We just finished watching Wicked...

We just finished watching Wicked. The story was good and it was nice to my eyes... but pretty screaming still registers as screaming and I feel like I'm gonna have a migraine from the sensory overload.

At the end of September...

At the end of September I said I was going to start playing the games for 2024. I completed all of them. I also finished the half of games I left unfinished in 2020.

I've already started on 2021. I already know I'm gonna try to play every game dating back to 2015. I'm ridiculous and it's just a thing I have to do. I don't have a time limit on myself, though. It's more fun that way.

I've just had to clean my glasses 3 times in a row.

I've just had to clean my glasses 3 times in a row.

Bear ate some food, then gave me kisses. Then he went and ate some more, then more kisses. Then he drank some water, and brought me really wet kisses. 😂

I don't know if he's in a lovey mood or what, but he's being super sweet today.

I'm in my office area and he just wanders in and out, checking on me, smelling my armpits, and giving me lovings. Silly puppy. I wouldn't trade him for the world. ❤️

I don't know how or why, but...

I don't know how or why, but I got some pretty good sleep last night and woke up feeling better; a little energetic, even. I did the workout that I skipped yesterday before work this morning, so I feel "caught up," which is nice.

I found an app I think will work well for keeping track of streaks for the habits I'm trying to build. It's called Habits Streak. It's really straightforward and I like that. I can put anything I'm trying to do in there and choose the days I want to do it, then check it off when it's done. It'll keep track of my streak. That's really all I wanted.

I tried Finch, but immediately hated it for some reason. It just rubbed me the wrong way. I'm so sorry, y'all. I'm not trying to shit on anything that is helpful to you, but I think I deleted my account shortly after having to name the bird. It had so much extra stuff that I have no interest in. I also don't want a virtual pet; I have plenty of real ones. It just wasn't for me. But I'm really glad it is helpful to so many of my friends. Thankfully, there are options out there that work for all of us with our beautiful differences. ❤️

I'm off to try to get some things done at work. Just wanted check in and say that I'm feeling better. For now, at least. 😂

Bear's had a busy day.

Bear's had a busy day.

He helped me check on my plants this morning. Later, he tried some seltzer water, of which he was skeptical. He heard mine fizzing and seemed interested, so I gave him some plain seltzer water in a bowl. He'd lick a bit, then look at me, then try it again. He burped, and then was done with it. 😂 Cub tried it, too, but went immediately to the regular water. He was not a fan.

A few minutes ago I was blowing my nose and Bear looked curious about that, so I got him a tissue, wadded it up at his nose, and made the raspberry sound with my mouth. He gave me some eyebrows and then walked away. I guess he's done with my bullshit today. 😂😂😂

I feel better today. Not great, and still run down. But not bad enough to be rude to my cats and well enough to goof off with my doggies. ❤️

Do y'all have any suggestions...

I've felt run down all day. My mood isn't great, either.

I've felt run down all day. My mood isn't great, either.

When I finally got out of bed, Scar was underfoot wanting to be fed and I accidentally kicked him. Adrian was on my side of the sink and I tried move her over and accidentally knocked her down. I didn't apologize to either of them. I'm rude today. 😢

I had a protein shake, took my meds, sat around for maybe half an hour and then went back to sleep until about 5.

My lower back hurts, my pelvis aches, and something is still definitely wrong in the business. I really hope I get some answers and some medication early this week.

Today was pretty good.

Today was pretty good. We did errands with the dogs when I finally got out of bed. They got doggie biscuits at the pharmacy, whip shots at Fiiz, and a giant cup each of roast beef from Arby's. They are so spoiled!

After that, I spent some time in my greenhouse watering plants. I left the door open, so I had lots of Bear help. He had to thoroughly check the water a lot of times. 😂 I think he might be missing the pool.

One of the buds that popped up recently bloomed already. Also, I don't know what is growing in this other cactus, but I hope it's ok. I've never seen anything like that before.

Overall, it's been a pretty good day, but as it wears on I feel tired, my pelvis and back are achy, I'm SLIGHTLY nauseated, and I'm still itching in my downstairs. I skipped leg day because I'm just worn down. I feel like my body is definitely trying to fight something off, and I'm probably going to bed soon to get more rest.

