Write. Read. Repeat.

Hi. Hello. How are you?

It’s been almost a year since my last post reflecting on “how wild 2024 was” but the old me had no idea what a shit storm 2025 was about to go down.

I lost my father very unexpectedly in January.

Then my soul dog, Sly, in February.

Then my best friend lost her dog in March.

*Insert a bunch of family drama about me being the administrator of my father’s estate here*

We got orders to move to Annapolis, MD (the only good thing to happen this year).

But moving came with the caveat that one of my cats, Maverick, was not going to be able to make the move. His cardiologist said that he was headed to CHF any day anyway as the medications he was on were not helping at all, plus his diabetes was playing a major role in his decline. All in all, he was miserable so we said good bye to him as well in September.

Luckily, the move to MD went pretty damn well considering the nightmare of everything else going on in life. We have the most gorgeous, historical apartment/unit ever. It is currently snowing outside as I write this and the glow of the tree on the parquet flooring with a candle burning and soft classical playing and a cup of lavender latte steaming as those perfect flakes dance lazily down is exactly what I needed.

I am still working towards my Direct Transfer Associates of Art (DTA Degree) and should graduate at the end of Spring quarter 2026. After that, it will just depend on when and where we end up living long enough for me to attend university and go for my Bachelors.

While we have so far enjoyed our time here, there are still a ton of moving pieces and uncertainties going on.

The husband is currently working as an SEL at the Naval Academy. He made Senior Chief ‘Select’ (?) a few months ago (woohoo!) but the way I understand it is that he has to take new orders for that rank within 2 years or redo his boards, meaning we are only going to be here a year. He is trying to get the rank up at this station but that is all the knowledge I have. As I have said before, I am a bit of a bad Navy wife as I do not understand 80% of this shit.

On the other hand, I am not working as of right now and focusing on just college. This has been a huge adjustment. Even though I am currently moonlighting as a housewife outside of being a student, I am still finding the fact that I have no perceived purpose as absolutely anxiety-inducing. There is so much damn time in a day, I do not know what to do with it. This is not only the cleanest our house has ever stayed but I have more time (an energy) to cook more elaborate meals as well.

Now, this is obviously a good thing, but it is just plain strange to me.

I have always had a job that consumed so much of my time, patience, energy, and focus, that quitting it cold turkey is a bit of a shock to the system.

After everything this year though, I am definitely not going to complain a single second about an extra second or two to catch my breath.

I will not go into the details of my father’s death, or the process of estate management, but to all of you who have been through this, I am sorry and I feel that we are all owed one good mini mental breakdown moment.

While I am not sure how much of the blog I will pick back up next year, I do think there would be a bit of catharsis in putting thought to page (or screen in this case).

I found myself writing these out to you over the last 12 months but the motion to actually do so always seemed to slip away with the next bit of chaos raining in.

Perhaps now, I can pick it back up and send these jangled thoughts out into the world for the stranger or two to read.