2022 In A Flash!

I have eight minutes until 2023 so I'd better write quickly.  What a crazy year.  We went from an idea for a social media project that was just figuring out how to make our way in the crazy world that is social media and content creation to being very busy and more successful than we anticipated.   

It's been a rush.  It's been exhausting.   But that isn't anything when I think of what my children have done.   Growing up can be hard and they've navigated life well and I'm so proud of both of them. 

Happy 2023 to everyone.   Love and hugs in fact.   

It's Better! But There's Pressure Now...

It stopped!  Suddenly, for no known reason, the pain between my shoulders just stopped.  It's not back to before, but it's not like it was.   It should continue to calm down for the next several days.   What a relief.  

But now there's pressure.  My website developer decided to put a stake in the ground and pick a day to have the website go live.  We're going from no website to a full-blown one (for us) and I'm very excited about it.  

Here's what I mean about the stake in the ground.  When you go to the site as of the time of this posting, it shows this:  

I have a *lot* of work to get done before those eight-odd days are up.   I have to get the work done.   There isn't an alternative.  Deadlines can be a good thing though; we'll see if I make it.  

The Big Boy Tiny Girl Fighting Uproar:  We have guests in town.  Yes, they are guests who come a lot, but that's no excuse for bickering and being petty with each other.  And stubborn.   And don't forget the foul language under their breath coupled with insults.   I told them I was embarrassed they would act this way.   My son said he was embarrassed I cared about it.  

Shoulders Are Painful

There is this pain between my shoulders.   It won't go away.  It is driving me crazy.  It's not that bad but it's awful at the same time.   

I hate when these annoying things happen.  Sometimes they go on for weeks, sometimes it's for a day or two.  

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter brought me a guinea pig this evening when I lay down to get away from some of the pain in my back.   Then she brought me a second guinea pig.   Then she brought me some of her dinner of a homemade pizza she and her father had made.   She is very sweet. 

The Big Boy Update:  My son saw the guinea pigs heading back upstairs and said, "Oh, can I have them to snuggle with?"  His father said they hadn't been to the bathroom in a long time and were very antsy.  My son didn't want to get peed on and passed. 

Shoulder Dagger

I am having one of those pains that you can't get away from that is so difficult to deal with mentally.   The pain isn't that bad in and of itself.  It wouldn't rank high on the pain scale, but wow does is drive you crazy when it won't stop for days.  

I've been to the chiropractor three days in a row and given how I'm feeling tonight I'll be back in the morning.  My daughter brought me guinea pigs to spend time with me while I laid on my back on a large icepack.  She is so sweet. 

The Children and Guinea Pigs:  My daughter sees with her hands.  But her hands move SO fast.  We are so worried she's going to hurt the guinea pigs.  She would be devastated if she did, it's just a parent's place to worry.  My son is very laid back about the guinea pigs.  He likes them quite a lot and commonly has one in his late, spending time with him while he's playing this video game or watching a video.  My husband and I like them just as much.   I really wish Matisse liked them and we weren't concerned she was going to eat or hurt one.  

Sugar Detox

I think starting in January when all the cookies and cake and candy has been either consumed or thrown away we're going to have to go through a sugar detox as a family.   We've eaten so much of it in the past few months that our brain thinks about it way more than it should.  

My son can be caught eating candy any time of the day. 

My daughter can be caught eating candy in place of meals if we're not there to coordinate something.

Their mother is no better; she eats far too much candy.

We're going to have to make some changes because this much sugar isn't good for any of us. 

3% of a Second

My son has a very good memory.  He can keep track of every single card in a complex deck of Magic the Gathering, plus all the spells, cards and abilities of the other colored decks.  It is definitely something children do with ease that makes their parents feel their age because we can't keep up with their little minds moving so quickly. 

One of the things my son has been interested in for a long time is "glitches" in games.   Back when I was young we called them 'bugs' and for the most part that is the defacto term for when a piece of software isn't behaving as expected.  My son is interested in when a glitch gives you, the player, the ability to do something you otherwise couldn't do with the game mechanics or rules. 

For instance, there could be a glitch when you ground pound as Mario if you happen to press the L2 button at the point of impact it lets you do another ground pound.   If you can keep this timing up, you can make it over large expanses that you couldn't reach until much later in the game. 

That's a useful glitch, he's moved into the esoteric glitches now.   He demonstrated today a special thing that happened only when the particular creature in the game (It was a lively chomping plant) had gotten wet.  While wet, you could do a double jump and when you land on its head, if you got the timing just right, you would launch into the air.   You could keep doing this, jumping higher and higher.   The only trouble was, the window in which you had to time your reactions was a thirtieth of a second.  

That's correct, 1/30th a second or 33 milliseconds.  My son was practicing.  He was going to master this glitch.   It was hard, but that didn't deter him.   It was a crazy window of time, but that didn't bother him. 

I love that he's interested in how the games work just as much as how the games are played.

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  My daughter hasn't wanted to take care of our neighbor's dog, Charlotte, today and last night.  I think it's been because it's so frightfully cold outside.   My husband and I did the dog duty today.  My daughter says she'll be up for helping tomorrow again. 

A Beautiful Day

It really was a beautiful Christmas day.   My in-laws and parents were here; we opened present after present and had a great time talking over each other and trying to move along or keep talking about the existing present.  

The children took turns and worked together to be Santa, with my daughter reading the braille labels she's typed up for every present.   There were a lot of presents, but there were presents from grandparents down two levels and grandchildren going up two levels with parents in the middle having presents that went up and down.  

The Guinea pigs were fun to spend time with after the presents were finished, and then it was time to go to Nana and Papa's house for a delightful meal hosted by the champion of dinner parties, my mother-in-law.   She had it all prepared, and my father-in-law was her assistant when it came to the champagne.  

We got to see Aunt Rebecca, Uncle Dale, and cousin Olivia, who just graduated from College!   The exclamation mark is because it is hard to believe the amount of time that's gone by.   

It was a wonderful day on many levels.   I am most grateful that we were able to spend it with Mimi, Gramps, Papa, and Nana.   As well as having a chance to see Olivia.   She is "all grown up".  but so are our children.  Two years distanced in time and children are grown up from how you saw them last.  

Thank you to all the present purchasers, present wrappers, meal cookers, cleaner uppers, and anyone who did something to make today happy and bright.   Christmas 2022 will definitely be one to remember.