It's time for me to overshare again!

It's time for me to overshare again!

TMI Warning:  I'm gonna talk about my vagina and perimenopause.

Also, this is long.

Some backstory:

My crotch has/had been itching for like, 2 years. I LITERALLY couldn't see anything wrong, but I'd been scratching through my leggings like a crazy person for all of this time. I'd tried everything, like switching soaps and detergents, moisturizing, etc. Anything I could think of to make it stop.

I didn't think it was a yeast infection because that's not how a yeast infection normally presents, and I had no other symptoms of one of those, anyway.

Well, r/menopause saved the day again. Apparently, that can happen when your estrogen is low, so I mentioned that at my last Midi appointment (which was on Halloween), so she prescribed an estrogen cream for me to use.

UNFORTUNATELY FOR ME, that wasn't the problem. I went back to r/menopause and found a few posts mentioning the itching and Lichen Sclerosus (another autoimmune thing, yay). In the posts they said that Clobetasol usually cleared that right up. "Clobetasol" was tugging at my brain strings and I went searching through the bathroom cabinets and found some (in an alcohol solution). I'd been prescribed it for my scalp psoriasis (a long-ass time ago - the expiration date on this bottle was March 2017). But I was desperate and tried it anyway and by the next day I felt tons better.

Looking back, I probably should have just gone to a doctor, but all of the gynecology places I called had really long waiting lists, and I was getting my HRT from Midi via the internet, so I was mostly good.

Until this week. 😂

I showered on Monday and put on brand new (unwashed) leggings. I don't know if I got soap in my cooter or there was dye in my pants or what, but I gradually started itching on the inside. By Wednesday night it was so bad that I yet again went digging through the bathroom cabinets and found an un-opened Monistat 1 treatment (that expired in December 2023). Out of desperation I used it, hoping I'd just gotten a yeasty somehow.

Well, I don't think that was the case. My shit burned all night and all the next day. I was in bad shape.

I washed my business in plain, cool water when I got up yesterday. I took a look and the ol' girl was DEFINITELY upset. She was very red and irritated and I was like "I have to find a doctor that can see me sooner than a few months out, or I'll have to go to the ER." I did NOT want to go to the ER, so Shaun, wonderful Shaun that he is, helped me find some places to call. And I got STUPID LUCKY that a place that specializes in HRT was able to see me the very next day, which was TODAY.

The visit went very well. Their scale and their finger-holdy thing did more than just weigh me and check my blood air. According to their gadgets, I'm made of half fat at this point, which I can believe, and my Aortic Elasticity is low, and my body is responding poorly to stress (duh). Everything else pretty much looked ok, thank goodness.

We went through a questionnaire to see if the HRT I'm on is really helping me. I already knew that my sleep was going back to shit, but there are several other things on this list that resonate, especially the increasing anxiety. Like, my life is SO MUCH EASIER than it's ever been. I don't feel like I have any good reasons to be anxious, but the migraines are becoming more frequent again and one of my triggers is stress, so... I need this to stop.

I have to go have some labs done this coming week, and she did swab my coochie, so I'm going back in a few weeks to hopefully get some answers. But for now, she's confirmed the Lichen Sclerosis and prescribed me a cream for that, so no more precariously dabbing an expired alcohol solution on my bits.

Also, testosterone wasn't mentioned by Midi as of yet, but the symptoms in the graphic are usually from low T according to the doctor that I saw today. She gave me (for free!) 2 books to read, and I'm halfway through one already. I'm hopeful that she'll prescribe me some testosterone with my other hormones at my next visit so that I can get right.

If y'all ever need to talk about the hazards of perimenopause, please feel free to reach out to me. I definitely do not have all of the answers, but I'm for sure putting up a fight to feel the best I can as I age. I can try to point you in the direction of some resources, or at least commiserate. Be well, friends. ❤️

Look at this dog.

Look at this dog. He's been a goober all day. 😂

I went to the greenhouse today and I needed that.

