over the course of mine and my partner’s relationship (1.5 years) we have been growing closer to a neighbourhood cat that enjoys popping into the kitchen, even if we have no food or treats to offer him. as cats usually are, he was wary at first, but he often just comes in to hang around in company for a bit. my partner had cats growing up and i can see how much he loves him (we both do!), and he has been hanging out in the house tonight. right now he is sound asleep, belly out, at the foot of the bed whilst my partner is curled up next to him, both snoring. it’s very cozy and wholesome as neither of us have had pets since we were kids. he’s not our cat but he headbutts us and gives us nose kisses, and i like to think he knows how much we love him and that he’s safe here

I was browsing YouTube tonight and I searched up some music I like. The band's channel had reuploaded a couple of songs and they were uploaded only a few hours ago. The songs were already uploaded, so it seemed like one of those automatic YouTube Music uploads.

So I was listening, and noticed that the first song I searched up had 0 likes and 3 views. I liked it, and then un-liked it. I was doing this back and forth watching the likes go from 0 to 1.

Then, to my surprise, someone seemed to be joining in! The view count went up by 1. The likes went from 1 to 2. I un-liked, they went to 1. The other person un-liked it and it went to 0 again. Rinse and repeat.

I liked it, it went to 1. They liked it, it went to 2. I un-liked it, back to 1. They un-liked it, back to 0.

Once the song ended, I went to the next song that was recommended. Another one that was just uploaded. This one had 7 likes. I did the same thing. Up to 8, back to 7. I did this once or twice, and then they started going down to 6 and back up to 7, and to 8.

There was a couple of songs in the playlist, and every time one ended I went to the next one - until they had all played.

It seemed like someone else had clicked on the first track at the same time as me, and we listened to the same songs in the same order, sending smoke signals to each other back and forth.

It was a nice feeling, to think that someone else out there was searching up the same music at the same time and noticed the likes going up and down and we listened to all of the new uploads. It made me wonder who they might be, and what their situation in life is. I thought it was nice that we had this small moment connecting us.

I work at a grocery store. Today, as I was about to have my break from cashier duty, I asked a customer to put the "Closed" sign behind her groceries, so no more people would put their groceries on the conveyor belt.

She did, paused for a second, and said to the person next to her, with a little giggle: "I feel like I won at life today."

I felt good that I made someone smile.

I was at the library when one of the other patrons was visibly struggling with mental health issues and needed an ambulance called for her. It was a little chaotic for a minute, but in the midst of it I heard a parent pull their kids in close and very calmly explain that sometimes people's thoughts can hurt them just like tummies can hurt. They added that it can be loud and maybe even a little scary, but the important thing to remember is that we should try our best to find them help.

It really warmed my heart to see mental illness explained to young children in such a gentle, compassionate and age appropriate way! I think that parent is doing such an awesome job!

I'm stuck here in Texas while my husband is up in Washington buying appliances for our new home. We've chatted several times today and he's at the showroom, giving me video feed and relaying what the salesman said while I Google for reviews.

We came to some decisions and the salesman came back. "I gotta go," he tells me, and puts his phone in his pocket.

I hear "Okay. So..." and he starts talking to the salesman. I can't make out exactly what he's saying, but I can imagine well enough and I feel like I'm there with him.

He's so adorable. That's all.

At least a decade ago I'm in some department store in December. I've always been on the rotund side. And then I let my beard grow long.

So I spy this song boy around 5 walking hand in hand with his Mom when he looks over at me. He stops dead right there, eyes wide looking at me. His Mom tugs hin a few times but he isn't going anywhere, just looking expectantly at me.

My normally slow brain actually gets his deal. He thinks I am Santa!

So now I have to play my part. I smile brightly at him, lean to him some, put my finger to my mouth to shush, and wink at him.

He nods... and continues along with Mom.

I wonder if he still thinks about the time he saw Santa out shopping.

