This face. 😂

This face. 😂

He was so unamused. Shaun fell asleep on the couch and Bear was like "This isn't funny. How's he gonna tuck me!?"

She's the worst cat, but she's being sweet right now. 😂❤️

She's the worst cat, but she's being sweet right now. 😂❤️

More blooms!

More blooms!

Sweet little orange flower! 🧡

These are opening up slowly but surely. 💛

I almost missed this one!

Pickle Plant flowers and my Trumpet Pinky doing well.

This one is gonna bloom, but I worry about the top growth. It was chewed by someone last year and hasn't grown at all since. Should I remove it? Gianni, what do you think?

Another yellow flower! 💛

I love how he looks when he wakes up from a nap. 😂😍

I love how he looks when he wakes up from a nap. 😂😍

Look at this goblin I found at Lowe's.

Look at this goblin I found at Lowe's. It's got a heart and a bird finger. 😂 It had to come home with me.

We thought he was gonna throw the coaster on the floor, but...

We thought he was gonna throw the coaster on the floor, but he fell asleep instead. Look at him! ❤️

I've had this bruise for a few days.

I've had this bruise for a few days. I just noticed that it looks like a heart.

Bear was playing the other day and ran up to me and bumped me there with one of his bottom teeth. I know he doesn't mean to do that; it's just because of the shape of his face. He also bruises my lips when he gives me kisses sometimes. It depends on how excited he is in the moment.

I could never be upset by his enthusiastic lovings or his accidental bumps. He's a sweet boy just doing his best. ❤️

I was watching a show...

I was watching a show with Shaun and there was a contest to identify a photo as being of an alligator or a crocodile. It didn't look like an alligator to me, so I said crocodile. I was right.

That's a skill I didn't know I had. Guess I'll be adding that to my resume. 😂

I feel like I'm in an anxiety-induced depressive spiral...

I feel like I'm in an anxiety-induced depressive spiral. I'm having trouble doing anything productive.

Look at the flowers, though. It's the pink one's first time!

Greenhouse photo dump from the last few days:

Greenhouse photo dump from the last few days:

I don't know why these randomly decide to crest, but they're definitely never dull. 😂

So many buds!

A few buds and a bloom.

I was surprised to see these beauties today. 😊

I've had this cactus for YEARS and she's finally gonna bloom!

My little conjoined twin cactus has some buds.

I think this one is enjoying the shadier spot.

Anacampseros flower!

Orange blooms in front of a Prickly Pear.

I can't believe this one bloomed again ALREADY.

Caitlin, she's putting on new growth!

This little weirdo has bloomed again. ❤️

I didn't really feel like talking about it on Friday...

I didn't really feel like talking about it on Friday and I don't even now, but I'm not a secretive person, so:

I was laid off at the end of last week.

It's a bummer because I had no idea it was coming. I was billing, I was meeting my goals, and I thought I was doing well. One consolation is that it took my coworkers by surprise, too. At least I wasn't doing a bad job with everyone but me knowing that I'm next.

I'm pretty sure it's just an economy thing, but it still hurt.

Anyway, I'll be ok. I have my Math and CS degrees, I have marketable skills, and I usually figure things out. So I'm not in panic mode, but putting myself out there again is giving me a bit of anxiety. I think that's normal.

If y'all know anyone looking for a ServiceNow dev, send me their way. ❤️

I got this crazy Aloe...

I got this crazy Aloe from Bitis Botanical yesterday, and it's gorgeous! I potted it up today and did some other stuff in the greenhouse.

I repotted around 50 plants today. Most of them were my small Echeveria. I had noticed at my last watering that some weren't fattening back up, so I uprooted them early last week and saw that my soil mix was off and their roots were in rough shape. I cut their roots and left them out to callous until today. Then I hit them with some rooting hormone and potted them in a much grittier mix today. They are in a shadier spot for now. I'll give them some days before I water them. I think they'll be ok.

I also had 3 trailing succulents that weren't doing as well as I'd hoped. I think the pots they were in were wayyy too large. So they were put into a grittier mix in smaller pots. I think they'll be ok, too.

