So I've been meaning to update this for a few weeks now. I've been working overnight for a couple months now and I've really been enjoying the challenge of the department even if I'm back solidly working grocery again. The job reminds me a lot of when I worked at Meijer in Ohio back in 2017 and 2018. The only difficult part of working overnights is having to sleep days and since I don't want to be sleeping all through the afternoon it means days we get off late or days when the dogs here don't want to let me sleep it means I sometimes only get 4 or 5 hours of sleep. Sadly, with being in grocery again it means the holidays are going to be busy and somewhat frantic like they have always been in the past with that field of work which is part of why I really enjoyed them last year when it wasn't a factor. It also means I won't have an opportunity to go to a con until next year, though I'd like to make AnthroCon again if possible. I might try for AnthroExpo in February if there are enough panels and events that interest me but it would require taking time off to spend more than a few hours at since I work all of those nights. Too often I don't find out about the local cons until the week of and it can be difficult to make plans for them so last minute.

Aside from sometimes not getting enough sleep I feel my mental health has improved the past couple of months due to a combination of structure again in my life and just the enjoyable challenge of my job. I can look at the remaining damage to the passenger side of my truck and not get depressed anymore. I was initially going to look for a replacement vehicle late this month or next but between my truck fund not having recovered yet to where I want it to be again and having to get two new tires last month due to the alignment going out and excessively wearing those tires down in 700 miles I'm going to aim to replace it now early next year, when I can add anything from a tax refund to the replacement (I'll still be a bit nervous in the meanwhile as Oklahoma has issues with ice and snow in January and February, even if these new tires offer really good handling).

Otherwise, all that has been going on is one of the housemates moved out about 6 weeks ago and the other housemate went and adopted a big great dane that's a rescue from a puppy mill. She is super adorable though she can be quite timid and she has some really odd quirks. We aren't sure if they're caused due to genetics or something she learned/picked up but we're hoping they become less of an issue over time. On the game group front other than some brief contact about 3 months ago it's been crickets, though within the next week or two an event in October the group normally takes part in should occur and based on what does or doesn't happen with it I'll make my decision on whether to formally drop out and then it just comes down to whether to say anything to them or just drop from the group chat on Telegram and see if anyone contacts me about it, unlike when no one did after I dropped from the Discord groups back around June. The unfortunate thing in this all is that my set schedule has me working weekends so it would be difficult to join in any game.

All of this going on is part of why I'm considering leaving the OKC area next summer, though I don't yet have a plan on where to go. Maybe to Tulsa as I have a cousin that moved there a few years ago, and I know my mom and several family friends would love if I went back to Houston (the traffic and the weather are my two biggest complaints about that idea). I have time to decide, though I'm sure it will be next summer before I know it with how quickly 2023 has gone.