I love how the cats...

I love how the cats are completely unbothered by anything outside of this house. 😂

It's a party in our neighborhood tonight. 😂

It's a party in our neighborhood tonight. 😂

We have one neighbor that's having a graduation party, complete with a DJ. It's been going since around 5.

Someone else is shooting fireworks. Or several someones; I don't know.

I'm not upset. I'm just glad I don't live in fear of my neighbors anymore. These people can have all the fun they want and I'm gonna sit here minding my business and/or comforting my creatures if they're bothered. So far, Cub is the only one having feelings and he went to bed with Shaun, so he's ok.

I mean, I like some of the songs they've played and I could just go sit on the balcony and see if I can see any of the fireworks. I might check it out when I get ready for bed. I'll take this over drugs and fighting and stealing ANY DAY.

OMG, they're playing the Macarena. Gotta go do the dance. It's the law. 😂

I was talking to Shaun today...

I was talking to Shaun today about how/why I get frustrated/annoyed when he talks to me sometimes. I feel this way about everyone, but he's the person I'm around the most, so... Poor Shaun. 😂

So as anyone who's paid attention to my recent posts knows... I'm living my best life with the music of Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso right now. It's fun, it's brilliant, it's helping me with my Spanish, they're beautiful, they're talented, etc. I listen to their music pretty much daily and also check their social media. I don't do that for anyone else. Despite loving music, in general I rarely listen to it.

Here's why:

When music is on, it's the most important thing happening to me. I don't want to be talked to because it causes sensory overload to hear both and I don't want it paused/interrupted because I'm enjoying it. I mouth/quietly sing the words if I know them and usually at least sway to the beat if not straight up dance.

Needless to say, I can't work with music on. I can drive. I can walk. I can skate. I can mess around in the greenhouse. But anything that requires more brainpower than that, I just can't do. So I don't get to listen to music often.

Since I'm currently unemployed and have free time, I'm able to indulge in music. And all I want to hear is Ca7riel and Paco. I've had them on repeat enough that I'm able to remember many of their songs, so I'm able to listen to it without using my ears. Shaun calls this an ear worm, but I guess I always associated ear worms with something you DON'T want to hear. 😂

He obviously can't tell when I'm listening to/enjoying my ear worms, so he talks to me whenever he feels like it. And I don't always want that. So I think I'm going to start wearing earplugs as a signal that I'm not up for talking. Or wear earbuds and actually listen to songs. That would be better for both of us, I think.

I asked him why he thinks it's ok to talk to me just because I'm in the same room as him. He said that's just normal to him. But I really enjoy being near someone without worrying about having my thoughts or ear worms interrupted. I have a hard time switching contexts, so it's a little stressful not being able to just exist near someone without the burden of having to unexpectedly pay attention to them.

OBVIOUSLY, if I've made plans with you and am purposely hanging out with you, I am up for/expect conversation. I am ready for it and enjoy it, genuinely. But I think it's different when sharing a living space with someone. Thankfully, we're able to talk things out and we're actively still working to improve our relationship, even after 17 years together. You'd think we'd have it figured out by now, but I'm still unmasking and learning a lot about myself, so the work continues.

Who else is sensitive to having their thoughts interrupted? I know I'm not the only one like this.

I just came downstairs...

I just came downstairs and told Shaun to look at my pants because:

1) I fit into them and
2) I think they might be petite because they aren't a foot too long...

And we looked up to see Habibi having a look, too. Why is she so CUTE!? 😭 Just peeking out. I'm deceased.

I could just eat her up! ❤️

The best wake up! Three balloons! 😍

The best wake up! Three balloons! 😍

The way I just danced/skipped/scrambled...

The way I just danced/skipped/scrambled to find my phone so I could get a picture of this celebrity...

😍😍😍

General Life Update:

General Life Update:

Today was nice. I felt refreshed and ready to handle life.

I had an appointment with Midi and it went well. I'll have to pay out of pocket for the visit because my insurance doesn't cover them, but I need HRT to keep feeling my best, so it's ok. The appointment fee is about 1/7 of what I was paying for insurance monthly at my job, so paying this out of pocket once or twice a a year is still worth it.

Speaking of insurance:  It fully covers my therapy sessions, so I'm scheduled to resume those next week.

I need to go to the pharmacy tomorrow to work some things out. I also have an appointment at the unemployment office.

I stepped on the scale to see how I was doing since I was basically in vacation-mode for the last 10 days. I gained 1 pound. My provider had a miscommunication with the pharmacy, so I've been out of Semaglutide for 2 weeks. I'll have it again on Friday. I thought I'd have gained more than a pound after being out of meds AND basically eating out every day, so I'm not upset at all. I think that making (mostly) healthy choices and staying active kept me in line. I'm amazed that that works for me now!

I feel like I'm in a pretty good spot mentally at the moment. I'm sleeping a lot better. A couple of weeks ago, we moved the litter box out of our bathroom. It's on the balcony now. The upstairs cats have to go through a cat door and tunnel to get to the boxes. The room smells a lot better, I'm not sweeping up litter twice a day, I don't hear them scratching around in the box, or hear the Litter Robot cycling. As a light sleeper, those subtle noises were waking me up constantly. This is a lot better.

I think I'm going to start my walking again. I felt energetic today... probably because I had tea. 😂 I did some light cleaning and laundry, and also watered some plants. But also, in general, I just feel better after having spent time with one of my best friends. Most of my friends are long-distance these days, so just having a break and not worrying about stuff and being with someone (besides Shaun) who loves me and understands me was super great. I think it really did me a lot of good.

Anyway. I'm crashing out at a appropriate hour, so I'm about to tuck myself in and call it a night. I hope y'all are doing well. ❤️❤️❤️