I'm going to have a house warming party at some point once I'm all settled in, and I want to do a theme. I'm thinking a "Wear Something That Makes You Feel Awesome" theme.

I have long envisioned having a costume closet in my house, specifically so when I host gatherings people can grab something fun to put on.

I don't really have a closet that's suitable for this purpose, but I do have this angled space under my staircase, and I'm working on a plan for how I can temporarily hang a bar there to hang some costumes on.

So if someone comes to my party unprepared for silliness, they can borrow some of my silliness:

I think I can probably pretty easily tie something around the stairs above to hang down and attach a bar to that. That piece of furniture is in a temporary location anyway.

I should note that I wouldn't permanently keep costumes in that space. For normal, daily use I'm going to put some kind of decor there.

The costume rack would just be there when I have themed gatherings.

700 days in a row on Daylio!

My sunroom is quickly becoming my favorite room in the house.

I'm really looking forward to having a beautiful back yard to look out on.

This is pretty much how I'm feeling about my new house right now.

I'm finding pleasure in the simplest things, because of my new house.

There are never dirty dishes in my sink.
I only do a couple loads of laundry a week, and I have them done before I get to the weekend.
My fridge is full of vegetables, and I'm starting to enjoy grocery shopping again.
I go to bed EARLY and the house is quiet.
I don't have a junk drawer. If I can't find a home for something, then I don't need it.

You would be hard pressed to ever convince me to share a house with anyone ever again.

I should be done with unpacking the living space of my house this weekend. It'll take a while longer to get my studio fully unpacked, but I hope to at least get it to the state that I can use it by the end of July.

I don't owe y'all this context, but I feel like balancing the above.

EH is one of the best people I have ever known. He literally kept me alive when I was in my very darkest days. I'm deeply grateful that we are both working so hard to maintain a friendship. I still love him and always will.

I have learned over the years that I have to be particular about certain things in order to keep my nervous system regulated. EH and I are both neurodivergent, but in different ways.

My autism manifests more strongly than my ADHD, and he is the opposite. The imbalance kept me in a near constant state of low level dysregulation no matter what I did, because I didn't have enough control over my home environment, the one place that I really need to be able to relax.

I am now aware of how particular these needs are. It is why I am so absolutely certain that I'll never live with anyone ever again. I am already beginning to create very strict disciplines around the house, and even the most well intentioned partner or roommate would have difficulty doing things just exactly as I need them to be done. That's a lot of pressure to put on a relationship.

I'm not in a hurry to start dating. Not even slightly. If and when I ever do, this is a boundary I will be clear on from the very beginning.

I would love to have a partner live just right next door. Heck, I'd love to have a whole community of people I love and trust within walking distance. But I need my space, and that has never been more clear than it is now, because I finally have it.