I'll go ahead and share more good stuff.

In May, the testing that I was having done finally came back with a definitive diagnosis: endometrial adenocarcinoma.  On June 17, I had surgery.  I've had my post op visit and the pathology shows no sign of spread, with a staging of 1b, so that means that all of the cancer was removed.  Recovery is going well.

In addition, the diet that I've been on since January has resulted in a substantial weight loss (still more to lose, but slow and steady is the way) and my fasting glucose levels have been dropping from just short of getting that type II diabetes diagnosis and now 33 points below that high point.  I'm in good standing to beat the family history (my dad is generation 7) and break the chain.  My oncologist also thought that the weight loss may have caused the hormonal shifts that triggered the symptom that led me to testing that got the cancer diagnosed before it progressed to a later stage.

Two parakeets are much better than one as they are flocking birds and need the company.
A "feathered friend" is still a friend and we all can use friends.

I joined a company soccer team and we played our first game last night. We won, and I even feel like I contributed.

I guess it is only right I add my own "Good Stuff".
We remodeled our master bathroom and when we were done, it was all paid for.

As for gaming, I created a mod for Tabletop Simulator and over 400 people have subscribed to it. It makes me happy that people find it useful.

The new kitties are settling in a month or so after their adoptions, and we have finally wrangled and medicated some bugs one picked up in the shelter.  They're cute as buttons, and are providing us with a lot of fun and affection (and chaos).

My 11-month-old gave me a smooch on the cheek for the first time ever yesterday.

Needless to say, my chest is ten times too small to contain all the feels about it.
Life is good. <3 :)

So my home was burglarized in spring of 2020. One of the many things stolen that day was my trusty Necchi sewing machine (a birthday gift from my mother). It was bought used, and nothing fancy, mostly just basic stitches, but it was a solidly reliable machine. I've missed it.

Today, I got a smoking deal on its replacements. Some lady was dealing with her late father's effects, which included over 40 sewing machines (she has no idea why he was collecting sewing machines). Nothing new, but all working, and cheaply priced. So I bought a nice little Kenmore, with a small selection of computerized stitches. And a slightly less computerized Euro Pro, with manuals, for $25 each. :)

Good weekend. I rescued a lost dog, and made some folks' weekend a great deal better than it started out. :)

Found the dog Friday night a few miles from home. I thought it was a vulture or raven standing at the edge of the road, heading into the sunset. Only as I passed did I realize it was a little Chihuahua-mix dog. He look very lost and unsure. So I turned around and went back. It's all farmland there, more than a mile to the nearest home, too far to be safe for a small dog (we have coyotes, foxes, hawks, and owls, never mind the cars). Surprisingly, he didn't immediately run away (like the last little dog I stopped for in almost the same spot). So I sweet-talked him and coaxed him to me. He was shy and uncertain, but not really fearful.

I took him on to my friend's house, so we could post him on the community pages on FB and Next Door, in case he had a family who wanted him back. We get a lot of dumped pets, sadly. He was small enough to take home for the night (I live in an RV; size matters). My dogs weren't sure what he was doing there, but he didn't have a Napoleon complex, so they were tolerant. My cats, OTOH, were variously offended, mortally offended, and fascinated by a dog no bigger than they are. :D

There were no bites on the ad in the morning, so my friend posted in a few more community pages -- and just before noon, the dog's people called. Turns out they live about three miles east of us, and he'd disappeared three days prior! He'd traveled nearly 5 miles across the desert, and only had one minor wound. No wonder he looked lost when I found him!

Happy ending all around. :) (My Aussie was seriously clingy that night; evidently he felt the need to remind me I already belong to someone. Heh.)

Dogs are wonderful. That is all.

My 3 year-old crawled up into bed to read her 3 month-old baby brother a story this morning, of her own accord.

...and held still long enough for me to get pictures.

However crappy the rest of this day may or may not be, it'll be a good day. =)

In reply to SunRuanEr (msg # 868):

Sounds awesome!

In reply to SunRuanEr (msg # 868):

That's terrific!  My son, who is just shy of two years older than my daughter, used to read to her all the time -- from when they were 3 and 1 up through when they were 7 and 5 and she could read for herself.  Today they are 36 and 34, and are still very good friends.  They live about 15 minutes from each other and they have 'sibling dinner' once a week (in addition to them coming to my wife's and my home for dinner once a week).  I couldn't be prouder of them.

Let's hear it for doing stuff that scares you, a little bit...

My second job is at a movie theater, where, among other things, I manage one night a week and a couple of weekend shifts each month.  Tonight is one of those weekend shifts...

Last night, our ticketing computer died.  So did the smaller kiosk-console that we tried moving from one of the concessions counters to replace it.  Replacements are coming in tomorrow...but tonight, we had to make due with one Point-of-Sale console between the ticket counter and both concessions counters.  It's also opening night (here) for a couple of movies that should be pretty big draws for us...so it was bound to be busy.

Well, hey...the late shows are all a couple of hours into playing (one of them is about to end), and we survived.  Nobody threw a major fit, nobody got in my face and complained about the inconvenience of how we ran things tonight...and we had what may be one of our busiest nights this year.  I'm brain-fried...but we did it!

I have finally started to put my short stories out. Site called Royal Road, free to read site that also allows people to publish their own original works and fan fictions. I got 3 stories there now and have read several other really good works by others.
I encourage you all to check it out.

In reply to Zag24 (msg # 870):

You have very good reasons to be very proud of them! :)

In reply to ShadoPrism (msg # 872):

Congratulations! I came very close to selling a few  of my stories years ago, and I remember the high. I can't exactly say I've never gotten one accepted, one story was officially 'sold' I guess, but they pay on publication and went out of business before my would gotten printed. Sigh...

Still, better than nothing but rejections!

If I go to Royal Road, how will I know which ones are yours? Is ShadoPrism your name there too?

In reply to Piestar (msg # 874):

My nick there is Shadow Prism. My Stories, from oldest to newest: Adventures in Wonder - A Wish of a Life Time, Alternate Worlds (This one I got 3 stories done), Beyond the Gates of Death and Time.
For some unknown reason, the first person to look at my last story gave me a 1 star rating, which is hurting getting others to even look at it.
They are all Isiaki type stories in the short or light novel kind of set up as I am not good at longer stories. Though I got around some of that with Beyond the Gates by making 3 seperate 'books'.
Alternate Worlds is set up so I can show case some of my alternate writings ideas. Something I do from time to time, take the same character and then alter the plot around them. I just finished putting out the first group of these.
I am putting them out 1 chapter a day. Mostly to draw it out and hope to pull in more readers.

In reply to ShadoPrism (msg # 875):

That makes sense. I only ever wrote short stories too, which made me stick out whenever I joined writers groups, everyone else was doing novels.

I'll go read them soon!

It's nice to have the option to retire but not _have_ to.

Merry Christmas! I for one (and I know I'm not the only one) love the holiday themes. i know some users dislike them, but they make me so happy. It's like I know they'll be coming up, but when I see them, it's still such a pleasant surprise. In fact it helps warn me on April 1st "Beware" ;) Thanks jase and mods for this place. Not posting anything else on here today, just reading, but I wanted to post this. :D

Merry Christmas to all!

 whether one loves the themes or not?  they are  there for only one day..its not like your  on the  site 24 hours!

 i like it, because it adds to the flavor of the seasons.

In reply to donsr (msg # 880):

"its not like your  on the  site 24 hours!"

Speak for yourself, honey.  ^_^

This is my home page, so yeah I am here ALLOT.

::chuckles:: well? i'm on alot..askmy players!..by not  near 24 hours!