Welcoming the New Year

I'm welcoming the new year at about 2AM thanks to whatever is wrong with my lungs. Laying down is nearly impossible without going into a coughing/choking fit. I've already seen one doctor about what the hell is going on and I have appointments with at least two more with a chest CT in there somewhere. Bronchitis has already taken down both of my parents; my mom was so bad she ended up in the hospital for a couple days. My dad isn't that bad yet, but he's heading in the same direction. From what we hear, everyone is getting kicked in the head with whatever this is. 

Regardless, I can already see that I'm going to end up with five new doctors and 16 new medications. Happy New Year to me.

For us, last year wasn't anything special. We didn't do anything or go anywhere. Just plodded along putting one foot in front of the other. About the only significant event of the year was that Debbie was able to get a very part time job for the six months that we are in Florida. It's only $100 or so a week, but even that little bit takes a lot of pressure off, especially with the way the price of everything is jumping. I was hoping that 2023 would be different, but it's not off to a promising start. We have at least one big event that we are already planning for; my dad turns 90 this year so we are throwing a big bash up in Michigan around the middle of May. I'm not real clear on how we are going to pull that off when we can't even get onto the property until the end of April, but we'll make it happen. 

I expect the next year to be somewhat interesting with inflation officially still running at over 7% (the real figure may be as much at twice that) and the Fed still aggressively raising interest rates. Cars, housing and higher ed have already taken huge hits. We've talked to a couple local businesses and they are still reeling from Covid shutdowns. My parents' church here in Florida is in serious trouble. Personally, we are hanging on to every penny we can just in case things really start to wobble. We'll see if we can pull out of this or if we crash and burn in 2023.

With all that in mind, have a Happy New Year!!!