little chickens for dinner. Tried something new. I did sous vide on them for 6 hours at 150. They came out fine but it didn't add anything to them either. More like a smoked meat which is meh. Wouldn't do again to be honest.

After dinner C did the dishes, then we took her car to get air in the tires. While we were out I was whining about wanting ice cream so she stopped at DQ and got me a blizzard. It's not often I get the princess treatment and it's nice when it happens. Played some video games, went to bed. 

Next two days are all day training. Suck that finance.

ANA Y2 D205

Sorry for the delay, was getting my timesheet done and out of the way. Gotta keep the bean counters happy. 

So here we are. The last working week of the year. Hell week. We're days from Xmas. Mere days. 163 hours to be exact. Just right there. Close enough to touch and feel but not enough to open presents. Luckily I have two days of training this week. I honestly wish I had more. Anything to fill this week and make it go by faster would be a blessing. But I will take two days and not complain. It's two days no one will be bugging me. Just have to figure out how to get through the rest. Ugh.

We didn't do much of anything yesterday. C worked. I went to the grocery store in the morning. Got to drive the new car in the rain. Whee. New wiper blades are the best. I have fancy LED headlights too. It's been a while since I've had a car where the headlights turn. The truck while having nice features was still a a truck and missing some of those niceties found on SUVs and cars. Like LED following headlights. All weather tires and AWD make it easy to drive too. Will I miss 4WD? Maybe. I did use it a few times in the snow but ironically I used it in NV not in MI. I used it maybe once here. I survived a year with the AWD on the Nissan while I lived here, the Subaru will be fine. Either way, started to get a feel for it yesterday while running errands.

Made steaks for dinner. Watched TV. Got a little frisky. Heh. Fell asleep. A good Sunday. C has a doc appointment today which I will take her to and going to make little chickens tonight. One week people. One week.

ANA Y2 D204

I know I said we had no plans for yesterday, but when has that ever stopped us? We went over to the bulk food store, dropped stuff off at B's, and found a Mediterranean store that has everything we need for shawarma night next week. We also did laundry as planned. Didn't really eat dinner. Wasn't feeling hungry. Mostly just noshed on nuts and berries. Oh well. Today I am off to the store early, then nothing. We're in the home stretch for Xmas babies. It's almost magical time!

ANA Y2 D203

Was so tired after teaching yesterday. I haven't done a full day of teaching in a while let alone two in a row and it drained me. Especially since this was a good group and I exerted a ton of energy on them. I gave them my all because they were giving me theirs. It was a great session. I have two more with them next week and it's a good group to be ending the year on. No complaints on that.

Made lamb for dinner. We both fell asleep on the couch. Old people is what we are. Sheesh. C brought home a nice tray of Xmas snacks from work. We nibbled, we watched tv, we fell asleep like two old people. Sigh.

No plans for today. Laundry, some cleaning. Otherwise no obligations. Heck, I slept until almost 6. Go me.

ANA Y2 D202

It felt good to teach yesterday. I did two groups; the first was mentoring and I was able to solve their issues without too much trouble. The second was a standard class with a group I've taught before. Ironically, the last time I taught them was April 2022. Right before the "changes". I did come out to them which was refreshing. I have three more sessions with them, one today and two next week. I am looking forward to it.

That took up my day. We had leftover Chinese food for dinner. Watched some TV. Went to bed. Almost Christmas people. Almost Christmas.

ANA Y2 D201

Yesterday I did something interesting. I decided to reconnect with some people from the past. Nothing crazy or scary. Just some old friends from cast. I was very selective about who I reached out to and my main goal was if they haven't grown or changed then I am going to nope them right out. If I could see or tell that they are in the same place they were 10 years ago, then that's not what I need. I managed to talk to a few and overall the response was positive. In fact, I discovered that one of them still reads this blog!! WOO! So a big shout out to you my friend. I am glad you're still here, getting healthy, and living your best life!

We did take a midday break yesterday. C was off and our friend who now drives for FedEx sent us a video midday letting us know of a Dick's Sporting Goods closing down nearby. They are liquidating and we decided to check it out. Got some good stuff! Got sweatpants and workout clothes for pennies. C found a pair of shoes for her mom regularly $125 for $28. I got sweatpants regularly $49 for $8. Added some more gifts under the tree for a fraction of the cost. Nice.

Made salmon for dinner, watched some tv, and then I helped C adult. She wants to get back using the spreadsheet I made for her and make a plan to pay off her debt. We worked on that for a while. Speaking of that, the other day I had to give the dealership $500 down to leave with the new car. I wrote them a check. I didn't have to take anything out savings! It's going to make things tight between now and next Friday but it's a good feeling knowing I was able to do that and not be screwed. I have the savings if we need it, and that's what matters.

Teach today, tomorrow, and next week. Then it's finally Xmas. 258 hours as of 6am EST today. Come faster!

ANA Y2 D200

Well there's one thing I don't have to worry about for the next three years. Yes, I got a new vehicle. Number 33 in my life. I am now the proud driver of a 2024 Subaru Outback Touring in Autumn Green. I really like this car so far. It has every feature I want plus some. Yes, the payment went up. But given that cars across the board went up, what was I to do? This is why I have been stressing out. I knew my payment was going to go up if I wanted to keep all the features. Now I have three years to figure this out. At least I am not going to spend three years hating my vehicle. Worth it to me. Pic at the end.

That was about 3 hours of my day yesterday. Did some prep work for my classes this week. We ended up having Chinese food for dinner. Watched some tv, played some games, went to bed. Nothing else exciting to report. Tomorrow I start teaching. Teach for two days, then two days next week, then it's finally Xmas. 

Now without further ado:

ANA Y2 D199

Yesterday morning I woke up to FIVE days of training being added to my calendar. Out of nowhere. Including one for today. WTF? Of course I can't ask the sale guy because he is PST and doesn't answer shit until like 1pm my time. Luckily it was with a client where I have an inside connection. So I called him. Got the scoop. I do in fact have training but it's Thurs and Fri this week and two days next week. The sales guy just wanted to "make sure my calendar was blocked". You know and giving me a heart attack in the process. 

In other news we went and drove the Subaru. We liked it. I am going back this afternoon to see if I can afford it. If I can get a payment under $500 a month I will have the lease issue resolved. If not I am back to square one. Whee. The car itself is nice and has all the features I want. It doesn't get me extremely excited but meh, I can handle it for three years.

We decided to clean out the fridge for dinner. My stomach was feeling bleh and around 10 it decided to revolt. Not pleasant. But at least I feel a little better. Since starting hormones the IBS issues have doubled. Oh such fun. I don't remember reading this in the brochure.

Have to work on more webinars today. Heading to the dealer around 2pm.

ANA Y2 D198

Had a quiet Sunday. Went and washed the truck early. Cleaned the house a bit. Prepped my ingredients for dinner for later. Watched some tv, played some video games. When C got home from work we just hung out and didn't do much of anything. It was nice. Made chicken pot pie together from scratch. Came out awesome. After dinner she read, I relaxed. This is how Sundays should be.

Going in three hours to drive the Subaru. Wish me luck.

ANA Y2 D197

We ran errands yesterday morning. Nothing exciting. Went and took care of the stocking stuffers. Stopped at a cool grocery store where I got a 7.5lb leg of lamb for Xmas Eve dinner. Tonight we're making chicken pot pies from scratch and got a couple of things. Had tacos. Came home, relaxed, Watched some documentaries. One was hard to watch. It was on the current state of things in the Bay Area. Just broke my heart. The second was on Shepard Fairey. That one was interesting. Went to bed. I was up and down during the night. Couldn't sleep solid for some reason. Finally fell asleep at 1, only to be up now. Tis the life. After C leaves this morning I am off to wash the truck so it's ready for tomorrow. Going to test drive a new car tomorrow morning. We shall see what happens there.

ANA Y2 D196

Had a fun night last night. The day was uneventful. Worked on shit, went to meetings. The real fun started when we left for C's hair appointment. We brought all of our friend's Xmas gifts plus the equipment and makings to do crepes. While C was getting her done I was there making wild rice chicken and mushroom crepes. Hell yeah. We also had a bottle of wine. C's hair turned out incredible. We got home around 8, relaxed on the couch for a while, then went and had some bedroom fun. Woo! Finishing the year off strong baby. Collapsed around 11.

Today we have no responsibilities. Just chillin' all day.

ANA Y2 D195

These fucking nails are too long. They look beautiful but I cannot function. I need her to file them down tonight when we go in for C's hair appt. Oh well. I tried.

