Wished Christiane a happy birthday in public. I was curious to see if she’d notice and respond but of course she didn’t.

I also couldn’t resist messaging Doc H and Holly. I mean, I know I shouldn’t have since they’re just going to ignore me if they get the message, and again, it’s me being the one to reach out to them, people who would never give me the time of day otherwise. So this is something I guess I still have to work on. Then again, I suppose I am who I am.

I’ve been on nights and Tom has been coding and taking care of the outside. Not because of Joy. We don’t give a shit about her, but we do give a shit about curb appeal. As he’s working, he sometimes chats with the Twenties as well as Bob and Virginia when they drive by.

I asked Kim who the fourth group member was that I couldn’t see and of course I got an answer that made no sense. I could have found out through Tom’s account but whoever they were left the group. Plus, I wasn’t that curious.

Walmart included some extras in our order once again. Midol, which I took years ago and caused me to be drowsy enough to take a nap like full-strength Benadryl does. Some chewable allergy tablets, pretzels, a hazelnut fudge wafer, and lens cleaners which came in handy for my glasses, phone and monitor. Also, a pancake on the go. Pancake mix in a cup that you add water to and microwave that was pretty boring.

I’m back up 1.5 pounds but it’s worth it to be able to indulge. Still, I sometimes envy those with hyperthyroidism. It’s one of the very few “lucky” diseases, you could say. I had it in my twenties before my thyroid swung the other way.

They opened the road in back but due to the lockdown, my sleep shouldn’t be too threatened until it’s lifted. That’s keeping the traffic down more than the closed road was.

I heard back from Dixie. That was Linda visiting. She’s been helping out with Diane. We took the bikes out at around 9 and I could see Dixie sitting in her favorite chair when we passed by. Linda was there again, too.

I’m keeping my bike outside until it gets too cold for riding, and yes, it’s locked up securely this time around. It shouldn’t be exposed to much sunlight where it’s at, but when it gets cold, I’ll hose it down and bring it back indoors.

Went through my Barbie collection and weeded out nearly half of them to donate since I don’t think I can sell them very easily. I thought they would gain value in time like some people thought Beanie Babies would but nope. I’m just not into collecting those anymore and many of them have lost their shine over the years. Outfits have faded, elastic waistbands have broken, and some of them just aren’t that nice. I pulled out just under 30 and I’m going to keep just over 30, even if most of them will likely sit in a box for the rest of my life and not be displayed anywhere.

Had a series of bizarre and senseless dreams the last two nights. Something about being in an elevator, and then there were dreams involving the termites. I ran into them somewhere and hoped they wouldn’t recognize me or something like that. Or that they at least wouldn’t give me any shit if they did.

Then I was on the phone with Andy in another dream and he was saying that he wanted to leave the past in the past without discussing it further.

I was in the forest somewhere in another dream. Jessie was with me and we were looking through pictures of forests in a magazine. I tried to pull something out of the ground a minute later, but it wouldn’t let go. “It’s probably caught on a poster,” I said.

Then we began walking through the woods and there was a speaker on a stand that was making a hissing sound. Jessie went behind it and started speaking to me. When I told her I couldn’t hear her she moved away and said that she would make sure I had her address. Then I told her I would make sure she had mine as well.

In the last dream, I was at a bus stop waiting to board a bus. The bus driver was trying to recall the show that a particular line was from. I had heard the line before and seen the show but forgot the name of it. The dream ended with me struggling to come up with the name.

Later...

Really worried my cavity has gotten infected because I’m having waves of intense pain along my gum line and jaw that is typical of tooth infections. It’s what I had nearly a decade ago when my back bottom molar on the other side went to hell before the county quack pulled it. I’m not exactly sure which tooth it is but one of them is open down to the root. I’m doing saltwater gargling, but it may be too late. I’m going to call my new dentist Friday morning and see if I can get in.

I’m up almost 3 lbs since the day I went really low-cal. I’ll let myself gain one more pound before I low-carb my way back down. I’m having a low-carb meal today, though. Later I’ll fry up some chickpeas that I sprinkle with cheese which isn’t low-carb, but the chicken wings I’m making now are. I seasoned each one differently. One with Mrs. Dash which has a mix of herbs and spices, one with minced onion and a hint of cinnamon, one with paprika, and another with garlic salt.

That’s the second time the rats have gotten into a fight in less than a week and I’m not sure why. Also, Woody looks old and almost too skinny while Fuzzy is fat and healthy-looking.

The motorcycle just came in and this is a little early for them since the bastard doesn’t usually visit until after midnight. Fortunately, they didn’t go by the house but that might be because they don’t yet know the island is open.

Still sleeping okay but that’s because of the lockdown.

Went on a half-hour walk from 9 to 9:30. The island isn’t really as smooth as the guy made it sound like it was going to be but it’s an improvement. Now let’s see how many more times they have to work on the roads before we can get out of here.

Not wanting to go down Oak, I headed for Daisy. Sure enough, as I was coming back up through the island, a skunk skittered from Tandy toward Dixie’s place. I was going to go down Tandy, but when I realized that I would only be heading into an area where there are more likely to be more skunks, I waited a minute or two, and then I ran fast through the island and up to the house. Sick of these fucking things everywhere here! It really is ridiculous.

I brought the skier into the bedroom so that instead of just sitting when I’m in there watching Lifetime movies, I can be a little more active. I won’t lose significant weight, of course, but that’s fine. I’ll gladly spend the rest of my life where I’m at as long as I can continue to low-carb back down whenever I jump up a few pounds.

Even though I know there are a million things that could go wrong from us ending up dirt poor to getting the virus and dying, my mental state, overall, has been a million times better lately. Conceited sounding or not, I deserve it after all those dark days! Make that dark years.