Everyday Life: January

Time to take a break and recap how 2023 started.

2023 did not start off well. My husband and I came home from shopping on a weekday night and our dog, Nibbler, had what we thought was a seizure. Her eyes were going back and forth and she was unresponsive. We took her to the emergency vet and were told that she had fluid around her heart. Her condition quickly deteriorated while we were at the vet. After some time with her, we decided not to bring her home and put her to sleep.

Nibbler was a great dog. She let me drum on her belly and would paw at you if you stopped giving her attention. She carried around her babies and would bump them against you. She didn’t do it to play. She didn’t want you to take it and throw it. Nope. She just wanted to say, “Hey! Look at my toy!”

The one thing that used to irritate me is the thing that I miss the most. We allow our dogs to sleep with us. I know some people don’t. She would plaster herself against my back and hog all the blankets. I can’t count the number of times I was barely on the bed with only the sheet and her body heat keeping me warm. I miss that.

The emergency vet was awesome during the whole process. The vet was very compassionate and very informative. She let us know exactly what was going on, how much time she had left, and what our options were. The technicians were great as well. Nibbler was individually cremated and has since returned home to sit next to her cat brother, Kronos. They provided an imprint of her paw, a lovely wood urn, and a patch of her fur. No one wants to put their pet to sleep, but I really appreciated their professionalism.

RIP Nibbler.

After the passing of Nibbler, my last, and final, semester of school started. Quickly, I learned that this semester is going to be the hardest semester since I started school. My capstone class is a 25-page research paper. To be honest, I am not too afraid of it. I had to write a 20-page paper for my Biology II class. But, I know that it takes time. I am also taking a human resource development class that is a group project. I thought I was going to finish my bachelor’s degree without having to do a group project. Unfortunately, this was not meant to be. I loathe group projects. There are a ton of reasons, but I won’t bore you with them. Just know, I LOATE them. I am also taking a compensation class. Luckily, the class is taught by a professor I had before so I am familiar with his class format. This professor is well-organized and presents his lectures/material well. We started off with a bit of economics, and my brain was not having it. My final class is advanced composition. So, I committed to a lot of writing. If all goes well, I will graduate with a 4.0 institutional GPA and obtain summa cum laude.

Right after I graduate, we’re taking a week-long Alaskan cruise. This cruise is not only a graduation present but a 10-year anniversary present. Our 10-year anniversary was the year we went into lockdown for COVID. We had originally planned to go to Japan, and luckily, I didn’t buy tickets. I had found tickets that November that were reasonably priced when rumblings of COVID began.

So, that is how my January went. I hope that you all had a better start to your year.