Spent the day working. Did some mentoring for the Human Society. Great group of people. Love working with them. Then more webinar stuff. Made a pull apart pizza ring for dinner. We finished season 1 of Fleabag. Nothing exciting.

Tonight is C hair, then a quiet weekend.

ANA Y2 D194

Nothing exciting to report. Spent the day working on webinars. Made sloppy joe potatoes for dinner. We watched more documentaries. We worked on a color application to pick new colors to paint the house. This is going to be our 2024 house project. Meh, that's about it to be honest. Boring old wednesday.

ANA Y2 D193

We had a wonderful day yesterday. C enjoyed her birthday so much. It's clear to me sometimes that, especially in recent years, this wasn't always the case. She is very not used to being the center of attention. She isn't used to having things done for her or remembered. Welcome to your new world babe. Birthdays have meaning in this house. I went to the store in the morning and got her not only a card, but decorations, balloons, and an ice cream cake. She was so happy when she got up and saw everything. Yay! Worked during the day, me not her, then we got ready for Korean BBQ. So much fun. Our friend joined us and we ate our weight in it. Came back home and had ice cream cake in bed. A good day was had by all. Two more days and she gets her hair done! That's part two of her birthday. Part three is she wants to make homemade pot pies this weekend. Done and done. I can accommodate that. This whole year has been refreshing for both of us. I'm happy.

ANA Y2 D192

It's C birthday and I forgot to get a card. Going out right now to get one. Dumb ass. I remembered everything else but no card. 

Worked on new webinar. Made shrimp fajitas for dinner. Watched a few documentaries (short ones). Went to bed. Had a dream about a moose.

ANA Y2 D191

Slept bad last night. Bad dreams. Had to pee. Blanket pissing me off. Cat driving me crazy. Ugh.

Quiet Sunday. Didn't do much of anything. Made soup to go with the rain. It rained all day. Just cold wet and dreary all day.

Nothing else to report. Tomorrow is C's birthday. Excited about that.

ANA Y2 D190

Yesterday felt like it flew by in parts. My hair and nail appt was at 2pm, but I had the brilliant idea to go at 12 to try and go the grocery store first as there is a walmart right next door to the salon. Well we get there and I knew it would be crowded but I wasn't expecting this level of mayhem. I drove by saying nope nope nope. So now we had 90 minutes to kill. Sigh. C hadn't eaten and we ended up going to Potbelly. It was meh. The place was packed with children. But it was better than C's first choice, Chipotle, which had a line out the door. Double nope. We got into the stylist at 1:45 or so and didn't leave until after 5. This is what happens when your stylist is also your friend and you yap half the time. On the way home we got savvy sliders. Now that was good. Then, C has been wanting some work gloves for when she is in the freezer. She's been trying to find some online but that's a struggle. At 8:20 I took her to home depot and she found some. Since we were out I suggested we try the good Walmart so I didn't have to go this morning. So we did. Got the grocery shopping done. Home around 10, put everything away, went to bed. See? Didn't do that much but it flew by.

Today I am making potato soup. That's it. That's my big plan.

ANA Y2 D189

Yay I slept in a little bit! 5:45 is definitely acceptable for me. Heck, I slept most of the day away already! Heh.

Nothing exciting to report. Had a couple of meetings. Learned my next two projects which will take me into January. Made lamb chops for dinner. More excited about today. Hair and nail appointment at 2pm. Getting Xmas nails done. That will be fun. Had a good therapy session. All in all, glad it's the weekend but it wasn't a bad week.

ANA Y2 D188

Slept poorly last night. Tossed and turned. Dry. Strange dreams. Not fully awake yet.

Good day. Took C to DMV. She got a few things done. Changed her gender marker, changed her address, changed her picture. All positive steps. Her main goal for 2024 is legal name change. We will get that done. I finished my monster class. Very happy about that. Done recording for the year that I am aware.

Made tuna for dinner. Came out really nice. Played some games, had some fun time in the bedroom, went to bed.

Have therapy this morning. Then two meetings. Tomorrow I don't have to get up with an alarm. Hair and nails at 2pm tomorrow. Go me.

ANA Y2 D187

I used to have this recurring dream about an old Asian guy who owned a convenience store that was also a sushi place. Specifically I would get cigarettes or sushi from him. He sold not just regular smokes, but fancy ones likes Dunhills and the like. His store would always be mostly the same, kind of like one of those newspaper stands you see in TV in NY or Chicago. To the best of my knowledge this man nor his store have ever existed in the real world. I haven't dreamt of him in a long while that I can recall. Well last night I was supposed to be in some sushi place and the chef was one of his proteges. Like my mind has moved on from the original owner and is now in the next generation. How fucking weird is that? I recall another dream where I was placed in a psych ward against my will and managed to calmly walk out the door to try and escape. It was in some mall or large office complex and I just needed to make it through the outside doors. Explain that one to me, eh?

Recorded and reworked a large portion of the class I am working on. Got through 13 slide recordings and 12 demos. I have 8 left today and the class is done. I need to finish by about 12:30 as C has a 1pm appointment at DMV. She's getting a new license with updated picture and gender marker change. No name change yet, that's a 2024 project, but at least it will be a lot closer to being her. I know the stress that causes. Recently I had to show my ID to buy a bottle of wine and it was very nice just handing over my ID without any shame or embarrassment. It's the little things that get us through the day.

That and apparently sushi.

ANA Y2 D186

I am better this morning than yesterday. I was just in such a mood when I woke up yesterday. Dreams that made me very angry. Doing better. I am not fond of this time of year and trying to find the sweet spot between heat on, humidifier, and body temp. Either I can't breathe or I am too cold. Bah. But I'm okay this morning.

Didn't do much of anything yesterday. Recorded another 17 demos. Same goal for today. Played some video games. Watched some tv. Stared at the snow on the ground. Had leftovers for dinner. Took a break to go pick up some prescriptions. How is it still November? I swear I am already thinking about Jan but this month doesn't want to end. Soon it will be Xmas though. Making it through another goddamn year.

ANA Y2 D185

Slept like shit. Bad dreams. Too hot. Couldn't breathe. Fuck everything.

ANA Y2 D184

We got our first real snow yesterday. It's still coming down a little bit but not much. But from 1pm until about 8pm yesterday it snowed and stuck. The roads are clear, but the yard and house are solidly covered. Joy.

We had a fund day. Didn't do a whole lot in the morning, but then our friend came over around 2pm and we did a bunch of things. We helped her film and edit some hair tutorial videos for her business, we decorated the tree together, we made pizzas, I made a dutch baby for dessert, then we watched a movie together. It was nice having company. Nothing crazy, but enjoyable. She headed out around 8pm and C fell asleep on the couch. We went to bed around 10pm. 

Another week of recording. Woo.

ANA Y2 D183

"As god as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." 

I totally forgot to tell you all something. On Thursday, C shared something from y childhood with me. One of the funniest moments of television. The WKRP turkey episode. Let me tell you, 45 years later, it still holds up. 

We had a fantastic day yesterday. I got up early and went grocery shopping. Came back, woke C up and we were in the car by 7:45. We got to Bronner's at 8:58 and there was a line already. Not horrible amounts of people, but definitely a line. C couldn't believe it. I told her just wait until we leave what it's like. We walked around, found some nice ornaments, got a new wreath for the front door, and had a fun time. She was just floored by the people, the cheesiness of it all, and by watching how excited I got. After Bronner's we went to Zhender's, got some stuff from the bakery and had chicken lunch. When we walked in, the upstairs was empty. But when we left, they were waiting 100 deep for chicken. Again she couldn't believe it. We then went to the Cheese Haus. Got some cheeses and headed back to the truck. As we were leaving I showed her the parking lot for Bronner's. Packed. Just packed. Thousands more people than when we went in. The road coming into town which was empty for us was stopped traffic. She appreciated now me getting her there early and I appreciated a partner who didn't fight me to achieve that goal.

We got home around 1 and I took a nap. After we started setting up the tree. I brought up selective Xmas items. There is a little bit out, but not insane amounts. We're not even going to put all the ornaments on. Again, selective. We had leftovers for dinner, played some games, went to bed.

The coolest thing we did yesterday was decide on NYE. On the way up we saw a billboard for 80's night NYE at some casino. I told C I would like to do something together this year since last year was a bust. She agreed and we looked up some stuff while driving. We decided we're going to Grand Rapids, staying at the big cool Hilton, and going to their party. Two ballrooms full of DJs and parties. We get admission, parking, and a room as a package. Now we just need to find something to wear.

