I love seeing these kids when they come out at night.

I love seeing these kids when they come out at night.

I was just talking to Shadow in the kitchen and he was standing there with his hair all picked out and his arms crossed. He's been working out and is putting on some good muscle. But the way he was standing there made me think he looked like he was about to go Super Saiyan on someone. 😂

It's crazy how much he's changed just since last year. He's definitely putting in the work, so I'm proud of him.

Today is Shadow's 25th birthday.

Today is Shadow's 25th birthday. It's crazy to realize that he's ¼ of a century old. 😂

He's not celebrating today because he's gotta work. We'll be getting some tasty dinner together as soon as he's off. He's out here being responsible, so I'm proud of him.

I just didn't want to let the day pass without mentioning my Man-Cub. 💜💜💜

Shadow got a job...

Shadow got a job at the local Wal-Mart Market. He's working at night stocking and his first day (last night/this morning) seemed to go well. He talked like he enjoyed the work and the people.

He chose nights because that's when he's been awake for the last few years anyway, but also so he doesn't have to deal with crowds of customers. He still masks because none of us like getting sick and no one gave him shit about it AND he wasn't even the only one, so that is cool.

It honestly sounds like a really chill first job and I'm proud of him for just going out there and snagging it. I feel like he put a lot of thought into what he'd feel safe doing, when it would work best in his schedule, which store was best, and all of the other ins and outs.

I think the worst part of his first day was that he bought a banana for lunch, and he couldn't tell that it was still green since he is color-blind and it was gross. 😬 I think he's gonna steer clear of produce unless someone is around to help him not eat un-ripe or over-ripe food.

But anyway, I am super proud of him and I'm happy that he is enjoying the work so far.

Last night, me and Shaun had a date at Namaste.

Last night, me and Shaun had a date at Namaste. I tried a few new foods:  Lentil Crackers, Vegetable Samosa, and some kind of Yogurt/Mango drink. I also had Chicken Vindaloo spiced to the max. It was all so delicious.

I woke up this morning with my stomach rumbling. I don't normally have issues with spice, so I'm thinking I went too hard on new foods last night. But 10/10, I'd eat them all again. 😂

Today, I spent some time watering my plants. I snuggled Cub for a nap. I had tasty food today with Shaun, Shadow, Kira, my friend Caitlin, and her husband Joe. It was nice to have everyone together.

Shaun got a lamp for me to do my nails. I'm usually on the dark side of the room, so it's nice to have a light. I just finished filling in/rebalancing my structure gel while using it, and it's really nice to be able to see. He also got me some plant hangers for the greenhouse. The kids got me tasty snacks.

It was a really nice day. I've been getting messages all day, but I haven't had a chance to respond yet. I'm about to chill and check my notifications.

I hope you all have had a lovely weekend. I know I sure did. ❤️

Look at this gorgeous photo of my Gramson, Leon.

Look at this gorgeous photo of my Gramson, Leon. Shadow took it.

He looks like a model.

I don't think last night was what any of us were expecting. 😂

I don't think last night was what any of us were expecting. 😂

When we were eating dinner, the wind kicked up pretty hard (not unusual for here), but it also started raining hard.

I ran outside and started moving my plants into the greenhouse because I really hate for them to be watered from the top. If water remains on them, it can cause rot and the leaves can also get burn spots if the water is still there when the sun comes back out.

The roof and walls of the greenhouse are up, but the floor isn't done, my shelves aren't in, and in general, moving plants quickly in the dark and the rain is not ideal. Not to mention that I really, really wanted to clean the dust, bird poop, and any possible pests off of them before putting them in there, but at this point I'm just glad I had somewhere dry to put them.

Shaun came out to help me and about the same time we were done moving them, the rain had passed. Of course. 😒 What I didn't know was that there was more on the way. By the time I went to bed, it was raining again. It rained for a long time. I fell asleep listening to it.

I woke up this morning to two funny messages from Shadow. One:  We have a little roof leak in the stairwell. He put a cup underneath to catch it. (This one's only funny because it won't rot my house like it would've in Alabama. It'll dry fast here. We'll get it checked out/repaired and it'll be fine.)

