mousme | The Weirdest Start Yet... (Reply)

I'm back-dating this post from LJ which I couldn't cross-post because work doesn't allow access to DW but does to LJ, for some reason. *shrug*

2022 is starting out, well, weirdly. The newest COVID-19 variant (Omicron, for future reference) is surging and is proving to be the biggest wave of all after nearly two years of this pandemic nonsense. It feels off to wish everyone a happy New Year when right now things seem bleak, and yet I still want to do it, because I think we can still be happy even when things are going to shit, but it's also difficult to do that without it landing really wrong with a lot of people.

I've been absent from LJ mostly since KK moved in and even more especially since I got Pixie, the newest Brittany puppy. I forgot just how much chaos a puppy brings into the house, but now that she's here I remember spending the first year or so of Peggy's life despairing that I would ever have time for anything except damage control ever again. It feels like every minute I have "free" (meaning not working or sleeping) I am spending hovering over the puppy like a hyperanxious surveillance drone, worried about what she'll get into next, who she might inconvenience (KK or the neighbours) or what she might destroy because she is not so much a puppy as a super adorable velociraptor. On the other hand, when I take a minute and remember that I went through the same thing with Peggy, it gives me hope that this will not be the case forever. I just have to hang in until the velociraptor stage is over.

As for the rest, I've been doing well, overall. Having KK as my roommate has been really nice. For the first time in my life I'm sharing my living space with someone who not only seems to enjoy my company but is actively helpful with stuff that's important to me and willing to communicate and discuss things as they arise. I've never had all those things at once, and it's weird but very nice.

Work has been... work. That's fodder for a much longer post, because there have been shenanigans and nonsense, but I have managed to maintain an even keel for myself in the midst of all of it, and I am very proud of myself for that.

I miss my friends, not going to lie. I've missed checking in on LJ-land, too, and I am going to try to be better about that. I have a number of resolutions for this year (not in the sense of New Year's Resolutions of becoming A Better Person, but just things that I have resolved to do), and staying in touch with the people I care about more is one of them. A big part of that will mean figuring out how to manage my time better, because it just keeps getting away from me. That one's going to be a challenge, because I've never successfully managed my time in my nearly 43 years of life. I can but try, right?

I honestly don't know what 2022 is going to look like. I'm hoping for some personal growth, and I am praying for improvement in the world in general. I don't have a ton of faith in any of our political leaders to consistently make the right choices for humanity, but I also refuse to give into despair. I will try to make changes where I am able, and keep my faith.

In short, I think it's time to resurrect the .gif I used for a couple of years to usher in the New Year, and channel Gillian Holtzmann now that January is underway. We got this, y'all. Let's go.