Our friend is coming over today. We're going to help her shoot some YouTube videos and then make pizza. I made the dough last night and it's rising slowly. My five days off are at an end, but I feel rejuvenated and better than I have in a while.

ANA Y2 D182

Up early. Going to store. Hopefully won't be a madhouse at 6am. Then we're going to the Xmas store. I finally get to be away from this room. Thank gods.

Didn't do anything yesterday. Took an actual day off. Was wonderful.

ANA Y2 D181

Ugh I hate this weather. Hot cold dry wet all at once. I can't breathe. I can't swallow. Head hurts. Fuck this.

We didn't leave the house yesterday. It was glorious. I made a makeshift holiday dinner. We watched some tv. We played video games. We pulled out the tree. Need to get more lights before we can set it up. We're going to the Xmas store in Frankenmuth tomorrow. Get new ornaments just for us. Today C works from 6-12. I'm not leaving the house again.

ANA Y2 D180

Been up for about an hour. Having some tummy troubles. Plus I rolled over at 4:45 saw I got paid early which of course woke my brain up and I started thinking about bills. A little after 5 I just said fuck it and got up to get things done. The positive is bills are all paid now and I don't have to think about anything for the rest of the weekend. I will take that. I also don't have to worry about this house. That's the best news I can share.

Yesterday C worked from 8-:430. She got her ass handed to her. Entitled last minute assholes abounded. She got yelled at for the stupidest things. Like the people who ordered their dinner for tonight and were upset it needed to be reheated. Seriously? They expected a hot dinner?? WTF? Or the coworker who decided to not come in because and I quote "I got high". Quality. One coworker almost quit on the spot from being yelled at. C yelled at some of her other coworkers who weren't working but still came into the break room for free food. She was pissed and I don't blame her. She did make it through, has today off, and was a poor exhausted sack for the night. I took care of her. We ordered out because I sure as hell wasn't cooking after the day I had.

See, while she was at work, I cleaned. For 9 hours. I sanitized this house. I did baseboards. I took apart light fixtures (broke one, landed on my foot and had to deal with that), I cleaned the over, I scrubbed grout on my hands and knees. In other words, this fucking house is spotless. 9 hours. I didn't even finish. I still have my closet room and the office. We will do the office together today because we want to move the desks around. I will work on my closet once I am done with all this. I want to wash my hair this morning so that's the priority. But the house is good. Now I can bring the tree up today and not feel overwhelmed. 

We ordered in Happy's pizza because I expected to be alone tonight and wanted leftovers. C was scheduled to go to her sister's about an hour away but around 10 she got a text saying it was cancelled. Her mom has other plans, her dad and other sister can't make it due to dad being sick, and I wasn't going because of dad. Her sister was like just stay home because it will be her, her bf, and the bf family. Not fun for C. Now she has no obligations today! I will make a ham and save the leftovers. All good.

Alright, time to go wash my head.

ANA Y2 D179

The fucking cat crawled in between during the night and peed in the bed. Worse than having a toddler. I am so done with her. Nothing like waking up to that and on a morning where I could actually sleep. Motherfucker.

Speaking of sleeping, I am off until Monday. I hustled my little ass off last night and finished another class. I called my boss and asked if she needed me the rest of the week. Nope. Fine. Done for the week. That means I can clean today and relax for four days. I need it. No talking. No emails. Just done. I made a mac and cheese monstrosity last night. It was incredible. 2 1/2 pounds of cheese. Broiled for a crusty top. My magnum opus of mac and cheese. Incredible.

Need to go check the laundry. Then when C leaves for work at 7:30, I start cleaning. She has some weird shifts this week. 9-5:30 yesterday, 8-4:30 today. She said it was insane yesterday. Everyone trying to buy their entire dinner from the deli. Idiots.

ANA Y2 D178

It's funny how when you can put a name to your demon it diminishes its power over you. I've clearly been in a funk the last couple of days. So yesterday I stopped and tried to figure out what was really bugging me. You'd think after 5 years of this shit I would have recognized it faster. Fucking S.A.D. hits again. Darkness most of the day, grey skies during the rest of the time. Yep. I was feeling 'the blues' due to the change in weather. Of course I have only lived here for 10% of my life and only experienced this shit for a short time comparatively speaking which means it took me a couple of days to isolate what was wrong. Once it dawned on me, I turned on all the lights, took some vitamin D, and lo, I am feeling better. Not great, but better. Because now I know what's really bugging me. Not a thing or a person, just the fucking weather and time of year. Gah I need out of here.

Speaking of living here, the 18th marked 5 years in this house. The second longest I've lived anywhere straight. One more year and it breaks the record. Sad. Oh and my mortgage got sold on me. Motherfuckers. I need to figure out how to make payments to a new company. Bastards.

Recorded all day. Recording today. Only two more days and I get a break. Going to clean this house like crazy on Thursday.

ANA Y2 D177

I didn't have a great day yesterday. I was too tired and annoyed at everything so I shut down. It was easier that way. I mounted a hook in the bathroom. I made ribs for dinner. But I did it all with detachment. I simply was not here.

ANA Y2 D176

It's not even 4am and I am up. Been up for a while. Slept like absolute shit. I ache, I can't breathe, the fucking blanket was driving me nuts, I had horrible dreams, you name it, it hit me last night. So fuck this, I am up. Also I have to go to fucking walmart this morning because I went yesterday and bought a new hook for the bathroom and half the fucking hardware is missing. Fucking degenerates. Tired of fucking people, tired of everything.

ANA Y2 D175

I woke up this morning to something touching. C's sister texted me inviting me to their family secret santa. It feels really good to be included. At the same time? I absolutely hate secret santa. I hate getting a gift for someone I don't know and don't want to receive one from someone who doesn't know me. You all know how weird I am about gifts. I mean what if I get her dad who has never even met me? What the hell do I get him? Ugh. I am going to need to think this one through.

Had therapy at 7:30, taught from 8:30 until 4. That was my whole day. Therapy was good. Talked about how I am feeling claustrophobic right now. How Xmas isn't hitting me yet. All the things. Class went fine, no issues there. For dinner we had a mish mash of things to clean out some leftovers. After dinner we had fun sexy time. C pretty much passed out right after at 9. I stayed up for a while longer. Played some games, went to bed around 10. She has to work the next few days straight. This is 2 of 6. All of them early damn shifts. 

I don't have any plans for today but I am sure I will find some trouble to get into.

ANA Y2 D174

Recorded 23 demos yesterday. Still 9 more to go in the class I am working on right now. It's a beast. But I will get it done. This work is supposed to take me up until mid-December and I am going to make that happen.

Didn't feel like cooking last night so we had Persian. Now we have leftovers. Works for me. Watched tv, played games, had sexy fun time in the bedroom, went to sleep. A not very exciting day and that's okay. Almost holiday weekend. Therapy this morning then all day training.

ANA Y2 D173

I had a bad night. For some reason I had a major tinnitus flareup. Just hit me hard. I couldn't function. First one of those I have had in a long time. I think I am just stressed out about a bunch of stupid shit and it came on. But I couldn't do anything. I ended up just laying in the dark on the couch to try and get it to pass. I ended up falling asleep and C came and got me around 11. I was out there from like 8pm on. Fucking sucked.

Worked on recording all day which probably didn't help. We took a break to go to the store, I did a webinar from 2-4, then I made us salmon noodle bowls for dinner. The flare started around 4 or 5 and it was a challenge making dinner. But I got through it. I don't want to experience that again.

More recording today. Only 5 more business days and I get a four day weekend. I plan on using that time to deep clean the house. Still haven't put up any Xmas shit and not sure if I will.

ANA Y2 D172

It's currently 32 degrees outside. Freezing to be accurate. But you know what? Not in here baby! We have heat again! I was a little worried last night because our window was 12-4:30 and 4:30 came and went without a peep from them. I called at 5 for an update and was about to call again at 6 when at 5:45 the tech finally called. He got here about 5-10 minutes later. Our flame sensor needed replacing? Okay. Total out of pocket cost? $20 that I tipped him. That's it. Granted I have paid into my warranty program about $1100 over the last five years, but if it had been something more serious, that $1100 wouldn't even touch a furnace issue. I know this because the exgf had their service call yesterday and their heater is kaput. They're looking at $5000. So yeah, I will take my $20 and a bottle of water and a $20 a month charge thank you very much. We are toasty and happy. 

