Scar lives in my bedroom...

Scar lives in my bedroom because he's on a special diet. He sleeps on my pillow. He gently adjusts my position with his paws when I don't leave him enough room. He asks me to clean his eye boogers every night before we go to sleep. I wipe his butt because I switched his food to something else I thought would work for his IBD, but doesn't. Food that makes turds is on the way from Chewy as we speak.

This cat is MY cat. He's my little boyfriend. He gives me kisses and rubs his lips on my face and snuggles me.

Tell me why I was surprised, on Day 2 of using my treadmill, that he. wasn't. having. it.

He started meowing around all upset near the last 10 minutes of my walk. He kept getting closer and closer to the treadmill while I was walking, making eye contact and meowing loudly. He eventually patted it with his paws. Then he did it:  He got up there. 😳

I put my feet on the sides and let him pass between my legs. I wasn't going fast, so he was ok. But this is my arthritic old cat and I don't want him doing this. I stopped the treadmill and checked on him. He was fine. But he put a paw on my leg and looked at me and I knew what he wanted:  to be held.

So I finished the last 7 minutes of my walk holding a cat. 😂😂😂

I'm putting my baby wrap on tomorrow. If he pulls this mess again, he's gonna be put in it.

I don't know why I thought I was allowed to do anything without him. 😂

Ash crashed out on the back of the couch. 😂❤️

Ash crashed out on the back of the couch. 😂❤️

I am crashing out a bit early tonight...

I am crashing out a bit early tonight, and that's a good thing.

I got my treadmill yesterday and put it together last night before bed... by myself!  Shaun has been going to sleep earlier than me lately and I was awake, so I went for it.  It was pretty neat.

I also got up earlier than I usually do so I could use it.  I only walked a mile today, but that's more than I've been walking lately, so it's a STEP (hahaha!) in the right direction.  I definitely could have walked more, but I had to shower and go online for a meeting.

Getting a little bit of exercise first thing and a shower helped me shake off the morning drowsy.  That was great.  I'm really excited to have my human version of a hamster wheel in my room where I can walk alone and listen to music or watch shows that no one else wants to watch.  It makes for some nice me-time.

Switching gears:

My succulents are so pitiful.  I left them the last few weeks without water and IT SHOWS.  Something has also been eating them.  I don't begrudge any hungry little creature a nibble of food when they need it, so I'm not mad.  I am, however, curious to see how some of these will look as they grow.

I've been taking turns soaking my plant trays overnight and all day.  So I've been putting a tray in my water box, going to bed, taking it out in the morning and put another one in, then changing it right before bed and so on.  So far, they are REALLY responding well to the extended soaks.  I used to just get them thoroughly wet and call it good, but I might keep them on a rotation - at least for the hot months.  I've got to figure out how to make them live in the winter without cramming them all in the house.  😬

I've gone through most of them searching for mealy bugs and I THINK I caught that before it got too bad.  I separated the ones that I could find evidence of bugs on, then brought them in and stabbed the bugs (😞), then doused them with alcohol to hopefully get any that I didn't see.

I noticed that my plants are dirty and I don't like that.  I don't know how they get so many bird feathers and poop on them through the shade cloth, but they did - not to mention the dirt.  I might hose them all down before putting them in the greenhouse - if we ever get that built.  😅

Shaun and I have been debating whether to put it longways or shortways in the space (it's a rectangle).  We prepped the space for longways, but if we do that we won't be able to open the back door, and the window that auto-opens will likely stick out over our fence line onto the neighbor's property.  We want to be good neighbors, so we are probably going to put it shortways.

It might seem slightly awkward, but also I think it will work out.  So I think we've settled that and will hopefully go for it soon.  Maybe I'll wake up extra-early this weekend and see what we can do.  It's been a steady week at work.  Enough to keep me busy, but not so extra that I'm exhausted.  That's a good place to be.

We've had so many house projects this year that we are dragging our feet on starting something else, but we have to get it done before the cold weather arrives.  I might need to take a few days off work so that we dedicate some time to it and knock it out.  According to the internet it will take around 4 days to build the greenhouse, so that's not nothing.  We could probably do it if I took 2 days to make a long weekend.  We'll see.

