Shaun and I have both been cleaning...

Shaun and I have both been cleaning and organizing for the last few days. I don't care how lame this sounds, but I'm THRILLED with my "craft" closet. I have all of my jewelry and supplies in there. I also have packing materials, wrapping paper, tissue paper, gift bags, etc. in there; all organized and easily accessible. I told the kids and Shaun not to buy packaging for special occasions because I have us covered. Much of it is recycled because I can't bear to throw pretty things away. I just can't stand waste. I mean how would anyone know that the tissue paper in their gift bag was crinkled before? They wouldn't.

The other big thing I did was organize my nail polish stuff. The polish itself was sorted by color a few years ago with the help of Janet, but I've gotten a few gels over the last couple of years, as well as the chrome powders and transfers that you can use with them. I didn't realize that I had so many foils, either. That situation was pretty out of hand but it's under control now. In any case all of my gel stuff is sorted and I kind of feel inspired to do some nail art. I still have some things to accomplish around here first, though. We'll see.

Aside from that the only things worth mentioning are that I moved my betta (Salamander), into the kitchen, and our tarantula (Anansi), into the living room. I would like to buy some new shelves for my bedroom because the ones I have are very old and sagging under the weight of my plants and books, but that's not urgent (hopefully).

It feels nice to be doing things I care about. I'm pretty bummed that Shaun has to go back to work tomorrow but the time off was good for him. I've enjoyed spending time with him and the kids. And snuggling my old puppies on the couch. And having my cats home (we got them from the kids' house recently).

Things have been going surprisingly well considering that there are now 10 cats (yes, ten! 😲) in this house. Shaun's biggest worry was that they would pee everywhere, but we clean the boxes every day and it hasn't been an issue. Aside from the expected initial hissing everyone is getting along. I've missed Balthazar grooming my nails and Tobi (Orange) hopping around with his adorable no-tail having self. I've missed love bug Adrian and the weird way she drapes herself over the arm or back of the couch. I've missed Scar less because he was more Shadow's cat, but they'll be reunited soon. Anyway, it's good. I feel whole. ❤️

We got the kids 23andMe kits for Christmas.

We got the kids 23andMe kits for Christmas. They got their results back today.

Shadow is 58% European and 40% Sub-Saharan African (primarily Nigerian) and Kira is 55% European and 38% East Asian and Native American. Of course there are other elements filling those percentages out to 100. Kira's DNA is the most interesting out of all of us - she even has a small amount of Ashkenazi Jewish in her. That is so cool. We're really enjoying checking out all of the things that 23andMe can tell us. It's so neat!

I'm finally feeling like myself again.

For the last two days, I've felt well enough to do some cleaning and organizing and checking things off of my to-do list. I like that.

School starts Wednesday. I'm not necessarily excited for that just yet, but it'll be okay. I've decided that I'm only taking Differential Equations and Human-Computer Interaction so I shouldn't be too overwhelmed. Unless I get a job, which I really need to do. (ಥ﹏ಥ)

Anyway, I hope you all are doing well. I am - for now. 😂

Repotted my Pregnant Onion...

Mama has ROOTS! I also see another baby about to drop off, plus two more... gestating?

I never do resolutions, so I LOVE this idea.

I never do resolutions, so I LOVE this idea.

My list of things I'm looking forward to (in no particular order):

• Moving the kids into a better neighborhood
• Graduating!!! 
• Starting my career
• Getting us all health insurance
• Going back to the gym I like (Rita, I miss your yoga class so much!) 
• Having no homework for the first time in 5 years
• Having the time and money to finish painting / decorating our house
• Getting back to my hobbies
• Being more financially stable than I've ever been
• Having the time / energy / money to really help the kids figure out what they want to do in life
• Spending time with my ani-pals
• Taking on more of the financial burden in our relationship so my wonderful husbang can rest and make his health a priority

This felt good. I have a lot to look forward to. I suggest everyone try this! ❤️❤️❤️

I bought a soldering iron...

I bought a soldering iron for $6 from Amazon. Game changer! Now I can melt stuff.

OMG, flowers!

OMG, flowers! And the baby onion. I love my plants. 💚

Tiniest white flower bloom near the top right. 😍😍😍

Flowers!

Look at hims wittle sprout. I'm dead!

I see a flower peeping through! Kira spotted this, actually.