That is great news, Calli! Finally.

EM came over to do paperwork with me. I signed up with ID.me and then dealt with the SSA and Medicare.

Paid berjillions of dollars out. Resentful.

But onerosity dealt with.

And I go to Pilates with my favorite teacher/friend (with coffee after) in an hour.

Woot!

I made chicken soup with noodles and veggies for myself for the first time since leaving the old place in July/August of 2024. It was very tasty; I didn't dance around this kitchen the way I did at the place on the hill, but that's a combination of not living by myself anymore and just a different kitchen vibe.

I still miss the fog dragons every day, but having real sunset views right off the balcony (and off the roof in the wintertime) is a pretty good trade. And my housemates are pretty special.

I'm still not ready to talk about it all yet, but ... no, I can't. The moment I say "I might just survive this," something else is going to come along and kick me in the teeth. It's been a truly awful decade for me so far, with little sporadic inklings of kindness and love. But goddammit, if I'd known this was coming in 2019, I would have pulled a Xander: "You made a bear! Undo it! Undo it!"

That’s great news, Calli!!!

{{{Karl}}}

WOOOHOO CALLI!!! I’m so happy for you!

There is a reason why one of the quotes I love best from TV is about getting a chance to "return used portion" of life if you're not satisfied, Karl. I think I've been wanting to undo something, since always.

Which is not making me all that popular among the people on the "God made you different for a reason!1" CP-themed Facebook groups.(Not that I thought it would, exactly, But I look at that, and I look at "*Attitudes* are the Real Disability" and I just think "Wow, we're still doing that,' and also that there's nothing on Earth I'm really an "insider" at, much less, you know, Finding My People and all that stuff.) {I did learn some stuff, which has mostly been a fucking drag, to be frank, but what did I think? that somebody had a cheat code so I could find the silver goblet and level up? So that's my own dumb fault, kind of. But I did hope maybe to meet someone I'd talk to more than twice. So far, meh, although mostly, if I did, it'd be "Yay, another far-flung friend," anyway and that is one base I have covered.

Cereal: But then again, grateful, satisfied people probably aren't activists. Unless they're, like the nicest people in the world. Which I think you all know me well enough that I don't make the cut for. But I can't stop enjoying stuff, such as I ever get to anyway, that is, till I fix all the problems, cause Kay got the clearance rate, not me.(And there are definitely times these days that I don't love that stuff, either.)

Yay Calli!!

Thanks, y’all!

{{{Karl}}}

grateful, satisfied people probably aren't activists. Unless they're, like the nicest people in the world.

I don’t know her inner life. But there’s a senior pastor at the church my sister and I have been going to who reminds me of my maternal grandmother. Silvery curls, petite, always with a smile. She seems grateful and satisfied (although it could just be the pastoral version of professionalism). Anyway, I found out recently that her bestie has a bail fund available for her, and that she’s exceedingly fond of what she and Rep. John Lewis called “good trouble.” I didn’t see her at the last No Kings protest, but there were hundreds of people there (and as mentioned above, she’s tiny). Anyway, it’s probably rare, but I guess it can happen.

I would say some people are like that, but a lot of us do it because we are restless. "I wear the cheese--it does not wear me."