Welcome to 2026
Hello 2026.
It's been over two years since my last post, and much of my life has changed since then.
My sister had a baby in 2024 and I got to meet her when she was only a month old. I've been able to see her two more times since then, the last time was just days before her first birthday! It is incredible to see how much she has changed and how she is showing her personality off. She is so expressive and sweet, and her laugh is so beautiful! I'm so glad I found my sister in 2018, as I can't imagine my life going on without her and her family in it.
We bought land in Tennessee, and we are building our homestead.
We have three cats who I generally refer to as “the boys”. Two brothers named Cameron and Silver that we adopted after Christmas in 2023 and a fluffy boy named Frank that was dropped into our yard in December 2024 by whatever angel or nature spirit that was guiding him to safety, after what the vet said looked like at least two months outside on his own.
I have a booth at a local vintage/thrift mall, where I get to use my thrifting addiction to sell vintage and designer clothing for prices that our community can afford. And handmade afghans. I love a good afghan.
We have a garden again, which has been neglected the last two summers because we've still been going to Colorado; just for a couple of months at a time though, instead of the entire season of April-October.
We got our first chickens right around Thanksgiving this year. I'm excited that we'll have our own eggs soon. And, I am excited to get meat birds and rabbits as well, for us and the boys, who prefer raw meat over the commercial wet cat food that is filled with garbage.
It feels good to have a permanent base. To know that we can travel and always have somewhere to come back to.
It feels good to have neighbors you can trust. To know they'll help you out in a pinch. Like when I went to Minnesota to be with my dad in October when he had a heart valve replaced, and Andy forgot a couple of my smaller plants outside when he joined me in. Our neighbor brought them into her home when it got too cold out for them, and kept them alive until we got home.
Or another neighbor, the beautiful Carolyn, who loves our boys so much that she lets them into her house to “spread their smell around”. She says she hasn't had a mouse in her house since the boys came to live with us. I am blessed to be able to sit on her porch with her in the morning sun and drink coffee and spill the community tea.
Andy has been enjoying working for himself, being a handy man for a group of neighbors in the historical district of a neighboring town. From tearing out old decks, tiling floors, and replacing siding to painting walls, to removing and replacing an engine in a VW, and making repairs in an old auditorium that one can boast was a venue for Elvis early in his career. And one (um… it's me. I do. I am the one.) does boast regularly about that, because ELVIS. Hello?!
The oldest home he'll work on so far was built in 1855. 1855! I understand America's colonial history is short, but for me that is such an amazing idea. To be handling the materials that someone else took such pride in 170 years ago. The stories those walls could tell, all the feet that walked those floors, all the people who loved and played and grieved there. I told him I want to go along so I can meet that house and feel its energy.
Our kids are both in their 20s now. Growing together, not just siblings anymore but friends, too. Though that will all change in a few months as they let go of their shared lease and go their separate ways.
Connor's way involves the hightop van he just bought and working out in Colorado for the summer. Alyson's way is to go back to having an apartment to herself, where she can decompress with her cats and host the gatherings that her friends love.
People always want to complain about their lives and their jobs and how hard it is to have the time to live for themselves.
People are also always afraid to take the jump out of their comfort zone and into something entirely new.
While 2026 is looking insane already, and there will be more insanity to come than you can even imagine, it is also the best time to unyoke yourself from the system. Time to stop being a slave to the fake world you're in right now. Time to let go of “their” expectations and live to impress yourself. Quit that job or sell that house and move across the country. Buy those chickens, invest in solar, start your own business. Do whatever it is that your heart and soul are calling you to do.
STOP IGNORING YOUR SOUL.
Do things that nourish you.
Move.
Sing.
Dance.
Jump up and down.
Turn off the news.
Ignore all the fake scripted political bullshit they're trying to bog you down with.
Learn to love yourself.
Learn to heal yourself.
Learn to feed yourself.
Learn to let go of the people who no longer serve a higher purpose in your life.
That way when the shit finally hits the fan, you have some semblance of a real life that you can continue living and it will be made up of people who genuinely care for you.
Good luck to those of you who are making strides toward being self-sufficient and healthy and whole in your own body and mind.
