We are almost to the 21st Febrehab in history. This one I think is going to be relatively easy. I decided that the only things I'm giving up besides alcohol are caffeine and sugar. There's a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, I am about 8 lbs lighter than average. Turns out 18 months of health issues are a great diet! So I don't really want to lose weight.

Secondly, this year after having my gall bladder out and being advised to avoid fat, and then having a really bad kidney stone and being advised to avoid oxalates, I hired a dietitian. They were covered by my insurance and I figured that would be a lot easier than doing all the research myself and coming up with a new diet plan. I met with a guy on a zoom call and he seemed really knowledgeable. He laid out what he would do in the way of tracking food, balancing macro-nutrients, and increasing calories, protein, and calcium. Turns out I've been under-eating for years, and not getting nearly enough protein. And even though my kidney stone was made of calcium-oxalate, and I was advised to reduce oxalates in my diet, the other thing you can do is INCREASE calcium. Turns out more calcium in your diet binds up the oxalates before they can get to your kidneys.

Then the douche ghosted me. He never delivered a meal plan. He never spent one second thinking about me after our initial meeting. But ... what he did do was make me think, "Oh that's all you were going to do? I can do that." So I built a spreadsheet and started meticulously tracking what I was eating. Then I made minor adjustments to breakfasts, lunches, and dinners until a week of eating balanced everything out. That included having a protein shake every day, since it's nearly impossible to get enough protein without it. We both think we're seeing a change at the gym since we work out consistently, but perhaps were just starving our muscles previously, and now they are able to grow.

So, I don't feel like abandoning my new healthy balanced diet just to deprive myself for a month. This will be an easy Febrehab as a result. It's not without precedent, but they've been getting harder lately. And last year was the 20th anniversary, so I made it especially hard.

Speaking of 20th anniversaries, tomorrow is my 20th anniversary with Daniel. You believe that? I do. Love you, Daniel! Here's to the next 20.

I said before that I had migrated all of my social media content to posts on SideshoViD.com, but that wasn't entirely true. I had not posted any of my Instagram stories. To be honest, that's mostly because I didn't know I could. I thought that once they disappeared they were gone. But the other day I noticed my "Archives" on Instagram had every story I'd ever posted.

They made it basically impossible to access that content from my laptop, but on mobile, there was a button to click to download the photo or video. I was astounded at how quickly videos were downloaded to my phone and then uploaded to my website. They must be compressed or optimized somehow. It was literally as fast as I could click that they were done. As a result, it only took a few evenings sitting on the couch crunching through them to complete 2018-2024.

The cool thing about that is that there was a period of time, a couple of years even, where stories were the sole format I used. I liked that they were more ephemeral, less pressure, and felt more spontaneous or narrative. So now a huge chunk of time from around 2022-2024 that was previously unrepresented has some history here.

I also like that it took the topic tag for "squirrels" from obscurity to #6 most popular topic. Those were the primary years we spent getting to know Muffin and trying to get her to eat out of our hands. So that is all documented now for posterity. She's here right now in fact having a little breakfast before heading out to work. Look for her to pop up a lot more in the This Day In History section! 🐿

I honestly never really thought that I had a problem with spending money. I always just figured I could kind of stop whenever I needed to. Wrong! Now that I am using my checking account for everything (I cut my beloved credit card into 3 pieces ... I have one, Allison has one, and Tommy has one) and have an opporitunity to watch the expenditures accumulate, I realize just how ridiculous my spending habits are. This weekend alone I managed to spend 200 dollars ... and I have nothing to show for it. That's like almost a pair of pants I could have had, blown away on food and booze. Alas, I disciplined myself by going to Pier 1 and buying the coolest little tea candle holder. I need some ambience for when I yogate.

Although I have to admit that all the money I spent this weekend was well worth it because I was joined by my old, dear friend, Edward S■■■■■. I haven't seen him in a couple of years, but the fact that we've known each other for roughly 15 years allows for such gaps. He came in on Saturday evening, we ran around buying booze and food, and then headed to Tommy's for a pre-party. The pre-party ended up being attended by Tommy, Edward and I, so it wasn't much of a party. Then we went to Halo and drank a whole bunch. Edward's like in medical school or something, so he's not used to doing this every night like we do. But I think he had fun. The after-party at Tommy's was out of control ... I heard the cops came around 5:30 and told everyone to leave. Whateeeeever. The next afternoon, we dragged out of bed, Edward went back to Houston, and I took a nap.

I put my John Denver video on while I was sleeping and when I dozed off, the tape ended, rewound automatically and then the VCR shut off. As it turned out, when the VCR shut off, there was all this stuff about a SuperBull or something. Who woulda thought. I wanted to make some Wolf Sauce, a recipe for queso I got from BreakfastParade, so I went to the decimated grocery store, bought some ingredients and then took the crockpot over to Tommy's. James came over and we all ate the Wolf Sauce, which was delicious, but I forgot to turn off the crockpot so by the time we checked, the cheese was blackened and disgusting. So much for leftovers. I would comment on the game, but the portions of it that we did watch, I pretty much slept through. I don't really even like basketball, as most of you know.

On a final note, I've decided that I'm not going to answer my phone anymore. I have begged. I have pleaded. I have harangued, but people still call me just to see whats up and try to hold my attention for long phone conversations. Since nothing I can do can make you all stop, and nothing you can do can keep me from feeling like ants are crawling out my eyes if the conversation lasts more than 30 seconds, this is the only viable solution. Just leave me a voicemail and I'll call you right back. That way I can see what you want before hand. And a "Hey its me, call me back" doesn't count. Thats what a missed call means. Sorry to have to do this. Talk to you all later (MAYBE HA).