Years ago the plants would have probably had to get into worse shape before I knew to take action, but these days I am better at spotting when something isn't right. I don't get out to the greenhouse every day, but when I do I'm testing the plants for thirst, watering the ones who need it, and checking within the next day or so if they've drank or not. If they haven't, I know something is wrong.

I'm posting this picture just because it's pretty.

This last photo is one of the plants that got mealy bugs last year. I sprayed it down with alcohol to kill the bugs, which worked; however, it messed up the farina (the powdery coating on succulents), and that's why the lower leaves are orange. The blue/pink/lavender growth at the top/middle is what it's supposed to look like. I'm happy to see that it's doing well after that ordeal.

Errands today.

Errands today. The boys got pup cups. The lady at the pharmacy said that Bear looks mean. Knowing who he is as a person, I don't think I could ever see it. 😊 He's a sweet boy, even if he's wild and looks weird. ❤️

It's no secret...

It's no secret that I have indulged in retail therapy over the years.  Sometime near the end of last year I really cut out/cut down on buying stuff (most of which was nail polish/stamping plates and succulents) and by and large, I have stuck to it this year, too.  Even if I'm not doing my walking or my strength training, I have stuck to one thing.  Change isn't easy, so I'm proud of myself for that.

I've been trying to spend under a certain amount of money each month.  There are still things I want, but I am being very mindful and showing restraint.

I have also been showing restraint with my eating habits thanks to Semaglutide.  I mean, right now I could totally order and eat Crumbl Cookie.  I don't feel that it would make me sick and it does sound really good.  I am a little hungry and I might make a serving of pizza rolls in a minute... btw, did y'all know that a serving of pizza rolls is 6 pizza rolls?  Well now you do.

Anyway.  It's really nice that it doesn't feel impossible to have some control over what I eat.  It really did before.  If I had a craving, I was super unhappy until it was fulfilled, but then I was super unhappy for having done something that I knew wasn't healthy for me.  There was no winning.

So maybe I'm not gonna be buff and strong this year.  I don't know.  But I will save some money and slowly lose weight and that is progress.  I have a lot of work to do on myself, and anything is better than nothing.  I'm not saying that I wouldn't like to walk and strength train, but it's very difficult to stick to routines and I think that's because of how my brain works.  We shall see.

First therapy session tomorrow!

This reminds me of the time...

This reminds me of the time I was in Wal-Mart with Shaun and I was trying on shoes and I heard my ex who worked there come out from the back telling another coworker that I was crazy. He mentioned a length of time and that's how I knew it was me he was talking about. It was super hard not to pop out of the aisle I was on like "Who, me?" 😂😂😂

We were outside earlier...

We were outside earlier and Cub heard/saw either a person or a dog outside the fence and started doing his "I'm excited, come be my best friend" squeal, but no one came to see him. So he sat alone over there pouting for a bit, which is why this photo is all zoomed and a little blurry. 😂 He was so sad. He only put his ears up because Shaun was talking to him, but he wouldn't come. You can see it in his eyes that his feelings were hurt. I felt so bad for this sweet boy. 💔

In the 2nd picture I was getting some Cubba cuddles before bed. He's such a doll.

It's really nice walking weather lately, so maybe he can make some friends on walks pretty soon.

How cute is this?

How cute is this? It's how I give Scar his inhaler. He doesn't love it, but he gets treats and cuddles after, so he doesn't put up a big fight.

It's got a little valve at the top that moves when he inhales. I count 8 breaths with this held to his face and then he's done.

Got these chompers cleaned! 😁😁😁

Got these chompers cleaned! 😁😁😁

I love my dentist and I love getting my teeth cleaned and I LOVE that I'm to a point where I'm just at routine maintenance/cleanings.

This week is off to a good start!

Happy Bear. 😊

Happy Bear. 😊 Every time he gets the zoomies I feel so grateful that he can. I can't imagine how hard life would be for him to have so much energy and no physical outlet.

I think his favorite thing to do is splash around in the pool and then run around wetting us all up. 😂

I have a therapy appointment this Friday.

I have a therapy appointment this Friday. I'm really optimistic about it. 