I went to the greenhouse today and I needed that. I discovered some purple-striped buds on this cactus.

I just enjoyed this picture.

Shaun carried the Booger upstairs...

Shaun carried the Booger upstairs when the kids wanted their presents. It was his first time up there. He had to check everything, even the tree! Cub came up, of course. He always does. I just didn't feel good about leaving Bear out. He's part of the family, too. ❤️

He was doing it more before I busted out the camera...

He was doing it more before I busted out the camera (of course), but Bear started kicking with his back legs today. I know that's a totally normal dog behavior, but it's one he's never done before. I think he discovered a new thing he can do! Silly goose. 😂

I love how happy he looks. He had to get a couple good kicks in before he ran over to me. 😂😂😂❤️

I haven't been outside in days...

I haven't been outside in days, so I thought I'd go check on my plant babies. Bear, as usual, came with me. I'm literally not allowed in the greenhouse without him, since, (as you know), he's the helper. If I shut him out, he pounces the door and whines.

If I'm pruning leaves he's grabbing a mouthful. If I'm watering, he's taste-testing. If I'm just looking he's sniffing and checking them out, too. He likes to smell the "flowers" - even the cholla, despite how often they get stuck in his face. 😂 He has no fear of the thorns. He's giving Gianni Miquini in this picture. 😂❤️

I have some interesting blooms, which I wasn't really expecting. The Mammillaria are going off, as usual, but these orange and yellow flowers are super neat.

Three hours was enough of awakeness.

Three hours was enough of awakeness. I'm still drowsy from my meds and I feel kind of crappy, so I'm going back to bed.

I have taken Ibuprofen, so hopefully it'll keep my head ok-ish. I didn't want to take my migraine meds because I need to work tomorrow and it'll have me drowsy and brain-foggy. If I have to take my migraine meds, I will probably need to call out, so paws crossed the Ibuprofen works.

Goodnight, friends. ❤️

I don't know what happened, but...

I don't know what happened, but last night I started feeling TERRIBLE. I felt like I had a migraine, but also a fever. I took my migraine meds and went to bed. Unfortunately, that didn't help.

I laid in bed basically using breathing techniques to distract myself from the pain and the nausea. Eventually, I started throwing up. Usually if I just have a migraine, I throw up once and then sleep it off. But last night it happened several times.

I don't know if what we DoorDashed yesterday didn't sit well on my stomach or what, but I didn't stop throwing up until this morning when it was ALL GONE.

Shaun, despite being sick himself, came to check on me this morning. (We sleep separately when one of us is sick.) He brought me water and Zofran, but I couldn't take Zofran with migraine meds, which I still felt I needed, so I just sipped water. I barely got any down when I had to ask him to hand me the trashcan to throw up.

Unfortunately, I heaved so hard I peed a little, which was no good because I was still sitting in my bed. Hugging the trashcan, I started making my way to the bathroom when I heaved again and peed a little in floor. Made it to the toilet and proceeded to make all kinds of pretty sounds. I couldn't even get the door shut. I'm not one of those "pee with the door open" people, but I guess I was this morning.

While all of that was going on, Shaun started stripping and cleaning and making the bed. I eventually finished puking, cleaned myself and the floor up, and laid back down. Took another migraine pill and kept it down. I'm basically just now awake from sleeping that off.

I don't feel wonderful, but I don't feel ANYWHERE near as bad as I did, thank goodness.

I can't remember the last time I felt that bad. Maybe when we still lived in Talladega and I had a bad migraine and couldn't get out of the floor and also puked so hard I peed myself. But I still feel like this was worse because it drug out all night.

Anyway. It doesn't matter. I'm here. I have the best husband who still takes care of me even when he feels bad. I'm heading down to see how he feels and if there's anything I can do to help him now that I might be a functional person.

I sincerely hope y'all have had a better weekend than we did. ❤️ It was a rough one.

I was in a bad mood most of the day...

I was in a bad mood most of the day because I got woken up in the middle of the night.

Poor Shaun came to check on me around 2 this afternoon when I still hadn't come downstairs.

We hung out for a bit, I finally did my leg-day exercise, then I came down.

