We Need a New Dryer :-\

I'd say altogether, I slept about 8 PM to 5 AM, except for the times I had to get up and use the bathroom, and about 10:00 PM to 12:00 AM where I had Tricity laying at the end of the bed and we spent that time talking about all sorts of things. I miss sharing a room with her and talking about stuff all night. We used to do that all the time, but since we moved to Marble Hill, she's off in her own room, so the only time we've really been spending together is when we're watching something. It was What We Do In the Shadows, and now it's South Park. My Mom and I used to lay and talk all night like that, and I miss it, too. I'm glad I can still do it with Tricity sometimes. I hope she'll always know that she can come talk to me any time she wants to. Any of the kids, really. I hope they all know that they can come to me any time at all.

My eye wasn't hurting so bad this morning. Just a little. I think my contacts were causing strain for some reason? I got the kids up and ready for school. The day started off with Tricity breaking her glasses, and I don't have any super glue or anything that can help... so I tried using some thick packing tape in hopes that it will hold throughout the day until we can take her to an eye doctor again.

Adam didn't have to go to dialysis until 9:00, so he tried sleeping in until about 7:30 and then he got up to get ready. While he was still sleeping though, I made myself some salmon. I love salmon. I always bake it with just a bit of lemon pepper seasoning, and some salt. I learned that paying a little more for better quality salmon makes a difference, too! Sam's Club salmon versus Dollar Tree salmon makes a HUGE difference in texture, flavor, and probably nutrients, if I'm being honest.

Then I wrote down what I ate in my Fitbit app. I'm going to TRY and log my food. Usually I don't worry about it, but I want to make sure I'm getting my 90 grams of protein a day, and try it to keep my calories around 1,200 like they told me at my appointment yesterday. I also want to get out and exercise more (sans the hard labor doing stuff to renovate the house because that'll definitely be happening either way) as well. I'm probably feeling this way because of New Year's resolutions, but I'd really like to make my goal weight by the end of the year! Then I can have the excess skin removal surgery, and once I recover from that, I can get a job again. I just can't work right now because then I'll lose my Medicaid and won't be able to have my surgery paid for.

As much sleep as I got, I was still exhausted, and I slept from about 8:30 to noon! After I woke up and finally got going, I decided to watch The Biggest Loser on YouTube while cleaning. They only really have one season that someone posted (that I can find) and not even all the episodes are on it, but that show always gives me inspiration :-D haha Eventually, I'd like to find the box with the Wii in it, and play my old Biggest Loser Wii game! That's how I'd like to exercise while it's winter time. Then when we finally get another trailer to add onto this one to extend our house, I'm going to strip out the kitchen and turn it into the home gym for all my exercise equipment (I have an elliptical, stationary bike, trampoline, stair stepper, punching bag, etc.) I just have no place to put all that stuff right now, so it's out in the storage building covered with boxes.

I wasn't going to spend the day cleaning since I hadn't felt good, but their Grandma Cheryl wants to visit, and because the kids had been home for Christmas vacation, the place isn't exactly tidy right now. As much as I love having them home, it's been a little crazy, and I just wanted a few days to relax and recover first since they are back in school now. But if she's going to visit soon, I don't want it to be messy, you know? How long does it take someone's blood to replenish, anyway???

I cant wait to find out the results from my bloodwork. I'm a little nervous sine there were quite a few days where I kept forgetting to take my pills, both my medicine and my vitamins. I finally decided to do the smart thing and set alarms on my phone every 3 hours to take my pills, from the times of 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM. I have a doctor's appointment next week, and they're supposed to take my blood too, so I wonder how different the results are going to be in-between a week's time? This time I'll remember to eat first!

While I was cleaning and Adam got out of dialysis, he called and asked how many cans of beans it would take for me to make my homemade deer chili. Back during the day after Christmas, we had gotten some deer meat and other fresh meats from Judy and Al (they get their own cows and pigs butchered, and he goes hunting), so we were excited to finally have deer chili again. We hadn't had any since moving away from Perryville, because we used to get it from the food pantry. I thought we were going to wait until grocery day though, but I guess he really wanted some today! lol  I said we needed 4 cans of light red kidney beans, and 4 cans of dark. He said "8 cans?!" I said "Yeah, it takes that many to make a full pot. AND a big can of tomato sauce." He said "Tomato sauce???" I said "Yeah, that's how it's made." He seemed a little offended, but as me and Khloe agreed, we're a big family, I'm a good cook, and everybody loves it so much, so it takes a lot to feed everyone and have some for seconds!

I guess the dryer isn't working right. I didn't even like it to begin with. It's one of those with the lint trap on top. It's super long, and you have to slide it up and down, but by the time you get to the top of it, the lint falls back inside. It was getting so bad that it took 5 rounds and the clothes were STILL not dry. It ended up being about 8 altogether, taking 2 days just to dry one load of clothes! I went online and looked up some of the closest rent-to-own places to see what other options there were with the kind of dryer I like with the lint trap in the front. I found one, but I'm still waiting on Adam to get me the "ok" to order it! lol

When the kids got home from school, they helped clean. They took out the trash, cleaned their bathroom, and did a few other odds and ends. When I went to take care of my birds, I noticed how beautiful the sunset is as the last of the light shines against the trees in the hill, so I got a picture of it. It's such a beautiful place out here. I'm so in love with the land! Pictures can never do it enough justice, though...