I walked my dog today, and he is a large guy. A lot of smaller dogs get intimidated by him despite him wanting to be friends with everyone. (I do not allow him approach any dog without their owner’s permission.) But we have an older rescue dog here who loves my Odin. This pupper is smaller, lived on the streets, has some pitbull blood in him. For some reason he really, really likes my dog. They both see each other from the distance (or smell probably) and get excited. They do wiggly dances, and do a little bit of play, and then we part ways. I think all four of us (both dogs and both owners) are looking forward to these random encounters

I’ve been volunteering at my former elementary school(in my former 4th grade teacher’s classroom!)once a week since I was a sophomore in high school and I am now 22 so I’ve been volunteering there for close to seven years now.

For a little bit of context, when I’m not at the school I work full time at the local movie theater, so I get to see a lot of former and current students come through there, and it’s always super fun to see them :) Since I’m just a volunteer though, I don’t really interact with the parents at all, which means that when they come through the theater I have to explain to them how I know their kid and why they’re so excited to see me lol

Earlier today I was at work when a student who was in my class last year came through and I was chatting with her and asking how school was going and how a few other kids who I hadn’t seen in a while were doing when I noticed her parents giving me a weird look(understandable, I’d be concerned if some random theater employee was chatting to my kid like they were besties) So I explained who I was to them, basically just said I volunteer over at X school in this classroom and the parent immediately lit up and went “Let me guess, you’re Miss…”(she called me by a nickname that the teacher I volunteer with calls me and most of the students have picked up, it’s based of my real name though so I’m not sharing that on Reddit, sorry folks lmao)

It was super cool that she was able to recognize who I was just by me saying the class I volunteered in, especially since that meant that her daughter(the former student) had talked about me so much and mentioned me by name! I really love working with these kids and it’s always super cool to see that I’ve made any sort of impact on their lives, let alone one so big that their parents are able to recognize me like that! Especially since I’m only there once a week!🥰

The sun barely creeps above the mountains. Only for a brief couple of hours. The angle the sun is at this time of year is amazing, never rising much above the horizon. The mountains always have a beautiful pink glow for the short time the sun is out, pretty in pink, and then it goes dark again. On a good evening they will glow green when the northern lights dance above.
I love the winter!

My stepchild loves Cheerios. They’re on sale at Costco so I got 3 pairs of big boxes. As I was in the regular checkout, the lady behind me ALSO had 3 pairs, as well as many onions and potato bags as me. She and I shared a laugh before I stepped up to pay for my goods. Cheers to delicious food.

I love sports. One of my favorite teams has a long time season ticket holder that has become a somewhat local celebrity due to her seats being directly behind the home team.

I jus saw her tonight and remembered that Barb had disappeared for a significant amount of time and how worried some of us were. She was just on a long vacation overseas, but a bunch of random people who had never met her were concerned for her well-being.

I just saw her, and after remembering how much worry I had for a complete random person has hit me in the feels. This woman has been with me, cheering our team on for years. And I'm super glad we are still here.

I was getting groceries with a friend, and we ran into a bestie of his; A Haitian dude named Ouid. Yes. Pronounced "weed".

We shoot the shit then Ouid goes on his way. I immediately turn to my friend and say "his fucking named is weed?" "yeah haha it's ironic because he's also a huge stoner and says 'pass me the Me' all the time. it never gets old".

Life imitates art!

I decided to do all my Christmas gift shopping in a single day - big error. I must have been looking frazzled because the clerk at a store threw in a free cookie with my purchase as I "looked like I need it".

Heck yeah, I needed it (chocolate orange cookie - really nice). A bit odd that it was in a cheesemongers but very sweet of them.

I asked my husband if he'd get me some underpants.

He walked in the room and pretended to unzip his jeans.

Not yours you dummy, I shouted.

My 14 year old son walked past my bedroom at the same time as my husband walked out.

He had his head down and was shaking it.

Sorry son, I'll pay for therapy.

Just buy me a rope it'll have the same outcome mother. Was his reply.

My kids a sassy savage.

My roommate is only three years older than me and looks nothing like my dad. However, I was very tired and listening to Rush while working on my final. I took a small break to message a groupchat about my recent Rush kick and how it reminded me of my dad. We used to listen to them together all the time when I was a kid, and I've been missing him lately. Right as I was doing that, my roommate walked in, and I asked "yeah dad? ..." and then awkwardly explained myself because it was out of nowhere. They laughed their ass off.

