Farewell 2023! Welcome 2024!

2023 in review...

1. We have remained healthy and covid-free! 

2. The cub graduated HS, and entered the School of Hard Knocks.  

 ( It was painful for him to learn about manipulators / pathological liars / and utter cruelty.  And as his mother, it was heartbreaking to witness.  Teens want so badly to be adults, but their brains don't fully mature until their mid twenties, so why are they declared adult at 18 and not 25?!  As adults we can sniff out shitty people no matter how much how they mask it.  We can caution our teens, we can point out obvious lies, educate about abuse...but sometimes they just don't want to believe it until they get hurt. )

*If I could impart an wisdom on teens it is this: Your elders do not speak up without reason, they speak up because they noticed something wrong and therefore they already know what's around the bend because they've been down that road once.  They would not endure the eye rolls or attitude if they didn't think it was worth it and needed. 

Metaphorically -  If you were on a road trip and your parent called you and said, "don't take that route because there is bad weather conditions ahead, take an alternate route" would you get annoyed and keep going, ignore the warning signs on the road, and continue until you end in a wreck?  Probably not. 

Literally - per Dr. Brenner,  "if a significant family member notices something "off" about a person that seems obvious to them, you may need to listen to them because they may see things more clearly from an outsider's perspective". 

3. The cub got his driver's license, began trade school, started working, and had his wisdom teeth removed.

4.  I am in training once again, to prep for a new role at the practice.  

5.  We took a hike in the mountains, a schlepp to B'more, and HS plays in our old hood

6.  We paddled the neighborhood flotilla for Halloween and had s'mores at the bonfire.

7.  We wandered a craft fair and garden fest.

8.  We masked up and went to see the Agatha Christie film.

9.  We watched sunsets and meteor showers and hot air balloons

10.  We tried new recipes

11. We had a drought and weird skies from wildfires, and were both sent home from work due to a tornado warning.

12. The cub bought and wrecked his first car in 4 days.  He's fine thankfully.

13.  There were rainbows, and hummingbirds

14. Gardening and a hammock

15. There were moments of sorrow, but also joy.

Dear 2024,
More ease, please.
W