I wish I thought of posting to this blog more frequently. I so enjoyed reading the last post, especially Camille’s toddler phrases I didn’t/don’t want to forget. I had already forgotten some of them!

In the same vein, here are some things about the kids right now or in recent history that I don’t want to forget:

Camille:

• “Suit yourself.” (5 years old)
• “You have two options. They are…”
• “I ramdombly stepped in it on the way to my bed.” (referring to a puddle of Penny piddle on the fluffy rug in her room)
• “Hospitdottle” or “Hosbottle” for hospital
• Has gotten much better with Penny of late (mostly). Wants to rub her tummy or give her toys more than she wants to kick her or have Penny chase her until she’s in tears from Penny’s biting.

Jonah:

• “Litrally” for literally, and no, he’s not using it correctly.
• Asked a lot of questions that danced around the Santa issue during holiday season 2022. He finally out right asked Janet during a late night chat session if Santa is real or if we/parents are Santa. Janet got his assurance that he really wanted to know, which he did, and she told him the truth. All three of us are a little sad about the end of this magical time in his childhood, even if Santa isn’t a big deal in our family. We told him he could forget and pretend next Christmas, since I pretty much do every day except after bedtime on Christmas Eve.
• Still wants to snuggle every night as he falls asleep. Still sleeps with a lovie, currently Stinky the Build-A-Bear skunk. It’s frequently Snowy (the light blue, softest ever polar bear that cost 2x what I expected it to at Richards a couple of years ago, but we’ve since determined – again and again – that he was worth it) or Fluffy (teddy bear from the Vermont Teddy Bear Company that he got on our 10-year anniversary trip to Burlington in July 2021).
• Still obsessed with the weather.

Janet:

• Works exclusively for Q Med, kicking ass and taking names.
• Is working out a lot, which is a boost to her mental health. Her abs are still rock hard, and her butt is the cutest ever.
• Has really gotten into caring for Penny over the last month. Penny is more frequently with Janet during the day than with me right now. They love each other.
• She’s enjoying living so close to her BFF and seeing her pretty much daily. She and Steph have a strange, kismet-y bond that endures. They are frequently the same person.

Me:

• Still trying to figure out who I am and/or who I want to be.
• The move to Virginia has been good for me. It’s exposed a lot of what I already knew was “wrong” by eliminating distractions, highlighting shortcomings, and giving me an opportunity to make changes.
• I miss Atlanta more than I’ll admit to anyone. I wish we were still there. I wish we hadn’t moved, but I’m more grateful for the opportunity to change. It’s a real struggle to reconcile in my head.
• I’m in therapy, working with a personal trainer, seeing a chiropractor once or twice a week, and I just got a new psychiatrist. I’m trying – really hard – to stay on top of my mental and physical health.
• I’ve been working out with frequency! Hallelujah! I want to keep it up and ramp it up in 2023. I want to be strong and fit. I want to be capable. I want to take my body on adventures with confidence and excitement. Dread no more.
• I’ve started to embody the long-held belief that stuff in my physical space equates to clutter in my mental space. There’s still opportunity to clear out and clean up more, but we’ve made good headway in the last six weeks. Katie the professional organizer has been so helpful.

I formed an LLC today. Boring Queers! I want to do two things: 1) Create a boring queers journal [still noodling this idea, but done is better than perfect!] and 2) start the BQ podcast. These are my Q1 goals.

My mantra for 2023 is a carryover from 2022: Good enough.