It's Been a While...

Hi there. Remember me? No? That's okay. Pull up a seat and maybe it'll all come back.

I haven't been around at all. Life's been... busy. I went back to school to (finally) finish my bachelor's degree. I'm majoring in History, minoring in English, at Rutgers University. It's been awesome. At least, my first semester was, last fall. I carried 15 credits and made Dean's List, thankyouverymuch.

This semester, however, has been different, to say the least. I'm carrying 15 credits again and I think I'm doing pretty well. But then COVID-19 swept through the land and now I'm remote schooling, which mostly sucks because I really do miss the classroom aspect of it. I miss the discussions and interactions mostly. My professors have done a great job of navigating such untested, uncharted waters, and all in all, I think my grades will be just fine. One more year and I'm done.

My family has been through some changes as well. Thing One graduated high school last year and is a freshman at college. Remote schooling as well, but also doing fantastic. Thing Two is finishing up 8th grade and will be a high school freshman next year, which is still a little unsettling to think about, now that I think about it.

We adopted this guy here in January. His name is Salem and he is a slinky boi... He's still really skittish, but settling in. I don't know his history, but my guess is he was an alley cat. He moves without a sound and is really good at hugging the walls and is fast as mercury...

Salem. He is always plotting.

He and Oreo play (at least, I hope it's playing) tag every night. Down the stairs. Up the stairs. They sound like the brothers in A Christmas Story when they're racing to get up the stairs to go to bed on Christmas Eve. But Salem is a lover as well, and will wrap all around your legs. Usually when you're trying to walk.

Oreo. I swear, she's not broken. She doesn't quite get how to cat...

We've also had a loss. A huge loss. On March 19, 2020, we said goodbye to our pupper Roxy. On Earth Day, 2009, she joined our family and coincidentally, it fell exactly the same as it did this year. She'd been diagnosed with two different types of cancer in 2017 and finally, it won. Words cannot possibly describe how much I miss her. This photo was one of the last ones I took of her. :( My house still seems freakishly quiet without her.

My Roxy-doo. I miss her beyond belief
8/1/2007 ~ 3/19/20

So, that's that. Here we are, under quarantine, waiting for the world to right itself. And it will. And hopefully we'll have learned something from it.

I don't know if I'll update again any time soon. It's been a rough couple of years, both personally and professionally. But never say never, right?