The second message, well, see the image. 😂

This is funny because we ordered a microwave from Best Buy several weeks ago, but it never came, so Shaun called customer service and they sent out another one. We got the second one according to the tracking numbers. But just the other day, the one we ordered first showed up after being lost in the mail for weeks. We assumed it had been stolen. But anyway, it's been sitting in the living room, new in the box, because we didn't know what to do with it. I guess that sorted itself out. 😂

I haven't been awake for long. It's cool and cloudy, so very tempting to stay in bed with my weighted blanket and the cats. But I guess I need to get up, see if we can finish the greenhouse, and check on my plants.

Happy Saturday, y'all. ❤️

Apparently, it's not a deal-breaker...

Apparently, it's not a deal-breaker for Shaun if I drink rotten milk in his car.

I'm not saying that's what I'm doing... But he seems to think it is.

One of us has a messed up sniffer and I don't know who. 😂😂😂

Edited to Add:

Shadow was the tie-breaker. My milk isn't bad. I knew it. 😂

I went out of town for a few days...

I went out of town for a few days to see some friends and pick up my snephew. He'll be staying with us indefinitely. We can't wait to introduce you all to him.

Shadow made the trip with me and it was fun to have him to myself for a bit. I love our family, but the days of just me and my Shadow will always be special. We talked so much during the first day on the road that my throat hurt by the time we got to the hotel. He's an excellent travel partner.

When we made it to Jajuan and Janet's house, we were greeted with hugs and tears from Janet and the super adorable 5-year-old Momo inviting us in. I haven't seen Janet (or Jajuan) in probably at least 10 years and she's one of my very best friends. She and I sat up until 4 in the morning just talking, even though we've phone and video chatted over the years. It's just never the same as being together in person.

I had a great time being with them and my heart feels happy. I'm so proud of what they've accomplished and I adore their daughter. It's funny because she's about the same age Shadow was when he first met Janet.

The drive there and back was pretty uneventful, except for the one car who decided to "thread the needle" between me and another car at a stoplight. They hit my driver's side mirror and knocked it out (and kept driving), but thankfully it didn't break. It was dangling by it's electric wires and I clipped it back in. We got them on camera, but there's not even a scratch, so probably nothing to be done. I'm choosing to believe that was their way of avoiding a rear-end collision and not them just being douchebags, but you never know.

Not relevant to anything at all; I just thought it was neat:  At 1:58 pm we had 1 hour and 58 minutes left of our trip home.

I'm all settled in and it's time to go to bed and sleep with a cat on my head. I've missed my bad little Scar. I missed everyone. Cub made it known that he missed me, too. He's a sweetheart. Shaun sent video of Bear seeming to look for me and spending time in my chair while I was gone, but he wasn't excited when I got back. I got kisses and deeply sniffed and that was it. 😂 My weird child.

Anyway, goodnight. 😊❤️

I don't know how much y'all or your kids cook, but...

I don't know how much y'all or your kids cook, but I am not a cook. Frozen chicken and canned sides is about as close as I got to cooking when Shadow was growing up. I've never prepared raw meat that wasn't pre-cut and frozen. I am not into touching dead animals like that and it's even harder to eat them if I have to witness them being prepared. Judge me if you wish. There are lots of great things about me, but my cooking has never been one of them.

Shadow has been working out a lot and has put on a good bit of muscle. I'm proud of him for taking care of his body. I guess part of that is making nutritious meals because tonight he made chicken. It was raw and looked really gross, but he cut it up and cooked it in the InstantPot with only a question about how to release the steam since it was his first time using it. I also confirmed for him that it was cooked through since he is colorblind. (We do have a meat thermometer, but I don't think it was meant for small pieces of chicken like this).

He also did really great about not contaminating other surfaces with his raw chicken. I think he had a SafeServe class in high school and thankfully it stuck.

I just wanted to say that I'm proud of him for trying something new, especially something he knew I wouldn't be super helpful with. (Not that I didn't want to help, but more that I don't have the experience to help). I think it's super cool that he's branching out beyond me. ❤️

I feel like such a jerk.

I feel like such a jerk. March 15th was Shadow's 24th birthday and I didn't say anything to the internet because he's not even on here. I thought "What's the point if he won't even see my post?" But I keep thinking about it and clearly it's just not sitting well with me that I didn't mention the anniversary of such a life-changing and special day.

I think he had a good day despite my lack of public acknowledgement. He wanted Five Guys as his birthday dinner so we had that. He'd asked for some audio recording equipment and he got it. He also asked me to make him some apple/carrot/spinach juice, but he forgot about it and was pleasantly surprised when I made it for him.

