Okay so last night at about 2 AM, the building's fire alarm went off, and while this has happened several times since we move in, most of the time it turns out to be nothing.

Not this time.

We could actually smell smoke, and as the elevators were out of service mom and I carefully made our way down the stairs to the lobby.

By the time we got there, the firefighters had gotten out the fire, and were taking someone to the hospital, possibly due to smoke inhalation.

So I'm seeing an endocrinologist for the first time Monday I am hoping to start hrt monday if all goes well

So we went out to help Sharon and Sam get some stuff done, and Sam was clearly doing better.

She took my mom's arm when they went into the grocery store, she laughed and smiled at one of my dad jokes, and she waved and used a kind of sign language to communicate.

I hope this improvement continues.

and other esoteric stuff!

You've probably all heard that it is raining A LOT in California. Fortunately, I'm not in an area hit by critical flooding and while there are mudslides in the local mountains, I haven't been affected by them either.

But last night, a leak in the bathroom ceiling caused a collapse of the ceiling tiles, with more damage this morning extending out into the hall. It's not that bad, and this has happened before, but that was caused by a leaky cooler on the roof.

It was the 13th on Friday!

No not a tyre but the weather.

Well not really its just that impacts life here on the edge of the continent hugely.

"The time has come the walrus said" - OK it was the doctor who told me.

Looks like the expiration date on the bottom of my left foot is becoming visible.

I am diagnosed with kidney failure- singular.

The "fun" part of being a mutant is missing parts- and not knowing about it until you are getting in bad shape. I found I was born without a kidney and other internals are not connected where they should have been, or a few internal skeletal structure defects.

aye, its a been a bit wild, wet and woolly the last few days!

So this morning, I felt the need to start the new year off right, and so I showered, shaved, and brushed my teeth - all activities that I have struggled with.

And then I looked at my calendar and realized the new year starts tomorrow . . .

So going into yesterday I was looking at having a ton of "to do" things on my schedule until the end of the year, and I was getting kind of stressed about it.

Then life added another item to the list.

One of the tires on my car started losing air.

After frantically phoning around, I was getting to the point where I was wondering how I would get anything done if I couldn't get the tire fixed.

So I have submitted "the girl with the scars in her eyes", and "Gibraltar falls" to a Canadian magazine.

I will know if they accept it sometime in the next 6-8 weeks.

Keep your fingers crossed for me, okay?

- the final countdown begins!

Since Sunday the temperature has rarely reached 0c!

yep, after several increasingly cold and frosty days, we woke to actual snow here in Brizzle!

I've been under the weather the past two or three days. I thought the cough I had was due to the damp weather combined with the dust raised by the work I'm having done in the basement. Said coughing was bad enough that I had to use my inhaler a few times.

Roommate/caretaker requirements:
I have a large bedroom whom I am willing to give a trans girl a good place to live, all utilities paid, and shared food bills. Full laundry and kitchen. Dogs/cats are welcome.

In exchange I would need someone with a car. she would be required to run occasional errands, do minor housekeeping, and take out the trash.

and time marches on!

Some time after I had been on this site for a while, I realized I had managed to publish at least one story, poem, or essay each calendar month with one exception.

Being the kind of individual I am, it became an obsession to keep this streak going, and honestly, I think the quality of my stories suffered for it.

Well, as of midnight tonight, the streak is over, as I have not been able to produce any content for the month of November.

I really need advice.

I think my ex is taking advantage of me because I have a car, and she often will ask for a ride, only to add 2 or 3 extra stops, or want to spend much more time somewhere than she mentioned before she got into the car.

I put up with a lot because she is the sole caregiver of my disabled daughter, but then today she spent part of the trip insulting both me and my mother and claiming we were going to hell.

I really want to set a boundary here, but I don't know how to without it hurting my daughter.

advice please.

I have much to be thankful for this year - I have survived yet another year, it appears that my immunotherapy has been successful in that I have been cancer free for over a year and a half, the reaction which I had to the immunotherapy seems to have settled down and I am no longer in constant pain from my joints, my mobility has returned to very nearly 100% of what it was previously, and I am still surrounded by my family.

so yesterday, I went to the endo doctor's office, and ran into the doctor who had been treating me when I was part of the bariatric program, and she complimented me on the growth I've had since then.

I really needed to hear that.

I had a productive day yesterday.

Got laundry done, picked up some groceries, and most important, managed to take a shower.

The last may not seem like a big deal, but it had been more than a month since I'd been able to work up the courage to actually shower.

so a good day.