Category: irl: housesitting

weeknotes (nov. 9-15, 2025)

Life Updates

Kind of a bleh week for blogging but enjoyable for living– relaxing and non-stressful, which is all that I want.

One thing of note: I realized I booked my flight from here to my next sit for the wrong day, but luckily I was able to cancel it and use the money towards a ticket for the correct day. I DID end up paying double what I originally did, which sucks, but at least I’ll get there on the right date now.

And it worked out okay anyway, money-wise, because the owner invited me to stay the night before she leaves, so I’ll save $100-something on a hotel! It all balances out in the end, really.

🐈 Curious orange kitty (codename Mr. B-Denver) has figured out how to open cabinets and got into the ones right above the fridge, which was hilarious! Luckily nothing important is up there. Overweight Siamese kitty (codename Ms. S-Denver) meanwhile has warmed up to me a lot and is now regularly sleeping next to me while I work on the computer. They not lap cats, which is kind of a bummer, but they do like to be in the same room as much as possible.

Continue reading “weeknotes (nov. 9-15, 2025)”

weeknotes (nov. 2-8 2025)

Life Updates

Since my last Weeknotes update, I’ve left [redacted location] and arrived at my new catsit. I’m in Denver for the rest of the month! The cats here are adorable (as always) and the apartment I’m staying in is really nice; the owners are kind and let me come early and stay a few extra days, which was great for me because I saved a bit on accommodation money.

I’ve now been here with the cats alone for a week and I’m really enjoying the whole experience. I’m in a residential area and it’s super fun to walk around looking at all the interesting houses and the trees slowly dying for the winter. I’ve been going out nearly every day just wandering around (in a borrowed fleece jacket because it’s been fairly cold (for me)) with a few occasional forays into the rest of town.

I’m a little annoyed that most (all??) of the museums here have a fairly high entrance fee ($10+ minimum). Of course yesterday was free museum day and I totally forgot…

Continue reading “weeknotes (nov. 2-8 2025)”

[belated] weeknotes (oct. 5-11, 2025)

Life Updates

This week had some bummer personal things happening– mom went briefly into the hospital and had several tests done for potential mini-stroke, but luckily(?) it turned out to probably be an autoimmune thing instead. She got some meds for the symptoms and is doing better! (Or so she says, anyway.)

I had headaches 3/7 days and am sure part of it was the pillow I’m using, which is insufficiently cushion-y. But probably also partly the stress, and dehydration.

🐈‍⬛ The most curious cat, Mr W, has started going up onto the counters and sniffing every single food item I make, plus then trying to touch it and/or eat it. If I put a dirty dish in the sink, he tries to get in there at it. He also started drinking dirty sink water, which is gross, so I put a water bowl up on the counter to distract him from that and it seems to have worked.

Miss K is a little more chill but only because she doesn’t like jumping higher than the bed OR going into cabinets. She does like to sit on my lap for 5-8 hours a day, though, and despises my laptop. ;D

Continue reading “[belated] weeknotes (oct. 5-11, 2025)”

weeknotes (sept. 28-oct. 4, 2025)

Life Updates

Another week gone by, and now it’s a new month! The end of the year is racing towards me and it’s very annoying(/stressful) to think about, so I’m trying not to.

Another overall mellow week where I mostly stayed home and read/wrote, but I did go to a clothing sale this weekend and got two pairs of shoes for $8: one pair suede booties, one pair corduroy sneakers.

I’m not entirely sure they actually go with my current wardrobe, which is very summer-focused. These shoes are definitely more fall/winter.

I think I can make it work if I get one new pair of dark-colored medium-weight pants (or skirt), so I’m going to keep my eyes open at the thrift stores. On the plus side, if they don’t work out, I spent so little on them I won’t feel bad for donating them if I have to.

🐈‍⬛ I still haven’t done the cat info post for this sit (apologies) BUT rest assured these cats are adorable and friendly and want to me near me without being annoying about it. Their food must have some kind of anti-hairball thing in it because I haven’t found one yet, despite one cat being long-haired.

