The Bigger Picture

There are a lot of fitness people being really harsh about weight loss drugs right now. They keep talking about how people aren't doing the 'hard work' to lose weight because they have this drug doing it for them.

I don't argue with people on Facebook, mostly because you can't change their minds.

I've been taking this shot for almost a year. In that year, I have significantly restructured the way I eat. I have cut a lot of things. I faithfully keep a food journal. I keep another journal about my mental state. I weigh myself once a week. I keep a chart of my weight loss. I actively discuss my food choices with my roommate and we make plans for meals. 

In other words, I have made significant changes in the last year. I have made changes that people tell you are needed for actual sustainable weight loss. 

I would not have made any of those changes if I wasn't taking the shot. The shot has helped me to not be hungry every second of the day. It's helped me to view food in a different way. It's helped me to gain some sane perspective on what is going into my body. I needed that and having been given that ability to NOT be hungry all the time, I CAN make all the changes needed. 

The shot doesn't mean instant weight loss. The shot doesn't mean you don't have to do the work. For many of us, what the shot does is give us the ability to make that work possible. 

More Kitty News

We named the kitten Machen after the writer. It is, perhaps, a twisted name to given to a kitten, but it's a lot of fun to say. We considered naming him Poe, but that rhymes with 'no' and that would have confused him. He hears 'no' often enough as it is. 
As you can see in the picture, he is gray and white. He has a little white splotch on his back in the midst of all the gray fur. He has white splotches in his ears and they are the most delightful things. 

He and the older cat are still not getting along. She's calming down somewhat, though she did run out of the house last night in some kind of protest. It's colder though she came back. She always comes back when she runs outside. 

Right now he's stretched out over my leg sleeping. When he wakes up, he'll be a kitten menace for a while, then go back to sleep. He's eating well and thriving over all. 
 

Older

The last time I had to take care of a kitten, I was in my late 20s. It's very different than trying to adjust to kitten energy when you're almost 50. It's a little stressful and it doesn't help that the other cat is being as angry as she possibly can about the situation.

My roommate and I have a plan in place. We basically just take turns minding the kitten. I do my best during my turn. I have a lot of cuts already. He's little and clumsy right now.

It isn't all stressful though. He's very sweet when he sleeps. He has a sweet little meow and he's adorable when he looks at you. I love him.

A Surprise

So a couple of days before Thanksgiving, we heard a kitten outside. My roommate found him and now it looks like we may have a new cat. We tried to find another home for him, but no one was interested in taking in a kitten so we're probably going to be his forever home. He's very sweet, but has a lot of energy. Probably more, to be fair, than we can deal with. He's gray and white with a big white splotch on his gray back. My roommate thinks he's about 6 weeks old.

Our other cat is very angry about this change. We're hoping she adjusts. She was better today than she was yesterday and certainly better than she was the night the kitten moved into the house. 
 

Week Of

This is the week of Thanksgiving. I suppose I should do a thankful post.

First of all, I am thankful for the wonderful friends that I have. They keep me going in basically every way. They are the core of my existence. 

I am also thankful for the new friend I made this year. She's darling and has helped me grow my creativity. 

I'm also thankful for the medications that are helping me. I need a lot of help, to be honest, and the meds are really making a difference in my life. 

Finally, I'm thankful I decided to get back in therapy because that has helped me a great deal. I'm by no means sane, but I'm still here. That says something.

Festive

The garland I knitted is up and looks okayish. We have plans to do different things with it next year. It looks better at a distance than it did up close, but I guess that's the nature of garlands. 

I'm back to working on my blanket. It's another Ten Stitch because that soothes me.  It's also a number I can keep up with. Beyond that, I just love the idea of only using ten stitches but still managing to have a massive blanket in the end. 

This one is moving slowly and will probably take me more than just this fall and winter to finish, but that's fine. It's mostly just here to be a stash buster anyway.

Knitting Reflections

I got my knitting out for the first time since this spring. I don't have any major goals this Fall, other than just getting some of my stash down. The yarn needs to become THINGS.

Also, I don't know why anyone ever bothers buying yarn. At some point, someone gives you a big bag of the yarn they're not using and suddenly you have a massive stash on your hands. I'm grateful for this, but I need to work on getting this stash lower. I even have some yarn stored in my roommate's bedroom at this point. And my bedroom. 

There is just really a lot of yarn.

A Week of Stories

I published a fic every day last week. I'm glad I did. I think I'm up to 95 now. I didn't get a great deal of feedback on some of the later fics but that's fine. Between what I was writing and what other people were publishing, I think everyone got rather overwhelmed.

This is the week before the week of Thanksgiving. Our plans for the holiday are pretty simple and that's what I need this year. 

Finished

I had a project that was due later in the month. The submissions for it opened a few days ago and today I posted my last submission into it. None of them are very long, but they meet the requirements and I feel like I put a unique spin on things. 

I feel good about this. I'm not someone who manages to accomplish a lot so when I do accomplish things, I'm always a bit unsure about how I really feel or how I'm supposed to feel. But I do feel good about this. I'm proud of the work I did.

Milestone

I published my 90th fanfic this week. I should probably get through 100 fics by the end of the year. I'm publishing shorter things these days, but I'm still getting a pretty good response from them.

I have some other goals that are being more difficult for me to reach. I'm doing some research on how to make them happen. We'll see if I can pull it off before the end of the year. 

Even if I don't reach either of these goals, I'm still happy with the amount of progress I've made this year. The year itself has been very difficult and the fact that I'm sticking to my plans is pretty amazing.

A Good Day

I woke up way too early this morning but aside from that, it was a good day. I published some fanfic. I paid some bills. I even got my care insurance renewed. 

Best of all, the cat didn't try to get out of the house. She's been such a pill about that lately. 

Fall Back

The Dark of the Year has arrived. We get our extra hour tonight. I'll be spending mine talking to friends and sitting under blankets.

The cat is going through a personality shift. Sometimes cats do this, but her current one is kind of baffling. She's causing us a lot of stress. 

Speaking of stress, I have my light out to make sure I get enough light during this time of the year. Hopefully things will go well and I won't get too depressed. I'm trying everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen.

Decorations

The Halloween decorations (all I think five of them) are put away and replaced with our Thanksgiving day decorations (all three of them). We don't do a lot for the holidays, but I always enjoy the small display that we do. It makes me happy.

I think I write about this every year. It's fine though. It's a small bit of happiness in what can sometimes be a rather bleak time of year.