Final Post of the Year

I suppose I could have gone somewhere or done something noteworthy over the break, but I chose to stick close to home. I didn't even go hiking. The closest thing to that was the walk to downtown that Jeanine and I did yesterday. That said, I guess I walked around Berkeley a bit too, when Jeanine and I went to meet up with Greg, my cousin Peter with his twins (recently turned 4), and aunt Marilyn. This is the first time Marilyn has been out to California since before I was born, and Peter has been showing her around. We managed to cross paths twice while she was here, once at home, and then in Berkeley, where we spent most of the visit in bookstores.

Christmas came and went. Greg ventured down. Presents were exchanged and food was consumed. Eva's present arrived just in the nick of time, and one of Willow's is still not here. If it shows up, she'll be getting it for her birthday instead.

I got Eva a colony of Dermestid beetles, which are mostly used for cleaning animal skulls. Come to think of it, I might borrow them from her if I find anything interesting at work. So far, the beetles have only eaten cat food, but a couple of days ago I found a dead rat on the lawn, so we'll see how that goes...

Oh, we might have a new cat. A couple of days ago, I spotted a fluffy, white cat in the yard. It was too busy watching the chickens to take notice of much else. Jeanine went out and brought it in. She took it to the vet to see if it had a chip, and it does, but the chip was never registered, which essentially makes it useless, meaning we have no efficient way of finding the owner. So far, no bites on Craig's List or the local community forum either.

This will undoubtedly be my final post of the year. Willow is here this weekend, and we don't plan on going out anywhere tonight. Jeanine has a couple of gigs, but should be home well before midnight. Tomorrow, I plan on going to Gilman for the first part of the Lookouting festival, which is spread out over this weekend and the next. Eva was there last night and her friend's car got broken into, so she lost her phone and an expensive make-up kit. A parting kick from 2016? I guess that neighborhood has never been the best, but I always felt perfectly safe parking there. Until now. Jeanine had the foresight to insure Eva's phone though, so a replacement is already on the way.

But I ramble...

Willow has a plan to try going vegetarian, at least for the month of January. Today, she wants to go out and have a burger though. I'd laugh, but I spent yesterday buying a crapload of music online in preparation for my plan to buy none during January. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, I guess...

2016 definitely had some lowlights, none of which I'll recap here. One highlight for me was that 2016 was the year that I finally started to learn how to play guitar. It's also the year that I ended my time as the night supervisor at camp and went back to being a field instructor. We got a new boss too, and she's a breath of fresh air after the interim director we were briefly saddled with.

Politically, I despair. Personally, I'll keep doing what I do. Yeah, I have some so-called resolutions in mind. Maybe some of them will stick this year. In addition to my annual attempt to cut down on my unsustainable music spending habits, I'm going to try and severely limit my time online at the start of the year, at least when it comes to Facebook and such. Recently, Willow actually voluntarily deleted some of her social media apps, so she has finally (independently) come to the conclusion that she spends to much time on social media as well. This way, we'll be able to benefit from mutual support.

Here's to the coming year. Let it be a good one.