After everything that has happened in the past month (moving and being hospitalized with emergency surgery), I am glad I took time off from work to end the year. I don’t go back till next Thursday. My mother thought my job was closed! I told her my job is closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, and the rest of the time, I took off!
I do have some resolutions and that is to start and finish my rehab, and continue it at home afterwards. And, of course, eat healthier and exercise. But isn’t that everybody’s resolution?
As for me, I am feeling so much better. It’s amazing how the body can be hurt and then be healed so quickly. I had a follow-up appointment last Monday with a doctor from the hospital, and he was happy with my recovery. That first and second night home after I got discharged, I was so tired and glad to be in my own bed. I got some good naps on those two days and was happy to sleep in and have early bedtimes. Nina did morning and evening Niko duty as well as all the household evening chores. It took me about a week to get back in my groove and relieve Nina. Even though I had an eye mask at the hospital, I still had nurses coming in throughout the night checking on me. I would hear them knock, and would take a quick glance to see them and give them what they needed. I was tethered to an IV, had a blood pressure cuff on, and a pulse thing on my finger. When I had to get up for a pee or a walk, I had to call for a nurse as I was a fall hazard! When I finally got everything off and I could get up on my own, I felt free! I was so happy to put comfy pants on under my hospital gown!
As for my job, I told my boss last Monday that I am so happy in where I am at and am absolutely grateful for everything.
As for being a dad, Niko makes my life so much better and I can’t get enough of him. I am looking forward to having some days out in the world with him. For the past several weeks, he has been happy to just sit on the recliner or sofa and play video games and watch his iPad (sometimes, both at the same time). Yesterday, he mentioned he wanted pizza and going to The Shops at La Cantera would be great. The Shops at La Cantera is an open-air regional shopping mall located close to where we live and there are upscale shops for shopping; APPLE, BARNES AND NOBLE, MACYS, THE LEGO STORE, STARBUCKS, just to name a few, and several restaurants that we all like. But, yes, here comes the but! He didn’t want to go out as he was happy playing Animal Crossing and watching Animal Crossing videos on YouTube Kids! So, I intervened and told Tom Nook, one of the characters from Animal Crossing, to shut the game and iPad down and not to turn them on till Niko got dressed to go out. After a few minutes, he got dressed and we all went to Marshalls where Niko and I brought matching belts and he also got a wireless Switch controller. After that, Mr. Niko boss man, requested Jamba Juice and I happily obliged where we got drinks and he got a hot sandwich. After that, Mr. Mark, the big boss man, wanted fajita tacos so I drove through a nearby restaurant and got six chicken fajita tacos with avocado (we each had two, and they were absolutely delicious).
As for being a husband, I have the best wife in the world and everyday, I tell her I love her! We make a great team in our daily activities (whether it’s taking care of Niko, taking care of the house chores, taking care of a stinky loud cat, or running an errand), and we respect each other. I love making her laugh and sometimes, it gets to the point where she cries! I am very glad I had her by my side while I was in the hospital. I needed her badly.
As for our new house, we are slowly unpacking so everyday, it feels like Christmas! We have only had trash and recycle pick-up a few times, and all those times, they have been completely full. Later today, I need to throw more stuff in both for Tuesday’s pick-up. Almost every time Nina or I have gone out alone since we moved, we stop by Goodwill to donate stuff. Last weekend, I stuffed her car full and even got four wooden chairs in there as well. Right now, I am looking at two boxes of donate stuff and I will drop it off tomorrow afternoon after my dentist appointment.
I finally have a separate room for my home office, as at our old house, I was working in the living room downstairs next to the cat’s “poop-box” and the kitchen. Now, I have a room with a door and a fantastic view of the street! I have our leather couch and a huge old bookcase, and everything fits perfectly. Oh, I also have our mini-fridge! Just need drinks to fill it! I also grabbed an Alexa so I can jam to music and a few days ago, I got a free three month subscription to SiriusXM. When I worked at Chase and had to drive to and from work, I listened to music and comedy podcast as my job was easy and repetitive (I also had a long commute to continue those podcasts). At my current job, I can’t do comedy podcasts as I need more concentration, but music, I can deal with.
I have quite a few boxes of Beatles and sports stuff that have been with me for many years. I know I have three full TV boxes filled with Beatles posters (framed and not framed). When I first started collected Beatles memorabilia a long time ago, it was the posters first! So, I will be going through everything with an eye to keep or give away!
Two things I enjoy doing after I am done with work, being a dad, and being a husband, and most of the time it’s done in the evenings when Niko is sleeping, Nina is relaxing, and the cat is trying to find a comfy spot for relaxing, is reading and writing. I don’t watch much television as I have a very short attention span and when I do, it takes several days for me to finish it.
As for my writing, I published 22 on thestatmanspeaks.com, 86 on bookmarkdad.com, and 48 on the dadspeaks.com. I don’t have any brilliant ideas for thestatmanspeaks.com next year (I did enjoy doing my GameCrafters and was a bit disappointed that some people said yes and yet, they never replied. I am going to keep on writing stuff on bookmarkdad.com and thedadspeaks.com.
As for reading, I read 130 books this year and that exceeded my Goodreads reading challenge (it was 110). I will share my book of the year tomorrow on bookmarkdad.com. I did buy myself a new Kindle Paperwhite Signature in July as the one I had prior, the power button stopped working (it actually did work with the magnetic case, but sometimes I liked to use it without the case; lighter). So, I gave that one to Nina and I used Nina’s older Kindle. But that older Kindle was older and smaller, and I didn’t like it. Hence, that is why I got a new one. The older one is now Niko’s and yes, he uses it. Right now, he is reading Percy Jackson on it as well as listening to the audiobook in the evening.
Well, that is all I have for now. See ya next year and be safe.
