life, etc.

Oh, hey.
Just sitting at my bar, having a glass of wine.
I was sitting out by the pond but it's too humid out there.
Pumpkin wants to go back outside and beat up the nice neighbor cat that wandered through the yard.

Counting my blessings, in what seems like a handful at at time.

Life has been pretty good.

Work has been steady/kinda slow, which I'm fully embracing because I know how busy it can/will get.

Planning a few trips, to some new places, yeah! Got plane tickets to Atlanta next month, just because they were cheap and we've never been. April involves a trip to Austin, and I believe FG has plans to book a trip to Boston in June. He has it in his head that we're going to take a trip each month. I'm certainly okay with that, as long as we do it economically. Usually my vacations are the "treat yoself" vibe, but if we're taking several this year I've gotta budget. Also in the works is a possible trip to Vegas in July and it looks like Suzy and I will be spending Thanksgiving in Seattle/Vancouver. I also really wanted to go to San Diego this year but we'll see how that works out.

Getting ready for another round of painting. Feeling motivated to finish the main rooms because with each wall, the light bounces around so much more and the mood in the house is lifted. Also testing out pinks in the bathroom. Because I can.

Digestive issues have gotten worse. Like, random attacks of digestive upset followed by pain and general ick. I figured I was getting accidentally glutened but I stopped eating out and can't pinpoint a trigger. I'm scheduled for another endoscopy... which isn't for another few weeks and I'm not looking forward to it, but I figure with my health history, I will likely just have to learn to deal with cameras being periodically poked through my digestive system.
Speaking of, this little ray of sunshine has been floating around the celiac community, and explains a lot actually. Basically there was a study done that found that for those with celiac disease, the good immunity cells are replaced by cells that promote inflammation and a bunch of other non-fun stuff when exposed to gluten.
But. Those types of cells stick around permanently even after you move to a gluten free diet. We're talking joint pain, inflammation in the bowels for no damn reason, and a diminished ability to fight tumor cells and general intestinal infections. So you eat gluten free but still suffer. Hopefully the next step after this discovery is finding a way to reverse or combat it.

Skin. That differin gel is actually making a difference. Way less breakouts. Now I'm mostly dealing with scarring and discoloration from past breakouts, which still doesn't look pretty but at least I can get those eventually lasered off.

Speaking of lasers, I still have to look into laser hair removal. I wanted to wait until most of it grew back from the waxing, and I think I'm about there. So excited thinking about the prospect of never shaving my armpits again. TAKE MY MONEY.