When Adam got home, he had the stuff for the chili tonight, but he also surprised us by getting some BBs for our Red Ryder BB guns that we got for Christmas. Tricity, and Devin loaded up our guns and set up some cans and bottles and stuff to shoot for a little bit. I shot one of the old pumpkins that had been sitting outside (still hasn't even rotted yet, surprisingly!), and I didn't even know if I hit it or not until I looked close. Adam said the BBs didn't even go in, that they bounced off because the guns are so weak. We mainly got them to start learning how to aim, shoot, and be responsible with guns. Yes, even me. I've never shot a real gun that I'm aware of, so I wanted to practice, too.

After I came in, I finished cleaning what I had been working on for the day, and started making the chili. It's really simple, I just cook the deer meat, add the spices (mostly consists of cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika, ground red pepper, salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and sugar), drain the beans and add them, add the tomato sauce, the secret ingredient, and that's pretty much it! Just adjust the seasonings to your desired taste, and it's good to go.  I don't know if you can tell how much I had to make, but imagine the size of the pot in comparison to the size of the spatula.!

I wasn't going to spend the evening cooking since I needed to clean, but they really wanted it and so did I! I'm happy to be getting these special requests! Usually I ask "What do you want for dinner tonight?" And the answer is "I don't know", but the other night Adam requested my fried chicken, and my chili tonight. I must be able awesome cook! lol

While I was cooking, my head and neck started to hurt, so I took a Tylenol. I felt much better after dinner. I don't know if it's because of the Tylenol, or maybe it was actually because I needed to eat something. I've always noticed that there are 5 main things that will give you a headache.

1. You're dehydrated

2. You need to eat

3. Stress

4. Lack of sleep

5. Physical injury

After dinner, I tracked my food for the day and I ended up with over 100g of protein! I'm so glad to know that whatever I'm doing is working. But as I said, the bloodwork tests will give me the real results. After logging my dinner, I started working on my vlogs again until Adam went to bed, and then Tricity and I started watching South Park as usual here lately.

Adam decided to get back up though, and I was in the middle of holding the baby kittens. Khloe and Tricity were in here too, and we finally decided on names for them! There are 2 black ones and 2 tabby ones. One black one has a white stripe across the nose, and one of the tabbys has darker cheeks than the other (who is the one born 2 days late), so we chose these:

Black with no white stripe: Sphinx

Black with white stripe across the nose: Luna

Tabby with light cheeks: Stella

Tabby with darker cheeks: Max

We still don't know if they're boys or girls yet, but we feel like the names will fit either way. I really should write my speculations down so when they get older, I can have more experience in sexing kittens to know what's going to be what!

To my surprise, Adam actually held one! I'm not allowed to take pictures when he does cute things like this, though... but it was adorable! For someone who says they hate cats, he's not mean to them or anything; he just ignores them completely. He held Sphinx, though. It was so cute! He's actually really nice to Kuma, too, though he doesn't pet her or anything, but he lets her sleep on the back of his chair. He booped Zoozy on the nose before, too.

After we put the babies up, I continued to work on my blog, until Khloe took Lilith out to go to the bathroom again. I checked on her. She keeps licking her would. I tried looking up how I could make my own cone at home to help keep her from getting to it, but instead I got this ridiculous idea. Has anyone ever actually tried this? And if so, how did it go? Did it work? Apparently you can make them a sort-of necklace out of pieces of pool noodle, and it's supposed to act the same way as a cone? I didn't want to try it, as funny as it would have looked. I just hope she doesn't get infected or anything, and that it'll heal up well. I know there will be a nasty scar and no hair will probably grow there, but I hope it'll heal soon.

Before bed, I checked on her one more time, when I heard something drop that she was trying to eat. I saw her dive for it again, but she wasn't able to grab it this time. When I got closer, I saw what looked like a dog's tooth. Sure enough, when I opened the cage to see for sure, that's exactly what it was! Lilith lost a puppy tooth! I took it and put it up in case Khloe wanted to see, since Lilith is pretty much her dog now. Then I went to bed for the night.

I didn't go to sleep until about 3:00 AM, and I was worried about staying up so late because we had to go to Tricity's appointment tomorrow for the ear, nose, and throat doctor, but it was around that time that I decided to check Twitter. Checking Twitter and playing my Merge Magic game always helps me unwind for the night and it helps me get sleepy. Some random thought I had though when I saw an ad for clothing that looked like it was all torn up and worn out... I probably just have an old soul, but I never saw the sense in buying clothes that already look like they're torn up... Why pay a lot for trashed clothing? Even thrift stores have clothing in better shape! If you're going to pay a lot for clothes, buy something fancy, or a well tailored suit, you know? I never understood why THIS was considered fashion...

