Even Texas Chanukah is over (I guess it ends tonight?)

Thank you! I hope you are well! I know it's been a shitty year but if you have any good life updates I would love to hear them.a

ETA: I know you said you were under-employed and I am sorry to hear that. Though I know it's a hard time, I hope you find better employment soon.

Thank you so much!! I really hope you are doing well, too. Apologies if I missed updates from you, but if you have anything cool/exciting/happy to share, please do!

Thank you so much! It is good to see you, too, and I hope you are doing well!

I am so glad I got to take my cat back because I have missed him so much, but I think he is still lacking confidence in his new life situation so he is extremely attached to me, which is sometimes an issue when I have to, say, be on a video call with respondent's counsel and the judge. I have to put him in the finished basement and close the door, and then he is mad at me for a few hours after that.

He is currently trying to crawl inside my neck.

Tell me what's going on with you??

Because it's a big anniversary post and I commented elsewhere, this is my life updates for anyone interested:

I was finally--as of January of this year--hired as an attorney (as a government employee, which is still shocking as well to me). It has been going well; I was given an award at work and also got 5 out of 5 for my year-end review. I honestly thought I was going to be fired at any moment so all this made me cry a little because as you all know I have no chill and also no confidence in my professional abilities.

My boyfriend of several years proposed to me on my family trip last fall--my family was all stoked. I am very excited.

My parents assumed my cat from college (they took him in when I studied abroad and then refused to take him back) has been suffering from dementia because he was not using the litter box basically at all and he was meowing all night. My fiance, who is allergic to cats and has never lived with one, said we should just take my cat in. So, 15 years later, my cat is living with me again and my fiance actually really likes him. The issues my parents complained about are almost completely solved. Having my cat here and seeing my fiance interacting with him have been warming my heart especially during COVID times. I was very lonely during my workdays as I work from home and fiance has to report to work. My cat is very needy but he's just a big lovebug and sweet and cuddly and soft. As a person who really gets energized by other people, this has been super tough for me, but I am really fortunate to have my fiance and my cat.

It would be a lie to pretend like I got here without relationships I formed through this very site. I will be forever grateful to CT for the many amazing and wonderful people I have been fortunate enough to get to know because of this forum, and my life has been immensely bettered because of the relationships I have built from this site. So, thank you, CT, and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Honestly most of the recipes I saw in this vein were stovetop but when I wake up and need to get breakfast going I just don't have the patience.I bought a bunch of oats not long before the pandemic and I am just now playing with them.

Breakfast is so good! Highly underrated for some reason.

I definitely recommend giving this a go, though I don't know if your microwave will cook it differently than mine did. I will look up the link and post here in case that helps. I took a gamble on this technique and it works out for me today, at least.

Absolutely. I was amazed with his performance. He really got to me. Kudos to him.

To be fair, it was an easy re-entry point because breakfast is amazing.

I read about a technique where you scramble a raw egg into the oatmeal and water/milk before microwaving it for a minute. I then stirred it and put it back into the microwave for another 30 seconds. Stirred, added cheddar cheese, scallions, salt and pepper, and Berbere spice from Penseys. I know it's simple but it hit the spot this morning.

He is quite good in Dirty John. I was surprised, honestly.