I've contacted some therapists.

I've contacted some therapists. We'll see if it pans out this time.

Y'all, I'm struggling right now.

Y'all, I'm struggling right now.

There are several things going on at once, but I'm going through one of my phases where I am exhausted and my routine is non-existent and my self-care is going to shit and I feel ungrounded and it's just straight-up not a good time.

Part of it is stress.  Overall, things are pretty good, but there are some things nagging at me that need to be resolved.  I have probably said that I am doing this before, but I am literally doing it now:  I'm looking for a therapist.  I also think I probably need to be evaluated for Autism/Adhd.  I'm just not functioning like I "should" or would like to.  There are so many things that I relate to within the AuDhd community and if there is help out there for me, then I want it.

I missed a day of work this past week.  That is a whole fun, TMI story, but when has that ever stopped me?  😂

So the doctor who prescribed me the Semaglutide compound told me to stay at the lowest dose (.25mg) for at least 4 weeks.  They said to stay there as long as it was working, and that when I felt I needed to increase the dosage I could do it in .25mg increments.  I started feeling like I needed to increase my dosage and I'd been there for 6 weeks, so this past Tuesday I took .50mg.  I even did the shot by myself.

Well.  Tuesday and most of Wednesday went fine, but I'd been battling a migraine since Monday; I had kept it at bay for 2 days with a lot of Ibuprofen, but it was coming.  I took my migraine pills and went to sleep Wednesday night.  I woke up in the middle of the night with diarrhea and such a super full, overly stuffed feeling in my stomach.  The diarrhea lasted all night and my stomach was so uncomfortable.  Kira could hear me coming in and out of the bathroom and messaged me to check on me.  I told her what was up and she grabbed a Propel water and brought it upstairs for me.  She's sweet.

Recently, my psoriasis has been breaking out, and I think that was due to the protein shakes.  So I cut them out, and when I needed a thick drink I'd just have Lactaid Whole Milk.  And I think that, plus the double-dose of Semaglutide is what got me.  You're not supposed to get crazy on fatty foods on this medication and I just didn't even consider that.

Anyway, I messaged work at about 4 in the morning on Thursday saying that I needed a sick day because I DEFINITELY did.  I still had a headache, had not slept more than an hour stretch thanks to my butt, and I would've been useless.  Thursday morning, Shaun went and picked up some Imodium for me and that shut the booty faucet off for a bit.  I still felt uncomfortably full in my stomach, but tried to sleep off my headache.  At some point my headache disappeared, but I kept that really uncomfortable, overly-full feeling well into Thursday night despite not eating much that day.

I have (thankfully) felt mostly pretty ok physically today, but I've gotta get my mental shit in order ASAP.

As for the Semaglutide, I've read that splitting the higher dose can be helpful in reducing side effects, so I'm going to try that.  I'm going to take the .25mg on Tuesday like I was, and then 4 days later the next .25mg, and then 4 days later do it again and keep going like that if I feel ok.  I am pretty sure that if/when it's time to up my dose again I will do it very slowly (like .05mg/injection or something) because I don't want to go through that again.  I'm not trying to lose weight fast - I just want to feel like myself again.  It's ok with me if that takes time.

Anyway, all that is to say that it wasn't a really fun week overall, but I survived it and learned something, so I guess it's ok.

I hope things are going better for y'all.  If not, hang in there. ❤

Shaun and Bear are opening the pool.

Shaun and Bear are opening the pool. I guess it's about that time. Kira should be happy. She's been asking about it for weeks. 😂

I was sitting up talking to Kira and Shadow...

I was sitting up talking to Kira and Shadow and Toebean decided it was time to wrestle Shadow as he stood there eating his food. 😂 I don't usually see Tobi play; he doesn't with the other cats and he's cuddly with me and Shaun. But I've seen him come for Shadow a few times and it's pretty funny. I guess they're buddies. 😂😊

🎵🎶🎵He got legs... 😂😂😂

🎵🎶🎵He got legs... 😂😂😂

This boy and his kicking. I was in the living room when he started kicking the box. He tried to pretend nothing was going on until I went to my office chair, then he immediately started kicking again. 😂 He's easily fooled. It's not like I wasn't still looking directly at him. 👀😂

Pardon the mess. This is the room we were rearranging over the weekend and we are not done.