And then of course to add to my lack of sleep, I had to find cute baby goat pictures, which sent me on a search for more. WHY do I love baby goats so much? Adam's Mom Vicky has a little dwarf goat, or a pygmy goat, whichever it's called, and she's the cutest! She used to hang out with me when I was building my quail coop over there, and she would jump up on top of it like she thought she was doing something when I was taking breaks. They're just the cutest little things!!! So here are some cute baby goat pics to brighten your day :-D

Finally, I had come to the end of the night where I found a post from our local news station that said to be sure to check the webpage for the latest school closings. Sure enough, our school was on there! I knew I wasn't going to be able to receive any calls about it from our school because we don't get cell reception where we live, but I didn't think to look on the news page or the school's facebook page. Sure enough, I went to Facebook to check, and they had posted about it around 7:30 this evening. I could have known a loooot sooner... Ah, well... Feeling content knowing that tomorrow was a school day, I finally went to sleep.

I Almost Blacked Out! (Not Click Bait) and The Kids Break In!

Hello! Today started with me getting the kids ready to go back to school. For their fist day back since Christmas vacation, it went pretty smoothly! And that's including the new changes, such as Tricity and Khloe taking their puppies out for a walk before school. The girls have been doing really good. I'm so happy that Khloe stepped up to take on the responsibilities for Lilith!

After the kids headed off to the bus, I organized my medicine and vitamins. I use a craft box which is good for 6 days, and I take different pills 6 times a day. It's mostly the calcium citrate that I have to take so much of. There's 400 MG per tablet, and I have to take 5 to get my 2000 MG of needed calcium. Why? I have no idea... but that's what I'm supposed to take from what I've been told.

I think part of Annie's loud barking (except when she has to go to the bathroom) is turning out to be separation anxiety from Tricity. I believe this because any time she's alone with us in the room, for the most part, she is pretty calm. However, when Tricity comes into the room for something and then leaves, Annie will start her whining. I just wish I knew how to tone her down because it's so high pitched and loud. I'd much rather she start howling than hear that loud yapping. She's cute an all, and a pretty good girl, but my ears don't feel the same way about her  lol

Speaking of animals sounding annoying, does anyone else's cat constantly bellow "hello?" when they are in heat? All of our other cats don't make that sound, but any time Khloe's cats Tiger or Gray are in heat, they both call out "Hello?" and no matter how much I answer them, they keep acting like they don't hear me! lol  Tiger is a big sweetheart when she's in heat, and Gray acts a little nicer than usual, but I don't know where they got this yeowling from, and it's so irritating.

So while I was looking around on Twitter today, I saw where KSI asked "What is true love?" I don't really follow KSI because he doesn't really put out content that interests me, but someone else had liked his post, so it showed up on my feed because of that. I did take the opportunity to answer his question, however, by saying "I feel it's when someone puts in the effort for you because they want to, not expecting anything in return, but you do the same for them as well. It is not a fragile thing that can easily be broken, and it's never one-sided. It's two pieces of a puzzle that just fit." What inspired this was when I watched Frozen 2 yesterday, and I heard Kristoff say "My love is not fragile." I feel like everything happens for a reason, and when things work together like this, hearing an inspiring quote about love and then someone I don't even follow asks about love, I feel like things in my life are going the way they are meant to go, and I'm on the right path.

Then while I was looking around more (I was procrastinating getting ready for my appointment because I didn't feel like getting ready lol) I came across this post from Stampy (who doesn't follow me any more, and neither does Sqaishey, but that's okay because everyone parts ways at some point) that said "Surround yourself with people who wouldn’t mention anything if they noticed you were wearing odd socks." Then Squid jokingly said "Everyone always mentions my odd socks", but that got me thinking... I disagree with that.

Why would you want someone not to tell you? Is it because you feel like you made this decision on your own, so you don't need people pointing it out, like how an overweight person doesn't need to be told they are overweight because they see themselves every day??? But what if you did it on accident, and you're the kind of person who would like to know so you can try and make sure it doesn't happen again, or maybe you didn't know and wanted to fix it? So I replied "I think I'd rather be told. I prefer honesty. It's like going around with something in your teeth. I'd rather they let me know, even if I wore odd socks on purpose, or because they were the only socks I had left. At least I'd know who to trust to keep an eye out for me."

I would totally be that person pointing it out... but I would also be the one pointing them out with a positive comment. Something along the lines of "I do like your sock combination today!" And I'd be the kind of person to get excited because I'd also be wearing odd socks.

So then I finally decided to get ready... I like to look my best when I have these appointments because as I'm feeling more confident, I want it to show on the outside as well as in. I'd say I clean up pretty good, don't you think? (Of course this filter helps! lol I love what it does to my eyes! ♥ )

First I went to my chiropractor. I usually go between seeing Dr. Crawford and Dr. Davis. I usually lay on my stomach and they start me off with electrode stimulation on my back with some heat, and they'll pop stuff for me. Usually Dr. Davis will also use "the buffer" which just vibrates my back. This time, I asked them to turn on the stimulation a little too high, so it was hurting, which you don't want for the whole 15 minutes, but when the lady came in, she turned it down for me. Then Dr. Crawford had me lay on my back, cross my arms, he put his hand behind me and had me breathe deep in and out, and when I breathe out, he pushes down and my back pops. He did this in 3 different places. Then as per my special request, he pops my neck for me. This time it made a HUGE crunching pop sound, and he said he could tell I needed it. I knew I needed it too, because when I was moving my neck around before that, it kept clicking. Have you ever had that happen? On the way out, I found out he will be getting married next week, so that was pretty sweet to hear!

