I made it!! But there was no question that I would.

One year of being single and celibate. I like it so much, I'll be signing on for at least another year.

The last week or two has seen some emotions, moods and rumination bubbling to the surface, but it's been getting better every day.

I often pause in my HOME (Home being the thing I craved most this time last year) to look around me and I see my things, my treasures, my cats sleeping or playing, and look at the mountains in Virginia and West Virginia (not the best view, but I can see them)  - it makes me so happy. It really brings me a lot of joy to have this house and this time to enjoy it...............alone.

I climb into bed each night (the most comfortable bed ever) and my little boy cat comes right up and lays on the pillow next to me, most nights. He'll often reach out a paw to touch me. He looks at me with more love than any man ever has, but I do need to talk to him about his breath. LOL Sometimes his sister will be on the pillow next to me, but my little furry man is most reliably the one beside me as I'm falling asleep.

I've made some headway in clearing out the house. My two eldest have been stopping by to get their stuff. DD31's stuff is 99.9% gone. My DS 34 has at least one more car load to remove from my house. I'll be cleaning and rearranging the basement with the rest of my stuff, while also making way for someone to come insulate under the first floor of my house. My lovely house has a birthday this year: 100 years old. The basement is not "conditioned" and the insulation under the first floor is paltry at best. It makes for a rather frigid experience when sitting on the first floor of the house. Brrrr.

Once things warm up a little bit, I'll be working on getting some front porch floorboards replaced, and repainting the front porch. I have some landscaping to do, maybe a little paint, and other odds and ends. I'll also need to repaint the basement floor as the moisture has caused some paint to come up. All in all, it shouldn't be much to do between now and September when I hope to list the house (or win the lottery so I can stay a bit longer in this cute little town nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

One thing I probably mentioned in my last post is that I'm BACK to cooking the dishes I used to make for my ex. I now make them for me and my dear friends.

Last night, I made something new: spanikopita. I LOVE Greek spinach pie, and am attending a party tonight with my kayaking pals where I was tasked with providing a green salad. Six people bringing green salads? Well, you know I'm going to put my "green salad" in between some buttery phyllo dough!! Hell yeah!

I'm picking up a lot of extra shifts at my part time job, and I'm getting a wee bit burned out, so I'm starting to decline extra shifts here and there. I still really love the job.

I signed up for a double tomorrow: 7am to 11pm. But I get to work in two different units and see all my "kids."

Monday, I'll be throwing myself into getting back in the gym, changing up my eating habits and refocusing. I've kinda let myself slack off a little in the last two weeks as I was grappling with the approaching anniversary of my breakup. I'm so over all of it, I'm ready to shift my focus onto my 2025 goals in earnest.

Also, very good news: My DS28 starts his floor tech training program on Monday and was approved for specialized transportation (a bus directly to and from his training). His father, DS34 and I will take shifts to be "on call" should his transportation fall through somehow. The program lasts for 3 months, and if he does well, I hope and pray he will find suitable employment.

It's been a good year, and I'm so proud of how I navigated my grief and healing, and so many of you were a key part of helping me along the way. Thank you!!