One Month Down!

The sun is shining and 1/21 is in the rearview. I feel upbeat, yet angsty. Covid #s are on the decrease and vaccinations are happening -- though at a much slower rate than we need to see. And MI restaurants have now opened at 25% capacity, which just really doesn't sit well with me. I hope our governor doesn't regret this allowance, in the near future.

The rugrat turns 20 in <1 week. It's surreal. Not only is he well into adulthood, he will be exiting his teen years before the end of the upcoming weekend. We've been having more discussions about his future, too. We've been impressing upon him the importance of considering jobs/careers that might earn him a livable wage. He enjoys his retail job, but it barely brings in more than minimum wage and he's only part-time (though was working nearly 40 hours/week in the months leading up to Christmas). He's quite clueless about how expensive it is to exist not under one's parents' roof.

His year of community college was a bit of a failure, particularly once Covid required distance learning. He struggles to succeed even with in-person classroom time. He's super into cars and expressed interest in going to automotive school...but has yet to even do an oil change or any other maintenance, so that's probably not realistic, either. Autism/ADHD are a wicked combo. He does well with hands-on work, so a factory job might be a good fit. The pay can be pretty decent, as well as the benefits. Having weekends and holidays off would be a treat, too.

Las Cruces, NM

We've also discussed a bit the fact that once his dad retires that we will likely relocate to a warmer climate (southern NM is at the top of my list -- I crave sunshine and mountains and desert and palm trees. And no more Midwest Winters). He'd only move with us if his GF wanted to move, too (that's a long time away...16ish years). Hopefully he will be solidly independent, at that point.

The bright side to having him home so much is having a running buddy...though lately we start out together and he ends up ahead of me. 6 months ago I was the one waiting for him at path crossings. If he didn't live at home he'd likely not exercise at all, in spite of enjoying running. When he's not working, sleeping, or running he's online gaming. It's the closest he and his GF have had to a date in about a year. I hope by Summer that they might be able to resume normal dates.

Fxck Cancer!