Ambiance

My bedroom always has kind of an ambient sound level because of the filters, air stones and cooling fans from the axolotl tank, and while it bugged the shit out of me at first, for the most part I've gotten used to it. At night especially, I sleep with earplugs which muffles it significantly so it becomes just a sort of background humming. It can actually HELP me sleep on some nights.

And then there are nights like tonight, when the stupid aquarium noises are so goddamn loud I can hear them loudly even through the earplugs and I end up awake all freaking night because of it. Also the basically FULL-BODY restless leg I've got going on every time I try to relax and sleep right now, too. :|

Right. So. Basically, all night tonight I've just been mainlining The Walking Dead (I'm mostly through the last season now) and tidying up odds-and-ends around my room. Reorganizing my books and my beading stuff a little bit, and putting away all my candle making stuff that was taking up a corner of the dining room still. The candles were a flop anyway, I kind of wish I hadn't even bothered. I'll try listing them again next November and see if they sell then, though.

I have a box of DVD cases to take to the basement in the morning, though I'm not entirely sure where I'm going to PUT it in the basement. I just wish I didn't have to put all my movies in CD binders, I wish I could put up my DVD shelves for real and just... have my living room back. I miss my apartment and my furniture and my books and my movies and my stuff. I miss living with just me and my pets. I've long since worn out my welcome here and that's becoming more and more obvious every day. Not just with Lee, anymore, but with Mom, too.

I actually ordered a Wren!doll finally. Not the one I originally had picked out for her, because that doll isn't available anymore, but another one that I think fits her decently. I'm kind of settling a little, here, because the one I had picked out before was WREN, dude, but... it is what it is. Maybe some day that doll will come back into circulation and I can get one of them and make it into Wren and use the doll I just ordered as Suzuki or something. One can always hope, right?

I can't really afford a doll right now, but I really just wanted this one and... yeah. I'm feeling down lately so I bought myself a treat. I'm allowed sometimes, I think.

And Another Thing(s)

The day before yesterday (Sunday?) I finally went at and did a full, deep clean of the axolotl tank and a complete water change at the same time. I'm telling you, axolotls are worse than FISH, trying to catch them to get them in the bucket. They just go ZOOM everywhere, and kick up all the gunk in the tank in the process so you can't even see them. It was an adventure capturing them all, that's for sure.

But once Kaida, Haku and Ryuu were out of the aquarium, I set to siphoning out all the water and scrubbing it clean, then scrubbing all the hides and stuff and rinsing off the plants, cleaning the filters. It was a long and arduous process, but the 'lotls were safe in their bucket with an air stone to make sure they had oxygen. The worst part was hauling all the water, both emptying the tank and refilling it later. It put my back out, as well as my wrists, knees and hips. I woke up in AGONY the next day.

When I put my little 'lotls back into their tank, they all immediately dove for cover, which wasn't exactly a surprise, and I basically didn't see them at all for the rest of that night. Kaida is still hiding now, and that was two days ago. But while I was fixing up their tank and making is sparkly clean, I added a new hide that I bought around 10 days ago for just this occasion and it turns out they LOVE IT. Haku and Ryuu do, anyway. I don't think Kaida's been in it yet.

Anyway. Adventures with axolotls, yep. :D

Yesterday I ordered the rest of the movies that I had on my Christmas List and didn't get (I only got one, Saw X, from Amy and Brit, I should have known they'd get me that one lol), so I've got Inside Out 2, The Watchers, Godzilla x Kong: A New Empire, Lisa Frankenstein and Imaginary coming in over the next little while, and I also ordered Don't Breathe 2 because while going through my movies I realized I didn't have it. :D;;

On top of that I ordered a book on Edible Wild Plants, a compass and two sets of tights (one summer and one winter) for my Bug-Out Bag. BECAUSE PREPPING. I also ordered some picture frames which have absolutely nothing to do with prepping, I just wanted them for some photos I have and couldn't find cheap 4x4 frames around town. :P

I just bought two wigs for Wren (because she changes her hair so often) and a shirt and skirt/corset set for her as well. I'm still trying to figure out Wren's style. She's like Sexy Librarian Chic when she's at work and then when she's at home or out and about she's all long flowy skirts and corsets, shirts with bell sleeves. She's complicated. Wears black a lot. And purple. Dyes her hair on the regular, all kinds of different colors. So I bought her a white-and-red wig, and a purple-and-white wig. And I already have a black-and-pink wig for her here. So.

This month I have three extra government payments coming in: GST, OTB and CCR. It's a decent chunk of change all together but I'm going to put all of those payments onto my credit card because I've been using it quite a bit lately. Same thing with the extra government payments coming up in the spring. Trying to be responsible, here, for the first time in my life, I guess.

On Friday Mom and I are going out (a little late) for our monthly meal out together. Friday is my birthday, too, so I requested that we go someplace nice so I guess we're going to Swiss Chalet because Mom has coupons. It's like. It's my freaking BIRTHDAY, can't we go to a steakhouse or something? Not that I could CHEW a steak considering my tooth situation at the moment but it's the principle of the thing. Still, I agreed to it because I'm tired of being yelled at for everything I say and I just... it's fine. It's my birthday, but it's fine. Coupon meal on my birthday. That's fine.

I need to finish my postcards in the next day or so, so that I can mail them in the next few days. I've really procrastinated over them this month. I guess it felt pointless at first because of the postal strike and then I just... didn't want to. It's still the same as before, I started the postcard thing with Poe and I'm not enjoying it nearly as much now that they aren't included. More Poe drama, but just in my head this time.

Last time I went shopping I bought a bunch of different alternative "milks" to try, all the Silk brand: soy, almond, coconut and oat. So far I've tried the soy and the almond and I like them both. It's weird because I like the almond milk they use at Tim Horton's, but when I bought almond milk from Costco it just tasted like water, it had no flavor or texture to it and I hated it. I ended up donating almost two full cases of it to the food bank. :| But I really like the Silk almond milk so I guess just... steer clear of the Costco stuff? It's just strange because usually Kirkland brand is good. Oh well. Still have coconut and oat to go. Also the oat/coconut "festive nog" is AMAZING and tastes SO CLOSE TO REAL EGGNOG OMG YOU GO SILK.

Only three episodes of The Walking Dead to go and I will have powered my way through the entire series with only one or two movie breaks for sanity. I think I've enjoyed Negan's character arc the most out of everyone's, but Daryl and Gabriel's were really good too. Quality writing all around.

Today I was supposed to do some baking, but I don't know if that will happen or not, considering I didn't sleep last night. I'm hoping to just pass out soon and sleep the afternoon away. I guess if I just can't sleep at all today either I might as well bake, though. *shrug* We'll see.