I've had another low-energy day, but...

I've had another low-energy day, but 2 good things happened:

1) Kira made this bomb-ass cheesecake last night and we ate the whole thing already, and

2) My handsome, sweet little Tort Baby is waking up after months of brumation. I've MISSED him!

I've been a mess for the last few days...

I've been a mess for the last few days and have been avoiding interacting with people IRL and on the Internet when possible.  It's PMS time and it hit me crazy hard - both physically and emotionally.  I just absolutely have not been any semblance of normal.  I've been nauseated and head-achey and LOWWWW energy for the last several days which is NO FUN AT ALL.  I've spent most of my time sitting on the couch watching shows with Shaun, or napping.  I did shower yesterday, though, which was nice.  Well, it was nice physically, anyway.

I don't know how or why but I got in my feelings right before / during that shower.  Shaun had asked me once or twice if I would go to the park with him and Cubba and I was like "Maybe.  I don't feel that good, though."  So in my head the whole time I was in the shower I was just like "I'm just gonna be an adult and tell him I just need to be left alone today.  I don't feel good, no park, don't talk to me unless there is food.  Like, don't even talk to me about food decisions - tell me after y'all have decided what to eat because I just CAN't today."  So after I showered I went to see him and I was keeping my cool and I said basically what I typed.

He's understanding and great because OF COURSE HE IS.  But instead of making food decisions with the kids he said that I should choose what would make me feel better and they could just eat with us or not.  Then he started listing food I like.  And he said "Chinese Food."  And let me tell you - I haven't cried that dramatically in AGES.  I straight up BAWLED "I don't WANT Chinese!  You and Kira always eat my leftovers and I haven't got to eat one leftover yet!"  Yes - I cried over Rose and Bruce, but I was somewhat in control of myself in those situations.  Over these Chinese leftovers - I was NOT.  Not even close.

So we had food from my favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner last night.  Before Shaun even got back with the food I had already composed myself and cleaned off the table.  My hormones right now are so unpredictable and I hate it.  I used to be like this every month (the crying - not the nausea, headache, and fatigue part) and I guess I was used to it, but after a reprieve and then being slammed with it full force like yesterday I can say that I definitely don't miss that roller coaster.  I don't know how I got through my teens and early twenties like that.  Not that my most recent "normal" of feeling legit sick is any more fun, but anyway.  Enough about that.

Today I've been pretty meh.  I did, however, go to the park with Shaun and Cubba.  We walked a bit and then decided to take Cub into the off-leash doggie park.  He'd only been to parks with Rose before and since everything scared her we'd leave if another dog arrived so this was really new for him.  There were A LOT of dogs there - I'd say at least 20.  They all came running to the gate to smell him before we even got in and eventually I just walked through them and he did, too.  He seemed a little jumpy with so many other dogs smelling his butt at one time, but he eventually realized it was all good.  He saw some kids and of course visited them (politely) and made rounds playing with other people and getting petted.  He play-bowed to a pair of dogs who were playing but immediately looked like "Nevermind, just kidding." and went the other way.

He's a very social boy but I can imagine that he was overwhelmed.  He eventually wandered to the gate and we took his cue and left... but not before another dog tried to pee on him.  How rude! 🙄  We'll definitely be taking him back - maybe earlier in the day and not on a weekend.  I think he'd like it better with fewer dogs until he gets used to things.  But today wasn't bad - he handled everyone like a good boy (which I figured he would).  He's definitely the social butterfly of the house.

Anyway, I'm off to finish up some things and call it a night.  I hope you all are doing well.  I promise I'm not ignoring anyone - hopefully I'll feel up to responding to comments and messages tomorrow.  Love!  ❤️

I felt really bad yesterday.

I felt really bad yesterday. It's PMS time and I was drained and nauseated ALL DAY. I think the only thing I accomplished was taking a shower. Outside of that I napped, ate, and cuddled with Shaun and the animals.

When I got up this morning it was snowing, but it was pretty much gone by the afternoon. Shaun and I built a cat tower for the sunroom and put up some rope lights in there temporarily to see if we like them. We do so we'll get them straightened out and anchored in place soon. We also put together a huge umbrella to shade some outdoor chairs. We made the most of the day, I think.

As the sun was setting, Shaun and I went upstairs to watch it. The last photo is of the sunset. It's pretty, of course, but the clouds on top of the mountains kind of look like a lizard to me. 

While I felt less bad today than yesterday I'm still battling bouts of nausea and cramping. I usually have a standing date to video chat with a friend on Thursdays, but I've been so out of sorts lately that I didn't realize it was already Thursday until it was pretty much too late. I feel like a jerk. 🙁 But my friend is amazing and understanding so she's probably not offended.

Rose has officially been gone for a whole week as of today. We all still miss her. The kids were making pizza earlier and when the oven timer went off Kira said something about how Rose always whimpered and whined at the timer. It is a little loud, but Rose used to make a production of it. I guess she never knew when it was coming or what it meant so it stressed her out.

I'm sorry for the messages and comments that I haven't responded to. I feel emotionally like I'm in battery-saver mode so it's hard to try to be social right now. But I love and appreciate you all. ❤️

These are the desserts...