Shaun's been a little congested lately, but his face was red when I saw him. Poor thing has a fever today. 🙁

We rarely go out, and usually if we're not at a restaurant we're masked. But somehow he's sick.

I guess it's that time of year. Blegh.

We're DoorDashing some food and taking it easy today.

It happened too fast for me to get a picture, but...

It happened too fast for me to get a picture, but Bear is ready for bed and he's tired of waiting for Shaun to tuck him in.

He came through the room doing a lap and we joked that he was "a strong, independent puppy, don't need no dad." But the next time he came through, he stopped across from Shaun and gave him a look. Despite his tongue being out, it was a serious look. He had his eyebrows up and everything. 😂 He said "You know it's time to tuck me in."

I love it when these kids tell us what they need or want.

Bear is especially easy since he's so routine-oriented. Cub - not so much. I've considered getting him word buttons, but I don't know if I want to be bossed around by a dog all day. 😂

Trying to go to bed and I got THE CLAWS.

Trying to go to bed and I got THE CLAWS. Calypso said "Don't move. We're not done snuggling yet." 😂😂😂

Sharing because it's funny.

Sharing because it's funny. One of the teams I'm on at work is having a holiday Zoom background contest. I'm not really a holiday person, but I'm doing my best to be a team player. 😂😂😂

Cubba snugs. ❤️

Cubba snugs. ❤️

He just woke up from a nap. 😂

He just woke up from a nap. 😂

This brat...

This brat got into some treats he shouldn't have. Here's hoping he doesn't spend the night having diarrhea.

Oh, this boy. ❤️

Oh, this boy. ❤️

He's ready for bed. 😂

Toebean and Ash have been throwing up today.

Toebean and Ash have been throwing up today. Poor kitties. Ash is Shaun's girl and not really a lap cat, but she's loud and bossy. 😂 Toe isn't usually a lap kitty, but I guess he needs the extra comfort today.

I feel special.

I feel special. My Booger is napping under my chair instead of Shaun's.

He's not conventionally affectionate, but he lets us know how he feels. ❤️

Snuggle buddies in the chair with me. ❤️

Snuggle buddies in the chair with me. ❤️

Poor Bear. Deep asleep and then someone gets ice.

Poor Bear. Deep asleep and then someone gets ice.

He can sleep through a lot, but he and the ice dispenser got beef. 😂

I've decorated! Look at my beautiful Santa Grub!

I've decorated! Look at my beautiful Santa Grub!

My friend James R Russell posted some creatures he made in a bug group I follow. I fell in love with his creations immediately. I asked him very nicely if I could purchase a bug from him and he agreed.

He doesn't have a storefront yet, but if you'd like a small creature, definitely hit him up. This is a beautifully detailed grub, and his packaging was unconventional, eco-friendly, and fun to open.

I'll definitely be keeping my eyes out to see what he makes next!

❤️❤️❤️

Every day I wake up and take my meds...

Every day I wake up and take my meds with whole Lactaid milk. Lately I've been putting creamer in my milk for a little flavor boost.

If I'm lazy and hungry I will have milk as a meal. If I'm lazy and/or not hungry, I just don't eat anything else. Of course, if I'm actually hungry I eat food.

Throughout the day I drink ice water.

Until now.

Since it's been cold I don't feel as thirsty and have been struggling to drink enough water. I can tell that I need to drink more, but I just don't want it.

Recently I've been downing Seltzer water with coconut syrup and creamer. It's probably more sugar than I need, but after I use up this coconut syrup I'm going to replace it with sugar-free.

I am so freaking hydrated. It's ridiculous how much I'm drinking right now. I finish one tall glass and immediately make another. It seems dumb to waste my ice since we have to battle Bear for it every time. 😂

One of my coworkers recommended that I get a SodaStream. I don't know. Gadgets are neat, but do any of y'all have one and do you recommend it? Would it actually save me money over time?

Look at these precious little cactus blooms!

Look at these precious little cactus blooms!