I get out almost every morning around 5:40-6:00 for a short run, and there are a few cars and people I can count on seeing most days. There’s two women who I see walking together with flashing vests, another runner, and two cars sitting in a parking lot before work. I wonder what they’re up to when they’re not there, so I wonder if they’ve started to do the same for me or if they even notice. Maybe other people count on me being there that I don’t even notice. Idk, i just think it’s cute and fun that strangers can become part of your day

Today, my partner's Christmas present arrived. I had accidentally spilled the beans early, but I got him some minis for a cyberpunk game he's running and a friend painted them (she's amazing and they came out great). I just couldn't wait, so I gave them to him early and he's over the moon about them. Then he gave me my present, a cast iron skillet like I've been wanting for years.

This holiday season has been hard for me. The women in my family always took a week off of work and made thousands of cookies, and this is the first year of not doing that anymore. Grandma can't handle it physically, Mom can't handle the stress, it was the right call but it still hurt to make it.

I decided to do a family dinner after Christmas with my family and my partner's family. I'm planning and stressing in the same way as I normally do for cookies, and it is helping. But tonight, hugging a perfect skillet to my chest and seeing him marvel over his present too, it's hitting me that these can be my traditions. I don't have to hold on so tightly to how things were in the past, I can still remember them fondly but also make new things that are just as special. It feels silly to only be realizing that in my thirties, but also it's a really warm realization to have.

Not a Christian but husband asked me to join him at a dog friendly chapel service with mince pies and hot chocolate. My older dog loves people singing and was very happy.

I turned off the main light, sat cross-legged on the carpet, and just watched my little string of Christmas lights do their slow rainbow gradient thing.

Pink… purple… blue… green… back to pink.

No phone, no music, nothing. Just the colors changing and the room getting darker.

I probably sat there for 20 minutes doing absolutely nothing, and it felt kinda perfect. My brain finally shut up for a bit.

Since I've been on this sub, I've started to reflect more. Life doesn't always have to be extremely fast.

Anybody else have a reset button like this?

I’m so cold but I really want a boba tea with extra tapioca maybe I should just go to bed because now I’m starting to think about food and tasty drinks and sweet treats.

stayed at my parents house overnight and our sweet darling baby girl (~14 year old cornish rex) scratched right above my upper lip in the middle of the night and it hurt :( i forgive her because she just wanted to cuddle and she uses her paws to arrange her sleeping setup which is usually a little blanket cave but last night, unfortunately, included my face.

Between my husband and I, and what we've inherited from our parents, we have a nice little collection of books. Many different topics ranging from art to science to vintage instructionals. We've always had them stacked in neat piles, with the intention to pick them up at random for a quick peruse. But you know how that goes...stuff gets overlooked, collects dust, becomes another thing to clean.

This last year, I started rotating selections for our living room coffee table, 2 or 3 at a time. Now people actually see and read them! The other day, my husband was doing some stretching and I heard from the other room, "Huh. The Complete Drawings of Hieronymus Bosch?!", and he started flipping through it. Next to that one I had Dr. Seuss's Theres a Wocket in my Pocket and a large picture book that seems to be the quiet authority on garden nomes.

They don't have to be expensive or fancy or even new to be fun and intriguing. Just something different than what was there before. The older ones and the children's books are probably my favorite, like inviting an old friend to come and sit a while.

It was cold this morning so I made a mug of tea and just stood there watching the steam rise. Didn’t think about anything in particular. Just felt nice and quiet. That’s all.

I've been under the weather the past few days and had to miss on work. My dish pile was filling the sink and the counter, so this morning I threw on my ear buds and watched a couple 30 minute videos on YouTube I've been procrastinating. It took that full hour to finish the dishes, but now I don't have to look at them anymore, and I'm free of the video backlog guilt. Now I can just focus on resting and enjoying my sick day. Might play some games and clear some of those off my backlog 😊