michelleplus8 - Network

My elderly cat freaking the hell out because THAT DAMN PUPPY IS TOO CLOSE!You can't tell from the picture, but Gwendy (18mo German...

My elderly cat freaking the hell out because THAT DAMN PUPPY IS TOO CLOSE!

You can't tell from the picture, but Gwendy (18mo German Shepherd/Husky mix) is very proud of herself because she knows she's being a good girl who LEAVES THE CAT ALONE.

Katy, TX Pride coming on October 14, 2023Please share!https://fcckaty.org/katypride#katytexas #katytx #HoustonTX #lgbtq #pride23

Katy, TX Pride coming on October 14, 2023
Please share!

https://fcckaty.org/katypride

#katytexas #katytx #HoustonTX #lgbtq #pride23

Tonight a woman no one knew invaded our youth group, yelling and cursing about how we're a bunch of perverts and she "won't let...

Tonight a woman no one knew invaded our youth group, yelling and cursing about how we're a bunch of perverts and she "won't let [us] take down the children of [her] community." From the video my husband took, she looks drunk. She refused to leave, shouted at church members who asked her to leave, prayed for the Lord to save us from our wickedness, tried to harass some of the kids directly (but was blocked by my husband and another dad), and was escorted out by the police. Because we support the LGBTQ+ community. Some of the kids said they hear this stuff all the time, and I know that's true, but they deserve a place to be safe from hate. #lgbtq #gaychurch #lovewins

My church this morning. We've been receiving Pride flags from all over the country after the news reported about our flags being...

My church this morning. We've been receiving Pride flags from all over the country after the news reported about our flags being repeatedly stolen. God's love is real. ❤️ 🌈 🏳️‍🌈

This Mother's Day, I'm thinking about breaking up with my mom.

This Mother's Day, I'm thinking about breaking up with my mom.

“Just Get a Babysitter” — And Other Unhelpful Tips for Overwhelmed Parents | by Kerala Taylor | Apr, 2023 | Medium...

“Just Get a Babysitter” — And Other Unhelpful Tips for Overwhelmed Parents | by Kerala Taylor | Apr, 2023 | Medium https://keralataylor.medium.com/just-get-a-babysitter-and-other-unhelpful-tips-for-overwhelmed-parents-657c6d8a82d1
>Date nights are not going to solve the lack of systemic support for parents and other caregivers

My good girl.

My good girl.

I'm having a very difficult time right now. In February, my beautiful, vibrant, wonderful daughter turned 18. She'd been saving...

I'm having a very difficult time right now. In February, my beautiful, vibrant, wonderful daughter turned 18. She'd been saving money for a year and a half, and just bought a car. Now she was saving up to go to cosmetology school and get her own apartment. A friend who works in the industry offered to mentor her. My only concern was making sure she gets her narcolepsy under control before leaving.

Last year she started a new job, where she made a bunch of new friends, and started seeing her first boyfriend. At first I was very happy about this, but around her birthday I started to have concerns about the way he treats her.

She had big plans for her birthday party, but at the last minute all of her new friends begged off. I don't know why, but I have suspicions. A couple of weeks later she totaled her new car. She was crushed - suddenly all of her plans were set back and she had nothing to show for 18 months of hard work - and her mental health started to spiral.

I started hearing very concerning stories about her boyfriend's jealousy and insecurity. For example, he'll text to ask where she is, and then demand photos as proof. He accused her of "flirting" with the new hire she was training. He gives her the silent treatment and says he's going to disappear and she'll never see him again, and she responds by rushing to his apartment (even if she has to spend $40 on an Uber) and begging him to see her.

Meanwhile, her new "friends" (his friends) say she's a toxic, controlling girlfriend, that she flirts and is probably cheating on him. I've seen her crying and questioning her every movement wondering what she's doing to make them think this of her, while she's afraid to even complain about one friend who is clearly and obviously hitting on her boyfriend right in front of her. (And he seems to encourage it, like the more uncomfortable my daughter is, the better he feels about himself.)