Media Consumption

📺 Got a Peacock promo subscription for a month (for free) and while I haven’t started watching these YET, I do have them on my watchlist and am looking forward to watching them at some point:

  • Poker Face (TV)
  • The Paper (TV)
  • The Phoenician Scheme (movie)
  • Drive Away Dolls (movie)
  • Honey, Don’t (movie)

📖 Still deep into the Star Wars fanfics and ignoring everything else. ;D

Beloved recent fanfics: Why Not’s and How To’s by Trixree; And Back We Go by miyaji_08; The Force of My Love by Quarra; Second ‘Verse by LauraBWrites; Your Smile In Stone by ecarian

🎮 Started playing Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds on my 3DS, which I’ve played at least once before AND completed! It’s one of the easier Zelda games, I think, but the mechanic is really fun (you flatten out onto walls and go through cracks into another reality) so I’m enjoying it. It IS a little strange to go back to the simpler style Zelda games compared to, like, Breath of the Wild, but it’s still got a good story/gameplay.

Food & Dining

Tried a new-to-me brand of soy milk and it’s horrible, curdles weirdly in my coffee and has a sweetness to it that makes my mashed potatoes taste weird. Bleh.

Web Updates

Gave up on completing the change-over in a timely fashion and put the Docuwiki version of my site back up for now. I think the bots are still attacking, but I have it set up on Cloudflare and I blocked Brazil (where most of the bots were coming from apparently) so that should help.

Looking Forward

I’m currently working on a) setting up various emails tied to various personal domains and b) swapping over everything I want swapped from my Gmail to those new emails.

Some things are harder to change emails for than others AND one of my domains refuses to update its DNS records for some reason, so it’s annoying on both ends. However, I’m hoping to mostly have everything forwarding into my Fastmail account by the end of the week. And perhaps I can even close some of my lesser-used Gmail accounts!

📝 weeknotes (sept. 14-20, 2025)

Life Updates

Well, that was a longer gap than I meant to do! From my last update to now:

  • have left my Ann Arbor catsit
  • flown to California to visit parents and sat in a SoCal heatwave for a week
  • bought new suitcase, repacked items, swapped out clothes, etc.
  • flew to new catsit in undisclosed location (in the Western part of the US, anyway)
  • settled into new catsit for about a week, then
  • became vaguely ill for a week and
  • only now picked up laptop and felt energetic using it

I’ll do a more precise (friends-only) catsit update to introduce y’all to the new kitties, but overall I’m really enjoying this new location– though I miss the garden from Ann Arbor! I do have a balcony with a view of the river with an enormous amount of ducks here, though.

Continue reading “📝 weeknotes (sept. 14-20, 2025)”

📝 weeknotes (aug 24-30, 2025)

Is it still a weeknotes if I write massive amounts of text? All the other ones I’ve seen are shorter and more list-heavy. Well, whatever.

📩 Writing this from Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA, with one kitty sleeping behind me on a heated blanket and the other two dozing in the homeowner’s bedroom (one on the bed, one under it). I have the back door open and it’s great weather, mid-60s and sunny– though my writing desk corner is shaded most of the day, which makes it easier to see the screen. I can see the garden from my desk, and so far have chased off the groundhog twice from breaking in and stealing tomatoes. I have on a new-to-me merino wool sweater on that I got from a thrift store a few weeks ago for like $7, which is my favorite shade of purple: a deep wine color. It’s soft and doesn’t itch like most wool things. The WALL-E soundtrack is playing as background noise.

Life Updates

The first half of the week was spent in a semi-sick state– not actually ill, but just bleh feeling, compounded by too much computer use tbh. I finally forced myself outside on Thursday and went walking around, and found a MASSIVE burdock just at the edge of someone’s yard which inexplicably cheered me up.

