B-Y-E N-Y-E, HELLO 2023

Once again, a new year is upon us and there are many things to reflect on 2022 and be optimistic about 2023. Regardless of how your 2022 went, it is indeed over now. So do you best to put it behind you. If it was good, do the same, but hold on to fond memories and maintain that momentum going into the new year.

As you know from our recent blogs, our 2022 was filled with many adventures, most notably our move to Florida. Along the way, we managed to celebrate our birthdays, attend a few concerts, go to Disney World and Universal theme parks. Marzz traveled to Las Vegas with her family before she left for Florida, and I traveled to Modesto to see family and friends. We both said goodbye to 10+ years at Warner Bros. Marzz purchased a used car, and I bought some woodworking tools to get my home shop up and running, which I used to make some furniture for our new home. Marzz family spent the holidays with us and our dog, Miracle, is doing well and is in good spirits as he just celebrated his 15th birthday.

There of course were some challenging times. Stress from the new construction and waiting for our closing date, among other things during that process. Stress over relocation costs and finances in general. Some health issues, but nothing too serious.

Overall, 2022 was an amazing year for us and we are looking forward to 2023. We are planners, so we have ideas and plans for our house, for some trips, and our lives in general. The most difficult part is waiting. Waiting to save up money or, waiting for a specific time of year. Having something to look forward to is important to us and we feel is a positive thing for our health. Even if our plans change, by having several things lined up, we feel like there is always something to look forward to.

How many will do the cliché of working out or going to the gym to begin the new year?

I know I could use an adjustment of my diet and exercise wouldn’t hurt either. I think I’ve made too many concessions on food lately. It’s always an excuse because it’s for a celebration, a holiday, a special occasion, or something, and you end up eating too many sweets or junk. I wouldn’t call it a new year’s resolution, but a convenience of timing. Now that the holiday’s are finished, now is a good time for someone to adjust their eating habits because there shouldn’t be too many obstacles in the next few months.

Mainly I hope to get settled into our new house. With the holidays out of the way, I hope we can focus on getting the remaining furniture that we need, putting things away where they belong and if we can do only that, I will be happy.

Of course, it won’t be that simple or quick. We’ll need to space out our purchases over time and during the week, generally we are pretty tired from work, so that leaves the weekends to be the catch all days that everything needs to get done.

In addition to settling into the house, we want to settle into the community and surrounding area by exploring more of the local hangout spots, state parks, beaches, and other parts of the state. We are still so excited to be here in Florida and thus far it has lived up to our every expectation.

I got Marzz a standup paddle board for Christmas, and she is anxious to get out on the water to try it out. If she ends up liking it, and perhaps me as well, that could be something we invest some resources and time in throughout the year. Certainly, something new for us and we’re excited to try it out. You can use it on any body of water, but the calmer water, the better.

I would like to visit some state parks and go over to the Atlantic side of the state and explore. It is quite the rabbit hole when you begin researching activities in the area, and even more so, when you expand that search to the entire state. There are so many events and things to do here, it is truly amazing. I think the thing that stands out to me the most about that, is the cost. The admission costs to state parks are low. Parking fees are low at the beaches, and you can get around without using toll roads, but even those are low. It is very refreshing for us as it is in stark contrast to southern California.

We would like to attend some sports events, maybe go to a Rays game or two next season. The Philadelphia Phillies minor league team plays in Clearwater, we may go see them as well. We have our eye on a few concerts in the area for 2023. I would like to go to the Daytona 500, just because it is a big event here, but I know nothing about Nascar.

There are some tentative plans of some of our friends coming out to visit, which would be great. If those pan out, that will certainly be something to look forward to and may combine some of our personal plans, such as visiting certain sites, with their trips.

I know I’ve rambled for several paragraphs now, but I think what I really wanted to hit here was that 2023 is only three days in, yet I feel more optimistic about this year than I have past years for quite some time. I truly hope you feel the same and I hope 2023 brings everyone sometime good.

I often think of the Credence Clearwater Revival song, “Someday Never Comes”. To paraphrase, it suggests not waiting for things because if you continue to use the excuse, “we’ll do it someday”, that someday may never come. Obviously, there are times when you just can’t, but in general, I think this is smart advice. To reference another famous quote, “there’s no time like the present”. As this pertains to 2023, I say, get out there and live. Whatever that means for you. Don’t wait, go, and do that thing you’ve been putting off, or take that trip. With the obvious caveat of, don’t get yourself into any financial or legal troubles.

Cheers to 2023. I hope it is a great year!