It's crazy how time flies. It's hard to believe that he's 24 already. I guess no matter how old he gets I need to make sure I document the day because even if he won't see it, it's important to me.

Shadow didn't see a difference...

Shadow didn't see a difference in Shaun's teeth before we pointed it out.

Kira saw Shaun's teeth and was like "No offense, but you're teeth were ugly before, like in a unique way. Like a rat." 😂😂😂 Then she said she could tell that they were shorter.

(We value honesty and Shaun's feelings were not hurt and she didn't say that hatefully or anything. Shaun and I both cracked up.)

Before Kira went back upstairs she asked me if I was going to be ok. I didn't answer (not to be a jerk... I think my head was elsewhere at that moment) and she paused and then repeated herself, but as a statement with a stern face looking directly at me. 😂 Yes ma'am. 😂😂😂

I love my little family. 😂❤️

I don't usually share things these days, but...

I don't usually share things these days, but I absolutely agree with this woman.

I purposely bought a house with 4 bedrooms so that at the very least we could always provide Shadow and Kira with a safe space of their own in our home.

I am a hard worker, but even when working 2-3 jobs at a time I never got ahead. It wasn't until after I graduated college in 2020 with a tech-heavy degree that I was able to make enough money to start saving.

We also received a not-insignificant amount of help from my husband's family estate after his parents passed. Despite how hard we've worked our whole lives we absolutely cannot take full credit for finally (possibly?) being what was once considered "middle class" now. If it was that difficult for us, then that doesn't bode well for the younger generations.

I 100% believe it's the wealth hoarders vs. the rest of us.

Eat the rich.

https://www.buzzfeed.com/meganeliscomb/gen-x-mom-rant-tiktok

Watching the eclipse...

We went to Cakes and Pops Paleteria this evening.

We went to Cakes and Pops Paleteria this evening. I got a delicious concoction of strawberries, cream, and pecans, Kira got a tamale and a strawberry pancake platter with crumbled marzipan, and Shadow got DoriNachos which had like, parmesan, corn, cucumbers, and some other stuff served on Dorito's in the bag. Pretty good stuff. We'll definitely be back.

Shaun didn't get anything. He got impatient waiting for the kids to be ready to go and ate coffee ice cream before we left. 😂 I guess we need to leave earlier next time.

Me, Shaun, Kira, and Shadow...

Shadow just came downstairs...

Shadow just came downstairs and said that Kira got in a fight with Leon. 😂😂😂 That child and her child crack me up. How do you get in a fight with a cat!?

Today is a pretty special day

Today is a pretty special day; I've officially been Shadow's mom for 23 years.  Even though it happened right in front of my eyeballs it's hard to believe that he's a whole young adult.  It happened so fast!

I would write a big, long, mushy post, but he's not on social media to see it.  So instead I'm going to celebrate his birthday by spending the afternoon with him doing whatever he wants.  I'm 100% sure that includes getting food.  😁  That child has always loved his food!

I know I don't post about him much these days; he hangs out with me less than he used to, but that's a natural progression, I think.  He's got his own things going on now, and I'm happy for him.  He's so kind and smart and good-looking.  And talented.  And he smells great, like, all the time.  His smile is so big and bright and it makes me happy to see it.  I'm so proud of the person he is.

So anyway, before this turns into a big, long, mushy post, I'd better end it.  😂  Just know that I love my kiddo and I think he's pretty great and I hope that he has a wonderful 23rd birthday.  ❤❤❤

I've had some stuff on my mind for a few days...

I've had some stuff on my mind for a few days and now I'm off until Monday, so here I am to share my thoughts.  It's been a minute.  This is nothing important, so feel free to keep scrolling if you're (rightfully) not interested in the boring details of my life.  😆

I've been at home for almost 3 full weeks now.  I just finished working week #2 from home.  I feel like I am settling in more and more, and things are pretty great.  Somehow, working from home is even better than I expected.  I don't know if it's due to not having a commute, or not having the stress of other people around me, or not having the discomfort of clothes that don't feel comfortable, or if it's that I'm in my safe / happy space, but I feel like I have so much more time and energy than I used to.

After living with Kelsey for all of those months in Cinci and eating the healthier food that she cooked, I told Shaun that I'd planned to change things up and make food at home more often once I got back.  For those of you who don't know - I have never been much of a cook.  Me and Shadow (pre-Shaun and Kira) ate sandwiches and frozen foods and pizza and fast food and kits from Wal-Mart like the Homestyle Bakes and pre-made packages that you dump in the slow cooker.  I always tried to make it healthy, like with the steam-in-bag veggies and whatnot, but honestly there was almost never a time I had actual ingredients in my house to mix up a type of food.

