2023 YEAR IN REVIEW
JANUARY
I start out the New Year in Big Sandy, Texas, in the Reeds’ gazoobola ringing in 2023 with good friends, laughter, fireworks and a rollicking good time. The dogs enjoy being Country Dogs for a weekend, and it is great to catch up with Reeds far and wide.
I celebrate my one-year anniversary with Capital One. What a great year last year was because I have a job I love with amazing coworkers. I even get some nice swag in the mail!
I finally get my fence replaced from the dog next door chewing it up. It’s like a bright, shiny new penny I can’t stop looking at.
January, the month that I least want to live through in the dark, dank days of winter, is redeemed by the Australian Open. I spend my nights cozied up in my chair with a cup of coffee, eyelids drooping but a song in my heart while I watch Mr. Novak Djokovic play with his food and win the whole thing.
I foster a Westie named Buddy who is the sweetest thing, and who is adopted by a nice man in Dallas with the coolest last name: Nightingale.
FEBRUARY
I have rats in the attic! My house is haunted with the occasional thump and bump of those damned rodents – I say “damned” because they are sent back to Hell from whence they came, once I get the pest control guys after them.
I foster another Westie, Sandy – a zaftig girl with a great personality, who will never leave Danny Zuko stranded at the drive-in. Because she’s such a great girl, she is adopted within a week, and Piper is very happy to have me all to herself again. She gets pretty salty with other females.
Bonne and the girls from Big Sandy arrive for a birthday weekend, and we enjoy wine and pedicures and other birthday fun.
Somebody tries to open a credit card in my name at Sephora, of all places. Anybody who knows me knows I don’t shop at places like that, so it’s shut down pretty quick, but it’s a good chance to use my LifeLock subscription.
MARCH
March is car inspection month, and my Old Grey Mare doesn’t pass. She is 12 yo and her poor tires were nearly bald, so off I go to adult and buy a new set. It’s the least bit of fun I’ve had spending that kind of money in years, but it’s got to be done.
Speaking of a money drain, it continues when I notice that there is quite a bit of erosion around Chez Shasta’s foundation, and since I apparently don’t have anything better to spend my hard-earned cash on, I fork over a bunch for gutters. Turns out, though, I’m inordinately pleased with them, so much so I beam every time it rains. I love the sound of water gushing through them!
Between the fence in January, the rat exclusion in February and the tires and gutters in March, I swear then and there that this is the LAST I’m going to spend on anything NOT FUN in 2023. Oh, Shasta, you’re such a kidder, ha ha ha.
APRIL
April is a flurry of activity!
My fellow WRNT Board Member Mike and I schlep out to northeast Texas to pick up three Westies surrendered by a backyard breeder: two adult females and a 7-week-old puppy named Lolli. I get the “pleasure” of fostering Lolli for a week until her new mama can pick her up, and she wore me out biting, nipping, chewing, running, pooping, peeing, frolicking, jumping, sleeping – yes, she even wore me out sleeping! From that day forward, every time I start to romanticize a Westie puppy, I recall Lolli.
The other big thing that happens in April is The Best Idea Ever. Scrolling through Facebook one night, I see a post looking for international exchange student hosts, and like an out-of-body experience, I apply right on the spot with very little thought – something that NEVER happens. I meet Brittani, who walks me through the process and signs me up, and before I know it, I’m approved! I immediately take a look at my spare bedroom and start nesting.
You know that money I’m going to hang on to? Yeah, me neither. I look up one morning, and there’s a big crack in the soffit on the eave outside the house. Sebastian from Mr. Handyman takes one look at it too and just holds out his hand for my checkbook.
The last Friday evening in April, my friend Kathryn drives out from Big Sandy, and we go to the Kenny Loggins concert. It’s all old people there, and I’m bemused until Kathryn points out that we are old now, too. Nonetheless, we rock out like a couple of giddy groupies when Kenny takes the stage and lights up “Danger Zone.”
MAY
May is a busy month!
First, I choose my exchange student – a 17yo girl from France named Melina. We start chatting, and I’m in love already. She lives in the north of France in a town called Metz with a cat named Milou, two parents named Lars & Florence and two sisters named Julia and Anouk. Already, I love everything about her.
But this is getting real, so things need to happen. I throw myself into a flurry of preparation for hosting a teenager: getting her room ready, cleaning out the garage (no, I don’t know what that has to do with having a teenager, other than I want to get my life in order), buying a chest of drawers, refinishing her bed, etc. I even get my back patio power-washed.
