My laptop is wailing like a banshee. The rain is blessing us with its soggy presence. It’s also playing hard to get with my front yard project. But hey, it’s all good! I’ve decided to embrace my inner DIY diva and invest in myself. After all, who needs a finished yard when you can put your quirky masterpieces out for the world to see?

It seems I’ll need to give my desktop a good dusting. I must summon it back to life. Talk about a marathon of updates, yikes! Seriously, I need a snack break just to cope with the chaos!

That means… well, I completely lost my train of thought. I probably lost it because I started this post last night. Then I decided that sleep was a much better idea. But hey, the good news is I have my trusty coffee in hand and have kicked off the laundry. I’m officially out of clean clothes. This really adds an element of surprise to getting dressed in the morning. I’m pretty sure my bathing suit is playing hide-and-seek somewhere in this delightful mess I call a house.

The sun is shining brilliantly today, and it’s the perfect moment to embrace being awake. I’ve also ordered some exquisite fragrance oils for my candle holder oil diffuser. To fuel my creativity, I discovered captivating scents like rum, tobacco, dirt, and more on Amazon. While I know many are boycotting that store, it remains a valuable resource for finding unique items. Not everything there is top-notch.

Now the exciting question is, which of my wonderful candle holder oil/wax pieces should I use? I have my beautiful Triple Goddess one. There is also my charming cast iron pan style. I also have some delightful finds from the Dollar Tree that I absolutely adore!

And where on Earth should I plop my writer’s desk? The ones I have? Oh, they’re fine, but they scream “meh” instead of “you.” It’s like a scavenger hunt trying to figure this out! I really need to channel my inner Marie Kondo and ditch a bunch of junk I don’t need anymore. Take those coffee cups—why on Starbucks’ name do I keep buying them? I have a whole army of them already! They’re adorable, sure, but it’s like they’re multiplying behind my back. And don’t even get me started on tea cups! They’re cute, but why do I need a collection that looks like an uncoordinated dance party? Yes, they each come with those charming saucers, but come on, woman, what am I doing here?

In my defense, I hold onto items. During my childhood summers at my grandparents’ house, my biological mother discarded many of my possessions. I will elaborate on her later. She did this without consideration. My real father, passed away a few years ago. Most of these items were still new. They removed things from our home, citing a roach infestation. It is true that our apartments had roaches. Still, it is important to understand that roaches are a natural occurrence in desert environments.

I know the expected response is that she’s my mother and I should treat her properly.

But the reality is that she never treated me like a child—she treated me like a miniature adult. She allowed terrible things to happen to me, including being touched by a man much older than me, someone who had been around since the day I was born. She called him a friend. They had known each other since high school. He already had a record of touching underage girls and had been warned not to be around young girls at all.

Her response was, “He won’t do that to my girls. He’s their uncle.” But he did. And when I spoke up, I wasn’t believed.

So no—don’t tell me I should keep contact with her. I won’t. There are countless other things I can say about how she treated me. Still, this alone should be enough to understand why I’ve chosen distance.

Sit with that.