I spent the first part of the day recording, will do the same today. I have a 2-4 meeting today so I am not rushing to start. Made Italian hot beef sandwiches for dinner last night. Watched some tv, had some sexy time because we were happy to have heat, and went off to bed. Other than the heater, nothing exciting. That's okay. 

Just a little side note. I am still overall happy. Mostly, I am happy in my relationship. It's been over a year and I still have the urge and desire to be with my partner. To kiss them, to hold their hand, to be around them, etc. All the things you're supposed to want to do with your partner. It's well past any infatuation phase. It's settled down, in love. It's a new weird concept for me. I think about how I felt about past relationships and they didn't even come close. There was always some underlying tension or secret or issue. I know that sounds crazy, but in the past I was in relationships for a "reason" and not because I actually loved my damn partner. Not like this. Platonic feelings? Sure. For the most part, I liked my partners. Now I am talking not just spouses, but people I dated too. There was never this kind of feeling. I'm sorry it took me so long to find this, but in the end, I'm happy I did. So yeah, I am okay. Life gets frustrating, work gets frustrating, but for the first time, I have someone I can depend on, count on, and hold me when shit gets too real. I'm okay.

ANA Y2 D171

Nothing exciting today. We're doing our best to stay warm. Moving heaters from room to room. My exgf also had her heater go out. She's got three kids and two dogs she's trying to keep warm. Much worse off than us. We're getting through it.

C worked, I worked. Made coconut chicken for dinner. I haven't made this in a while and I think it's because subconsciously I didn't want to? It's something I would make for B all the time and I guess I have been avoiding making their dinners? But it's a good dinner and it turned out great. It's been over a year now since they left for Alaska, almost a year since they moved out, I think it's okay to cook foods again. It's so weird. At least last time I moved and had a clean break. This time because of circumstances, it's like they're still in my life and just out there. I talk to them a couple times a week. I asked them for directions to the bulk food store the other night. There's no animosity in the respect of the relationship ending. There really isn't. The thought of being apart has been a theme here for quite a while. That isn't where any anger I might have comes from. It's being financially responsible for them that irked me. You want to move on, okay, but you don't get to keep a lifeline. But as I stated here a year ago, their false hope of us being besties is emerging. We're not mean or cruel to each other. If I needed someone to watch the cats, I would call them. But are we seeing each other every day? Nope. Are we staying up at night having chat sessions? Nope. It's the natural order of things. If we do move, that gap will grow even more. It's okay. Which is a long convoluted way of saying I can cook things again. 

Noon is the start of my heater window. Let's hope that this is a painless day. Please dear god, let me catch a break.

ANA Y2 D170

Had a bit of a breakdown yesterday. It was cold, really cold. So the heater was on, but it wasn't getting any warmer in here. Damn heater isn't pushing any hot air. It's blowing air, but it's cold air. It's pushing out room temp air. Which means my furnace, which I have been worried about for years, kaput. As you might imagine, the thought of a dead furnace did not fill me with joy or happiness. I was crying from the thought of where I would get money to fix it. Then stupidhead reminded me of something. I have been paying towards my home protection plan with DTE for the last five years. The literal one and only thing that plan covers? The furnace. They are coming out tomorrow. If it's fixable, it will cost me small dollars. If it has to be replaced, that's another story and I will cross that bridge when I come to it. The hope is that it will be a small fix and it will be a small charge. A few hundred dollars which they will add to my energy bill every month. Send me all the thoughts and prayers please. Even if that shit doesn't work.

Got up early yesterday and went to store. Came back, dealt with putting the pool away for winter, redid the Tupperware cabinet, did laundry, dealt with above heater issue, made a leg of lamb for dinner, watched some TV, collapsed. Welcome to my life.

ANA Y2 D169

Spent the day in the house mostly. We worked on our food algebra. Figuring out our macros to adjust for the changes my doctor wants me to make. We ended up driving all over the place to find a bulk foods store. First we ended up in the wrong city. There was one I was looking for in particular having been in there in the past. Sadly they all have the same damn name around here. We did finally find what we wanted and we got a bulk amount of nuts and dried fruit. We then sat down and figured out how to make small snack bags with the right mix of protein, carbs, and fat. Food algebra. We had Japanese curry for dinner, watched some tv, went to bed. Not the most exciting of Saturdays, but that's okay. Today C has to work and I am off to the grocery store. Have to get cat food and other basics. Doing lamb tonight.

ANA Y2 D168

I FUCKING SLEPT IN! YAY ME!! HA!

That's it. That's the most exciting thing to happen right now. I slept until 7:30. Go me.

Yesterday I taught. We went out to Old Navy after work because I want C to buy me a pair of jeans for Xmas. I ordered other gifts. I feel I have a good handle on Xmas right now. I paid bills. Almost done paying off the fucking IRS. We went to dinner at Hopcat. It was a good day overall.

ANA Y2 D167

I cannot wake up this morning. Slept okay for the most part. Had bizarre dreams. But slept mostly through the night. Just am very tired. Need another hour or two. But alas, bills to pay, classes to teach, shit to do. Thankfully C doesn't work tomorrow and we have no weekend plans. I can sleep tomorrow.

Spent the day working on classes, made chicken parmesan for dinner, watched some tv, rearranged C's desk with her, played some games, went to bed. Absolutely nothing exciting. I am feeling the urge and need to get out of town again. It's been since September since we went anywhere. We discussed what we're going to do for Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Different than last year since her family all knows me now and we've been together a while. Her sister wants to host Thanksgiving and we are thinking about it. The hard part is C has to work Black Friday at 6am so we couldn't stay too late and her sister lives about 90 minutes from us. Nothing has been decided for Xmas yet. There's also still the issue of her dad and other family she doesn't want to be around. That's a whole different can of worms. 

Speaking of Christmas, we decided on a couple of gifts yesterday. She's been needing a new monitor for a while and I have been needing a new vac sealer. There it is. Our "big" Xmas gifts. Done and done. We will have a small amount of presents this year. Nothing extravagant, nothing crazy. I swear on it.

ANA Y2 D166

Since C had to close last night we stayed up late and I slept in this morning. I have a 3-4 meeting today and figured fuck it. I won't start working until 8 today. Go me.

Spent the day working on stupid shit. Had leftovers for dinner. Waited for C to get home. That's about it.

ANA Y2 D165

Yesterday was an adventure. More things happening on a tuesday than the average person does in a whole week. Got up in the morning around 5, and immediately sent a second request to Roto-Rooter. Around 7:30 I got confirmation and 8:15 got a phone call. Thank goodness. I took a whore's bath in the sink barely turning on any water. The tech showed up around 9 and was here until about 10:30am. He pulled out five bags of tree branches. Sigh. Okay. We discussed options for the future. Realistically I can either keep calling them every 2-3 years and have it snaked at the roughly $300 a pop it cost me yesterday, spend $1700 and have it high pressure flushed which would buy me 10 years before calling them again, or spend $10,000 and have the pipes replaced because clearly there's a hole the roots are coming in through. This is actually a tough call. No, I can't do either of the more expensive options right now, but we need to think this through depending on how long we plan on living here. Are we going to be here in 10 years? I truly doubt it. 5? Maybe. Regardless, he got everything cleaned out, cost me $300 and I took a real shower. Rest of the day was spent working. Had a meeting at 2pm with IBM about a bug we found in their latest release. Then went to the store to get stuff for dinner. Our friend came over around 5:30 and we had the bestest girl night. I made a nice roast, risotto, and zucchini. She braided and did C's hair, we laughed, we had fun. For dessert I made caramelized pears served over french vanilla ice cream. We wound down and started to get into bed around 11. C slips into bed and is says "gee this feels wet". Fuck fuck fuck. We pull back the sheets and there's a big old pee spot. Sigh. Rip the sheets and blankets off and get everything in the washer. Find replacements and try to get situated. Fucking cat. Long day. Many things going on. But not a bad day. Just a day in the life.

ANA Y2 D164

The water came back. We tried flushing it with chemicals to no avail. I sent a request to roto rooter but haven't heard back yet. There will be no Christmas in this house this year.

