We are in Atlanta for another week of quarantining. We are staying at my (Judy) sister’s house pet sitting for her while she is at the beach. We are watching two dogs (Josie and Dexter), two cats (Roxie and Leo), and my brother’s turtle (Turtie).
That is a lot of responsibility for our family. We take the dogs on walks two times a day. We dig up worms for Turtie and we try not to have our eyes clawed out by Leo. I am only partially joking about that last one.
My sister’s cat Leo is an interesting character. He has anxiety and does not like change. He loves Emily and Jonathan. He strongly dislikes us. If we even look in his direction he starts to growl and hiss. There have been a few times when Leo will walk up to me thinking I am my sister and then freak out when he realizes his mistake. It is terrifying.
We are giving him space. I feel for Leo because I understand how he feels. I have anxiety around people too. It takes a lot of effort for me to be around new people. I am uncomfortable in new situations. Unfamiliarity is way outside of my comfort zone. Perfect for traveling the world, right?
Lucas and Henry have missed Josie and Dexter. They are loving cuddling with the dogs. Michael’s animal allergies are going crazy, but it is only a week.
We were in this house a year ago when Michael was going through cancer treatments. It is strange to be here one year later. It almost feels like we never left, but a lot has happened in the last year.
Michael beat cancer for the second time, we both quit our jobs, we had an epic Disney vacation right before COVID hit and we traveled around Central America for 7 months. It was a wild year full of ups and downs.
We do not know what the next year will look like. We have ideas, but we must stay flexible because COVID and family matters are big factors in how and where we travel. We do know that we love our new life with less stuff and more time. We hope next year is full of travel and new experiences (even if it causes me a lot of anxiety). One of our new family mottos is: You are not truly living life unless you are pushing your boundaries.