In the middle of May, I drive home to Missouri to visit my parents, brothers, sister-in-law and niece and nephews and do some iced-tea drinking and front-porch sitting. During my visit, I head up to Omaha, Nebraska to meet with a college friend, Nichole, who I haven’t seen in 20 years, maybe? We spend the afternoon eating and walking around catching up. She looks no different from when we were in our 20’s, to my chagrin.
Back in Texas, I have some TnT (Tante-Niece-Time) with Isabelle and Lauren, who are home from college for the summer.
JUNE
Roland Garros is played, and Novak wins that one as well. He and I are having a good year so far!
I have my first Zoom call with Melina and her school counselor, and we pick her courses for the year. It’s amazing to meet her, hear her voice, see her mannerisms and hear her French accent, and I’m already in love. It’s getting real.
June is full of friends! Jeremy and Petra come from Florida to visit with their daughter Mila. Al Kurzawa’s in town from Australia, and he makes time to see me while coming through Dallas. Lisa and Santi have a summer get-together, and I get to chat and catch up with people I’ve not seen in years: Andrew, Libby, Angie, Sarah and Rachel.
And more friends…the last week in June, I point Ye Olde Grey Mare south toward Surfside Beach and spend the week in a beach house called The SeaHagg with my girls from Big Sandy. We sit in the sand and surf and sip fruity drinks and even go skinny-dipping one night. It’s a marvelous time.
JULY
Wimbledon ends with a Novak Djokovic loss to Alcaraz; two out of three Slams ain’t bad.
But time’s running out to get ready for Melina – June was fun, but I need to buckle down and make the house ready for her arrival in August. There’s a host family orientation that I attend, where I meet all the other host families that Brittani has lined up for the year. Heather, Lauren and I paint the spare bedroom a beautiful robin’s egg blue. We get paint on the carpet, so I call Mason the Carpet Guy to come out.
Every weekend is chock-full of preparation/nesting activities: paint bedroom, refinish the bed, decorate the room, CLEAN CLEAN CLEAN!!! She’s almost here! I’m pretty sure I’m annoying everyone online and in person with how I cannot stop talking about Melina, but I don’t really care.
AUGUST
The Day is finally here! On August 4, Melina’s flight departs Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris three hours late, so I am biting my fingernails all day waiting for it to arrive in Newark and to see if she’s going to make her connecting flight. She doesn’t, and my girl is left to her own devices in a foreign country with a foreign language to find a new flight to Dallas. But she is a trooper, and shortly after midnight on her 17th birthday (August 5), she lands in Texas, and I have her!
Her first day in the US, she sleeps and sleeps. I feel like I have a new toy, and I want her to WAKE UP so I can play with her! Finally, she emerges from her beautiful bedroom, and we go to Heather and Justin’s for a birthday/welcome dinner.
We spend the next few days getting to know each other and getting her ready to start school. We go to her school’s walk-through event, where we’re both lost in a labyrinth of halls, and I worry about how she’s going to find all of her classes (fast-forward to November: she’s getting around like a champ!). The First Day of School arrives, and I take pictures like a proud mama and drop her off at the curb like a worried mama. She marches in to school like she owns the place! She’s so brave.
A couple of weekends later, we drive up to Gunter and attend my friend Bonne’s granddaughter’s birthday party, where Melina meets a lot of Big Sandy friends. She does great and really seems to like them and enjoy herself. She fits in with my friends like she was born here.
The following weekend, as a Junior Westie Volunteer-in-Training, she goes on a home visit with me to check out a potential adopter. I’m excited that she’s so interested in volunteer work and wants to help.
SEPTEMBER
The first weekend in September finds us at Meow Wolf, an avant-garde art exhibit in Grapevine. We both like it, but a little goes a long way with that kind of art, we agree.
On Labor Day, we meet Heather and Justin for lunch at Babe’s Chicken House in Frisco. You’ve got to see Babe’s to believe it: it’s a barn where they serve all-you-can-eat family style fried chicken, mashed potatoes, home-cooked vegetables and biscuits. It’s Melina’s first real taste of Southern American food, and she loves it.
But she loves everything about America! “I love it,” she says ten times a day. She thinks our neighborhood is just like in the movies. She buys a Homecoming mum and genuine Western boots. She smiles all the time. I ask her if she is homesick: “No.” Every day she wakes up loaded for bear. We have a video call with her parents, and they are wonderful people too. They tell me I have their full confidence, which makes me beam.