After my chiropractor appointment, we had some time to spare before my surgeon appointment, so we went to Five Below. That place is nice, but if you're not careful, you can end up spending a fortune! Especially when buying Christmas presents! lol Adam ended up getting a dragon egg thing that you excavate and dig out dragon parts to make a figurine. He also got some generic lego set of a dragon. If you didn't know, dragons are his big thing. I happened to see a silk-screening kit that I wanted to try out, so I got that, and 2 magnets. One is Hello Kitty, and one that says "My Squad Calls Me Mom". And then for Tricity, I happened to see a Hatsune Miku 2022 calendar, so I picked that up for her as well!

Then we had to make a quick stop at Walmart to pick up some butter flavored oil to use in the popcorn machine that his Mom and Dad got us for Christmas, and while we were there, I snagged some white cheddar ricecakes. I can't believe the only store I've been able to find them at is all the way in Cape Girardeau! Even all those years in Perryville, they didn't carry them for at least 3 years. Crazy...

Anyway, then we went to my 6-month surgeon appointment that was today. I don't know why I was so nervous... I know he'd be happy no matter what my results come back as, as long as I was moving in the right direction. They're very supportive there. I guess it's because of my own expectations? I haven't been on my scale in about a month because it needs new batteries, so I didn't know what to expect 😬

When I went, Adam went in with me this time. They had the fish tank set up, and I hadn't noticed the fish in it. I heard they had gotten one during their Facebook livestream as part of their announcements, but when I looked in it, all I noticed were the little white things floating around. I thought maybe they were tiny shrimp? Or seamonkeys? Or some kind of little creature... But then Adam pointed out the fish to me, and I started laughing. I see where Devin and Tricity get their inability to pay attention to obvious things like that! lol  X-D  We also saw this poster that I liked, which said "If you get tired, learn to rest, not to quit." Then I saw it was a print of Banksy, so that was pretty cool!

Anyway, they finally called me back and I got weighed. Altogether I'm 115 down from my starting weight, and about 100 down from surgery! So it wasn't as good as I wanted, but still it's great news to hear! Then the lady reminded me that they had to do my labs today, which meant taking my blood. Now, any other time I get my blood drawn, I'm usually okay with it, but this time, it did not go so well.

She had about 8 vials to collect my blood with. I noticed it was sort of a brownish red color, and she said "That means it's rich. That's good." I was happy to hear that, but about halfway through it, I started feeling antsy, like I wanted to get up and move. I readjusted in my seat. Then I started feeling very sluggish, and was looking for a way to brace myself, but kept still so I didn't mess anything up. I was getting very tired, very fast, like I was crashing. By the time she finished, right there at the end, everything had gotten foggy, and I was taking deep breaths. I slumped over onto the arm rest, and my lips felt like they were tingling and throbbing. They felt cold, and I felt like I was either going to pass out, throw up, or shit myself. To be honest, I was kind of scared about it.

She said sometimes it can happen if you haven't eaten beforehand, which I hadn't eaten at all that day yet, since I was nervous about my weigh-in. I couldn't get up because I knew I'd collapse. She asked if I'd like a protein shot to help me recover, so she poured me some chocolate protein to drink. I drank the first one, and she poured another but I said I couldn't drink it just yet. My stomach was still queasy. A couple of minutes later, I was able to finish it, and then I slowly recovered and walked over to the next room. I think if I ever had to pick a way to die, bleeding out seems pretty peaceful. I'd be passed out before it happened, just feeling life fading away...

Dr. LeGrand wasn't in the office that day, so I got to meet his secretary. Basically she went over my current medicines, and stressed to me how much I protein and liquids I need to be taking in. I'm glad Adam was there so he could hear it for himself, that I'm not just being a pain in the butt when I talk about the protein or being thirsty. We also talked a lot about poop, so it was kind of a shitty conversation  X-D  lol She just wanted to make sure I wasn't having any leaks in my stomach. I don't know what doctor doesn't think your poop is important  hahaha  Anyway, just like I thought, they said I was doing good, and I'd hear back about my lab results soon. Hopefully everything is good with those, as well.

