We’ve sung the carols, watched the movies, stared at red and green decorations for the last two months, and consumed more eats and drinks than our belts would have liked.

Now it’s time we reflect on the last 12 months and plan for the next 12 months. We’ll make resolutions that might only last a day or a week, but we’ll give them a dang good try, right?

This New Year’s Eve will be the first one I’ll get to celebrate with friends in a long while. Last year, I spent New Year’s Eve working in an emergency room. A job I am glad to say is now behind me.

I can’t say 2022 was the most eventful or adventurous year of my life, but it certainly saw one of my lifetime lows and a couple of its highs.

For the first time in over a decade, I can live off one job again. I also get plenty of time to write again. That’s not saying I have the discipline to take the time to do it. I’m still working on that, but I have a completed story to work with which is more than I could say about this time last year.

My plan is to get a couple new fiction stories out in the next year. I’m not sure what the second one will be yet. The first, for sure, will be my NaNoWriMo project from this year. As long as I can keep the TV off, I will be productive on the writing front.

I almost lost my battle with sanity last year. Thanks to Buck, an EMS conference, and my new job on the ambulance, I recovered. I can’t say enough about how nice it is to return to the land of the living (day shift) and how much better having a routine can make a person feel.

Part of my recovery also involved going out on the edge again. As a park ranger, I faced nature and uncertainty regularly, a skill set that comprises part of my identity. I needed to get out on my own, face a problem and deal with it alone.

That’s why I took the old CJ5 to the Black Hills in August. I needed to feel alive again, and that trip did not disappoint.

I’m unsure whether I’ll take a similar trip this coming year. Some friends have invited me to go on an Alaskan cruise. So, depending on vacation time and funding, it might or might not happen in 2023.

With the fleet of vehicles Buck and I own, I’m sure we’ll spend more than enough time fixing things. We’ll be adding another rare car to the mix in the next couple months. After researching it, I concluded I may as well turn amateur mechanic, especially after more than a few “mishaps” with the shops around here. But, hey! I have the time now! I’ll just have to invest in good gloves and possibly a YouTube subscription.

2022 has been a good year. I’m optimistic about 2023 though I feel like odd-numbered years turn out uneventful or bad. That’s probably just superstition, however.

It can’t possibly be worse than some past years. I have a life outside of work and a best friend who isn’t going anywhere, as far as I know. Even if it isn’t good luck to kiss him at midnight on New Year’s, it sure can’t be a bad thing.

Happy New Year folks!