Number 52!

      Last one of the year! I’m quite happy about that. It’s so easy to just kind of pass on things, but I didn’t, I made it the whole year. I’m stoked! And I hope this is a trend that continues. I hope to have more exciting things to tell you about. On my social media feed, it reminded me that I was in Mexico for the holidays last year. It seems like a lot longer than a year ago. I know they say that time flies when you’re having fun, I don’t want to think about the reasons why this past year seemed to last a long time. But of course, as soon as I type it, I start to think about it. It’s not that we weren’t having fun, but some serious stuff went down. My wife lost her father in February. That’ll put a drag on things. Dealing with family drama, and trauma, will put a drag on things. Organizing a funeral will put a drag on things. Asking our daughter to step up or step out put a drag on things. My wife not being able to drive put a drag on things. Even at my most recent comedy show, when they asked when I took the class, I was blown away at the idea that it was only last year that I started this new journey. A lot has happened. And I guess we’re all the better for it. Perhaps it has something to do with coming out of lock down. Stuck inside for nearly 2 years, time seemed to fly. Now with the world getting back to a more “normal” state, perhaps all of the activity is making it seem like a lot of time has passed. That’s what I’m going with. As soon as I typed it, and re-read it, I had the feeling of it making sense. Nothing for 2 years, and then all of a sudden, something to do almost every weekend. That’ll make 52 weeks feel more like 104.

     Christmas was pretty good. My wife’s sister was in town with her children. They came in Friday, and left on Tuesday. My wife was very excited to see her sister, and her nephews. She wanted to spend as much time with them as possible. I accommodated. They stayed with my mother-in-law. It’s only a 20-minute trip, so we shuffled back and forth quite a bit. It was a bit of a madhouse over there. The 2 boys, 1 about to be 5, and the other about to be 3, are both on the spectrum. I don’t know how my sister-in-law does it. They’re sweet boys, for the most part, but it is still a lot to handle. And she does it all with a smile on her face. For the most part. It’s a lot of work. 2 little balls of energy without the ability to communicate or self-edit. They have to constantly be watched. I was glad to be able to help. She also has 2 stepchildren, a boy 14, and a female 17. They are “regular” children, mostly well behaved, and able to help their stepmother. They do seem to bear the brunt of their stepmother’s frustration, but they’re teenagers, and probably don’t even notice it. I hugged them for the first time as we left after Christmas dinner. I’ve known them for about 7 years. I’ve probably seen them 6 times. I’m not a big hugger anyway. This trip I kind of felt sorry for them. They didn’t seem to mind all the chaos, but I felt they might get ignored. I don’t know how everyone can get their needs met, when 2 of the 4 require a lot more attention. My wife made the teenagers stand up and hug her. I was right there. I said: “You don’t have to hug me if you don’t want to.” They kind of shrugged, like it was no big deal. So, I hugged them. What the heck.  

     My parents, and sister, came over to my mother-in-law’s for Christmas dinner also. Let them enjoy a little bit of the chaos. It was good to see them. We went over to their house for Christmas Eve. It was a little strange though, because we usually stay the night, but this year my mom said we couldn’t. She even offered to pay for our Uber, but I said I can take it easy. That was strange. Plus cancelling on us for her birthday, I’m not sure what’s going on. I know she’s having some kind of back trouble, but that doesn’t explain everything. Now we’re invited over for a New Year’s staycation. So, hopefully we’ll get some more info. It’s mostly fun hanging with them. Plus, they only live 7 minutes from us, and we still barely see them. So, when we get the chance, we make it last. Especially since, and I know it’s scary to mention, we don’t know how many more of these opportunities we’ll get. Sometimes I feel guilty for not seeing them more, but we were so apart for so long, we never really got in the habit of seeing each other regularly. Plus, none of us live very exciting lives, so there’s not much to catch up on. Retired people who rarely leave the house, and whatever it is you’d call me, don’t really have a lot to say. But I still like to spend time with them, and am excited about this weekend. We get to play some of my games, I love willing guinea pigs. We’re already working on the menu, which is another one of my favorite parts, cooking. It should be fun. We got invited to 2 other parties, but this just seemed to be the best fit. In lighter news: I finally got a video of my most recent comedy performance. They posted it on YouTube. I was reluctant to share it because of various reasons, but I did. I hope people like it.