🐈‍⬛ The cats have been total sweeties this week (despite one day when a cat threw up his breakfast in 3 places, and another one left a poo just outside the litter box) and keep sitting on my lap/near me– compared to where we were at the start of this sit, when they were so nervous they hid under a bet all day, this is great! But of course I’m leaving in a few days and now all I can think about is how much I’ll miss them. 🙁

The only thing that solves that problem is going to another catsit, and luckily I have another one lined up right after this one.

Continue reading “📝 weeknotes (aug 24-30, 2025)”

📝 weeknotes (aug 17-23, 2025)

Life Updates

Overall I feel really good! There’s the creeping sense of dread re: finances which pops up every month or so, but otherwise I’m excited for the next few months of travel/catsitting.

I think it’s helped that I’ve been regularly going outside and walking for ~45 minutes every day. I’m really bad about doing that normally, but this neighborhood is good for walking and has enough interesting things to look at that I don’t feel bored. My Health app even says my step count is about double what it was last month!

I’ve also been venturing into some of Ann Arbor’s nature preserves, which are much hillier than I expected. Very beautiful trees, though! And usually not too crowded, so it’s peaceful.

Continue reading “📝 weeknotes (aug 17-23, 2025)”

📝 weeknotes (july 27-august 2)

Life Updates

Finally starting to feel settled into this housesit in Ann Arbor. Though the bed is comfortable, I haven’t been sleeping well. I wake up exhausted, which isn’t good. Feeling tired when I wake up makes me not want to go out and do things, so I’ve mostly been in the house slumping on the (admittedly very comfortable) couch with my books and my Roku.

But this week things changed! I dragged myself outside and did a walk around the neighborhood on Tuesday, one of the less-hot days, and I’ve switched to spending my mornings outside in the garden with my book and coffee mug. It’s an urban area, but this particular plot/neighborhood is ripe with tall trees and plants, so there’s lots of creatures to watch. Yesterday I spotted a goldfinch, and today I saw a chipmunk and a groundhog.

This morning I woke up feeling normal, so I think it’s working. I may start going on sunset walks when the temps cool down in the evening.

🐈‍⬛ The cats continue to mostly ignore me, but in a benevolent way. Miss F and Mr N have started letting me pet them more, but Mr B still runs if I get closer than 10 feet away. I suppose the upside is they’re very independent and I can get a lot of work done without having to shoo them off my keyboard.

Media Consumption

🎧 Lots of podcasts this week. Caught up on My Brother, My Brother and Me episodes from the last two or three months. I used to listen to eps regularly but this past year in particular it’s gotten increasingly obvious that they are aware that they’re, like, being watched? Like, it’s a little too much “looking for the bit” so they can clip it and put it on TikTok.

Also caught up with Too Many Tabs, which has topics I enjoy but which has gotten maybe a bit more shout-y since they started recording videos for Youtube. I’m sensing a trend.

Also listened to a great episode of Gender Spiral Podcast, which I wrote about here (DW).

📺 Continuing on my Midsomer Murder binge-watching. I’ve made it through DS Troy and have gotten into DS Scott’s episodes.

One thing I’ve been thinking about more during this rewatch is what happens to all these victims and secondary characters after the episode ends. So many people who find a dead body, lost a loved one, had a family secret exposed, etc. and they just disappear from the world entirely.

Hardly anyone shows back up again– there were a few times in the early seasons when a character from a previous episode would be referenced, and there’s one memorable time in season 10 (I think) where the same two character actors show up as the sister/nephew of characters from season 1. But other than that it’s just a swath of murder and misery in this one small UK county and nobody talks about it!

Which obviously has to happen, or else the story would never continue. But I think it’d make for an interesting story (perhaps a satire), to focus on what happens after a TV murder mystery. Anyone know if something like that exists? I’d be very surprised if a satirical author hadn’t put something out already.

📖 Still reading Moby-Duck, and am about halfway through it now. Very much enjoying it (especially when I’m reading it under a tree in a garden).

Food & Dining

I ate a salad and am very proud of myself.

Basically I ate all the good stuff from my major order (DW) and am down to eggs and beans, so I need to head out this week to get rice and potatoes and other starchy things I can put eggs and beans on.

