I’m Feeling 2022

Happy new year! I hope that you enjoyed your New Year’s Eve. At midnight I was already tucked into bed, watching funny Betty White clips on my phone while Cute W slept next to me. We’d had long-established plans to travel for Christmas, and I’d felt pretty terrified that we were all going to catch Covid on our flights and give it to Cute W’s parents, and while so far it appears that we managed to get through our travels uninfected (knock on wood! knock on wood!), I still don’t feel quite right about mixing it up in public except when it’s absolutely necessary until a few more days pass by. Which, honestly, is just as well because I am enjoying lounging around very much.

So! December flew by. There was quite a bit of online shopping and cooking and prepping to celebrate Christmas a day early before leaving on our trip, plus school and work were busy, so it felt a bit hectic.

M came home, her first visit since we dropped her off at college in August. She loves it. More like, LOVES-LOVES-LOVES it. College is now home and M’s not exactly sure how she can endure the several weeks away from the friends with whom she has thoroughly bonded. Living in our house is boring-boring-boring by comparison, although we’ve been easing her pain by cooking a long list of her favorite meals. And any teensy bit of temptation that I may feel to sulk at how quickly we have been discarded in her heart is far outweighed by satisfaction knowing that she’s having a wonderful experience so far. Really, we are so, so fortunate. So many kids go off to college and they are homesick or they realize that they picked a place that isn’t right for them or it’s way too difficult or way too easy and they are considering whether they have to transfer and if so, where. . . ugh. College is expensive, and I would be really, really cranky if we were putting down a chunk of change for our kid to be miserable or even just “meh.” It feels way easier to pay when you know your kid is having a delightful experience and making lifelong friends.

M has taken advantage of the labor shortage to score some temporary work while she’s home this month, so that should help her pass the time, and she and one of her friends from Breckenridge have been trying to score interesting summer employment, so stay tuned for that one. J, meanwhile, has been busy with school and clubs–she’s skipping indoor track to have more time for other pursuits that she’s been liking. Of course, all of their current joy and future plans could be squelched by another major shutdown, so that is causing me some constant, low-simmering anxiety. For now, at least, it seems like the in-person learning will continue (yes, I knocked on wood again), and M’s college has already said that boosters and N-95 masks will be required and everyone will test when they come back. Meanwhile the high school seems to be planning on in-person schooling in spite of the fact that a sizable contingent of students won’t even pull the masks over their noses and become belligerent when confronted, so I feel a bit less optimistic about how that’s going to go, but J really, really doesn’t want to have to go back to online schooling. So fingers crossed.

Our kitty Ruth is back to normal after being sick for quite a while, and she’s put on a little weight again, thank goodness, because she was fur and bones for a while. Dave, meanwhile, has kept the chonk he acquired while helping himself to all the food that Ruth ignored while she was sick, and I am expecting to get chastised when I take him to his annual vet appointment this week. They particularly enjoyed playing around the Christmas tree and presents this year.

Speaking of presents, some of the biggest hits for the girls this year included footwear. I took this shot of them while we were waiting at baggage claim.

M is wearing super-adorable slippers from L.L. Bean (they have a hard sole so you can wear them outside if you’re so inclined). I am extremely sorry to tell you that it appears that they have run out of the goat design, in which this cutey-patootie goat is sticking out its little tongue, but there are other patterns that are almost as cute, and she reports that they are very comfortable. Meanwhile, J has turned up the fun with these sneakers that are apparently Jelly Belly Club themed, which we don’t care about, but they are very colorful, and do please note her embroidered pineapple socks. Except I just realized that I don’t have a link for those, because they were a gift, but she also got these daisy socks and apparently fruit embroidered socks are a thing, and who knew? I am very happy to know it now.

Here’s hoping that 2022 is a vast improvement over the first two years of this decade. I think everyone deserves it.