it’s 5:10pm and it’s not totally dark outside.

today’s walk was a bit tricky … while most of it was good, for our last kilometre or so, the sidewalk was so icy. so, we stopped to look at the brook so i could unclench for a minute and throw away a poop bag, and it was pretty.

the cruddiness of february is made better by the fact that it is a calendarly perfect month. 4 full weeks and it starts on sunday and ends on saturday. and that scratches an itch in my brain.

adding mexican hot chocolate mix to coffee is not great. boo.

my dog is a mop. my town is her puddle.

and i just used the last drop of the last bottle of my holidays peppermint mocha creamer supply. booo.

did i just email my accountant about q4 before he emailed me about q4? why yes, yes i did. finally having a handle on my business financials after a few years of not is such a relief.

i'm downloading my banking shit for my accountant, and upon clicking on my non-business credit card, my brain started singing "my own personal visa" a la depeche mode.

replacing my morning doomscroll on tiktok with reading is going well, 4 days in. i finished my first book of the year today ... "the disreputable history of frankie landau-banks" was a nice start.

not only did she not get a walk today, but i’m not going to bed when she wants to (aka immediately now) … and the sigh she just sighed was obviously to let me know that life is hard for a muppet.

i just agreed to make something for a potluck. your thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

i’m not feeling the greatest … headache and such, maybe the beginnings of the scourge … but a prescription had to be picked up, so i did the shop on a miserable and damp afternoon. and poor cocoa isn’t a getting walk because it’s miserable and damp and dark as fuck for 4pm.

also ... a troop of preschoolers walked by (with their teachers) when the ups guy was here, and every one of them said hi to him.

the sequin skirt arrived today ... and it makes a delightful noise!

my wonderful friend, sam, is continuing her love of important conversations and connection with a new podcast in her role at the mental health foundation of nova scotia ... and her first chat is with caitlin morrison. you can watch/listen at ... www.youtube.com/watch?v=fv5E....

when i start taking what i do too seriously, i need to remind myself that "a share of a share won't show the copy of the share, just the original post will be shared." is something i said this morning.

and, my cataract surgery is booked for january 22. gah.

a year. it's been a year since i said goodbye to my sweet elf of a creature. my brave, sassy protector. the applesauce to my crisscross. the neighbourhood watch captain and queen of melrose terrace. losing roxy broke my heart in ways i couldn't anticipate. but i'm a better me for loving her. 💛

my work-related internet searches today have completely borked my ad algorithm and i’m mad about it.

i know you all know i love my vet ... but she remembered. she remembered the monday after the holidays was the day i said goodbye to roxy, and that being there with cocoa today was hard. my wee girl left her paw print on many hearts, and knowing i have a vet who remembers means so much.

we’re not completely back to our routine due to a 9am vet appointment … but i’ve reinstated reading instead of doomscrolling in the morning, and i already feel like a better person. 🤣 (i did take a quick peek here to see if he’s dead or if he took over another country during the night.)

with the exception of some monitoring and a few emails, i’ve been off since december 19. it’s a shame i’ll never be able to afford to retire, because i’m really frigging good at it.

tonight’s doodle game … chasing cocoa around the kitchen with her brush and no-rinse shampoo because she has her booster tomorrow morning and needs to look and smell pretty for the vet.

and christmas is all packed away.

my cure for today’s existential dread? a cold but sunny walk with a floopy muppet, a hot shower, pajamas, and belgian waffles.

brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*deep breath*rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

further to yesterday’s gripe about comments on posts about accidents … people also seem to think salt is magical. like, that a few trucks should be able to salt all the roads the moment it starts getting slippery and, once on the road, the salt will make you immune to the weather.

ooooh, let’s use ai to make a cool poster! who cares that pei is now part of new brunswick, the isthmus is huge, the bay of fundy is a creek, and nova scotia is on ozempic. 🤦‍♀️

when the world is falling apart but that sequin skirt you’ve been eying on the old navy website is 50% off and in your size.

i guess he didn’t like people talking about all the aspirin he eats.

there’s a truck jack-knifed on the cobequid pass. in january. with slippery conditions and a snow squall warning. but according to some guy on facebook the pass ran “real smooth before the invasion” … so, winter is the fault of immigrants now. also, at what point has the pass ever run real smooth?

hi, i’m being born.

a night full of really frigging random dreams.

just a reminder … if you took tomorrow off, the new year doesn’t *really* start until monday and you can still eat cheese and chocolate for at least 2 meals a day.

cocoa has her bully stick. i have my coffee. we’re very content girls.

random thought that will pop up again in a few months … my dad would have turned 100 this year. which is fucking wild.

i greatly appreciate that people love to highlight their years, but my brain does not like how many times it hears “and with that the 2025 season …” while scrolling the ‘tok. (trending audio of any kind makes my mind itchy. i hear it 4 times and i never want to hear it again.)

this morning’s walk was just as quiet as christmas morning, but a different quiet. like an expectant stillness where christmas was a hushed stillness … if that makes sense.

happy new year! we were asleep by 10 and slept through any midnight hullabaloo.

based on boominess alone, millbrook is continuing their tradition of putting the town fireworks to shame.

truro’s fireworks are at 7:30pm … which is a far more reasonable time than midnight to celebrate the new year.

thinking of braving being among people to get some mall chinese food to have for nye supper.

104 weeks ago today was when i started my journey towards being healthier. i’ve maintained a 60lb weight loss (actually closer to 80lbs, as i’d lost some weight before i started tracking), and improved my relationship with food.

i walked past tom selleck in front of the td building on barrington street. and i was stalked* by jimmy carr at jfl in montreal. *maybe not on purpose, but he kept showing up in random places.

what were your very tiny victories in 2025? i’ve grown my bangs out past my nose for the first time in, possibly, ever.

before cocoa came along, i was seriously considering running away somewhere for christmas … but seeing so many friends dealing with flight issues today, i’m glad i’m cozy at home.

i bought 4 bottles of peppermint mocha creamer at the beginning of the season, and i have one bottle left before my coffee becomes boring again.

megan markle is on this episode of fringe!

does anything strike empathetic fear in the heart of a homeowner quite like seeing a dki vehicle at a neighbour’s house?

we’ve been for our walk. now we nap. merry twixtmas.