Three weeks ago, my daughter tried to kill herself. She took a handful of her narcolepsy medication, and we had to rush her to the hospital. Physically she's ok (her meds are actually really safe), but she spent a week in a psychiatric facility where they didn't seem to do anything to help her. After that she moved in with her brother (his place is quiet and close to the school she still hopes to attend), but all she seems to care about is this boyfriend. I'm trying to get her set up with an outpatient program, but she's fighting me on it. She thinks everything is fine now, and she doesn't need that level of help. And she's still running to his apartment in the middle of the night any time he stops replying to her texts.

I don't know what to do. I'm scrambling to come up with money for therapy and to help my son get a bigger place so she can stay there, and she's focused on keeping the asshole who, in one of their first conversations after she got out of the hospital, told her he was going to a wedding with another girl in a blatant attempt to make her jealous.

You know who is just the best? Me from yesterday, who got stoned, bought me an orange juice and put it in the fridge"for later."...

You know who is just the best? Me from yesterday, who got stoned, bought me an orange juice and put it in the fridge"for later." Thank you, stoned me from yesterday! I love you!

I'm so sick that I made myself tea, set it right beside me on my bedside table, and then experienced a time warp that resulted in sad,...

I'm so sick that I made myself tea, set it right beside me on my bedside table, and then experienced a time warp that resulted in sad, cold tea.

I'm such an inconsistent social media user. I don't know why - I would actually *love* to have a little group of online friends to...

I'm such an inconsistent social media user. I don't know why - I would actually *love* to have a little group of online friends to chat about Star Trek and Spider-Man and the challenges of parenting young adults or whatever. I just never manage to stick to it long enough to develop that group.

I have not finished watching Picard, so please don't @ me with any spoilers, thank you.

I have not finished watching Picard, so please don't @ me with any spoilers, thank you.

Things I'd like to see more of in modern sci-fi:* Smaller problems, with lower stakes. Not everything has to be end-of-the-world (or...

Things I'd like to see more of in modern sci-fi:

* Smaller problems, with lower stakes. Not everything has to be end-of-the-world (or galaxy, or universe.) Maybe we have a run-in with some obnoxious kids who happen to be the rebellious children of important dignitaries. Maybe an alien organism is accidentally brought aboard that is now multiplying like crazy and threatening to eat the grain we're transporting. That could be fun, too! Also, it's not a video game, the bad guys don't have to get progressively bigger, badder, and harder to defeat.

* More self-contained stories. TV shows are not just movies in installments. You can tell different kinds of stories! Besides, it's exhausting watching characters rush from one season long crisis right into another. Don't these people ever have regular days? Boring days?

* More human interest stories that don't center around how the characters have so much baggage and terrible things keep happening to them. What if your character just has a dog? A nice dog, who is never threatened or in danger. She's not his last shred of family after his home planet was destroyed. She's just a good girl who's happy to see him at the end of the day, and his neighbor takes her to the holo-dog park when he's on away missions.

* More optimism. More joy. More good guys winning just because they're the good guys. Also, more light - like literally, why is the future so dark? Did lightbulbs go extinct?

Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

I need hair advice. For the past 2-3 years I have had bright pink hair. Initially bleached and dyed, then kept bright with a...

I need hair advice.

For the past 2-3 years I have had bright pink hair. Initially bleached and dyed, then kept bright with a color-depositing shampoo. I really want to go back to blonde. I know I could just stop using the shampoo and eventually it would wash out, but I dread having ugly, faded pink hair for however long that takes. I'm also worried about how much it would take to bleach the pink out and whether that would damage my hair. Are there any other options?

Yet another story about how a rich person - a 20-something who could not only afford a $200k home, but also built a second $35k home in her...

Yet another story about how a rich person - a 20-something who could not only afford a $200k home, but also built a second $35k home in her 7,000sqft yard - has used her financial privilege to arrange to live for free while someone who can't afford to buy a house pays her mortgage.

This 26-year-old pays $0 to live in a 'luxury tiny home' she built for $35,000 in her backyard—take a look inside https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/25/26-year-lives-for-free-in-luxury-tiny-home-she-built-for-35000-in-her-backyard-look-inside.html

About a month ago the transmission went out on my 2006 Expedition. We had a little extra money and figured it was time to replace it, so I...

About a month ago the transmission went out on my 2006 Expedition. We had a little extra money and figured it was time to replace it, so I got a 2016 VW Passat. Nicest, newest car I have ever owned. Today it seemed to be running rough, so I took it to my local shop and found out it's got a broken motor mount. Quoted $135, then they realized {insert car talk}, so I have to take it to VW, who have quoted me $500. I've owned it for 3 weeks. Sigh.

I wish I could put shoes on Subscribe and Save. Once a year send me a new pair of the same shoes.

I wish I could put shoes on Subscribe and Save. Once a year send me a new pair of the same shoes.

Just saw Groundhog Day on the big screen for its 30th anniversary. I forgot just how great a movie it was.#GroundhogDay

Just saw Groundhog Day on the big screen for its 30th anniversary. I forgot just how great a movie it was.

#GroundhogDay

mini-blog about chronic illnessToday I was thinking about memory loss. I've always felt that I had a poor memory. I've always wanted...

mini-blog about chronic illness

Today I was thinking about memory loss. I've always felt that I had a poor memory. I've always wanted to learn a second language, but I'd spend years relearning the same basics over and over. I couldn't tell you who sang my favorite songs, or even remember the words. And, of course, I could never remember to *do* the things I was supposed to do. I think part of this was just that staying awake took so much of my brain power that I couldn't focus on anything else.

But there are also huge gaps in my memory. People I spent a lot of time with, but that I have no recollection of. I had a job in college -- I'm sure I did -- but I don't remember anything about it. Just the vague idea that it was something to do with the phone company. I literally do not remember ever actually going to work, but I got paid so I must have. I know intellectually that lack of sleep affects how memories are formed, but it's still so disturbing. Who knows what happened in the missing pieces?

Fortunately, things are better now. I am still careful to write things down in case I forget, but I forget less often. I remember people's names on sight. I start the second book in a series, and I actually remember what happened in the first book! But those past events that I can't remember are lost forever. There's no one for me to even ask.

#SleepApnea #ChronicIllness

mini-blog about chronic illnessA little backstory. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2021, when I was 40 years old, but I am certain I...

mini-blog about chronic illness

A little backstory. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2021, when I was 40 years old, but I am certain I have been suffering from it for as long as I can remember. I have always known *something* was wrong with me, but for various reasons (that I will get into another time) I honestly did not realize it was connected to sleep, or even that what I was feeling was "tired." Suffice to say I suffered greatly and, on becoming an adult, I spent two decades searching for an answer and begging for help that I did not get. I was dismissed, disbelieved, mocked, and patted on the head by the people who should have, and could have, helped me.

After getting my diagnosis and treatment, everything changed. For one, everything I had been dealing with suddenly became very clear. Even things I had believed were normal, or just my personality, were suddenly obviously symptoms of sleep deprivation. I have had to learn who I am all over again. For months I would have sudden moments of realization of all of the ways this condition had affected everything I do, say, think -- even the way I had formed as a person.

Additionally, I discovered a great, deep well of anger at all those who failed me. My family of origin, medical providers, teachers, even friends and acquaintances who so easily brushed me off as unworthy of their time because I was unable to be the person they wanted me to be. The other side of that coin is the enormous guilt I feel for all the ways that my illness affected the people I love. The inability to be there for them, the anger and misery that I couldn't keep bottled up, the wasted years. That's probably all going to come out here.

#SleepApnea #ChronicIllness