We decided to go to the movie theater today since the kids were in school. We had both been wanting to see The Kingsman, but didn't want to take the little girls to it, and the older kids didn't want to sit through a kids movie with them, they wanted to see it too, so the best solution was to just go with me and him as a date. After all, movies are only $5 on Tuesdays at Marcus Theaters! The movie didn't start for another 50 minutes, so we ended up ordering a pepperoni pizza that they deliver to your seat, we got free popcorn (because it's Tuesday), and a drink. Adam was nice and let me get some Butterfinger Bites ice cream bits. I don't think I had ever tried them before. They were okay, but I probably won't get them again. That's what Adam said about the pizza. I thought it was okay, but he said he probably wouldn't get it again. Usually we don't get this much food when we see a movie, but since it was date night and all... This was a picture of me and some hobo. He was really sweet though, he paid for all our food! (lol jk, you know it's just Adam)  :-p

As far as the movie goes, I had hoped to see my boyfriend Eggsy at least once. They sure made it look like he was going to be in it from the previews, but nope. No Taron Egerton throughout the whole thing. I still liked the movie, though. Rasputin was totally a freak, so of course he was my favorite character! I didn't know Ralph Fiennes was in it. I was totally taken by surprise to see what happened to his character's son. I said "No wonder he becomes Voldemort!" LOL! And then on his fight scenes, I said "Use your wand! I don't know why he don't just use his wand..." And then the main bad guy, I thought sounded an awful lot like David Tennant, so I was surprised when it wasn't.

It lasted longer than we thought though, so it was late before we got back home, and the kids were getting to the house right as we were leaving Cape. It took about 30 minutes to get back. Since it was so cold, we had told them to break into the house  X-D  lol  What we said was to remove the screen because it needed to be replaced anyway, slide the window open, unlock the door, and make sure to shut it back and lock it so the cats couldn't get out. That way the kids could get warm, eat, and take care of the animals. I don't know why Tricity won't carry her spare key with her just in case things like this happen  >_<   I also tried to capture the sun shining in my eyes on the way home.

After getting back in town, we made a quick stop at this second-hand store called Mercantile At The Commons to take a look around since they had a grand re-opening. I thought they were a bit costly, but Adam said he thought there were some things that were a bit cheap. We might go there when it's grocery day. We'll have to see...

When we got home, I checked my birds. They had laid 3 eggs. We bought in the stuff, and for dinner, it was a "fend for yourself" night. I had reheated leftover chicken. On nights like this, the kids have pre-made burgers they like to fry up on the hotplate, or there's spaghettios, ramen, soup, they make grilled cheese sandwiches, all sorts of stuff. I was just feeling exhausted and dead tired after after they took my blood today. It didn't help that I didn't get much sleep the night before, either. I was too busy working on this blog  lol

I got a nice surprise when I checked my phone, though! I had gotten a message from Allison's teacher saying "Hello, I am writing you to let you know I have picked Allison for Scholar of the quarter!!!! She always works so hard and deserves being recognized." How great is that?

After I finished dinner, I took out my contacts, and my eye started hurting SO BAD! I couldn't keep it open and it just kept leaking and hurting. And I was so cold... I just wanted to sleep. I ended up falling asleep on the couch around 7:30, and Adam woke me up and told me to go to bed, so I was in bed by 8  lol  And that was pretty much the end of my night!

Two Caterpillars

Today I woke up and Adam was SUPPOSED have been going to dialysis with Tricity. I found out later that he never went, but that they both still went to Perryville to do some shopping and to pick up my Mom's grocery order for her from the Walmart Pickup thingy. Anyway, when I got up, I had to go to the bathroom as usual, but the toilet paper wasn't anywhere reachable, so I had to call Khloe in to grab it for me. (Don't worry, my nightgowns are huge on me now, and I was sure to cover everything up so it looked like I was just sitting on the toilet, and nothing could be seen.) When she came in, she asked if I needed her to take Annie out to go potty, and I said yes please, because Tricity was gone with Adam. I also told her to tell Devin to get up because the dogs needed to be fed.

After I came out, Devin was just about done getting his boots on, and Khloe had brought Annie back in. Then they both headed out to feed the dogs and the pups. A few minutes later, they came back in and Khloe was holding Lilith. Apparently the other puppies had ripped a huge gash in her side, her neck, there were cuts on her belly, and her ear was torn a little. We were all pretty freaked out! That's why we had to bring Annie in, because she's the smallest, and they were picking on her, too! But Lilith was hurt a LOT worse than Annie was! And the poor girl was shaking, even though she wasn't cold.

I called Adam and asked him if we had any other kennels, and he told us where one was, so Devin went out to get it. Khloe went to switch out Annie's bowls so we could put them in the larger kennel and bring her into the living room, and the smaller one would stay in the bathroom where we could keep Lilith for now. I held her as they did this, and got blood on my arms. I hadn't seen how serious the injuries were yet until I noticed I was getting bled on. I'm not posting any pictures of it because you could see the flesh underneath and it was pretty disturbing. Anyway, we cleaned her up, got her calmed down and safely put into the spare kennel, and she seems like she's okay now! I just hope she heals up well.

I thought bringing Annie into the living room would be great because I didn't want her to get lonely or bored, but all she does is howl and whine while she's in here. I think it's because she just wants out and wants attention, but we're following dog training videos that say to introduce her slowly to the environment around her. First we started with a small kennel in the bathroom. Now it's a large kennel in the living room. Next, it's going to be freedom to roam the living room, with the other rooms blocked off, and then eventually freedom into the whole house. But how do I keep her from being so very loud???

