Farewell 2022

We have reached the final day of 2022.  Who else is having a hard time believing that the year is coming to an end?

Since last week's blog, we have celebrated Christmas, and I have had a week off from work.    

From last Thursday through last Saturday we got a decent amount of snow.  The snowfall along with some big winds made it hard to gauge how much snow we got, and the drifting made shoveling fun.   It also made the roads less than perfect for Holiday travel.

After a slow and slippery drive, I spent Christmas Eve with Nicol, Tyler, and Fiona.  We had a mid-day celebration with our traditional holiday snacks and some new treats.  We enjoyed our snacks and watched the Lions game before our gift opening fun.  Fiona wasn't very interested in opening her gifts; she just wanted to chew on them.  

After gift opening, I was happy to spend time with Fiona reading some of the books I gave her.  Nicol made Chickpea taco bowls for our dinner, which were delicious.  

Peaches and Mina were happy to join in on the fun.  Peaches loved snuggling with Tyler and getting love from Nicol, while Mina zoomed around acting like a crazy fool and kept trying to kiss the baby.  It was a memorable first Christmas Eve with Fiona and Mina and I enjoyed our time together very much.  I look forward to many more!

Since I didn't want to deal with crazy drivers and slippery conditions on the Expressway, I drove the entire way home on Grand River.  It was slow, but I had nowhere to be so I turned on the Christmas music and made the most of the drive.  It was the perfect drive and I felt very festive by the time I arrived at home.

Christmas morning brought more driving on bad roads to get to my parent's for our Christmas celebration.  The normally 1 hour drive took almost twice that, but I arrived safely. 

We celebrated with gifts and lunch with my brother and his family.  It was nice to get to spend some time with the kids.  I can't believe how fast they have grown up!

I headed home before dark and arrived home shortly after sunset.  After a long day, it was nice to be home with the girls and off of the slippery roads.  We ended the evening with our own quiet little celebration at home with some left over snacks, and the girls finally got to open their gifts from Santa.  

It was the perfect end to our Christmas.

After spending two days running around, Monday we spent a quiet day at home, but by Tuesday we were all ready to get out of the house for a bit.

The temperatures, which had been in the single digits, finally started to rise and the sun was shining.  It was a beautiful Winter day.  We headed out to a couple of different parks, one for a nice walk on a paved pathway, and the other to test out Mina's new long leash.  She and Peaches enjoyed the additional freedom to explore and to run in the snow and we spent quite a bit of time out enjoying the day.

Wednesday was another mild day with temperatures in the 40s so we headed out for another adventure close to home.  We took a nice walk before heading to Fine Park so the girls could spend some more time playing in the snow.

Thursday morning I decided to head out to the shelter to spend some time volunteering.  They had asked for assistance transporting a cat to Soldan's which is an off site adoption partner so I figured I'd take a dog for a Sniffari while I was there.

Judy was so excited to get out of the shelter.  She loved her car ride and wiggled the whole drive.  We spent some time walking around downtown Mason and visited some of the local businesses and she had the best time.  

After an hour out and about with Judy, it was time to get back to the shelter to pick up Lebkuchen so I could get her to Soldan's. She was an excellent passenger and seemed to settle in to her new enclosure pretty quickly.  She is friendly and sweet and is exactly the kind of cat I'd adopt if I could have a cat.

I then headed home to eat lunch before loading the girls into the car for some fun. 

We spent the day picking up some geocaches and took a nice walk around downtown.  The Capitol grounds were busy and full of people setting up for the inauguration.  I don't know how I've never seen this before!

Our Friday morning started slowly, but with rain moving into the area, i got the girls out for a mid-morning walk around the neighborhood.   We had an excellent walk with the temperatures near 55 and a few sprinkles. 

It is hard to believe just one week ago we had a Winter blizzard and that the yard was covered in snow.  It is now a muddy mess!

We made a quick trip to pick up a few groceries, stopped at Soldan's so the girls could sniff around and spend the gift card they got from Nicol, picked up some lunch, and then spent the rest of our day at home watching Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.  

Our New Year's Eve will be spent watching football and of course I'll make some special treats to enjoy.  We will spend a quiet evening at home watching the ball drop on TV and welcoming a new year together.

As we say farewell to 2022, I will remember the year fondly.   While far too much of this year was focused on work and I was busier than normal which limited my ability to foster or to travel as much as I'd like, I was still able to make several trips North and we were able to complete our 100 miles on the  North Country Trail for the seventh year.

This was the year we helped Ruby find her perfect home and I'm even happier that I will be able to continue to visit her and watch her grow old.  

We were able to help Hershey live the end of his life to the fullest and then surround him with love as we said goodbye.  The joy he added to my life was worth the sadness of losing him and being a hospice foster was one of the most rewarding experiences I've had.  I'd definitely do it again.

I'm also grateful for Peaches and how well she has handled all of the change that I have brought to her life in the last year.  I'm so thankful that she is still here with us and is doing so well.  She's such a good girl.  When she came here in 2018, I never though she'd be around to greet this new year.  Every minute I get with her is a blessing. 

But the best part of 2022 was meeting the two new girls who will continue to have a huge impact on my life for many years to come.   I can't wait to watch Fiona grow and learn and I'm excited for her to be best buddies with Mina.  They are going to bring me much joy and happiness next year and beyond. 

Peaches, Mina, and I want to thank you for continuing to follow our journey.  We are thankful for all of you and look forward to sharing a 2023 of adventures near and far.  Happy New Year to you all!