ANA Y2 D163

I managed to do two things yesterday. I had a hair appointment in the afternoon and spent my morning cleaning up a shit water filled laundry room. You weren't expecting that, were you? Yeah, me neither. I got up with C when she headed off to work. The plan was to take my time, move slowly, enjoy my Sunday. I started off that way. I took a leisurely shower and was ready to just relax. Didn't even put on clothes, just a robe. Then I made my way into the kitchen. I smelled poop. I freaked. I thought the cat had pooped somewhere. It was so strong. I was getting frantic looking around. Finally I made my way down to the basement. The smell was overwhelming. At this point I am expecting to find a pile of diarrhea somewhere. I go into the cat room and see a trail of something. I'm like JFC she peed on the floor. But then I noticed the carpet tiles were wet. Nope nope nope. I then go into the laundry room and there it is. The source of my nose assault. Two inches of standing poop water. Motherfucker. I calm down and assess the situation. First up, see if anything is damaged. Then I started plunging and snaking. After about 2.5 hours I broke through the block. Got all the standing water up. Poured a bottle of main line drain cleaner down there and prayed for the best. Then I had to clean up carpet tiles and towels and the floor. By the time it was over, it was time to go to my hair appointment. So from 8am until 5pm, I literally did two things. Got home, showed C everything, we did some toilet tests, and it looked good. We still need to bleach and scrub the floor down there to make sure it's sanitized but so far we look okay. I am going to home depot to get a bottle of root killer today and doubling up on that. Hopefully I will make sure it's all good. My hair looks great btw. She did a half up fishtail braid and I love it. Very happy with that.

Had leftovers for dinner, went to bed around 9:30 because of stupid time change. Have a doctor's appointment this morning. Let's see what that nets.

ANA Y2 D162

Woo. An "extra" hour. Woo. Fuck DST. Stupid shit.

You know just when I thought fear based politics couldn't get any stupider, the wonderful people "in charge" rose to the occasion. The latest? Well first off, all these idiots, boomers, and trolls claiming TikTok is indoctrinating the youth and turning them towards Hamas and making them terrorists and we should have bought or banned TikTok when we could have! Seriously? That's what's doing it? Are you fucking stupid? And as if in answer to that question, 10 republicans are sponsoring a bill to REMOVE anyone of Palestinian origin from the country and blocking entry to anyone from Palestine. Tell me you're a racist piece of shit without telling me you're a racist piece of shit. Here's my stance on this whole issue. First off, my opinion is based on an outsider's short term view of an area that has had issues for 2000 years. Anything I say or believe is irrelevant to these people's lives. That's the first truth. Second, what Israel is doing right now is barbaric. You can be pro-Jew without being Pro-Israeli government. The two statements are not contradictory. I promise you. Second, the Palestinian people are not Hamas. To punish, hate, and direct ill will towards the people is wrong. Plain and simple. That would be like starving or bombing 50% of the US because of MAGA. Hate the terrorist group, fine, but don't kill the people over it. Don't bomb an entire area for 3 individuals. That's literally what's happening. The Israeli government, not the people, are using this as a justification for genocide. That's inexcusable. Nothing on TikTok is swaying your children. They just aren't pieces of shit like you and have the ability to apply critical thinking skills. Give it a try some time, you might see it works.

Went to the grocery store early yesterday. Came back, cleaned, put groceries away, In the afternoon we headed over to friend's house to hang out and have dinner. On the way we stopped at another location of C's work. We first went in there a year ago and it's what prompted her to want to work for them. My god the difference between stores is amazing. This other location is just 1000x nicer and has more amenities. We ended up having Mediterranean for dinner, watched Five Night's at Freddie's, and got home around 10.

I have a hair appointment at 2 today. Yay me.

ANA Y2 D161

Taught all day, made cornish game hens for dinner, played video games, went to bed. That's all. Not an exciting day. Yesterday did mark one year of us living together and stupidhead leaving for Alaska. Can you believe that shit was a year ago?? What the hell man. I was pondering yesterday my life and shocked at how much I've been through. But rather a life lived than a life not. Right???

ANA Y2 D160

Finished recording the final demos yesterday. 11 more done and done. Meeting next week to discuss what's next. That was my whole day. C worked the close so I was on my own. Played games, watched tv, had taco bell when she got home. Today I actually teach. This should be interesting.

ANA Y2 D159

So very tired this morning. I have 11 demos left to today and I got up normal time even though C closes tonight. I want to get an early start. I did 14 yesterday in 6.5 hours. I am estimating a little over 5 hours for today's work. The sooner I start, the sooner I am done. This is my last class I am recording and I teach tomorrow. I have to get it done. But it doesn't make me any less tired.

Spent the day recording. Made shrimp and grits for dinner. Watched Castlevania Nocturne. Very good. I can't wait for a second season. Who knows of course when that will happen. SAG is still on strike. We don't hear as much as we did with the writer's but, they're still out there. Oh and we got our third even though it really shouldn't count. But he's famous in his own way. Heck, even I know him and I hate the sports. Bobby Knight died. Oh well. That's 3. Got my doctor appt for next monday for IGF discussion. Let's see how that goes.

ANA Y2 D158

Merry Xmas 1st! Oh yeah baby, we're in Xmas season! No, there's no "Christ" in Christmas. Just a big ol' X. Suck it.

Here's the plot twist you weren't expecting - it fucking snowed yesterday. Yep. On Halloween. It started around 4 in the afternoon and was on and off all night. Woke up this morning to a light dusting outside. Snow. Halloween. October. WTF? The GOOD news is that didn't stop the children! WE HAD KIDS SHOW UP! I was so excited and happy! The first two who came to the door got a bounty. Full size Hershey's and a handful each of candy. The remaining kids got like 2-3 each from us. We only had 10 kids in total, but we got kids! Made me feel so good. Now, I am gonna be grumpy for a minute. They were all in cars and most of them didn't know the proper protocol, but dammit, we had kids. I will take it.

Today I pull out the Xmas stuff. 60 days of putting up with that nonsense for poor C. Cest la vie, she knew what she was getting into when she started dating me. This will be our second Xmas together. How time flies when you're going insane.

ANA Y2 D157

 Happy Spoopy Day!! You know what that means don't you? Tomorrow is Christmas 1st!! WOO! Yeah, there's something wrong with me, let's just move on, shall we?

Nothing of any excitement happening here. C worked, I worked, we had dinner, went to bed. Honestly, it was an uneventful day which is okay. I am going on 48 hours with no tinnitus in my head. That's something. Not even a minor flare up. The one thing I will always be grateful to C for is that. The silence in my head. Years of noise gone. It's indescribable what a difference it makes. The weight it takes off my back. I can't ever repay her for that.

More of the same today. We will have the porch light on and the pumpkins out. If kids come, great. If they don't, at 8pm, the candy is mine. Win win baby, win win.

ANA Y2 D156

I waited to talk about Matthew Perry and Richard Moll because you know, I was waiting for the 3rd one. So far not yet. Probably today. Has anyone ever studied this shit? I know it's coincidence as do you, but it's one of those glitches in the Matrix we all just kind of ignore. Anyway. Moll is sad, but he was 80 so okay, sucks, but not surprising. Perry though. 54. Younger than me. WTF? Heart attack in his own hot tub. Drowned. Just not cool. He also had major problems. Rehab 15 times. Died on the table. Coma for two weeks. He's lucky he made it as long as he did to be honest. Still sad though. RIP. 

Speaking of doing crazy things and surviving, I got on the roof yesterday and cleaned the gutters. I pulled the truck out of the garage and rednecked that shit. I used my truck bed to boost the ladder tall enough to get on the roof. Hey it worked. I'm glad I did it too. The gutters were fucked and it started raining last night. One less thing to worry about as we head into shitty weather season. Took me about an hour and I was able to leverage the new leaf blower. Success.

Made steaks for dinner and we got back to watching movies. We watched IT chapter one. Much more true to the book than the old version with Tim Curry. Long movie, but not as long as Chapter 2 which we now need to watch. Fun weekend in general. Have more CBT work this week and then for the next three Fridays, actual training. Woo.

ANA Y2 D155

Had a pretty good day yesterday. I was sad in the morning for what felt like no apparent reason. Turns out, I needed more sleep. Yeah, I know. Here I am again with only 5 hours worth. But the sad isn't here today which is good. Or maybe it was a cycle and I am just not staying in the downs as long as I used to? Either way, I am doing better today. I caved in and ordered a leaf blower yesterday. Today I have to take care of it. I also have to get on the roof somehow and handle the gutters. Not sure how that's going to happen but I will figure it out. 