Anyway.  Nighttime ramble.  You're welcome.  🤣

Bear has gas this morning...

Bear has gas this morning and I think he doesn't like the feeling of needing to fart. He has no chill and every time he reaches for his butt, he lets one rip... Yes, right into his own face. 😂

We thought he may be itching, so we scratched his booty area where he has a hard time reaching and we also wiped his butt. We can't find any sign of him being dirty or of something being wrong. But he is very antsy and wiggly and keeps turning in circles to try to reach his booty.

Hopefully, this PASSES soon. 😂 Poor buddy. We don't know how else to help him. We love our strange little child, but I definitely wish we could conversate with him to know what goes through his mind.

Bear just squished a fart out of himself...

I got up around 11 today.

I got up around 11 today.  We went to the pet store for animal supplies.  We came home and did nothing.  Then Shaun and I decided to have a date, so we went to a local Irish pub for dinner and it was really good.  We even got dessert; he got the Bailey's Cheesecake that had chocolate chunks in it and I got the crème brûlée.  It had a slight hint of cinnamon and was really good.

We accomplished nothing else today.  Well, Shaun put chemicals in the pool.  I don't know what else he might have done before I got up.  But we did not start on the greenhouse.  I said approximately 100 times that I was going to vacuum, but I did not do it.  It's not like the dust and pet hair won't be waiting for me tomorrow.  😆

I know I have notifications and I swear I'm not trying to be rude; I just don't quite have the energy for communication at the moment.  I'm crashing out and I have another early start at work tomorrow, so I guess I'm heading to bed.  I'm gonna do my very best to be up an hour before work instead of sleeping until the last minute.  My treadmill doesn't come until Wednesday, but it won't hurt me to try to do some good sleep hygiene on myself.  If I need to move around in the morning, I guess I can always vacuum or de-bug/water my plants or scoop the dog poops or something.

Goodnight, friends.  ❤

I know that I'm talking too much tonight and I don't care.

I know that I'm talking too much tonight and I don't care.  I'm not even a little bit sorry.  😁

I've been eating like crap and I feel it in my skin and my bones.  I am feeling a slight amount of stress at work because of how busy I am.  Stress and bad diet flare up my psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis.  I have to do better.

I work from home so I usually roll out of bed right before work and get to it.  Then I work until 6, hang out with Shaun and the fam and watch our shows and play my games, then go to bed.

We sometimes walk the dogs or swim or do light yard work, but there is no actual exercising in my daily routine, even though the doctor who prescribed me hormones also told me to walk daily and start strength training.  This also has to change since I do my job sitting.

I have a treadmill on the way and it's going in my bedroom.  I am feeling a strong urge to reclaim some of my morning hours before work to exercise and meal-prep.  Shaun and I used to walk around the neighborhood, but that's a whole "take the dogs, get dressed, put on sunscreen and carry water" ordeal.  It feels like too many barriers.

I REALLY, REALLY enjoyed going to the new gym at JSU.  I would get on the treadmill, put on some music, and just walk.  I'm a band nerd, so I walked to the rhythm - but I walked.  I've noticed that although I enjoy music I don't listen to it in my daily life.  I can't while I work, I can't while I watch TV, I mostly just don't have the time.  So I think that I could do that while I walk on the treadmill in the morning and that would be nice.

I really miss skating, but it's hard to do at home with Bear because he thinks we're playing.  We haven't been to a park since Cubba was attacked, but there's a place we used to go that had a skate park and dog park where Shaun would take the dogs while I rolled around.  Unfortunately, it's the same park where Cub was attacked, and I'm a bit scared (for the sake of his mental health) to try to take him back.

I haven't gone to a skate park solo in a very long time.  I feel guilty leaving Shaun alone with the dogs because Bear can be a handful.  He's our toddler child and I don't know if he'll ever grow out of that.  So I've got to find a way to get in some extra movement here.  I'm going to start with walking, then maybe after I've established that routine I can work on strength training.  We have an exercise machine and there's always calisthenics, so I don't really have an excuse not to, except for the fact that I haven't made time.  But I feel like my health has thankfully mostly been ok and I need to start moving around before it's too late to preserve it.