I want to knit a shrug. It's like a shawl and a scarf had a baby, and nobody knows which side of the family the sleeves came from. But I need needles I don't often use and would need to turn a light on and hunt through a couple of boxes. I can't do that at 1:30 am with a sleeping spouse in the room. Hmm...maybe *I* should try this "sleep" thing.

Everything is icy blue and white with sprinkles of holly and mistletoe. I'm still going with colors of The Harvest.

And still saying "The Harvest" like it's some cryptic thing that makes you want to get away before The Festivities start.

For those of us who are ready for December to be done...

Sister-in-law: Tell the Lake Monster to stop sending her children to visit us! Somebody abandoned these turtles at the pet supplies shop, so we're fostering them for the winter.

Me: Turtles aren't descendants of the Lake Monster. Snakes and monitor lizards are.

SiL: So...why do you get so happy when I move turtles out of the road to save them?

Me: I like turtles.

Husband: *remembers Zombie Kid and cracks up laughing*

I'm having a "But what if I'm not good enough???" day, so if you are too, I'm going to tell you what I keep telling myself.

No, you're not "good enough".
You are so much more than merely "good enough". You are fabulous!

#CoSoMentalHealth

It's probably been about 30 years since I last folded an origami Christmas ornament. What I've learned tonight is that younger me must have known how to fold a square into thirds, but hid that information from current me.

I'm really excited that I've written my divination Substack to the point where I can start talking about dice divination! But I kind of wish I wasn't getting there at this time of the year. Things get busy. I just want to focus on my own stuff! This whole year has been too busy, and mostly in ways we didn't want. I need to make more space for myself next year.

I'm refilling Shai-Hulud's water bowl. "Mae'r dŵr i ti."

Husband asks, with a curiousity and reverence like a small child who just found out about library cards, "What did you tell him?"

"The water is for you."

My Welsh isn't fancy. It's not even conversationally fluent. I am learning, though.

We are approaching the month of the year when none of my craftwork will be done for myself. Decorations! Gifts! Weeks of paper, tape, glue, and a deep longing to have a minute to touch my yarn again!

I counted last night to find out how many hexagons I've knitted this year for my blanket. The answer is 78. Only 272 more to go!

Really, I'm afraid she'll start taking them somewhere so we can't take them aware from her. She is very Not Happy about this.

Cat catches mouse. Husband takes mouse.

Cat: Where is my mouse??? (frantically searching)

Me: (petting Cat) You did a good job!

Cat: Then where is my mouse???!!!

Me: Have a treat. It's a team effort. You catch the mouse. He takes the mouse. Everybody is happy!

Cat: I don't care about Everybody! I care about the three most important cats on this planet - Me, Myself, and I! Give me my mouse! Not the store bought "treat". The spoils of war I rightfully claimed!

I miss home tonight. I'm too many states away...and too many years away. The people who made it home are dead. The places that made it home are closed. I'm surrounded by people who have said, "You are home. This is home now " I know what they mean. But I miss home.

Over the years that I've been covering my hair, I've learned that it was never that I don't care about "style"...I just prioritize dressing comfortably. I definitely don't care about popular style, though. I have my own style, and the effort goes into the headwraps instead of clothes and jewelry.

Feelin' fancy today! It's been a little bit of a rough day, so feeling the "feathers" on the peacock pin move when my head moves brings some cheer.

There were so many times growing up when my autistic self was moving with the music that kept me going, and I got, "Just be normal!" Or, "Just fold the clothes! You're not on a stage!"

I put away my earbuds tonight and put my art supplies where they belong. My husband says, "It always makes me happy to see you groovin' to your music when you're doing something!"

That's love. 🥰

My sister-in-law enjoys reading gay male romance novels, so I knitted a bookmark for her (with a little added crochet). Marking this as sensitive because the shape is a body part one might think of as appropriate to gay male romance. #CoSoKnitting #CoSoBooks

My husband mentioned "that time you wrote a Doctor Who and Doc McStuffins story, and people thought they would hate it and cussed you out because they loved it". I sent him the link. And then I thought I don't know if I've ever shared it here...

https://archiveofourown.org/works/4592037

It's not even just mice. We've returned two wild snakes and a salamander to the outdoors over the past few months. Catching them before the cats do is a challenge.

Go next door! They have one dog, and he's old!