Fae Briona

Snow... oh that would be sooooo nice about now. Tired of heat indexes above 100 F

For me it's quiet time away from everyone else in order to really relax and recharge. The ex (the lying b---- before C came into my life) never really understood my need for that. My problem is putting myself out in into a public setting, with lots of people - especially people I don't know. I could -- and have -- disappear into my house for days and never see or speak with anyone else. That takes the "quiet time" to a bit of an extreme, and I know I need to do better.

And lingering (here at least) for the next several days. Had another "Excessive Heat Warning" today. Hope the horses stay well @Kitt; stay cool @mollyhousemouse

We have several towns with Native American based names here in Oklahoma. Quite a few are simply tribal names given to the city (Pawnee, Osage, Ponca), then others that really confuse those from out of state, like Tahlequah. Edit: we also have Slaughterville -- named for a Mr. Slaughter, and not for meat processing plants.

Read the short story, "Moon-Face" by Jack London, first published in 1902 or 1906 (depending on source).

night time for me as well - going to be a long week next week at work

Sometimes, that is the only way forward.

Like you @Wayne Gray, growing up in a rural area makes what Markus is going through all too real. It's one of the many reasons this story made such an emotional impact on me.

If you get done you can finish my chores. 🙃 Just started on laundry, have supper in the slow cooker, and waiting on lunch to heat up. Actually been a pretty good couple of days.

Hope your morning is better.

Lazy morning, but need to do grocery shopping at some point. Hope everyone has a great day.

Don't remember how I stumbled upon this site, but I've enjoyed it here -- though I've just really started to be active in commenting and interacting. We have a nice "community" here, full of support and encouragement. Unlike some other sites where the members are more hostile to one another, or there's no easy way to interact with the authors to give feedback. I love the way the site makes it easy to find specific genre's / styles of stories, and gives a brief blurb of the story so you know what it's about. Glad you joined @Wayne Gray

Like Thorn, this was difficult to read the first time and I wasn't sure I would be able to read it again. Memories, pain, and tears. 😢 It's one of the best chapters, and overflowing with emotion. I still love the short segment with Kent drawing strength from Stanley's belief in him.

I can remember watching his shows on Public Broadcasting with my mom when I was younger. Good memories.

Love Civ VI. Would like to play Stellaris, but it freezes up my system. 😕

I can relate to that.

Also the phrases, "just cheer up" or -- for those who are particularly unsympathetic and toxic -- "just get over it". I've posted this before, its one of my favorite recent songs: lyrics from the song "Delilah" by Florence & the Machine - 'Cause I'm gonna be free and I'm gonna be fine (Maybe not tonight) Sending you love.

Well... good news, mostly. I don't have one large thing, I have three smaller interacting things: sinus infection, my blood pressure Rx is working TOO well, and Xanax withdrawal. Have meds for the sinus infection, a refill on the Xanax (will get through the other 2 issues then do a slower step-down to get off it), and Cardiologist said to stop my primary Rx and just take the secondary one (the one I'd only been taking it it got really high).

What I've described to the Dr. in the past as being, "short, sharp, heartbeats" were being very and unusually persistent last night when I was trying to fall asleep. Ended up going to the ER -- not out of concern (they've already said they didn't see anything concerning about my heart function) but in the hopes that if they were going to persist that I could relax enough they would happen there where I would be monitored. It's very difficult to relax in an ER room, even when that's your goal. 😕 I did have a couple but they were small and didn't show as anything unusual in the chart. I'd chalk it up to an expensive failure except that the Dr. on duty mentioned something he thought they sounded like and fit the "only happening when I'm relaxing and trying to sleep" -- premature ventricular contractions. I just sent a note to my cardiologist; left off the part where the ER doctor expressed surprise that the cardiologist hadn't already considered or mentioned them as a possibility. In and of themselves they're too much of a concern but... I mentioned in my note that they were becoming more frequent [both in time and in numbers] and were making it increasingly difficult to fall asleep. Does seem like those should show themselves on the EKG though. I wasn't having at all them when I wore the Halter monitor the first time. I know I should trust the Dr. when he says there is no sign of anything wrong with the heart itself but it does seem incongruous to be having these if there is nothing wrong. They're like a single beat where it feels like the heart compresses too much with no pain before or after. My friend who is a nurse would tell me that I'm just worrying too much -- which I do have a tendency to do [part of the whole 'anxiety disorder' thing]. Haven't told her that I went in last night or what the doc suggested they might be. On an entirely different topic, during my Uber ride on my way into the ER @ 3am we passed a large gas station / convenience store that sits at the corner of two of the main streets through town. Entrance was coned off, the entire area was taped off, and there were several cops there. Driver said she'd driven by about an hour earlier and saw a, "shirtless man talking to the cops who looked upset". Getting home this morning early and turning on the news, the man she saw had a gunshot wound to the neck. He'd been shot somewhere else and dropped off there. He was taken to the hospital where he later died. Cops have one person held for questioning. This isn't the sort of thing that normally happens in this town, though we've had more shooting recently than normal.

'I lost something but what I'm getting in return is so much better' is kind of a wonderful way for Stone to sum up their relationship. Now if Aiden will only let himself believe that secret he already knows but still wants to deny, he could lose something and replace it with something better too. 💖

I still need to do chores, but got almost no sleep last night and just woke up from a nap that was much too short.

Sparklers burn at temperatures up 1800° - 3000°F (1000° - 1600°C). They expect one or two of the aftershocks from the CA quake to be around a magnitude 6, and a few hundred around magnitude 3. 😕

Plot twist! Wasn't expecting that (well... was expecting a twist, just not that one).

BP tonight is back up into a normal range, so I hope that the weirdness is over with.