I'm Just Sayin . . .: Valentine's Day Reflections (One Day Late)

This is a day late but the sediment is timeless.

I hope that everyone had a great Valentine's Day yesterday. To me, I have never been a fan of the traditional Valentine's Day celebration but I do love hearts (everything hearts) so the holiday draws me in. I believe it is a day to celebrate the love of family, friends, and self.

This year, I definitely took the celebration of self to heart:

I ordered my mom and I (although mostly me), a bouquet of Crumbl cookie
I ordered my mom and I matching bracelets and then I got us each a different heart/love bracelet
I ordered myself a few other pieces of jewelry that was inspiration, fun, and/or brought my Nana close to my heart
I ordered myself a few Funko Pop Mini Pufts because they are cute and bring me joy (I am now only missing the Target Exclusive one but I am working on it - woman on a mission)

Given my current living situation, I certainly didn't need to add anything new to pack but I also needed a little joy so it balanced out.

The house situation continues to go downhill. I finally have gone through everything with mom and identified what was salvageable and what wasn't. I am in the process of inventorying it right now. The restoration company will be returning soon to put all the boxes back into the garage. The landlord, as of his post, had declared that his "contractor" says the wall, ceiling, and water heater stand (box) do not need to be replaced because it was dry to the touch when he came on Monday (three weeks after having an industrial dehumidifier running on). This is not what my insurance said when they assessed the damage. They reported as high as 83% moisture ratings and that was after one week with the dehumidifier. Everything I read online confirms my concern about mold infestation and weakening of the material after being waterlogged but what do I know. I am blessed that nothing ruined was devastating. Some of it was sad to lose but most of it can be replaced. I am doing my best waiting for the final decision. What I do know is I WILL NOT live in a house where I am potentially breathing in mold spores. My cats, mom, nor I need this. I have enough problems. This entire situation has impacted my physically but I am medicating, meditating, and making a plan.

This Valentine's Day, I got to spend it with one of my most favorite people in the world. My mom cooked dinner and brought it over. We ate and did our nightly ritual of watching the national news and game shows. She got me the cutest outdoor flag holder (picture to come after this weekend) and an adorable Pyrex bowl. I decided to treat the cats to their favorite lobster treats, it was Valentine's Day. The problem is they go crazy over these. Flapjack cannot control himself. He actually took the bag from me at one point and started to rip into it and tried to take off with it. I have to give him a treat and distract him while I give the girls treats otherwise he eats his and then goes, grabs theirs, and is back in three seconds. He literally ate one, went up and over the wall, to my bedroom, and was back with me in five seconds. It was exhausting. After giving him 16 treats and Marmalade 12, Pancake was no where to be found. I hid the bag behind me, while waiting for her. Flap kept trying to get to it. I thought Pan might have been in my room so I had my mom throw hers on the floor and close the door. Flap was trying to get in that room within 10 minutes. Then Pan came walking by. I opened the bedroom door and tried to hold Flap back but no way, he was in their and vacuumed up the treats in 45 seconds. Finally, hours later Pancake was in a place to get her treats. I locked Flap in the bathroom, gave Pan her treats. Then gave Marmalade and Flap a few more. Exhausting but it was a nice evening at home. It is moments like this that make me happy to live where I live.

Our time together has been the most positive thing out of the last two years. If I have to deal with all the crap being thrown at me (literally sometimes in this house), at least I am doing it with my person by my side. I am very grateful to have her as my mom. I am also grateful for all of the love I feel every day. I told someone today that I consider each day a success if I have accomplished two things:

I was as kind to people as they deserved me to be (inspired by my mom raising me to treat people kindly, she is much nicer than me but I try)
I gave my to the best of my ability (inspired by my grandpa who used to tell us that we should give an honest day's work for an honest day's pay - I firmly believe my family has taken this work ethic to the extreme)

I remain very thankful for each of these moments I get. I understand that as frustrating as these issues are and seemingly unfair, my worst days are still better than some people's best days. That being said, I will be even more thankful when there is some resolution to these house issues.

I will end with a couple of my favorite pictures of the cats in the early days after they adopting me. I thought it was fitting for Valentine's Day: