Good Riddance, Fall

Today is the first day of winter, which is my favorite season of the year! I love snow and cold weather, and while both are in very short supply where I live, I still love winter so much! Today also marks the end of fall, and I'm glad to see it go because for me it was awful. Just the worst. This school year has been really rough, we lost Ginny, my grandma passed away...I've felt like I couldn't come up for air for months. I had one goal and that was to make it to winter break, so I breathed an enormous sigh of relief when it finally arrived.

I didn't write a "Life Lately" post in November because there really wasn't much to share that I hadn't already and I was in a serious funk anyway. The only time I felt happy was when we traveled to Seattle and to Lisbon, and while that could be attributed to the travel itself, it was actually about something much bigger. When we travel, it's just the two of us. So traveling felt normal. At all other times, Ginny's absence is deafening - running errands, eating dinner, going to bed - constant reminders that Ginny is no longer with us. Nothing feels normal.

So other than what I'd already written about in November, I honestly didn't have much to say. We gave most of our dog things to family and friends so that other dogs can put them to use instead of them just gathering dust at our house, which was a sad but also cathartic process. The house feels so bizarre with no dogs in it and I'm not sure I will ever grow accustomed to the emptiness. C's parents were here for a visit a few weeks ago and they commented on how quiet the house is now - no cacophony of barking to greet them when they arrived. I miss the craziness that always defined our house.

In addition to a very noticeable lack of dog begs and blankets all over the house, we put our bed back together. Since 2009, we’ve had our box spring and mattress on the floor to accommodate the short legs and fragile spines of our little gals. Our bed frame sat in the basement for all of those years and we didn't really give it much thought over the years. But once Ginny passed away and we no longer had to concern ourselves with the height of our bed, we decided to put it back together. That might not seem like a big deal, but it is a daily reminder that there are no longer any Dachshunds sleeping beside us each night.

no bed frame for 12+ years

our bed is back together now

I’ve made a point of being around friends and that has been so good for my spirits because they make me laugh and have kindly tolerated my less-than-great attitude over the past couple of months. I love them for sticking with me when I am no fun whatsoever - that includes many people who aren't pictured here, who gave me countless hugs and checked in on me frequently. I am beyond lucky to have such love in my life.

We went to two fun things recently - the Van Gogh Experience, which was really cool, and the Christmas celebration at Gaylord National Harbor. We'd been waiting for over eight months to see the Van Gogh Experience and it really did not disappoint, and the Gaylord does a magnificent job of decorating for the holidays, so that was pretty great, too!

33 years since I called this guy and
we spoke for ten hours on the phone!

If I'm being honest, I'm not really in the holiday spirit, but I am hosting Christmas this year and I'm very much looking forward to spending time with family. I'm going to appreciate every second of downtime I have until January 3 is upon us and it will be time to return to school. Until then, I will be wrapped up in a cozy blanket on the couch.

Happy Tails to you!