Anyway, to try and drown her out, I decided to put on Frozen 2. I had never seen it before, Adam was gone, and I knew the girls wouldn't mind watching it again. I actually REALLY liked it. The song "The Next Right Thing", though it made me cry. I know it's Anna singing about Elsa, but the lyrics remind me of my best friend Tahnee. She's gone, and I miss her so very much, but I just keep going on no matter how sad I get, trying to be a good person and do the next right thing. "The only star that guided me was you" :-( ♥ "Just do the next right thing. Take a step, step again. It is all that I can to do, The next right thing."

After it went off, we started watching Encanto again, since Khloe hadn't seen it yet, and I really wanted to see it again (what can I say? It's an adorable movie!) But yet again, I ended up crying because of one of the songs. There's this song called "Dos Oruguitas", meaning Two Caterpillars. It's a song about two caterpillars who are together, but have to separate to go into their cocoons and become butterflies. Once again, it reminded me of my best friend Tahnee. She was my caterpillar, and she had to leave me to change into a beautiful butterfly. It was a sad, yet endearing day...

Speaking of Encanto... Tricity wanted to see this one at the theater, but we had seen that it was going to be showing on Disney+ after a few more days, so we didn't see it at that time. I DO have a favorite song other than the sad one, though. It's the song about pressure (despite the Bruno song is always in my head when I wake up these days). I like the sound of Luisa's song better than most of the others. Like I said, the movie is pretty good, and the songs are very catchy! lol

 

 Adam came home through the middle of the movie, and by the end, it was about 4:30 so it was time for me to check my quails. I just had 2 eggs today, but one of them was so frozen that it had a split in it. I'll probably fry it up tomorrow if it's okay. That reminds me - we're out of duck eggs from Adam's Mom  X-D  I've really been looking forward to getting those! Especially now that I'm not sick and I can taste again! lol He surprised me today by bringing me a new bulb for the heat lamp since the other one busted the other day from all the rain. Hopefully it'll help thaw out some of the frozen straw and they will have their nice warm box again.

Strangely enough, the light on the porch was working again, but it flickers like crazy. I haven't seen it myself yet, but that's what I've been told. While the kids went out to feed the dogs again, I started making fried chicken, as per Adam's request. I guess they REALLY love it! I hope they do because it's not so easy to make. It takes quite a bit of work! But I personally have always loved fried chicken, so at least if nothing else, it's worth it to me  :-D  lol  (Even though he DID later tell me that it's better than KFC!)

For the rest of the evening, Adam took Devin to basketball practice, we had fried chicken with macaroni and cheese, and then when Devin got home, he ate and we all went to bed. The kids go back to school tomorrow, so there wasn't much of an evening left to be had. However, sometimes when I go to bed, that doesn't mean I'm sleeping. I spent some time looking up different AI art from the "Wombo Dream" app. I tell you what - some of this stuff is terrifying! Strangely accurate, but absolutely horrifying lol  X-D  For example, I looked up Voldemort, but he looks like a Picasso version of Voldemort. I looked up Bellatrix Lestrange, Hermione, and Fred and George Weasley. Here they are... and after that, I finally decided to put the phone done and go to bed lol:

My Cat Kisses Me!

Today, I FINALLY got to sleep in! Couldn't sleep too long though, just until noon because for one, I feel like I'm wasting the day away if I don't get up and do something productive, and two, because after so much sleep, my back starts hurting. At one point though, I remember either Tricity or Khloe telling me that it was snowing lightly, but that it wasn't sticking.

When I finally got out of bed, I did some laundry. Laundry hadn't really been done much since Christmas Eve, and the kids were about out of clothes. They're going to need everything washed for school Tuesday! I'm really going to miss them when they go back. Most parents act like they can't wait to get rid of their kids and to send them back to school, but for me, I've always been the type of parent who hopes for a snow day just so they can get one more day with me at home. Speaking of how cold it's getting outside - I tell you what! Nothing beats a freezing cold drink that has been sitting out in super low temps. It wasn't slushy, but it was right at that point, just the way I like it!

I sat around for a bit playing my game (a game called Ever Merge that I am unfortunately addicted to, even though I can't earn any money playing it any more because I played it for the maximum payable time), but then Tiger decided to love on me. Tiger is Khloe's cat, but she's in heat, and when she's in heat, she is such a sweetheart. We call her "Big Honey" because she's the biggest female cat we have and she's sweet. Here she was nuzzling me, smashing her head to mine. Here's another picture of her with Tricity yesterday. You can tell she's a fat and sassy cat  X-D

Then I decided to move over to my computer to start writing my blogs for the first day of January since I want to try and write one every day (or just about every day) this year. Tricity had just taken Annie out to go potty, and when she came back in, Annie was looking so cute that I had to get a picture of her with Tric. 

While I was writing, Tricity came in and showed me her thing she painted that my brother got her for Christmas. It's a laptop pillow with the table on top of it, so she can use her laptop anywhere without it burning up underneath. It was just black and white with gold on it, but it came with markers to color it in with. Instead of using those markers though, she used her new Posca pens (expensive paint pens) that we got her for Christmas. That's what she and Khloe both really wanted, so I got them each a set.

