Another Year Begins
My year did not end on a particular high note this year. In fact, I got what felt like devastating news. However, I’m going to make the best I can of the situation. It’s not something I want to discuss just yet, but it put me in a funk all weekend. On New Year’s Day, I tried to take my mind off of my troubles.
I cooked a nice traditional (or as traditional as I can make it in Vermont) New Year’s meal: collard greens, black-eyed peas, ham, and turkey and dressing. The turkey and dressing is not exactly tradition nor is the ham in my family traditions, but it’s the best I could do. We usually have sliced fried hog jowls (think salty bacon with a hard rind) instead of ham and chicken and dumplings instead of turkey and dressing, but I made do with what I could get.
After lunch, I took a nice leisurely drive. I needed to get out of my apartment for a bit to get my mind off of some things. I didn’t drive anywhere in particular, but I just wanted to be out and about. I just felt restless, and I really needed to clear my mind.
Yesterday, we had rain, sleet, and snow all day. We got at least a couple of inches, which will make going back to work this morning a pain because I’ll have to clean the snow off my car. I love seeing it snow, but snow removal is something I truly hate. It’s also going to be 9 degrees this morning. Our high is only supposed to be 18 degrees. (Those degrees are in Fahrenheit, by the way.)
The good thing is that our new curator at the museum starts today. I can’t wait. I have been looking forward to her starting since we lost our last curator. I’ll still have more than my usual share of work to do until she gets fully comfortable in her new job, but at least the day has finally come. I also hope that having my mind on work will help me to feel better and finally get 2022 off to a good start.
New Year, New Beginning
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
—2 Corinthians 5:17
New beginnings can be from a range of contexts. We just entered a new year. Some people may have started a new job. Others may have moved to a new city. You might even have begun a new relationship. A new beginning could also be entering a new phase of life with an updated outlook or belief, like renewing your faith or making resolutions for the new year (though we all know how well that usually goes).
The Bible offers advice and encouragement for beginning a new chapter by providing strength and support in the Word of God. Isaiah 43:18-19 tells us, “Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth.” The past two years which have been dominated by political strife and a pandemic have been awful for most of us, and in some ways the world has changed dramatically, some good and some bad. However, we need to look ahead and move forward with a renewed outlook of making the world a better, safer, and healthier place.
Ephesians 4:23-24 says we should, “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” Jesus taught us not what we should not do, but what we should do to be better people. Jesus was rarely negative and was a positive teacher. He wanted us to do good and be good. He wanted us to help our fellow human and live a righteous life by following his lead. His only negative teachings were about things people were doing to harm others. If we follow His example, this world can be a better place. It will be a world filled with love instead of hate. It will be a world of prosperity, not of poverty. It can be a world of healthiness, instead of one of sickness and death.
Ezekiel 11:19 speaks of a renewed spirit, “Then I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within them, and take the stony heart out of their flesh, and give them a heart of flesh.” Let us live by faith, trusting in God through uncertainty and tribulation. May God bless you with a new beginning in the new year of 2022!
Solo New Year’s Eve
I was supposed to be going to New Queers Eve (NQE) tonight with friends; however, because of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 and rising case numbers, NQE has been postponed until March 4. That means it will be about two weeks after Winter Is a Drag Ball, which has “The Good, The Bad, and The Fabulous” as its theme in 2022. For that, I have an outfit, and with just over two months until the postponed NQE, I should have an outfit figured out for that one too.
Since I will not be going out tonight, I’ll ring in the New Year with Isabella, but she won’t be getting any champagne, although she might get a kiss if she lets me give her one. I am sure by midnight, she’ll be sound asleep, or she’ll be pestering me to go to bed. She doesn’t like me staying up late, which may have everything to do with me sleeping later when I do stay up, and if I sleep later, then she gets fed later. She expects her breakfast no later than 5:45 am, but earlier if possible.
If you do end up going out tonight please be careful. If you don’t know the vaccination status of everyone, and probably even if you do, please wear a mask. Have fun if you do, and I hope you get a kiss from someone you love or just someone you want to make out with or someone you want to be your first fuck of the year. I’ll live vicariously through y’all.
Photo Credit: Twitter
The Stages of Annoyance
Disclaimer: This post is in total jest.
I love Isabella, and she seems to love me. However, it’s very hard not to interpret her expressions or even to laugh at some of them. She is probably more full of expressions than any cat I’ve ever had. When she knows I’m about to leave my apartment, usually because I’m getting out of the shower and that means I’m probably going somewhere, she looks up at me with total adoration. She purrs and “talks” to me. She also has that look when I come home. While many cats show annoyance when you come home after you’ve been away (my previous cat did that), Isabella can’t seem to get enough of me when I come home. Eventually, she’ll settle down and usually go to sleep. Most of her expressions, though, show when I have displeased her. If you’ve ever owned a cat, you know the stages of annoyance, even if it’s the way they move their ears or they way they bite or scratch you, which Isabella can be guilty of at times, but mostly, she really is a very loving cat.
Isabella’s Stages of Annoyance
Stage 1: Opens her eyes just enough to see what’s going on.
Stage 2: “What do you want? You woke me up, it had better be important.”
Stage 3: “Okay, okay, I’m awake now. If you don’t want anything, I’ll go back to sleep.”
Stage 4: The warning, “You may not live through the night for this insolence.”
Stage 5: The final stage is always more sleep.
And, yes, sometimes, she just act like a crazy creature. She gets that look in her eyes that says, “I’m crazy.” Sometimes, she even still chases her tail. While we’ll never know what our pets are thinking, the expressions they make can be quite fun to try and figure out what’s going through their little brains.
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