A couple of the few people...

A couple of the few people who have been in our house since we moved have commented some version of "It's very... neutral" or "How long have you been here?"... I guess in response to my lack of decoration.

It's totally fine; that's not offensive to me. It's kind of funny. 😂

But I will agree that downstairs is pretty neutral because that's where everyone should feel welcome, and it's also where most of the animals are. So not too much that I really care about is down here.

Shaun is more of the decorator of the family. His game room is swords and knives and red and black things and LOTR. Our bedroom has my loft bed and more of a nature vibe, I think. It has some of my decorations in there. And the actual loft room does, too.

But all in all, I prefer less clutter, fewer things to dust and clean, and less grabbing my attention. I find it easier to relax in a space like that.

It's funny because today we moved some stuff around. We took the shelves from the sunroom and brought them in to the "dining room" that I use as my downstairs office space. It's not done, but there are a few plants on the shelves and some driftwood and some rocks. We have a few small totes of rocks and I put the totes in the bottom shelf. I called it decoration. Shaun disagrees. 😂

But there is no good way to display that many rocks. I don't know why, as a family, we have so many rocks, but we do. Me and Shaun both collected rocks when we were kids, and still do. Shadow did/does it, too. Kira might be the only one of us who didn't move a box of rocks into this house. 😂  Actually, she did.  She brought rocks that she had painted.

I'll post a photo of the area once it's done. Right now I am getting beachy vibes, probably from the pale colors and driftwood and sunny area. I would like to try my hand at houseplants, but I hit a few spring sales for succulents already and I'm not trying to spend a bunch of money on plants I might accidentally kill. There is plenty of time to load up my indoor shelves.

Anyway. Goodnight, friends. Monday is almost here!

So the question earlier...

So the question earlier stemmed from the fact that I say "in the dash" instead of "in the glove box." Apparently, it is confusing to Shaun, so I'm gonna try to remember to say "in the glove box" next time. I just grew up hearing "in the dash" and thought that was pretty normal. But I like to be precise with my words, so I'll work on this.

Oddly, this isn't the first time we've run into this. But I'm glad I'm not the only one who understood what I meant. 😂 Thank you if you answered my question. ❤️

Question:

Question:

If I asked you to look in the dash of the car to get something, where specifically would you look?

Two of my cactus plants are really showing off today! 😊

Two of my cactus plants are really showing off today! 😊

I'm not feeling 100% today, so...

I'm not feeling 100% today, so I'm working from the couch. Cubba's next to me, I'm in a meeting - unmuted - and he just lets loose a loud, stinky fart.

I don't know if my team heard it or not, but no one said anything.

Thanks, Cub. 😂😂😂 'Preciate that.

Some of the plants we planted in the yard...

Some of the plants we planted in the yard last year didn't make it through the winter. I looked back at my Facebook posts and we planted those in AUGUST. What were we thinking!?

The three Teddy Bear Cholla died, but I have over 30 pups that we picked up out of the yard/off Bear. As much as I love the way they look, I don't think we'll replant those because Bear still runs right through them. The spines are around 2 inches long and they're hard to pull out; they really stick in there. I have no idea what I'm gonna do with all these babies, but that's a problem for another day. 😂

We had also planted an agave and it just rotted. We have a neighbor less than a mile away with 3 growing in their yard, so we're going to try that one again. We'll plant it earlier; the plan is to do that in a few more weeks when we're sure it won't freeze again.

We'd also planted some spineless Prickly Pear. They looked great! However, someone ate them over the winter. One is literally eaten to the ground, and the other is close. I'm not mad about that. Critters need to eat, too. I might replant some of that behind our fence. I don't mind animals coming in, but it's safer for them not to. 

I have no idea what were going to put on the inside of our back wall since we're not doing the Teddy Bear Cholla or the spineless Prickly Pear. That's very much a "first world" problem to have, though, so it's ok.