I am truly living the sweet life, my friends.

Did I ever tell y'all that I got to meet StepUltimate? She was in my area in October and it was so wonderful to meet this amazing woman face to face. We've had the pleasure of supporting each other through some tough relationships with narcissistic spouses. She's also my kitten buddy because we each adopted a pair of kittens in the last couple of years. Even better news is I'll be visiting her in her area next spring! Yay!!

My DD31 married her husband SIL28 last Saturday. It was a lovely, simple wedding and my DS34 was ordained online with some goofy church in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, so he was the officiant.

Only parents + the photographer and my daughter's best friend were in attendance at the actual ceremony on the steps of a local museum. My daughter was lovely in a white cocktail dress with a faux fur wrap. She had an up-do with flowers and wore the most lovely satin ice blue shoes - to match the colors of her husband's vest and tie.

After the ceremony, we went to a local pub for drinks and appetizers for an hour or so until it was time to head to the restaurant where other family members joined us for dinner. It was about 15 in all. His parents paid for dinner. My XH1 and I paid for the drinks and apps at the one place and the drinks at dinner (his parents don't drink).

It was a beautiful, if chilly day, and the couple was beyond adorable, and since the wedding, if you can believe it, are sickenly MORE in love with each other.

Today is my DD31's last day of work since her company shuts down for the holidays. She'll be back to work after the new year. During this time, she is supposed to move the rest of her stuff out of my house. She's already moved quite a bit out of our common spaces and, I like it!! LOL I am looking forward to having my house back and having a guest bedroom so I can have friends visit. At midnight on 12/31, I'll be deactivating her door code and putting a lock on the electric car charger in the back driveway. I know it sounds harsh, but I don't want anyone else being able to show up in my space. I want the freedom to walk around naked and sing at the top of my lungs without any intruders. LOL I pity my poor cats!!

Oooh - it's snowing outside. LOVE!!

In other good news, I'm LOVING my part time job and am picking up extra hours as much as I can. I also got a promotion at my full time job which gives me a FIFTH week of vacation next year. More vacation leave means more to me than a raise. At my job, a promotion isn't linked to a pay raise. However I did get a nice little raise that will give me about $300 extra a month. Couldn't happen at a better time.

Due to all of this, I'm spoiling myself this Christmas. I've gotten myself 3 books (one of which is a travel guide to Spain - c'mon March!!!), and my favorite (expensive) perfume. I've been out for years. I may even throw in a gift card for a massage at my favorite place.

Tomorrow, I'll be baking Christmas cookies and doing some prep for Christmas dinner. I'll be working my part time job on Christmas Eve. Christmas Day, I'll be hosting my 2 sons, my XH1 and his girlfriend, and the girlfriend's daughter and SIL for dinner. We are adding some vegan dishes to the menu because the girlfriend's daughter and SIL are vegan. I also found a bunch of vegan friendly candy as a gift for them. I'm so glad XH1 has found someone special. She's a lovely woman and we are friends on social media.

I still have 23 miles left to meet my 1500 mile cycling goal for 2024. It's damn chilly, but I think I'm going to brave it tomorrow to knock out the last miles before I move to my indoor bike. I also need to get my butt to the gym AND start taking my calcium supplements as I recently had a bone density scan; it shows I have mild osteopenia.

I had my last therapy session yesterday. I consider myself graduated!! My therapist said she's so proud of me and it was a pleasure to witness my progress this year. That meant the world to me because it's been a lot of work.

I'm light years away from the boy crazy teen and young woman desperate to be loved. I'm no longer the people pleasing, needy person who derived her value from her romantic relationship status. I now have boundaries and have found endless peace being a single woman.

I have put a lot of distance between me and my male friends, too. Mr. Cutie Pie is a disappointment. He's still seeing Barbie and they had a weekend away to NYC 2 weeks ago. He confided to me that he knows she wants more and he sees NO future for the two of them. He claims he's told her, but it falls on deaf ears. I called him out and told him it's cruel to not end it now, because it's only going to be worse as her feelings deepen for him. He's deriving too much benefit from her pursuing him and trying to convince him to have a relationship with her. Therefore, I have lost all respect for him and do not wish to spend time with him. He's just like every other guy who will milk a future-less relationship while it serves him only to move onto someone else that he'll fall in love with and commit to.

The cycling dude who wanted to date me has finally accepted that I'm not dating, and if I was, I wouldn't be dating him. Yes, I told him that. He's kinda "a lot" and very exuberant. I realized that his "enthusiam" is irritating to me and I can't really be in a relationship with someone who is always ON. I prefer to be with someone who has my same or lower energy level. An always ON person will trigger my avoidant side and likely make me quieter. And it would annoy the EFF out of me. He's been asking me for dating advice, but I'm growing tired of him sharing stuff with me like I'm a guy. I've told him more than once that I don't want to hear about his past sexual experiences and I'm not interested in his reports on the physical attributes of the women he matches with or dates. I let him know the other day I was no longer available by text (he texts too much), but he could reach me on Facebook messenger as I was doing a blue screen and social media diet (I really am). He agreed, but within 15 minutes messaged me on messenger. Ugh! Stop, dude.

So, I'm going into 2025 with a mindset to cocoon or shelter in place. I'm spending more time on my own and liking it. I don't have insane plans for next year. I'll be traveling to Spain in March, the west coast in May, and hopefully, Toronto in September. The rest of my adventures will be mostly local and include some hiking, backpacking, bikepacking and cycling - maybe some kayaking. But, it will be at a MUCH more low key than last year.

I'll be meeting with my realtor in April to go through my former airbnb (which I'm living in) and come up with a list of things to spruce up so I can list it for sale next fall.

My DS34 will finish his master's degree program next summer and will, hopefully, have a "big boy" job so he can move out of my other house. I'll move in and use the profits from the sale of my airbnb to remodel the two bathrooms and kitchen. Then I'll get to enjoy being closer to my friends and able to go to the gym with them, ride bikes and kayak more easily.

I'll be spending more time in Baltimore for the first 3 months of the year because my DS28 was approved to take a floor tech training course with the DORS program for special needs people. It's a 3 month training program, 5 days a week, so I'll have to share the load with my XH1 who lives in the city (I live an hour away). We are also working on getting him specialized transportation because the bus trips could be overwhelming for him. It'll be a bit of a hassle, but it's worth the sacrifice to get this young man working again.

It's been a good year, my friends. I have this place and MANY of you to thank for the encouragement and love. I made it!!!

It'll be 11 months since the breakup on Christmas Day. The greatest gift I'll receive this Christmas is peace............in my own HOME. I needed a HOME. I made my HOME here, and I will make another HOME back at my other house. It feels really nice to show up for myself, and I hope a few of you will be inspired to seek your own peace in 2025 even if it means walking away from something that isn't serving you.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Solstice or whatever festival you celebrate at this time of year - just make it HAPPY!!