What does not make me beam is, in September I find out that my ongoing foot pain is a stress fracture, and I have to wear a boot, and I don’t. I hobble along, and finally it gets better on its own.
OCTOBER
In early October, we drive through the East Texas country to Big Sandy to visit the Reeds. We both enjoy the short road trip: songs and dogs and conversation. There, we are treated to all kinds of activities: sitting under the gazoobola with a fire, eating Thomas’ grilled venison, trying fried gator and crab legs at the Circle M Crawfish Stand, and carving a pumpkin. Melina has a wonderful time, and as we drive away (and I’m teary-eyed, as I always am leaving my friends), she says, “You are so happy, and that makes me happy.” I start crying again. She makes me happy too.
Mid-October, we fly out to Denver for a visit with Isabelle and my college friend Becky. It’s a whirlwind trip! There we watch Isabelle play volleyball, see her boyfriend play soccer and go out to eat with her friends. We stay with Becky, and drive up to Estes Park to the Rocky Mountain National Park to go hiking. It’s very cold up there with snow and ice, but thanks to Becky lending us some warm gear, we are bundled up. The mountains are beautiful, and Melina – you guessed it – “loves” it. The only disappointment of the visit comes when, as we’re leaving, we haven’t seen a single elk. Who goes to Estes Park and doesn’t see even one elk? But as we’re driving out of town, a giant one is lying on the side of the road chewing his cud like a boss. Melina’s fascinated by him and jumps out to take a bunch of pictures.
The last weekend in October is our Westie Rescue of North Texas Westie Walk. We hold it in a park in Carrollton with a memorial walk around the park resplendent with a bagpiper and lots of Westie games and prizes. Melina is a big help to us and the Best Junior Westie Volunteer in Training we’ve ever had, I think.
NOVEMBER
November 4, Melina and I put up our Christmas tree. Yes, it’s early, but we are both so excited about the upcoming holiday season, we can’t help ourselves. Earlier that day, we volunteer at a food pantry with her fellow international exchange students. I explain to Melina, that, yes, in the US we do have many families with food insecurity, as strange as that might sound, and she looks thoughtful. Later she tells me she wants to volunteer again.
It's Thanksgiving time! We fire up Ye Olde Grey Mare, point her north and zoom up the road to Missouri to visit my family. My parents adore Melina: my dad says that they are going to keep her. Not on my watch! She blends in with the family so well, helping to cook the Thanksgiving meal and watching football with us. We visit a few museums in the area and even go on a four-wheeler ride during the week we’re up there.
DECEMBER
Melina makes the soccer team at school! I’m so proud of her, and I think she is proud of herself for earning a spot on the team. Spring Semester is going to be so busy with her games, team activities and practices. I’m girding my loins already.
I have a bit of a professional coup at work: my lead admin asks me to back her up while she is out on maternity leave for four months. I’m thrilled to support my boss’s boss and have a little more exposure to the top levels of Capital One.
Speaking of Capital One, they really know how to celebrate the holidays and the end of another year. Parties, celebrations and gifts abound. I’m so grateful to work at such an amazing company with truly genuine, caring colleagues. If I can ride this gig out until retirement, I’ll have made it!
Mid-month, Melina and one of her exchange student friends from Italy, Francesca, and I volunteer at a food pantry in Prosper. It’s a highlight of the month: I’m so proud of these girls who work so hard at engaging with their community and are willing to help.
One random Saturday night, we walk through the neighborhood and look at the lights. Our hearts are full of holiday cheer.
Before we know it, Christmas is upon us. Melina and I are whirling dervishes: getting presents ready, baking Buche de Noel for Christmas dinner, chopping up cabbage for Justin’s kimchi and in general, just enjoying hanging out together without work and school. We head over to Heather’s house for Christmas Eve, attend a candlelight church service and enjoy Dagwood sandwiches (our tradition). Christmas morning, Melina and I creep into their house again to make monkey bread with my nieces and crepes for everybody and to enjoy football, unwrapping presents and a nice prime rib dinner. Our blessings overflow.
For New Year’s Eve, we head back out to where my year began: Big Sandy. It’s full circle, but when I look back on the year, WOW! So much has happened, and it’s been a fantastic voyage. Thanks to everyone for coming along on the ride.
