Hey All:

I just wanted to pop in here to say that on Monday, I lost a dear, dear friend of mine who I've known since I was 14. I lost my dad when I was 20, and he stepped into that role big time and was a huge part of my life. He was like a father to me, and now he's gone and I am...not doing very well. On top of that, on Tuesday, Chris wrecked his car and on Wednesday, I got some bad medical news that is looking like it will involve pretty invasive surgery and ALSO last week, I found out our home needs multiple thousands of dollars in repairs from water damage that we didn't know about...and all of that is on top of gestures vaguely at the state of America.

I'm not doing great, and I feel such a responsibility to this community and to all of you, and one of the big things that I love doing the most here are your customs. I know a few of you have been waiting a long time for them- I try to get a couple of done a week, but the past few weeks have just been awful, and this week, especially, has kind of just broken me a little bit.

I'm not okay, and so I just want to beg your patience and your understanding. If you are mad or upset, I take full responsibility for the wait- I didn't realize how emotionally vulnerable custom content can be, and so I tend to need to be in the right headspace to make customs I'm proud of-- and the past few weeks have just been an avalanche of awful that I'm really starting to feel the effects of.

I work really hard to normalize conversations about mental health and advocating for your needs, and even still, this is really hard to write because I feel like I'm admitting that I'm a failure or something. I know that's silly, but that's what my Scumbag Brain is telling me, so I just wanted to thank you all so sincerely for being here and for extending me the grace, kindness and compassion and support you show me here in this space.

Anyway, I don't want to bring the room down more than I already have, but I just wanted to let you know what is going on with me, and so if I'm a little slower to respond or am a little scattered, please know that it's not you and that I am just infinitely grateful that you're here.

Love you,
Catieosaurus.