Before I knew it, it was closer to 4:30, which is about the time I always go out to the quail coop and check them. To my surprise, the coop was frozen shut today! Also, the lightbulb was blown out from all the rain. I'm going to have to find a way to keep the water out, or maybe put shingles on top of the wood. Thankfully, I read that quail can survive negative temperatures. Despite being icy cold out, they still had 3 eggs waiting on me! I unclogged their feeders and brought in the waterers to melt the ice in them before filling them back up, and when I took them back out, there was one more egg! So that was 4 eggs altogether today. Carrying them back home felt like I was carrying icecubes. It's a good thing we're not relying on them for an incubator!

I worked on my blogs some more, trying to recall everything that happened today, and I also used my memories from Facebook and Timehop to create blogs for older things that happened on these days that I didn't make journal entries for in the past. Alongside writing a blog for every day of this year, I also want to write blogs for any journal entries or memories I had from previous years that I had never documented on my blog before. I know it sounds like a lot, and it can be a big undertaking and get overwhelming, but I really want to write everything down because some day, I won't be here, and this will be like my legacy or something.

Adam made sloppy joes for dinner. I was lucky to eat all of mine. I only had one piece of bread on the bottom, as I cannot eat a whole sandwich since my surgery. Usually if Tricity asks to make me a grilled cheese any more, I can only eat half of one and have to give her the other half. To be honest, I feel like I shouldn't have had any bread at all. I should just focus on the protein. I know I'm not getting my 90 grams a day like I'm supposed to. I see the surgeon on Tuesday (the 4th), and I'm quite nervous about it all...

Tricity has been doing so good with taking Annie out to go potty! Annie had an accident here and there within the first 3 days, but since then, she has been doing an amazing job! I know it's not really Annie who is doing the good job, it's Tricity, because if it weren't for her taking her out when we tell her to, and doing her part to help train her, Annie wouldn't be doing as great as she is. It won't be long when we can let her out for a while by herself. For now, she takes her out and trains her by saying "Annie, gotta go potty?" And then when it's time to come back in, she says "Let's go in!". When I went out with her tonight (because someone has to hold the flashlight), she went pee twice, went poop, and then already knew to head back to the door. It was so cute! I'm so proud of them both!

I have to use a flashlight outside because for some reason, the porch light is acting wonky. I JUST changed it the other night on New Year's Eve, and it has already gone out. What the heck??? I think maybe because it needs a dimmable bulb, and the one I put in is one of those "daytime" lights that's supposed to mimic natural sunlight, but it doesn't dim, so maybe that's why it went out? It took me forever just to change it out, though. That's what I hate. Now how long will it be before I get to changing it again? lol

Since my stomach empties out faster because it's smaller how, I was hungry as it got later into the night. I decided to finish my hotwings from yesterday. Usually at this time of night, Tricity and I would watch South Park together since she's trying to watch all of the seasons, and I hadn't ever sat through them all in succession before. However, she wanted to get up early to go with Adam to dialysis today so she went to bed early. Since it was just me all alone tonight, I watched the New Year's special of Doctor Who (Eve of the Daleks), and then Sister Wives (S16 E07 - Choosing Kids Over Kody).

I pretty much spent the whole time cuddling with Kuma. I always love cuddling with her. I give her kisses all the time, and scratch her in all her favorite spots. We head bump each other a lot and nuzzle one another. Sometimes she just doesn't feel like being touched though and will keep to herself off in a corner. Not lately though! I don't know why she has been so attached to me the past few days, but I'm taking it all in. I swear, when she's in a loving mood like this, it sounds like she's trying to imitate my kissing sounds! She will nuzzle me and smack her lips, and it sounds like she's trying to give me a kiss! Every time I nuzzle her and headbutt her, I kiss her, and when she nuzzles me back, I swear it sounds like she's imitating what she hears, and makes kissing sounds by smacking. It's the most ADORABLE thing!

Anyway, once my shows were over, I went to bed. The last thing I could think of was about how with me being blonde now, and having been brunette before that (my natural color is brown) - the reason why I haven't changed my Minecraft skin or logo or anything to match is because eventually I want to go back to red. Eventually... I think the plan is to stay blonde for a while, then eventually do the whole "oil slick" black rainbow thing, and then go to red.

My First Day Into 2022

Since I'm hoping to make a blog for every day in 2022, I'd start by talking about how I intended to sleep in today... There were no holiday activities for us to do, no more Harry Potter marathon to prepare snacks for and watch, no plans to go anywhere or do anything today... Just me, my blanket, my pillows, my Wish Bear that I got for Christmas, and my dreams.

But as usual for Christmas break, I woke up around 10:00 lol X-D I figured I would have slept in longer since it was a rainy, wet day (to which I had almost said a ret, wainy day), but my biorhythm seems to like getting up right around 10:00 AM. Here was the view from the kitchen window. You can see how dreary and wet things are, though you can't really get the full scope of how flooded the front yard is getting. (That's not even with me showing you guys how flooded the creek and run-off are! I didn't want to go out and get wet trying to get pictures of everything.)