We had a date night last night and went out for Korean hot pot and BBQ. Really fun! We decided in the future when we go back, we would just do the BBQ part and skip the hot pot. It was messy and too much food. One or the other. We walked around afterwards and checked out this one place that does axe throwing, curling, and 'football bowling'. The latter is basically cornhole with pins. Weird. There's also a restaurant, bar, and live music inside. 

When we got home we set off on carving our pumpkins. Both of us were wondering if we would get any kids since it appears no one seems to realize TUESDAY is actually Halloween. It drove me nuts all day yesterday. Moving the day to the weekend to make it easier for fucking capitalism. Tuesday is when I will give out candy if anyone. Not a day sooner. Even C was lamenting how "in her day!" she would suck it up if Halloween fell on a weekday! She's right of course. Cracked me up hearing her complain about kids today. Okay grandma, let's get you back to your room. Here for your viewing pleasure, our pumpkins:

Mine:

C:

 

ANA Y2 D154

An era has ended. After 16 years, my red fridge has died. I noticed when I got back from grocery shopping and went to put sodas away. It felt off? Then when I went to get one for dinner, they were warm. I checked the freezer and yep, dead. I need to deal with it today. Sigh. The last true thing I had from my past is gone. But hey, I got 16 years out of it. I will probably have it repaired, but not any time soon. First I have to find $350 for snow season. Which of course doesn't feel real given the almost 80 degree weather we had yesterday. We had to turn the damn air on. But this weekend? 55. WTF? Stupid weather. 

Remember those emails from yesterday? Got all that resolved and spent the day writing custom classes to fit into the time allocated by salespeople. Whee.

Made chicken karaage sandwiches for dinner. Made a mess but they were good. Served them with furikake fries and a miso salad. We played games, went to bed. C is off all weekend. We're going to clean and carve pumpkins.

ANA Y2 D153

Wake up to two emails surprising me with three days of teaching in Nov. No warning, no heads up. Not usually a problem except these are for things that are either impossible or don't exist. The first one is to do 2.5 days of training in 2 days. The second is to do one day of material in a half day. WTF? Fuck salespeople. I need a new job. Like now.

Recorded. Finished another class. We went mini golfing after. Indoor glow in the dark. I shot 1 over par, C did six over. Made Chinese noodles for dinner. God I am so done it's not even funny. Just done.

ANA Y2 D152

I went and had a blood draw yesterday. I tried originally on Tuesday, but the lab tech never showed up. I waited for an hour too. When I told my normal girl who was there yesterday she was pissed off. She is like me - 2 minutes late is unacceptable. Regardless, I got my blood done. I had an IGF-1 test done. That's a growth hormone that decreases with age in the human body. It's also paramount to puberty development. When I met with my doctor last week, he said if it was too low, we could look at ways of raising it to bolster my development. In essence I would be resetting my body's clock to think it was 15 again. There are some potential side effects that have me concerned, but not so much that I won't do it. I love having an educated crazy doctor.

Spent the day recording, C went to work at 2, I had Poke for dinner. She got home around 9:30 with a pizza. I shared some with her, we went to bed. Nothing exciting.

Today I am finishing up the next class and we are going golfing. 18 holes indoor glow in the dark. We both need out of this house and it's a fun way to spend the afternoon. I have until 2:30 to finish class and then we are gone.

ANA Y2 D151

Tried to go to the doctor yesterday morning to get a blood draw but they never showed. I waited for almost an hour. This is a Quest inside my doctor's office so they don't control them and they were apologetic to me and the other person waiting but they were also upset. I don't know if they ever did come in, but I am trying again this morning. Just more of that good old Michigan apathy.

Spent the day prepping to record. Will spend today actually recording. C worked another night shift, one more tonight too. She did finally start looking for new jobs and applied to a couple yesterday. Let's see if they go anywhere. But because of her late night, I stayed up until midnight. Just to get up at 5:30. I am not functional right now.

ANA Y2 D150

Poor C came home from work sick. She had a coworker throw a tantrum and walk out right after her shift started. Why? Because she didn't want to make chicken pot pies. She was a teenager who didn't want to work. I know how I sound. But in this case it's true. Regardless, C had to do the job of three people, got no break or dinner and the anxiety caused her to throw up in the parking lot. She came home, I made her some toast with peanut butter and we went to bed. What really sucks is we had such a good morning. I started working around 6, and around 8 when she woke up she woke up "in a mood". Well I made the right decision to take a work break and we had some fun. Nothing like morning sex to start your day. I finished a class, started on the next one. C went to work around 2. I baked. Made banana bread with choco-chips and walnuts. Had leftovers for dinner. Welcome to another week. Did talk with one of my friends yesterday about planning a July trip for our birthdays. We will see if that goes anywhere.

ANA Y2 D149

Almost to the halfway point for another year. Jesus, how can it be almost November? I swear we were just packing up for our trip across country. In like 10 days it will be the anniversary of B heading off to Alaska and C moving in. Insane.

I did quite a bit yesterday. C worked and I did stuff both in and out of the house. First I cleaned, then i went off to the pharmacy. Still had to fight them to get my insurance info right. Ended up just using goodrx instead. Came out within pennies of what it would have been with insurance. Why do I even have it if it is just going to suck all the time? Got groceries for dinner. Came back, baked brownies. For dinner I did spam friend rice, orange chicken, and crab rangoon. Yes, I love having a deep fryer. 

We opted out of a movie last night. We just wanted to do other stuff. We've watched a lot this month and another night of ass planted on the couch didn't sound appealing. Instead we had other fun. Much better than a movie. 

More recording this week. Whee.

ANA Y2 D148

Had a good Saturday. C was off and we spent the day just together. We didn't go anywhere but it was nice her not having to work. We watched Hellbender as our movie, made ribs, spent time together. Today I have to go to the pharmacy and fight them on my insurance. Sigh. Otherwise, nothing going on today. C leaves for work in 20 minutes.

ANA Y2 D147

Yay me. I slept in a whole hour longer than normal. Woo. I am so excited. Yippee. 

Had an okay day. Had therapy in the morning, followed by doctor appointment. My doc appointment went really well. My normal person is on vacation so I met with the boss man himself. We had a great conversation about cats and how we're related. Oh yeah, my health is fine. Seriously we had a 30 minute appointment and 5 of it was spent on my test results. The rest was other stuff. Went to the grocery store. Came back did recording. C came home from work. We watched our movie, Silent Hill, had our dinner, went to bed.

ANA Y2 D146

C picked a really good one for last night. Smile on Amazon. A good mind horror. Recommend it strongly. 

Nothing exciting yesterday. More recording, we went to the Spirit store after work to consider costumes. Made dinner. Movie. Bed. Same ole same ole. Therapy and doctor today. Then finally a weekend.

ANA Y2 D145

Tired yet again. One of these days I am going to sleep all day. I need to get a good full night's sleep. More than six hours please. Some day.

We got some disappointing news last night. Our planned comedy show for tomorrow has been postponed. The comic got COVID and had to cancel. The shitty part is the theater he is at doesn't have any openings for him until Feb 2024! I decided to hold the tickets and not get a refund. Gives us something to look forward to in 2024. Of course instead of standing outside a theater at 9pm on the janky streets of Detroit, now we get to stand on those same streets in the snow. Fun. Hopefully they will take that into consideration and let us in early. I'll let you know in five months.

Spent the day working on classes, gave a presentation, and otherwise did normal work stuff. After work we went downtown to this divorce webinar being offered by a legal firm. While the drive was a bitch and we were the only ones there for most of it, it was worth the time. I learned a couple of new things and now know the next steps. Very useful. Since we didn't want to drive right back in traffic, we had noodles downtown. See, this is the frustrating thing. When I tell people we want to move because there's nothing near us, everyone says oh what about Detroit. They're partially right. Yes, there are some cool places in Detroit. Our noodles were the bomb. It was a great dinner. BUT parking was atrocious, we didn't feel safe walking the streets back to the car, and getting in and out was a nightmare. Took us almost an hour to get back home and it's 21 miles. What the fuck? It was more frustrating than it should have been.

On the way home we stopped for milkshakes for dessert. Came home and watched The Thing. I enjoyed it. I feel it holds up well. C was okay with it. Difference of course is I grew up with the kind of practical effects and find them cool. To her it's a bit cheesy. Fair enough. Same way I feel when I look at the stop motion effects of the 60s. All relative. Either way, another movie down. Went to bed around 10:30.

Almost the weekend. Just got to get through a couple of days more.

ANA Y2 D144

Slept in a bit today. Didn't go to bed until about 11 and still wasn't tired. Laid awake tossing and turning until 1. C doesn't have to work so I said fuck it and slept until 6:30. Still not enough.

