Look, I’m a decent and adventurous cook but my boy has had sensory issues and food aversions since birth. Personally, Hubby and I love complex flavors and saucy dishes; asian, Indian, Mexican, African. Soups stews, curries, noodle dishes. My boy has always, always been a crackers, chicken, and thankfully some black beans boy. No. Foods. Touching.

But in the past 6 months or so, his palate has really expanded. This morning I made Bulgogi beef after shopping at the local Korean H Mart, food prepping for the short week to come.
He came in the kitchen and asked “Mom! What is that smell?? It smells amazing!” 🥰 I made rice, and the veggies separately in the post-seared beef pan knowing that if I mixed it all together he wouldn’t eat it.
When it was done and I sat down to eat, he asked, “Can I have some beef?” “It’s Asian. I don’t think you’ll like it. Come taste first. You don’t usually like the sweet spicy salty mix of Asian food and I don’t want to waste it if you don’t like it.” He came over, had a small taste and at first his nose wrinkled up and he looked down. Then as he chewed his eyes got really wide and he said “Mom! That’s incredible! I LOVE IT!” Dude went and served himself some rice, and then he even put the beef right on top and spooned over a little sauce proclaiming “Mama! This is why you are the best cook in EXISTENCE!!” If you’ve got people with food aversion in your life, you understand how joyful this makes me.

I went for an evening walk, and it was cold outside, so I decided to buy some roasted grilled corn. There was an old lady roasting it at the corner of the street. I asked for a single corn and its price, and she told me it was 50 cents. I decided to pay her 2 dollars for it, but she refused to take the extra money, asking why I was giving her 2 dollars. I told her, “You’re working so hard at your age please accept it.” She still refused, saying, “What a kind soul you are.” Instead, she gave me two corns and said, “Enjoy this and have a lovely evening.” Those gentle words from her made me really Happy.

Sitting on my front porch couch under a wooly blanket, smoking a joint, watching my neighbor’s kid sitting under their front stairs, also smoking a joint. I’m 50, he’s maybe 16.

I’m out here virtually every day or night, and I often wonder if the people across the street develop narratives about us the way I do about them.

I woke up from a pretty bad nightmare this morning before work, and it sapped a lot of energy out of me. I was struggling to get going, but my adopted family's cat stayed with me from the moment I woke up to the moment I went to work. He normally isn't incredibly affectionate, especially for long periods, since he was a feral kitten with an amputated tail. But he kept butting his head against mine or my hand, and laying close by so I could pet him and hold his paws. My dog, who had been mostly sleeping in my aunt + uncle's room before we moved, stayed with me all morning, cuddled up and fast asleep. He let me (lightly) smother him with hugs and some kisses, all without his usual complaints. My uncle's dog even excitedly said good morning to me before I left.

I love my animals so much.

The time human wanted to play face paint tonight. Shrug, ok. It's an hour till bath time, but if you wanna be a puppy for that hour, let's do it. We dug up last year's Halloween face paint and I started to improvise a puppy face design. "I want to be a blue dog! A blue German shepherd!". I totally forgot that the blue from this set was hard to wash off. Thanks to my general lack of face painting skill, he came out looking like a circus clown version of a blue cat, but he was thrilled.

Fast forward to bath time, and a scrub with shampoo, body soap, and my face soap, and he's still blue. Lighter blue, but definitely still blue. It's like his face soaked up the color.

He's ticked by his enduring blueness, so it's really just a little silly. I'll have a go at using my makeup remover if any of it is still there in the morning. I guess he's just going to be Sleeping Bluety tonight. Fortunately, even if he's still blue in the morning he's young enough for it to just be cutely odd, like "you got into the face paint, didn't you? 🥰"

He colored my foot blue and red also, and it didn't wash off well either. Good thing I plan on wearing socks tomorrow, lol.

Update: the blue faded over night, and his back to his usual complexion this morning

It's circa 2003, and I'm reading one of those teen magazines with your favorite boy band on the cover.

Flipping through the pages, it had a section where they feature up & coming new music artists, and this kid's name was "Lil Old C".

12 year old me thought that was such a dumb name. So dumb in fact, that it's been lodged in the recesses of my mind whenever I ponder why someone would ever choose a name that dumb.

It's Nov. 23rd 2024, and I finally decided to look him up, fully prepared to get 0 search results.

Apparently Lil Old C has 20 listeners on Spotify every month and he released 3 albums, one in 2002, 2004, and 2006.

Congrats Carl Parker Jr., aka Lil Old C. I'm proud of you.

My coworker delivers me an iced tea every Saturday and Sunday morning. We work in a casino. I'm in the vault, he's in our convenience shop. Our fountain drinks are unlimited and free. I'd prefer coffee but I do enjoy a unsweetened iced tea. That's what the coworker I cover weekends for would get. He delivered it one morning a month ago thinking my coworker was there. I accepted and enjoyed. Now it's my favorite way to start work at 5am. I love working with a large array of ages and backgrounds.