Besides that, though, I actually have quite a bit left from my last order and I think I can put off ordering again for at least another week. Or at least until DoorDash gives me another coupon.

Web Updates

Joined heaps of fanlistings and a few cliques, as well as two site directories (Smooth Sailing and LinkLane.net) and a webring (No AI Webring). I joined the MelonLand Forum and am dipping my toes in.

New page added to the main site:

And blog posts:

Looking Forward

Keep working on my website, write more blog posts, finish Moby-Duck and maybe one more book, perhaps start an animal-spotting log for this garden because WOW and catch up on my Dreamwidth correspondence.

📝 weeknotes (july 20-26)

Gotta get back to doing these! So:

Life Updates

Mostly I’ve been busy settling into my newest housesit and sorting through my new-to-me thrift store clothes (DW). I’ve got everything washed, but unfortunately the homeowners didn’t leave me a lot of hangers so half the clothes are in a pile in the closet (and I don’t have a dresser, lol). One of the downsides of nomadic living, I suppose…

🐈‍⬛ Me and the cats are slowly getting used to each other. (See previous post [access-locked] for more info!) They’re all picky about wet food flavors and they have different flavors they’re picky about, which is irritating. One cat loves salmon, the other wants tuna and the third prefers chicken bits. Luckily they all eat the dry food, so if one doesn’t finish the wet food they can supplement with other stuff. Silly kitties!

Media Consumption

🎧 I’ve been catching up on Cruising, a queer documentary podcast that this season is focusing on interviews with lesbians and queers doing amazing things in history. Love it! (More recommended podcasts here btw.)

📺 I watched all three episodes of Solo Traveling with Tracee Ellis Ross, which I wrote about here (DW). Also been re-watching Midsomer Murders (the early seasons) which is nice to have running in the background while doing other stuff.

📖 I finished A Girl’s Guide to India (written about here / DW) on the bus from Chicago to Ann Arbor, and haven’t started a new book yet though I’ve been carrying my Kindle around from room to room in hopes of actually using it.

I HAVE been re-reading some favorite fanfics, including this amazing IT Chapter 2 longfic.

Food & Dining

🛒 Did a big grocery order because I had a $10 coupon AND a 30% off discount, so I got enough stuff to (I think) last me about a month, with some supplemental purchases throughout, for about $70 INCLUDING the tip. Was shopped and delivered by a very nice older lady who knew to look at expiration dates AND check for rotten fruit.

Bonus: Meijer grocery prices here in Michigan are fab, especially compared to Oregon/Illinois. Example: one dozen eggs under $3, even on the delivery app!

🫖 This house has an electric kettle, so I can finally make tea again. (I hate microwaving water and I’m too lazy to boil it on the stove for one cup.)

I bought a huge box of PG Tips when I was catsitting in England earlier this year, and I think I have enough to last maybe through the end of August. Imported PG Tips prices are nuts (even excluding potential import fees), so I’ll have to start rifling through my hosts’ cabinets soon for replacement tea. ;D

Website Updates

Did lots of fun things on my website this week! Some highlights:

  • Started building a Wikipedia Pages page, to keep interesting articles
  • Joined a bunch of fanlistings, especially in the movies/tv shows section
  • Re-organized the recipes page, and added a biscuits recipe I found on a Clabber Girl baking powder container. I have a lot of other food package recipes to add this week!
  • Also changed the blog layout and made a header, so it looks a bit nicer/easier to read. And I added a thing at the bottom so people can email replies, if they want, or else do a regular comment or even a Webmention! Also set up ActivityPub so new entries are sent to the Fediverse, where of course people can respond (and responses are imported as comments, very cool!).

Looking Forward

This week I’m going to work on my website more (recipes, more fic recs), as well as join a few more webrings and site directories. And I’d like to email someone in response to THEIR post/website!

I’d also like to go out into town and visit some thrift stores. I don’t need new clothes (lol) but I’m casually looking for other stuff– something I can make into a laundry line, a backpack, perhaps a new travel purse, that sort of thing.