Adam ends up taking naps during the day because he gets so exhausted from the kidney failure. It's worse on days with dialysis, but he didn't have dialysis today. While he was sleeping, I got to watch the Harry Potter 20th Reunion special! Surprisingly, it didn't stop a lot with the bad weather since we have our crappy Viasat satellite. I cried so hard by the end, though. Tears had rolled from both eyes. Harry Potter was a HUGE part of my life, from my teenage years even until now! Some of the parts that really got me were when they were talking about all those who have passed since the movies. I was especially taken by surprise by Helen McCrory, who played Narcissa Malfoy. I hadn't known she passed! Apparently earlier in the year from cancer. So sad to see Tom Felton getting emotional about it... 

And then it also got me when Robbie Coltrane was talking about how people will still be watching these movies 50 years from now. They'll still be there. Not him, because he'll be dead, but Hagrid will. And then at the end when everyone was getting emotional about the last scene they shot and having to end it all. It really was an amazing part of history to still affect them that way, and us the fans, so many years later like it has. I really cannot think of any other movies where we watched the stars, who stuck it out for 10 years, grow up. These movies were magical, and not just because they were about wizards.

It was an easy day. Adam and I had planned on making hot wings today (last year our New Year's Day dinner was sky, surf, and turf) so he cut and fried the wings, and I had prepped the sauce the day before. I find that by doing it this way, it allows me to cool the sauce and easily discord the oily part in one big disc instead of having to try and spoon it out. How it works is: I usually melt about 8 sticks of butter. Then instead of taking out the ghee, I go ahead and add Frank's red hot sauce, mix it, and then spoon out the spicy ghee and toss it out. However, if I put it in the fridge overnight, it hardens while the sauce and milk solids sink to the bottom of the pan and remain a liquid. Then I toss out the hardened bit, and it's a lot more healthier this way! Not all that fat to be consumed. It was still a bit hot this time, but I added some cream and about another half stick of butter to mellow it out enough for the likes of me, who doesn't usually like hot foods.

This was my plate. Since my surgery, I can only eat about 3 or 4 at a time, so I have some to eat on later in the evening, and through the next day. It's crazy to think that I'd have eaten this whole plate of them at once before! My problem was definitely overeating. So thankful this surgery helped me have to control that since I don't have much self-control myself.

After dinner, I took a nap. I didn't mean to, but I was just so exhausted. It's been a busy and exhausting end of the year. I remember having Tricity come lay beside me until I was out. Sometimes I just need to snuggle up to her, you know? No matter how old my girl gets, she'll always be my baby. When I woke up and went back into the living room, Adam was sitting in the floor with Devin, Allison, and Jazmin, and they were all playing the game Sorry. That warmed up my heart. I love watching him interact with them. He may not be their Uncle by blood, but he'll always be the best Uncle in their hearts. I love that he's making these memories with them.

Not long after that, I had my first bubble bath of the year, using the vanilla bubble bath set that my Mom got me for Christmas. One of my biggest things I love to do since we moved into this house was to take bubble baths. Like her, I inherited a picky sense of smell, so she knew the safest bet was to get a scent that you can't go wrong with. I don't think I've really smelled a vanilla scented product that I didn't like before! lol (Knock on wood!) It had a faint smell, so it wasn't overpowering. I think she made a good choice. Thanks again Mom, if you read this! lol

Then as the evening came, me and Tricity wound down by watching South Park. She's into that now, and I didn't mind watching it in my youth. I had never seen all of the episodes though, so we're trying to get through as many seasons as we can while she's on Christmas break. (As of right now, we are on season 4). While watching, my Kuma baby wanted to cuddle with me. For some reason tonight, all she wanted to do was lay on me and love on me, which I adored of course. She is the sweetest baby! I'm so lucky I got her and that she's mine ♥ She is the most precious!

Speaking of cats and kittens, I forgot to show you guys that a couple of our new babies have their eyes open now! One of these pictures is from the other day, and one was from today. I try to hold them for a little bit every day so that they get used to me, and hopefully get attached to me. Binx doesn't seem to mind. They cry out once in a while and she gets concerned, but she hasn't really taken them or felt threatened by me holding them. Khloe and Tricity have been holding them too.

While I was getting pictures of my Kuma bear, I noticed in the background the paint samples that I have up on the wall. I've kept these paint samples up since we moved in until I'm ready to paint. That way I can see which one I like better at different times of the day, or in different light. It gives me plenty of time to pick the one that grows on me. I can't wait to get rid of these brown nicotine-stained walls!

That was pretty much it for the day. Apparently this time last year, we were under the assumption that Adam would be getting a kidney transplant this year. Since we moved, they put it on hold until he could prove that he had a stable income at our new home, but hopefully he gets put back on this year! I don't know what this year is going to bring for us, but I hope we are successful, we achieve our goals, we improve on our health, and most importantly, that we are safe and happy. I wish the same for you all as well!