My Aunt S. is probably the only one in my family who shows any genuine interest in how I'm doing/feeling, and she checks in via texts fairly often. The visit went well, and I was very happy to see her, and to meet her friend. My mood was quite elevated (which concerns me a little). Unfortunately, talking about all the family ****, and there was a lot of it, was activating (which concerns me a little more). My father did agree to see her, and I guess they had a pleasant visit, which was surprising, but good news.

We love it here, and have very happy kitties! They love the new furniture (Rocky REALLY likes the couch), the slider, and windows. I was worried about how they would take to the laminate flooring, but they seem to like to lay on it vs. the carpet now, maybe because it's cooler. It's been back to business as usual for them, but they do seem happier. I'm going to buy more Feliway spray for the couches on eBay (cheaper than Chewy) today. I've been using my black light, and there's still been no inappropriate peeing!

I haven't really taken to the e-cigarette, but am just smoking A LOT less. I love sitting on the deck in the morning to have a cigarette with my coffee. We really do enjoy it together, mostly in the evening when it's cooler out, and Corey has been much chattier out there, which is a good thing. The view is really pretty, but for a fairly rural area, there is a lot of traffic because a main road cuts through here, which is why I don't open the slider too often... it's too loud, and has really been too hot, too. The traffic doesn't ruin the experience of being out there tho...

It's good for people watching. There are lots of runners, bicyclists, people walking dogs, and pushing baby carriages... but there are others who are just not right ambling around. Our car insurance went down when we changed our address, but our renter's insurance went up, and I think it's because there are a lot of people around here on drugs, and maybe that's driven the crime rate up. It's a big complex, and they're not representative of the majority of the residents here tho.
Our fire escape is a winding staircase between the 6 apartments (2 each on 3 floors) in our "unit" and some people use it as an entry/exit. We've seen the people who live above us coming and going quite a bit, and can hear them when they are outside, and I'm pretty sure they're on something, but they're not bothering us, so that's their business.

We don't hear a peep from inside our neighbors apartments, which is a VERY nice change, since we used to be able to hear EVERYTHING at the old place... even the guy living above us peeing.

With all the amenities here, living is very comfortable. Everything is new: the bathroom, the flooring, and the kitchen with its stainless steel appliances. There is a lot of closet space, HUGE tub/shower with glass doors, and a very deep kitchen sink with a detachable faucet with a sprayer. I'm relearning how to cook with gas again tho... it's been almost 8 years.

I still haven't been able to get my kitchen set up in a way I'm happy with. It's been hard to find places to put things that are comfortable and convenient for me.

I would feel a lot better if I could do something with the spare bedroom. I don't think it would take me very long to get things straightened out in there because things mainly have to be stacked carefully in the closet, but the boxes are heavy, and I'm sure I'd hurt myself (worse). Corey's not interested in helping. But as things are, I can't run the vacuum in there, and there are two litter boxes... so I'm sure you can understand why it would bother me.


I didn't get a nap in yesterday, and Corey said he'd swear I was drunk. I went to bed at 9:30 and didn't wake up until after 7:30 this morning, which is very rare. I'm still feeling lousy and off tho.

I had hoped to stay in today to rest, but the pork butt I was going to cook today went rancid 4 days before its sell by date. I could smell it as soon as I opened the refrigerator door when I got home yesterday. I planned on getting 2 meals (pulled pork sandwiches and tacos) out of it, so I'm going to have to go to the supermarket