All I see on Facebook is “2022 was a rotten year, 2023 has to be better” and “Good riddance, 2022”. I though 2022 was a pretty damn good year. Here’s why:
We’ve been in our home for 25 years (1997 was also a very good year) and this year we:
-Fixed the upper roof
-Got a new fence and gate and landscaped the strip inside
-Chopped the big tree down in front of the house, causing my front garden to become a sun garden instead of a shade garden.
-Planted a ton of flowers in above-mentioned garden and added a MR-designed birdbath
-Painted the dining room and then repainted the dining room then repainted it again.
I went to Hilton Head Island twice, once over Easter break with MR to visit the in-laws and once with the girls and their families during the summer. They were both great vacations! With MR- we went to the shark beach to find shark teeth, went out to eat with Yaya and Bob, walked a lot, discovered an old neighborhood and a few new beaches. With the kids- we went on a pirate cruise adventure, went to the beach, hung out by the pool, painted ceramics, played mini golf a couple of times, played illegal golf out back and hung out and enjoyed games, snacks and each other 🙂
The fam gave me birthday tickets to Hamilton and I went with the girls. We wore shirts Beena made, ate at Max Brenner’s and took selfies with the cast afterwards 🙂
I treated the girls to Come From Away before it closed on Broadway. It was fantastic 🙂
Zombiegirl and I went to Hershey Park to see Greta Van Fleet. We rode roller coasters all day and rocked out at night. The next day we went to New Hope, PA to do a little shopping 🙂
Boy turned seven and had an awesometastic Pokemon birthday party complete with bouncy house 🙂
Girl turned six and had an awesometastic Bluey birthday party and a pretzel party with her friends.
Speaking of Boy and Girl, I started going over once or twice a week in the mornings to wake them up and get them dressed and out the door to the bus because John’s hours changed and Beena has to leave early for work. It’s just like old days when I used to watch them except they’re older and a lot funnier (and more sarcastic) 🙂
Zombiegirl finished her dietetic internship and passed the exam. She’s now a Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist 🙂
I got a demotion at work and a subsequent raise and I’m making more money doing time-and-a-half overtime 🙂
Pretzel the Dog finished beginner and intermediate training at Pet Smart. She’s still too energetic and a bit of a jerk, but we love her 🙂
In May, Utah and I did a challenge to get rid of 496 things in our lives (5/1= 1 thing, 5/2=2 things, 5/3=3 things, etc.) My home is a lot lighter these days and the Vets are happy with my donation 🙂
We quit the Lions club and I joined a different Lions Club. I couldn’t take the lack of participation, enthusiasm and professionalism in the old club, even though I was slated to be President in two years and I basically came up with all the fundraisers. I was asked to step down as Treasurer (so someone else could step in) so I took that as a sign to leave. The new club is bigger (but not without it’s problem children) but my friend Kat joined with me and MR may join at a later date. We’ll see. I’m already the Peace Poster Chairperson, running around to four different schools, but it’s all good. 🙂
My body got an overhaul. Starting with a VERY expensive 12-hour stay in the ER for a kidney stone, I’ve visited the dermatologist for my painful rosacea, the podiatrist for the pain in my foot (and two rounds of xrays), got my yearly mammogram, two checkups by the gynecologist for pesky precancerous cells, the urologist for pee problems and countless visits to the dentist that included two new bridges and a root canal after the braces came off 🙂
MR and I celebrated our 25th Anniversary. We went to a “new to us” Indian restaurant and lamented how everyone (except Zombiegirl and our Best Man Rob) forgot our day. To celebrate this milestone anniversary, we booked a long weekend in New Orleans 🙂
And…we went to NOLA! Since no one did anything for our Silver Anniversary, we went over the Jewish holiday in October. We stayed in a boutique hotel with our own personal balcony and toured the French Quarter, went on a haunted history tour at night, had brunch aboard the City of New Orleans paddlewheel boat, went to the National World War II Museum and the State of Louisiana museum in the Cabildo, ate beignets and gumbo and found some famous houses in the Garden District. The only thing we didn’t like was Bourbon Street with it’s drunks and special smell, lol. MR never wanted to go to NOLA, but now he wants to go back. 🙂
Zombiegirl got a job as a RDN! She’s working per diem full time at Mt. Sinai South Nassau hospital.:)
I finally got my pistol license after waiting a year and a half. We went out and bought me a new Ruger 🙂
Zombiegirl and I went halfsies on a laser and started a craft business (SKAMP Designs) 🙂
Pop-pop and I continue to call each other every day and on Wednesdays, he comes over and we go to our neighborhood deli and get sandwiches to take home. It’s something I look forward to every week. 🙂
It was a very good year and 2023 will be even better!
Inner Pieces 