What am I up to these days? My world largely consists mostly of rolling out of bed, feeding the cats, putting on soft clothes and working from my home office except for the 3-4 days a quarter I travel to Chicago to work in hard clothes. In the evenings I enjoy whatever delicious meal Will has prepared--for I've offloaded the cooking to him almost entirely--and then we settle in for an evening of unwinding, throwing treats around the living room for the cats to hunt before going to bed and doing it all again the next day.
Of course, there are the exceptions.
California Adventure
When my old friend Patrick invited us to his April Palm Springs wedding, I jumped at the chance to make a week-long vacation out of it and finally show Will the place where I spent the better part of my 20s: San Diego, California. We went straight to an In 'n' Out Burger as soon as we got our rental car and headed up to the Moonlight Beach Motel where I spent a few days back in 2022. I introduced Will to some of my favorite people, places, and things around various parts of the city and after a few days he said, "I barely understand why you left." Look, if wishes were fishes, babe, we'd all swim in riches and somehow be able to swing a home west of the 5 in Encinitas and also have our Pennsylvania friends and family nearby. I do miss California in many ways, but hoo boy, I do not miss the cost of living there.
 |
| Moonlight Beach, still my favorite beach after all these years |
 |
| I wouldn't mind getting raptured here |
 |
| The Birthday Boy, taking it all in after hearing me talk about California nonstop for 8 years. |
 |
| Enjoying an afternoon stroll around Balboa Park after seeing my old neighborhood of Hillcrest |
Patrick's wedding was a great way to cap off the trip, as it was everything you'd want in a Palm Springs event: lots of sun, the San Jacinto mountains providing a gorgeous backdrop, a ceremony that brings a tear to the eye, and a reception with a good DJ and being sat with fun people. One of whom happened to be the first Kappa I was ever introduced to back when I visited Patrick at Valparaiso University while making up my mind about whether to transfer there. She graduated before I enrolled and we hadn't seen each other since, but a couple of evenings hanging out together with our husbands told me that we would have gotten along famously back then too.
 |
Stopping at an overlook while driving from the coast, through the mountains and down into the desert. California is an amazing place, y'all. |
 |
| Happily celebrating Patrick and Kristine along with Sabby (my Valpo Kappa sister) and her husband |
 |
| Man, we've come a long way--20 years, in fact--since the days of sorority formals |
Our Dear Watson
Hovering in the back of our minds while we were in California was the health of our sweet boy Watson. He was by then about 14 and on a daily regimen of pills for his various ailments, which included chronic kidney disease, hyperthyroidism, and congestive heart failure. All spring we had been trying to outsmart him by hiding his pills in food, treats and Churus until he caught on to every method one by one. Before we left for our trip I begged Watson to continue eating and hold on long enough for us to return, and to his eternal credit, he did.
No sooner did we come home than did he stop eating. A part of me will always feel a bit badly for letting him go as long as he did without food, but he was still coming to our bed every night to "tuck us in". Which, in Watson's world meant that he would sidle up to you, flop over, and demand that you rub his extremely soft belly while he made slow air biscuits. This had been his routine every night without fail from the time that Will had adopted him some 13 years earlier.
Then one evening Watson walked up to me while I stood in the living room. He looked at me with his glassy green eyes before gently rubbing against my leg. I reached down and stroked my hands on either side of his body that was so frail and thin that I still don't know how he was walking around. He had the same wan, pinched expression that Norman and Trinny both wore on their final days on Earth and I knew he was telling me that he was ready to go. It sounds crazy, but I think that he chose to tell me specifically because he was there when Trinny was put to sleep in my lap, and after she was gone we held eyes for a moment to acknowledge what had happened. Perhaps he knew that it would be easier for Will to make the final call if I was the one who told him that it was time.
We contacted a local veterinarian who specializes in at home euthanasia and he was there within a few hours to help us give our dear Watson a peaceful end in Will's arms. We opted to bury him up on a hill behind our house in the same area where Will's grandparents buried their dogs. There is no labor of love like digging 3 feet into hard, unforgiving Appalachian clay soil. We still miss him so much, the last of our original trio of cats.
 |
| Watson in his favorite place: Daddy's arms |
 |
| We call this the "sleepy love circle" |
 |
| Assuming the position for a belly rub |
The Virginia Friends and Family Tour
The same friends whose wedding inspired us to return to Pennsylvania made a big move themselves this year when they bought a house in a charming neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia in October. We took them up on the open invitation to visit and made a long weekend of seeing them before continuing on down the road to Yorktown to see my other parental set.
 |
| Oh look, Richmond's alive! |
Over the summer my mother had announced that they were moving back to Washington State sometime after June of next year, so I also felt the pull of seeing an area where I spent some very formative years of my youth while I still had family ties there. (Well, that and the guilt of knowing that I hadn't been to my mom's house in about, oh, 7 years. To be clear, I've seen her every year except 2020--just in other states.)
 |
| Greetings from Yorktown |
 |
| I finally got to meet my dog-siblings, Astro and Seven |
The timing of the trip coincided with our 6th wedding anniversary, which is traditionally when we take our big annual vacation. This year that wasn't in the cards for reasons I'll get to later, but it was a great "fall break".
Life in the Holler
I am a self-avowed city girl, but that does not mean that I don't appreciate what country life has to offer. For one, the views around our home are amazing and I enjoy waking up to them each day. We've settled into a nice monthly routine of taking a day trip to Costco to stock up on staples, although our closest grocery stores are only 5 minutes away, so we aren't that far out from "civilization". It does take a solid hour to get to the airport or Pittsburgh city limits, but one does get used to it after a while. I returned to my old hairdresser and while that drive is a solid 90 minutes each way, Will comes along and we turn it into a Date Night in the city afterwards.
All year long we've been diligently bringing the property back to life by cleaning up the yard, putting art and photos on the walls, and we even kept a group of 4x4 raised garden beds full of produce for a solid couple of months before I let it literally go to seed. By early spring, we agreed that the opportunity to buy the house from his parents made too much sense to pass up, so we came to an agreement with them to settle on a figure by the end of the year and start the process of getting a mortgage. We're in the thick of that now and hoping to close within the next month. This, by the way, is the reason why we didn't take a big vacation overseas this year.
 |
How does my garden grow? Very well, thank you. |
 |
| Finally put up the city art prints and maps that Will got me for Christmas...2 years ago. |
 |
| Turkeys on the lawn, just one of many animals you see around here. |
 |
| We caught an early blizzard this season--technically before the first day of Winter too. |
Forward
These are but a few highlights in a year that was also filled with more revelations about health and wellness (not much to share yet, but probably will by next year's post), about data centers (because one is being constructed ~10 miles away), and the realities of working for a company that got acquired and what that means for you and your coworkers in a time when it's an employer's market (be ready to pivot at a moment's notice).
I aim to live to fight another day and I hope you do too. Happy New Year to you and yours!