Watched Talk to Me last night. Meh. Didn't care for it. Just didn't do it for me. Fell flat. Recorded during the day. Made bbq pineapple chicken for dinner.

More of the same today.

ANA Y2 D143

Last night's movie was not bad. Scary but in a predictable sort of way. We watched The Babadook. I say predictable because you know what the 'evil' is the whole time. It's not some faceless entity. Oh, I just decided what my next pick will be heh. Still, we enjoyed it. But C did fall asleep on me. She is so exhausted lately. These early mornings are killing here.

I spent the day recording. We went to the grocery store when she got home and got fixings for dinner. We made lamb burgers with waffle fries. Not much else going on. Few more days and we have Stavros!

ANA Y2 D142

C is back in the lead with best movie choice. Or at least spoopiest choice so far. We did the Conjuring 2 last night. First off, is James Wan okay? No seriously. It feels like every movie we've watched that scares the poop out of us is one of his. He is a messed up dude, but in a good way. We were up until about 11 mostly because going to sleep after that movie was a challenge. Worth it though.

We had a decent day. I putzed around the house while C was at work, we went to the park for community day, we had dinner. Nothing exciting. We opted out of going to a friend's dinner party just because we both were socialized out for the weekend. We promised we would make it up to them. Luckily they had a full house so our presence didn't impact greatly. 

Nothing exciting on the agenda for this week. Good?

ANA Y2 D141

Had a good day yesterday. We watched two movies to make up for the two we missed. Now we're just one behind. We watched Creep followed by Friday the 13th. Both were short so it was only three hours. We still managed to get into bed by 10:30. A good chunk of our day was spent at the salon getting C's nails done. She's very happy. First time ever she's had fake nails and in a shape she's always wanted. Very cool. We went to total wine and picked up some stuff. Made a really good salmon dish for dinner. Tonight we're going over to friend's house for a fall celebration. We're bringing some of the stuff we got at total wine. We can't stay too late since we both have to work tomorrow. We also have a community day from 2-5 today. Lots to do, no time to do it.

ANA Y2 D140

I slept in by a whole hour today. Go me. I actually got a little buzzed last night. We went out with a friend, ended up at a bar and oh my. We started at a pho place, moved over to Hopcat's and I had one too many Blake's ciders. Have a little headache this morning but not sure if from pressure or booze. Regardless, I actually had a good time. We never see this friend because her wife is a bitch and it was nice hanging out with her. 

Spent the day recording, went out, came home. Nothing exciting but fun. Today C has a mani and then maybe to a pumpkin patch.

ANA Y2 D139

I have to laugh at something. I see all these people who are getting into their 30s and suddenly realizing one of the key things to being an adult - it never stops. There's always laundry to go, there's always a meal to be planned, there's always dust in the house, there's always a bill to pay. Welcome to adulthood. It's always something and it will be this way forever. You might get the occasional break, but nope, this is it. This is what being an adult is. Recognizing that there is always something. I started thinking about this last night. Today is payday (happy friday the 13th btw) but yet I am already thinking about NEXT pay period and what goes out today, what holds, what needs to happen, etc. This is adulting. Always knowing there's something. 

We had our first missed movie night last night. We finished dinner around 6:30 (Peruvian chicken tacos) and C laid on the couch. We planned on starting the movie at 8 as we have every night. At 8 my alarm went off and I went into the other room. She was out cold. Like slept through the alarm that was inches from her head out. I said screw it, let her sleep. We have to watch two tonight to make up for it.

Spent the day recording which is what I am doing today too. Gave a webinar. Today I also have a mentoring session. Tonight we're having pho with a friend. Catch up time. Then it's the weekend where there will be things to do.

ANA Y2 D138

I slept better. Not great, better. We went to bed around 11 but I had strange dreams. All over the place kind of dreams. Not sure what was going on in most of them. Spent the day recording. Had dinner. Watched Trick R Treat. Went to bed.

ANA Y2 D137

I am not doing well this morning. Slept like absolute shit. We went to bed late due to not being tired. We watched our movie, finished around 10, but ended up staying up until 11:30. Even then I laid there until 12:20. But I kept being woken up in the night by noises, the cats climbing under the covers, general shit. I think I maybe got 3 or four hours of sleep total. Then this morning I have spent the last 40 plus minutes dealing with internet issues and spilling my pills. These bottles from the new pharmacy are the absolute worst. If you don't put them on like vice tight, any grab on them it comes off and you're chasing pills all over the floor. I think there's still one estradiol floating around.

Anyway. I was prepared to write something positive this morning. I noticed last night when I was doing my bathroom stuff that I actually like the face I see in the mirror. It's not 100% familiar to me yet, but for the first time ever, I like what I see. Only took 50 fucking years. Yay me.

Yesterday I got up and went to the dentist. Not because I had a problem with my teeth, but instead my toothbrush. Remember how I bought one from them? Mine started acting janky. I didn't know who to contact since I got it from them. The owner saw me, saw the problem, and immediately swapped it out. That's how you do business people.

Spent the rest of the day recording and mentoring. Didn't feel like cooking so had poke bowls for dinner. Tonight C works an evening shift. Means we will be up late again.

Last night's movie btw was Under the Skin. Interesting.

ANA Y2 D136

Last night's movie was Skinamarink. I have no way to describe it. It's childhood nightmare come alive. It's afraid of the dark terror through the eyes of a 4 year old. It's creepy, unsettling, and not for everyone. I enjoyed it. It got under my skin and stayed there.

Worked on recordings all day, made shrimp pad thai, brazilian limeade, watched the movie. Today C works, I have a mentoring session, and more recording.

ANA Y2 D135

I just woke up to the stupidest fucking email that clearly shows me that the people running the ship have no idea what they're doing. It scares me. I have not found anything yet to get me out of here, but I need to move faster on that. I am surrounded by idiots.

Cleaned house as planned. Made C sleep as long as possible until she just couldn't do it any more. We watched movie number 8. You know hold on, I need to make sure I don't miss any:

Day 1: Saw
Day 2: In Fabric
Day 3: Nightmare on Elm Street
Day 4: As Above So Below
Day 5: Malignant
Day 6: Saint Maud
Day 7: The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Day 8: Possessor

Okay. There's the list so far. Last night's was freaky and weird but not really scary? More of a mind fuck than a jump scare. I know what we're watching tonight and we will see if it goes back to spoopy for us.

Played video games, had leftovers. Nothing exciting. Didn't leave the house. Don't plan on leaving the house really the rest of this week. Going to hide inside.

ANA Y2 D134

We finally got a true winner in our 31 in 31! Last night we watched a super spoopy one! The Autopsy of Jane Doe. Absolute recommend. Don't watch this one alone kids. It was A+. Oh yes, my choice. It's now 4:2 in terms of picking out good movies. C has had one bad one so far. Let's see how she does with tonight's. Sadly, she is in bed right now sick. Sleeping with the windows open the other night hit her hard. She on the NyQuil train right now. Choo choo motherfuckers.

I did a lot yesterday. Got my hair did first off. Very happy with the results. I toned it down, added darker roots, and made it more fall appropriate. Love it. Looks very natural and perfect going into the winter months. That took most of my morning. Came home, did laundry, cleaned a little. Not enough though. When I am done here I am going to go do a real house cleaning. Floors, counters, etc. The house needs it. 

Made chili for dinner and have plenty of leftovers for tonight. Tis the season after all. I got this house down to 58 degrees yesterday. Finally had to switch the thermostat to heat. I have it set at 64 right now. Enough to not freeze everyone but enough to not make me sweat my ass off. 

We watched movie, I gave C medicine and we went off to bed. I also changed the sheets yesterday and put the weighted blanket on the bed. As a result, I slept hard last night. That blanket keeps you in one place and does its job. Very satisfying. I would strongly encourage any of you to get a weighted blanket that fits the bed. We have a 25 or 30 pound which sounds like a lot until you realize that's distributed over a king size blanket. It's more like having 3 or 4 pounds on you when you sleep. Just enough. 

That's about it. Off to clean!

ANA Y2 D133

It's the weekend! Whee! Not that it really means much around here to be fair (to be fair, to be fair...). Still up at 4:30am because that's our life. I am excited for hair day though. Going to be changing up my color a little bit. This will be fun.