Also look at this small-headed freak I found at Lowe's. It's trying it's best. I couldn't leave it there. Poor thing is broken, etiolated, and discolored. All of their succulents look pitiful right now. I wish I could could bring them all home, but I don't have that kind of space or money. 😕

I've had 2 really dumb conversations with Shaun this weekend.

I've had 2 really dumb conversations with Shaun this weekend.

The first started Saturday morning when I was (for who even knows what reason) thinking about Ryan Gosling's name. I was like "So is his name pretty much like 'Ryan Baby Goose'?" and Shaun was like... "Doesn't that include baby ducks, too? Wait... No. Those are ducklings. Then why was Darkwing Duck's kid named after a gosling?" and so I had to Google it and Darkwing Duck's daughter's name DOES sound a lot like "gosling" [it's Gosalyn], but I don't know if it was the actual intent that it sound like "gosling." If it was, that's pretty dumb because SHE IS A DUCK - NOT A GOOSE.

ANYWAY. Earlier today we were having dinner together and I asked him "Who said 'Br Br Brrr'?" and he was like "Wat?" So I tried several times making the sound with my lips flapping, but I was not good at it. He started asking me all these questions about where I heard it and what people were talking about when they said it. I could literally recall nothing besides "Br br brrr" and the sound got lower at the end. I tried Googling it and found a bunch of nonsense on TikTok that wasn't what I was looking for.

Y'all. Bruh. It was this dog with the Italian accent (link below) that was in my mind and I couldn't even tell Shaun it was a dog and not a human. 😂😂😂 I had told him I thought it was something we watched recently and he asked if it was an animal video and triggered my brain.

I'm gonna be a lot of fun when that Alzheimer's hits. 😂😂😂 

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18U73oHbsZ/

Cub is so tired. So, so tired...

Cub is so tired. So, so tired. He's whine-wheezing. He's the most pathetic thing I've ever seen. 😂

These dogs got so many treats yesterday.

These dogs got so many treats yesterday. Here's Bear enjoying a pup cup.

Just now he was trying to initiate play with Cubba. I wish I'd had my phone out. Cubba was just chilling in the floor on his tummy with his head up. Bear came over and was sniffing Cub's head.

The way it looked, all I could think in that moment was:

"I put my lip on you head."

😂😂😂

I'm not sick, but...

I'm not sick, but I've felt like crap for the last couple of days. I think I've been eating too much junk and not moving around enough. I have all this tension in my shoulders and I'm not even worried about stuff. I might go get on the treadmill after work to see if I can work any of it off. There also might be a little few-day fast in my future. I gotta get right.

Shaun went to pick up snacks and took the boys with him.

Shaun went to pick up snacks and took the boys with him. The lady at the drive through gave him 2 bowls of roast beef - for free! He gave them one bowl while he waited on his order and we gave them the rest just now.

Bear was so happy that he got zoomies and then crashed out. 😂😂😂

I know Cub looks horrified that anyone besides him gets treats, but I assure you that he one-throated his piece in a hurry so he could have his mouth free to snatch Bear's piece. 😂 Fortunately, we know how he do and Bear got his fair share of the goodies.

Roast beef is serious business, y'all. 😂

Me and Shaun tried a new place for dinner...

Me and Shaun tried a new place for dinner called KūKri Chicken Tikka Tenders. We like spicy food, so we went for the hottest thing they offered.

Y'all see this on the receipt? It wasn't kidding.

We just involuntarily wept through dinner - snotty noses and everything. 😂😂😂 What an exciting Tuesday night. 😂

Cubba's watching the dog show.

Cubba's watching the dog show.  Yes, from Shaun's lap. 😂😂😂

He looks so invested. 😂❤️

My succulents continue to bloom.

My succulents continue to bloom.

The last photo is of a cactus that was sent to me in error. It's a Myrtillocactus geometrizans fukurokuryuzinboku, aka Boobie Cactus. I contacted the seller and they told me to keep it and that they were sending out what I actually ordered (a spiral cactus), so I got a column of boobies for free. 😂

I've seen them before, but I never planned to buy one. I guess I was just meant to have it. It's probably the most ridiculous plant in my collection, but that's ok. 😆