After me and Shaun met, we went out to eat more and when we did eat at home together he was the one who made the food.  He's good at it, too.  His seasoning instinct is on point.  But he mostly made carb-heavy foods like pizza or macaroni and cheese or baked potatoes.  Combine that with depression and then the stress of college and it's no wonder I gained some unnecessary weight.  But this post is not about that.  It's about self-care.

Since living with Kelsey, though, I learned that maybe I don't hate making food; maybe I just don't like fucking around with dead animal corpses.  I've never been much of a meat-eater anyway and a lot of people are shocked to learn (given my history in animal rehab and rescue) that I'm not vegan or vegetarian. I still can't claim to be either of those things, but I have discovered that I don't dislike cooking and baking as long as it doesn't involve dead bodies.  Go figure.

So in the past few weeks I've made rice and beans and lentils.  I baked some broccoli and it turned out pretty good.  I've baked several loaves of pumpkin bread from a vegan recipe and it's always gone by the next day.  I tried some unflavored tofu baked in the oven and that was actually pretty good.  Next time I will season it like Kelsey does.  Last night I made corn bread to go with canned soup for dinner and while it was different than what I'm used to, it was good.  I'll definitely be doing that again.  I know these things are not impressive by any stretch, but for me they signal a new chapter and growth.

I guess my point is that I have both the time AND energy to take a little bit better care of myself at the moment and I'm doing it.  I'm not making 100% healthy choices.  Just today I've eaten some Sea Salt and Caramel Dark Chocolates.  But overall I've felt better since I've been home, and Shaun and I have agreed to try to keep going out to eat to the weekends and special occasions.  Also, kind of sadly, I have been off tea since I got back. I do love the teas I have, but I just haven't been feeling it.  Water and Lactaid milk only, for the most part.  No caffeine or anything.  I didn't mean to do that; it just kind of happened.  🤷

Anyway, since I've been spending more time in the kitchen I felt a big need to organize.  I now have containers of flour and brown sugar and rice, etc.  That's crazy.  But I think it's helped me feel more connected and "here."

Speaking of organizing (I know, this is ridiculously long already, but I have more)... I've decided to move my nail polish downstairs.  I have 8 helmers being delivered from Ikea tomorrow.  I'm pretty excited about that.  It'll be a nice way to store my polishes properly (in a dark drawer so they don't fade), so I'm pumped about that.  I spend most of my time downstairs with the animals so it just doesn't make sense to have my hobby put away somewhere that is effort to get to.

Other than that, I've finally got the mental space and energy to think about starting back on my two long-term projects:  my nail polish database and my website.  Those two things were put on pause in August of last year.  I don't know how / when those are going to fit into my life yet, but as I fall into a comfortable routine here I know that the opportunity will present itself.  I'm excited to pick back up on those things and I feel more like myself than I have in a long time at just the thought of it.

So... that is pretty much all I have to talk about at the moment.  Basically a big, long ramble, but I feel better now that it's out.  😁😁

I hope you all are doing well!  If you feel like telling me what's going on in your life, I'm happy to listen!  ❤️

We just gave Leon a shot.

We just gave Leon a shot. We are all SO grateful that next Saturday is his last one. We've been stabbing that boy nightly since April and he's honestly been the most unbelievably patient, wonderful kitty about it, but we know he especially is DONE.

Tonight he made a little fuss when we injected him and right after Shadow burst out laughing. We all looked at him like "What's funny?" and then he explained that that Leon's fussy meow sounded like he was falling off a cliff. He was absolutely right, too, and we all laughed after that.

We are all exhausted tonight and I am pretty sure that this is the least fun part of the day for all of us, but sometimes you just need to laugh. Leon always gets treats and wet food after his shot and of course lots of loving from Kira so I really hope he knows we don't enjoy hurting him. Poor little Gramson. He's a trooper, though.

Shadow just found a baby hummingbird in the driveway.

Shadow just found a baby hummingbird in the driveway. It's got feathers, but not a full set. I offered our feeder to it and it didn't drink so we put it in a tree out front where we think they nest. We read that the mom's still feed them so we're going to keep an eye on it and hopefully it'll be ok. If not I'll see if there is a rescue around here for them.