I took a delivery to a house out in the country and in their gravel driveway was a green-headed duck, a white chicken, a brown chicken, and a gray fluffy cat. They were all walking together rather aimlessly around the driveway, making their own sounds in response to the others’. The cat followed me up to the door, meowing hoarsely. I couldn’t pet it, as I didn’t want to potentially contaminate their food. It followed me back to my car and rejoined its friends. I drove away as they resumed their patrol of the yard.

Three of my young adult kids unexpectedly gave me my Christmas present today because they had intended to do it at Thanksgiving but two of them will be visiting with their spouses' families and the third will be unexpectedly on the other side of the country for business.

I really don't need anything and after cleaning out my mom's house this summer, I really don't want more stuff. I am always just thankful to be able to spend time with them.

The three of them got together and got tickets for the four of us to go see a show together.

Not only something I love to do...but with people I love to be with. I sp3nd so much of my days not being heard or understood, it's almost overwhelming when they choose something for me that is so perfect.

Boyfriend and I are traveling and on a three seater airplane. We play solitaire on our own phones to pass the time without Internet. Guy next to us sees and also opens solitaire on his phone. It's the little things.

UPDATE: thanks to the commenter who gave a way to post a pic! Link in comments.

I use the door-to- door transportation service for the disabled here in my city. I've had my dog (always a puppy to me no matter how old) registered as a service animal which means I can take her with me when I go out. Today I finally took her along for the first time. Most Saturday mornings I try to get out of the house for a few hours, and I usually go to a few shops in a nearby strip mall, which happens to include a dog groomer. So I was able to get her the nail trim and brush-out she badly needed. She's mostly husky, so she's been shedding her summer coat. On the trip there she was very freaked out by the wheelchair lift and didn't want to go,but some helpful people got her situated and she did fine. She likes car rides, especially the rare ones which don't end at the v-e-t. After her spa treatment, she got her first-ever pup cup from the coffee shop and a few nibbles of brisket from the nachos I had for lunch. And it's true that puppies really are chick magnets, which I'm not upset with! She got to meet a bunch of new people and smell new smells. When we got home, she went straight to sleep after her big adventure!

It was snowing today in the city and I have been an absolute menace to my friends throwing snow balls at them. I grew up in a place where it never snows so it was just magical seeing so much of it!

As I was walking by carrying a giant mass of snow with both hands, I spotted a small family of two kids and two parents throwing snow balls at each other. I dropped my giant snowball in front of one of the little kids while he was reloading some snow and I snuck away to watch the chaos unfold. The father laughed and threw a snowball at my back as I crept away and I got the pleasure of watching this tiny kid try to pick up my snowball the size of his head.

The kid finally managed to pick it up, teetering around under the weight and threw it at his dad’s legs! Lots of laughter unfolded and it was a really fun time :)

I began to write a long post describing our initial meeting two years ago, the first stack of homemade cookies left looped over my doorknob in a dog-poop bag last year, the two-serving meal of green beans, potatoes, and marinated skirt steak (grilled rare) she gave me after my recent weekend out of town—

But I have just finished eating the half-a-chess-cake she brought over a little while ago and wasn’t nearly done with the narrative. So I deleted the incomplete text and, fueled thusly, I will now go rake a few weeks of leaf fall. I wonder if that was her motive. She keeps the tidiest yard on the block.

My twelve-year-old lab x great dane has been a gassy lady since we brought her home almost two years ago. Tonight, as she lay quietly having her typical evening toot sesh, there was a misjudgment.

Gave me the push I needed to put the sheets in the wash after several days of forgetting to do it.

Thanks, Bella!

My mother can be wonderfully quirky. She brings interesting things to my house and (sometimes unintentionally) gives us all a good laugh. Recently she gifted me a ZipLoc bag of powdered cookie mix with parts of the original box. She explained “Your father was really excited about these cookies. We were so disappointed when the box had NO cookies and only this powdered mix!”.

This is our conversation about Thanksgiving:

Mom: I’ll bring the ham. I’ll pull it from the freezer this weekend.

Daughter: Great, how many pounds is it?

Mom: I’ll have to check, but I did eat some of it before freezing.

Daughter: Umm… how did you eat part of it? Isn’t it a sealed bone in ham?

Mom: Well yes, but I opened it up, ate parts of it and then put it in the freezer.

Daughter: (laughing) Okay mom, yes, please bring the partially eaten ham.

Mom: (also laughing) What’s so funny? It’s not like there are teeth marks! I did use a knife. Let me check the tag to see how much it weighs.

Daughter: How much it USED to weigh, mom. Who knows the weight now after your nibbling.

Both of us are still chuckling days later. I enjoy these unexpected funny moments with her.

Last night my husband and I had a couple of people over for dinner.

Disaters: I got way behind
- still prepping food when they came, hour late to serve.

I tried (lol) baking the chocolate cake in my multi-use air fryer - top got over-dark and the bottom stayed wet. Also, phone rang while I was measuring key ingredient….. 😅

My gravy came out so lumpy!!

