Winter is very definitely here! We weren't really sure what to expect when we moved up to Chicago and people kept warning us about the cold weather. Contrary to popular belief, Texas has pretty cold weather too it's just cold for a shorter length of time. We have, in fact, experienced the fun of living through 20 degree weather in a drafty poorly-insulated house while waiting for four days for the power to come back on and our various elected representatives vacation in the sun. Compared to that, a slightly longer winter in a house with working electricity and decent insulation sounded like it might just be an upgrade!
So. We are currently very cold, but we are also as cozy as we can be. I am learning that "cold" here is less a function of actual temperature and more a function of accompanying environmental factors. A sunny day that is calm (not breezy) and dry (not wet) can be in the 20s and still feel fine; a cloudy, windy, wet day can be in the 40s and feel like death. And I apparently brought my allergic-to-weather-changes allergies up here with me because I have turned into Sniffles the Under-the-Weather Monkey and have been running a 101-102 temperature. Not sure what that's all about, but we're weathering the storm. 💕
Medical Updates: We're kind of in a holding pattern on this one. Kissmate is still in a lot of pain. He's going to the doctor soon to talk about when to schedule his surgery, which we're hoping will be a lot cheaper here than it would've been in Texas. We're a little unsure what recovery will look like, since our house here is divided into two levels separated by stairs (this is apparently very standard in Chicago) but probably he'll be confined to the bedroom for a few weeks and we'll marathon-watch old Sherlock Holmes episodes or possibly Dragonball Z. Unrelated but also medical: I am going on T soon and very nervous and excited about that.
Twitter Updates: I've been watching what is happening on Twitter with trepidation. I am glad that the site hasn't imploded for the sake of folks who rely upon it for their livelihood, especially sex workers and disabled people surviving on crowdfunding. Yet I am very alarmed by the behavior of the new ownership, which has been increasingly hostile as he tweets out deliberate Nazi "memes"--which are, in my opinion, really just Nazi messages cloaked behind a cowardly claim of joking. I don't feel like I, personally, can safely or ethically participate in the use of that site anymore, though I will absolutely miss the social camaraderie there. I will remind folks here that I have a public Discord that I am trying to use in place of Twitter; I would love to see you all here if you like.
Chicago Update: We replaced the stolen Pride flag on our lawn with another one that we tied to the flagpole and would need, like, scissors or a knife to remove and it is still there! Victory! We are very happily settling into our new little safe space. We almost finally have all the boxes unpacked and we feel... we feel home. More than we have ever felt before, this place feels like a place we made for us. It's good.
Cat Update: The babies are doing very well. They've figured out that heat comes from vents in the floor, so we placed little basket cat-beds at the foot of several of the beds and they all have their favorite spots picked out. Some of the others (Cookie, Crispin) basically just don't leave the bed, ever. They really like the heated blanket that we put on over the main comforter. Cheddar is starting to get a little closer to us; he's figured out that when we sit on the toilet (lol) we're not going to be moving anytime soon so he can sit nearby about a foot or two away and watch us. He's a very curious boy. He's also filling out and getting nicely rounded, losing that "hungry street cat" look he had before. I'll try to get some pictures up later in the month.
Other Updates: We're this close to setting up our old "packing corner" where I shipped out books and bookmarks and resin crafts from our Etsy. I owe a lot of Patron bookmarks! I haven't forgotten, I swear! Kissmate is really keen to reopen the Etsy store and get back to work with resin, though he'll probably have to keep a slow pace until he heals up.
I hope to get you a new fairytale story soon, a few live-reacts of things, and maaaaybe a Narnia chapter? (fingers crossed) And cat pictures! And I found a folder of old live-reacts that we wrote and planned to post but then never did because of the hectic move stuff, so I need to edit those and get them posted as well.
Let me know how you're doing in the comments? I worry. Sending love.
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