Have you ever spent a long period of time just going through the motions, and looking back, it feels like you were sleeping/dreaming for most of that time? That’s what June felt like for me. Part of that was the hyperfocus on kittens, as well as one particular kitten causing me to lose sleep when she wanted to play at night. Partly it was that I spent the first half of the month trying to catch up from being gone (which honestly is still ongoing because KITTENS). Part of it was the heat, and the binging TV whenever I needed a break from kittens. I barely spent any time just to myself, or really in the moment (except in the moment with kittens). (Kittens is the theme of the month, obviously.) So the last month has felt like one big long dream that I can barely remember. Not a bad month, necessarily, but I feel like I need some real definitive sleep and awake time.

Reading and Watching
It has been incredibly difficult to read this month, what with taking care of two needy kittens. (See? This is the theme!) I barely managed a single book through mid-month, and only finished the last three in the last 1.5 weeks. For a time, I wasn’t sure I’d managed more than the one! I also abandoned my newest running memoir because 40% in, it sounded like one long advertisement for positive thinking from someone who had drunk very deeply of the koolaid, and I didn’t know how I could stand another five hours of that. Oh well. By far my fave book of the month is the one that I took the longest over reading – Every Gift a Curse.

On the other hand, TV was pretty much my go-to when I needed downtime. I finished watching the Junior Bake Off season that I’d been halfway through pre-cruise, binged my way through the new Manifest releases and Ultimatum: Queer Love, and tried out a bunch of new shoes with L (Schmigadoon, The Shrink Next Door, The Big Door Prize). We all went to watch the new Spiderverse in theatre, too, which was excellent except for the major cliffhanger none of us knew it would end on!!! Toward the end of the month, the new trash shows like Temptation Island and The Big D popped on, so yeah I’ve been watching those too. My brain has definitely needed no-thoughts time!!

Goals
I spent this month surviving, not working toward goals. Other than the every-month kinds of goals (like printing photo books), the only things I crossed off the list were two new-to-me hanging event/locations: Hopscotch and a new tattoo shop! Both have been on the list for years, so I’m happy to finally get to them. I also finally revamped my bucket list to make this an ongoing, changeable format rather than trying to just update it every few years into new lists.

Health/Fitness
I was very happy to hit a few weight-based milestones, but otherwise, there has been almost no progress in terms of health. I haven’t exercised anywhere near as much as I liked (re: kittens and heat), and I’ve spent a lot of time napping. I miss being on a cruise, where I had to walk everywhere. Honestly, if I could spend a few years living on a boat like that? Absolutely I would. But I’m not going to complain too hard – this is the first year in several where my health has been relatively stable. I’m miles better than where I was at this time last year!

Favorite Photos
I didn’t take a whole lot of photos this month. It was very hot and I was very busy. Even my personal monthly photoshoot was done in a random, haphazard fashion that was quick, easy, and frankly boring. But here are the month’s highlights.

A baby anole whose body was no bigger than the top of my thumb (!!!); two extremely cute photos of Florence; and a laughing outtake photo of Reneé and Rozzie at Mildfire

Portrait of a cashier who ought to be a model; portrait of a child half in this world, half in the world of the fae; my one good photo from my rushed-and-aborted June self portrait shoot; “walking with his ghost” – a portrait of movement and reflections inside the dancing light room at Hopscotch

Highlights of June
Moments that floated out of the dreamlike fog, some of which still have to do with kittens:

• being in the right place at the right time to save a kitten, and then the intake coordinator for fosters at ADL allowing her to become an official foster
• Fleabag/Florence sleeping on my chest/neck at night
• the sole random sunflower that began to grow in our front yard finally bloomed!
• finally doing a tiny photoshoot (with L) in an area that caught my attention a few months back
• getting photos printed for my giant US States Visited map!
• hitting a new health milestone!
• hanging out at Mildfire with L, Reneé, and Rozzie
• Mysterium Park (new game that I love so much, though L hates it, heh)
• my new zoom lens, so much better than the last two! (Including one that literally stopped working after half a dozen uses!)
• pinball night with friends –>
• Hopscotch!
• my awesome Sel box from the Sanderson kickstarter, which includes a wax seal kit!
• setting up next summer’s vacation with J, as well as a solo vacation this coming autumn
• figuring out what I want to do for my next tattoo, finally! Then setting it up, and getting it done on the last day of June! I’ll write up a post about this once it’s healed enough to get good pics.

Coming up in July
It’s our second-biggest birthday month, but other than birthdays, it’s just heat heat and more heat. Given that June suddenly turned into a major heat wave with record-breaking temps, I’m a little scared of what’s coming…we were spoiled with a relatively cool April and May! My brother is also supposed to come visit sometime this month, so I’m looking forward to that. Plus a break from foster kittens for a bit. Maybe we’ll actually get our living room painted two months after we bought the paint for it!