How are you?
No. Really. I want to know.
We are on the verge of another lockdown because there are still not enough people taking Covid seriously. Not enough people are getting vaccinated.
And now I am back to wearing a mask when out in public.
I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. I'm so tired of all of this. It wasn't enough that our kids had to learn what to do in case of an active shooter. Or that people at concerts had to wonder if this is going to be their last concert. Or outdoor festivals and markets.
It was bad enough that I had to live in a constant state of awareness of my surroundings - which let's face it, is hard enough in an open carry state. But now we have to wear masks in public - again - because Covid is not only still here, but it is mutating.
And I personally know someone - fully vaxxed for months - that recently caught Covid. And even though he is vaxxed, he said he was still knocked on his ass for a good two weeks.
So yeah, I'm exhausted. Mentally and physically.
Lucky for me, I have a really great life. Even pre-pandemic, I worked from home. I have a beautiful home from which to work. I have a gorgeous back yard to spend my free time in. If I have to quarantine again, I've got a pretty sweet set up.
And even luckier, I have a wonderful man to share it with.
And speaking of my wonderful man, we officially have decided to have the wedding in Maine!
I decided not to start a wedding blog. I think. I mean, I'm pretty sure. I think what I will do instead is whenever I feel like I want to write about wedding stuff, I will dedicate a post to it. So this won't exactly be becoming a wedding blog, but I will write about the wedding planning process on here.
I'll post a warning on those posts so you can skip them if you want to - no hard feelings.
In other news, there has been great progress with the Duncan situation!
He's been at his job for two months now. He's liking it - enough. And he has already started taking on some of his expenses. Like not just paying them, but they have been moved over into his name.
Today was a big day. Earlier this week we found out Duncan's car needed approximately $3000 of work done. He had a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee. Which quite frankly, I thought was way too nice of a car for someone his age but I also acknowledge that it wasn't my place to care about his car. But now? Well, I told Rob I felt like his car was too old, with too many miles on it (120k) to spend $3000 or more to fix it up. Especially since he has spent nearly $2000 on it in the last year already.
Luckily Rob was in agreement with me.
Sadly, Duncan was not.
See my argument was it makes more sense to spend the $3000 to get him in a more reasonable, NEW car that he could put in his name and make payments on to start working on establishing his credit. I even suggested a lease because Duncan doesn't drive a lot which would enable him to get into a nicer car for a more affordable payment.
Duncan was resistant at first - I won't get into the details of all the arguments he made over the course of the week. But I am happy to say that tonight he is the proud new owner of a Hyundai Sonata.
And even more importantly, Duncan is HAPPY. Rob said he is very excited about having a brand new car. And he's excited about making payments and being responsible.
You read that right, even though he has resisted every step of the process, he is feeling good about taking on these responsibilities.
And Rob is standing firm on his tough love and is feeling proud about it. And I know that this process was difficult for him to but I am so proud of how far he has come. I know I have been very vocal and opinionated - and rarely delicate about expressing it. Our counselor helped a lot. She helped to rephrase the things I'd been saying in a way that was less combative. And she helped Rob understand that these changes were for the greater good.
So the world may stink a bit right now, but things are looking pretty good here at #ParadiseHeld.