Had a good day yesterday. Recorded and finished a new class, prepped for my next one. We took a break and went grocery shopping together. Had a good therapy session. Watched movie number six. Less horror and more suspense in my opinion, but it was good. We watched Saint Maud. Very interesting. Definitely recommend. Had leftover pizza for dinner. 

It's 45 right now and I couldn't be happier. All the windows are open and I have the house down to 63. I have a bunch of little things to do after my hair, but otherwise, I am going to enjoy the day.

ANA Y2 D132

I was up way too late last night and am paying for it this morning. Because C worked a night shift, she didn't get home until close to 9:30. We then decided to watch a movie and keep our streak going. That kept us up until midnight. Wow, three U words in a row. Cool. This wouldn't be a problem if I didn't have therapy in 90 minutes. Now I feel rushed. Plus I have indigestion from the pizza she brought home. On the plus side, we watched a good one last night. Malignant. Went into it with no knowledge other than the blurb used to describe. Really good. Walked the line of creepy, scary, and action nicely. 

Spent the day recording followed by a mentoring session with a client from Iowa State. Had leftovers for dinner and waited for C to get home. Not much else going on. Today, therapy, more recording, and that's about it. We're having leftovers for dinner. Her pick for movie tonight.

ANA Y2 D131

The weather has broken. It is now going to be in the 60s for the next few days then finally the 50s. Fall is finally here. The last few days in the 80s have been hell. I prematurely put away the AC unit for in here and paid for it. But we got through it. Now to enjoy the cool.

Worked on a new CBT yesterday which I will finish today. Nothing exciting. Also have a client mentoring today, again, nothing exciting.

Made swedish meatballs for dinner. Watched movie number four. This one was okay. We watched As Above So Below. Some decent jump scares, suspenseful, but not the greatest. It had a 28% rating which it didn't deserve. I'd day more of a 60%. The plot is a bit thin but it gets it through. Not much else going on here. C works a night shift tonight. 4-9.

ANA Y2 D130

For movie number three, we went back in the past. The original Nightmare on Elm Street. Practical effects, gallons of blood. No artsy fartsy crap. Was good. Speaking of movies, yesterday was 10/3. You can either have Cady or Edward. Choose your fighter. Spent the day waiting for a 3:30 meeting. The result of said meeting was six weeks of work. I am happy about that. Going to be recording for a big chunk of the next few weeks. Easy work for me. I am not complaining. Starting on one today. Had leftovers for dinner. C took me to lunch at Dave's Hot Chicken. Today is the last of the hot days hopefully. Another day in the 80s but then it drops and by the weekend it will be in the 50s. Just the way I like it.

ANA Y2 D129

Took care of some practical stuff yesterday. First I switched homeowner policies. Saving $500 a year by bundling it with my car policies. That's a significant change. Especially given that my property taxes went up for 2024 and I was $300 light in my escrow account. Now I am back to having a surplus. Take that! Then I went and had blood drawn. Scheduled appointment nothing of any concern. I am curious to see my numbers as I am every three months. Starting next year I will only have to check in every six months. January will be my next time and should be my next pellet time too. Then I took care of open enrollment. Health stuff is going up $28 per pay period BUT I added dental. My health went up like $20, I took B off my vision, and added dental. Net change is $28 for more coverage. Okay. I can handle. No change in my health policy. Still have a PPO with a $1500 deductible. Still have enough life insurance to cover the house and life in case of an emergency. Practical type of day.

Made country style ribs for dinner. Slow cooked and served with mac and cheese. Came out pretty good if I do say so myself.

Worked on a few minor things. Awaiting some direction which I should get today. C is off again. Tomorrow we're back to the 4:30 grind.

Watched movie number 2 of 31 for spoopy season. This time In Fabric. Interesting to say the least. About a cursed dress but even though it was a recent movie it was made to be in the 70s and paid homage to every weird bizarre 70s horror movie. Tonight's choice will be a good basic hack and slash. We're trading off who chooses and it's my turn tonight.

ANA Y2 D128

This morning is off to an interesting start. C doesn't work today so I decided to sleep in a bit. All of 6:30 but hey it's better than 4:30. I go into the office and Merlot has a toy. Except it's not. She caught her first winter mouse. Lovely. 

Yesterday was okay. I had lunch with B to go over finances and everything seemed fine. But when they got home they started nitpicking every little detail and it's like fuck it, I don't want to argue with you. I will take on everything if it means we're done. Just go. Oh and apparently A bought a laundry mat. What? Yeah. 

We started spoopy season off right. Watched the original Saw. One spoopy movie a night for the entire month. That's the goal. Had soup for dinner even though it's 900 degrees outside. Fuck this world.

Today I have to change house insurance and do open enrollment for my health insurance. Fun times ahead.

ANA Y2 D127

And last night we learned why I don't do drugs any more. I am too weak for today's insane strains and blends. A few hits off one joint and I was gone. I also ended up throwing up and passing out at 9:15. Drugs are not my friend. Sigh.

Got up with C and did all the things. First I went to the grocery store and got the final ingredients for both dinner, and to make mushroom soup. Came back, made said soup. Then I put away laundry and worked on cleaning the laundry room. Then I cleaned the house in anticipation of our friend coming over. When C got home from work, she wanted to go to the dispensary. She joked that she had never seen me high. I told her it wouldn't be exciting and I would just get floopy then want to go to bed. She bought a pre-rolled to test this theory out. Okay, your $6. 

Got back home and started prepping dinner. Our friend arrived at 6, we ate, hung out, then smoked that pre-rolled. Nope. Immediately I was out of it. He left around 9 and I was like, going to bed. C thought I was crazy but I was serious. As I was getting ready I knew it was going to get nasty. Ended up throwing up everything. Oh well. I just can't take drugs any more. Not a bad thing, but I felt bad for C. I was in bed and passed out by 9:30 on a Saturday. Granted we would have gone to bed by 10:30 at the latest because she is up for work, but still. I put a damper on the whole evening. No more. That's one thing I can cross off my list of acceptable behavior. So ends an era. 

Today C works and I have lunch with B. Meeting up to go over numbers and hand shit off. I have to finalize my spreadsheet for them. This will be the first month I don't pay her car or insurance. Thank the gods. Other than that, no plans for the day.

ANA Y2 D126

I think C is going to look for a new job soon. This getting up at 4:30 every fucking weekend is insane. Unless she asks for it off, they automatically put her on every weekend both days. It wouldn't be so bad if it was both Saturday and Sunday every fucking weekend. I never get to sleep as a result and she feels horrible making me get up at this time. NGL it would be nice to at least sleep until 6 or 7. 

Was up super early yesterday but I got everything done. Paid all the bills, went to the grocery store, recorded my stuff, went to a meeting. We had date night and had Italian for dinner. Then we went to the mall and walked around. It was a nice night ruined only by us having to go to bed at 10pm so we could be back up again.

Today I have some stuff to do but not a lot. I may just take a nap after she leaves.

ANA Y2 D125

I am up at 3:40am because I have shit to do today. I have to get to the grocery store so I can get back and finish recording before the weekend. I have to pay bills. I have to get everything done. I might nap later. We shall see.

I had to rescue B last night. They locked their keys in their car at a gas station near their work. It was a whole debacle. I didn't think I had the spare key, then I found it, almost ruined my dinner. Other than that, I spent the day recording. Too much to do too little time to do it in.

ANA Y2 D124

I am up later than I wanted to be but we didn't go to bed until 11:30 again. This time not for fun reasons. C had a damn closing shift again. She had to close by herself and she got home late, wanted to eat dinner, etc and the next thing you know it's 11:30. Spent the day working on CBT stuff. Had to take a break to go get some printer ink. Didn't do much of anything while she was at work. All in all, not a very exciting Wednesday. Oh well.

ANA Y2 D123

I was up late last night. Didn't go to sleep until after midnight. But it was our own doing. We were up having some fun. Two nights in a row. Not complaining about that. Tired this morning, but very happy. Worth the trade off.

Spent the morning doing more mentoring with folks at Lawrence. Had another good working session. The rest of the day was spent working on a new CBT. That's pretty much how my whole work week will go this week. It's fine. It's something to do ya know?

Didn't feel like cooking last night so we had La Kabob. Went to the park afterwards and walked for an hour. Was nice being outside. The weather right now is perfect for us. Low 60s, grey. Just the way I like it. Came back home, played some video games. I accomplished a couple of new achievements in WoW, then we went off to bed and ended up doing the aforementioned fun time. 

C works a late shift tonight so odds are against a three-peat. It's okay, I need a break anyway.