These are the desserts that Kira made for Valentine's Day. They are SO delicious. I've never had a better cake pop in my life - I swear. It was her first time making them, too! And the bear cupcakes were so adorable!

I miss this.

I miss this.  I miss having too many plants and I miss them looking so healthy and beautiful.  Less than a quarter of them survived the humidity of Talladega, both moves, and a freeze.

I can't see me having this many ever again.  I would love more than anything to raise a bunch of teeny tiny plants from leaf props, though.  That was so much fun for me - probably my favorite part.

Today has been a really mixed bag.

Today has been a really mixed bag.

We got our solar panels installed so that is great.  We just have to go through an inspection and get our electric company to sign off and we'll be set to use them.  I'm hoping it won't take too much longer because this was supposed to be finished in December, but I am patient and realize that COVID is impacting the workforce everywhere.  I'm just excited to have it done.

The solar company called me at 7-something this morning so I had to get up and open the garage and give them access to our attic.  No big deal, but I didn't sleep well and had to be up and I honestly have felt like crap for most of the day.  It was also super noisy with them doing stuff to the roof so even though I miss Rose I am grateful that she didn't have to experience today because she wouldn't have liked it.  Cubba handled it like a champ, though, because he's always been pretty chill.  The worst thing he did today was having to poop at the same time the solar company was arriving and ran mid-shit with a poop hanging out of his butt to bark at them.  😂😂😂  Dogs, man.  🤦‍♂️  After that he was all good, though. 😁

Shaun ordered food from Chili's since our vehicles were blocked in by the solar company and we called that Valentine's food.  We ate together on the couch because I felt like crap and because the solar crew might need in at any moment.  I didn't eat very much and then fell asleep as soon they left.

I woke up around 5 (this afternoon!) to a bear cupcake and one of the most delicious cake pops I've ever had - both made by Kira, of course.  She said she took photos of them so as soon as I get those I'll post them.

Our ball python, Bruce, was acting strange last week and we were really worried about him, but we were also dealing with the Rose situation.  I adjusted his temps and humidity and that seemed to help him a lot because he started acting normal again.  Shaun had bought him a new house 2 weeks ago that we hadn't moved him into yet, and his new humidifier arrived today (he had one, but it was older and getting loud so we didn't want to be caught in this dry climate without one).  We decided to go ahead and move him into his new home today and we found him passed away.  I'm shocked and we're all sad.  Bruce was such a friendly guy and he really changed my life / perspective of snakes.  That's a story for another day, but needless to say my heart is broken.

One other thing to say and I guess I'm done:  I ordered Shaun a ring from Etsy back in December for Solstice because that is what he likes to celebrate.  It didn't arrive until the night before last so I gave it to him and joked that it was his "Solstice-tine's Day" gift.  It was engraved with what I was led to believe was the passage on the ring from LOTR, but he looked it up and it's just the alphabet.  😂😂😂

I feel strongly that the seller's listing was misleading, but we both think it's pretty damn funny and I guess we're keeping it.  The seller is straight up printing the alphabet in Elvish on rings unless you customize it another way.  I could leave a review saying as much - and maybe I should because they didn't seem to care when I brought it up to them; lots of their reviews are for the ring "as is" which I think customers wouldn't buy if they knew it said "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz," but what do I know.  Maybe people really wouldn't care.  But Shaun being a huge fan wanted to make sure the translation was correct and that is what he discovered.  😂

Anyway, I hope you've all enjoyed your day whether you celebrate this as a holiday or not, whether you're single or coupled or throupled, whatever you do - I hope it's been great.  It hasn't so much been for us, but that's ok.  Tomorrow is another day.  ❤

It's definitely been a low-energy few days for me.

I'm about to start responding to comments.  I'm sorry for being away, but I needed some time to get right.  I have to deal with Happy Tails Lost & Found Pets of Calhoun County whether I feel like it or not so I'm technically "on here" lurking even if I don't have the energy to post or respond.  It's definitely been a low-energy few days for me.

We're all doing as ok as we can.  I had to move a giant pack of toilet paper that was delivered and left in the middle of the dining room floor because twice upon glancing at it I thought it was Rose standing there awkwardly, as she often did.  Cubba seems to notice that she's missing, as well.  Shaun, despite definitively being a "cat person" was basically claimed by both Cubba and Rose so it's hitting him a bit harder than the rest of us.  He was her comfort person and that meant something.

I'm not saying that losing her wasn't painful for me or the kids because it was, but she was a hard creature to connect with.  It almost always felt like she was putting up with your attention / affection if it didn't outright scare her away.  She also hadn't been fond of me since the vet visit where we discovered her tumor so I've been avoided for all of this time unless she wanted to play.  I miss those big, doofy play bows, though.  Almost every morning she was ready to go out back and play.

Today Shaun helped me go through my plants to see who was alive or not.  He also helped me get most of them watered.  We did some light housework because our solar panels are being installed tomorrow and the workers will need to come in to gain access to the attic.  Other than that I painted Shaun's nails (black with magnetic silver gel polish) and they look kind of like moons.  He likes them.  At times like these taking care of each other is important.  I think we both did a good job of that today.  ❤