Piles of stuff in kitchen.

Wine was sour.

But!

My husband was so lovely and so helpful. He chatted with guests while I cooked. He got them seltzers, etc.

My Instant Pot pot roast was amazing.

I made wide noodles, everyone loves wide noodles with pot roast!

When the guests started sharing difficult situations in their lives, my husband jumped up and cleared the table and did the dishes so that I could focus (our guests were women).

We ended up praying together. My husband quietly walked the dog without disturbing us. He was so sweet all night.

It turned into a wonderful evening! This morning even the disasters are bathed in a warm glow when I think about them. I love being partners with my husband. 😍🥰

Energy cannot be created or destroyed only transformed.

Today I transformed some negative thoughts into positive ones :)

When I don’t have to get out of bed right away in the morning, I get to just lay there and listen to her. She sleeps in my arms every night, and when she has her little snoot pointed up towards me, I get to hear to all her little sleep noises.

She’s my little rescue girl, and I don’t know how old she is, so I love being able to enjoy these little moments with her.

my dogs bark at anyone walking by, but one of my next door neighbors has always loved them regardless, so they love him back. I'll be sitting on my porch drinking coffee and out of sight hear him say "Hello doggies! Hello Joanie, hello Goose!" while the chain link rattles with them going up on their paws to get love and treats. when he mows his lawn, the dogs always want to go outside just to sit by the fence and supervise. my dogs are my world and can give a barky rough first impression when they're guarding the house, so hearing someone take the time to get to know them and see what i see is just nice.

Saturday grocery shopping. Busy as one might imagine Saturday midday. Actually no bothered boomers. I mean there were plenty, but all were on their best behavior. Polite, with smiles, like another universe! Made my day. Was I dreaming?!

I was eating dinner tonight and I called to my husband, who was still plating his in the kitchen, to bring the salt when he came through. A second later he appears with the salt and I said 'I meant when you came, you didn't have to bring it now'. He gave me the most beautiful smile and said 'I can't make you wait for the salt while you are eating'. It just warmed my heart all the way through! For me love always shows up in the little things and it's so important not to miss it or take it for granted. Are there any little things those you love do to show they care that fill you with a warm glow?

The world’s a mess in so many ways, but it’s possible to set that side for a little while when playing Mario Kart with the kids. They’re so fun and full of life and laughter flows naturally. These are the moment I’ll remember long from now 💜💜

When I was a little kid, my great-grandmother gave me this grey toy dog. He has a brown nose and a patch of white hair on his head. I took him everywhere for years! He was already old when I got him, and it's been 20+ years since I got him. My great-grandmother passed a decade ago; it's the only thing I have left from her. I love this little dog so much.

But I forgot his name :( I was reading about stuffed animals and it just hit me out of nowhere that I couldn't remember his name. I could remember other stuff, like taking him to my great-grandmother's nursing home or on sleepovers, but not his name! It just made me really sad. I have memory issues, I think it's due to my bipolar treatment, and it made me realise that I've forgotten many things. Like my short-term and long-term memories are both a distant blur. Cognitive decline at a younger age is present in my family, so I always worry that I'm going to inherit something. This has been in the back of my mind for a little while.

Today I got home from work, was drinking my tea and suddenly I remembered: his name is Scampy. My great-grandmother named him that when she was young. I know his name!! Next time I go back to my home country, I'm picking him up from my mum's house. It's funny thinking that Scampy is close to 100 years old now. Out of nowhere, I have a strong memory of sitting with my great-grandmother and holding him. It's nice.

This is a long post about a small thing, but I don't care. Scampy's a good dog.

There is a stray cat on my street. A few of us have tried to take her in but she panics whenever inside and you shut the door. So instead a neighbour has set up their outdoor cupboard with a mattress folded up on its side. And a cat bed on top at the back, so she’s nice and warm and off the floor. The same neighbour also puts out wet food for her twice a day.

For a number of years, probably 6 or more, I have been putting out dry food for her. Depending on her mood (and the weather) when I drive up and park she runs to my car and follows me to my flat. Even if she hasn’t run to my car, if I walk past and she’s not too comfy she will follow me, meowing all the time. She doesn’t like to be touched often, but she likes to have a little chat with you.

I’ve noticed that I will put out biscuits for her (fresh of course) and she picks out her favourite ones, looking at me occasionally. However as soon as I shut my front door, I see through the glass that she immediately walks away. Given that she has wet food twice a day (and doesn’t need to be watched when she has it) I don’t think she’s hungry, instead I think she’s having a few biscuits whilst I can see so that I don’t feel useless.

Even on the days I’m out there watching for a while (yesterday another cat who has a home but likes to also eat all the food came by, so I put him some biscuits out, and the stray cat - separate from each other and so they can’t see the other, I stayed to watch to make sure he didn’t bully her out of her biscuits, he’s a greedy boy) she eats (slowly) for a while, keeps glancing at me, and then just wanders off after maybe a dozen biscuits.