2022 REVIEW

When I think of the year 2022, what comes to mind is a slow return to a semblance of normalcy. Or at least a NEW NORMAL. QueensCare is still doing remote work and actually tried to start with the 4-day week thing until it was voted down by the rank and file. From a job perspective, everything was ok for the year. I really can't complain. I'm still able to work from home, I'm still managing 3 teams more than adequately in my opinion and although positions opened up for a manager for IS and EHR I haven't been able to find anyone to hire in 3 months. Still, as mentioned I think I'm doing ok although you can never know what the Executive Management team is thinking. I did manage to carve out a niche with not one but TWO cybersecurity conferences/webinars for NACHC. Hey that's a national audience after all. And I got paid for it though the money did go to QHC LOL. Can I say paid national speaker?

HEALTH So let's get on to the more important stuff. Health-wise I had an episode earlier in the year with some blood in my urine. I started to go to the doctor for it, but I ended up cancelling all tests. All this I believe coincided with Dexter having a major medical issue with his intestines that required an operation and with him walking around with a bag for the majority of the year. Johnnie contracted COVID in April but I didn't. Then Lisa contracted it in November, but again I didn't. In July I REALLY had some bleeding in my urine that didn't seem minor. As in it wasn't traces of blood like earlier. It was actual bleeding. I did NOT go to the doctor for this simply because my instincts told me not to. As in it was not a medical emergency. The funny thing was that it would stop within the next time I had to pee. And I noticed it would only happen when I was in my apartment. What the heck? And so it was more like something was really trying to catch my attention. OR more likely, I was purging stuff. By the end of the year, it was like it never happened and no more bleeding issues. It was still in my attention though that there was still stuff that needed healing so some more work to do. By the end of the year, Dexter had healed too and was pronounced ready to go back to work. Because of the health stuff earlier, I changed my diet to keto in the beginning of the year, and eliminated sugar from my diet. I dropped from 180 to 155 almost in within weeks. I went from a 34 waist to a 30. And my blood pressure dropped to normal. Resting heart rate went from a high of 79 early in the year to 60, averaging around 63 for the entire year. The numbers amazed me. But I started to look too skinny and gaunt. And so I re-introduced carbs back in my diet and I looked and felt good still. 

FINANCES. So I started the year on the verge of retiring. As in if the trajectory of the past few years held I would be retiring sometime this year. Heck I wanted to retire by the end of 2021. But I didn't. That was because the stock market tanked big time from January on. And by the end of the year I was down 25%. I reminded myself that it was not a time to panic. Just that my retirement plans got postponed by a bit. I still had over $100,000 in my ready cash accounts by the end of the year, which was enough to sustain me for more than a year should anything happen. In the meantime I still managed to have more money than I needed all year long which was something to be very thankful about under any circumstance. 

Johnnie was a bright star and there were so many memories and M&Ms all year long. Too many to write here. The end of 1st Grade. The start of 2nd Grade. The start of Spanish classes twice a week through the year. The April Song festival where he got to introduce his class song. And then again for the winter fest for 2nd Grade where he got to do the same thing. In the meantime, so many friends and parties he got to go to. Penman Park summer activities. Dinners with Brooklyn. Rose's trampoline birthday party. Emari's birthday party at Bowlero. James' birthday party at the movies. Our spring break trip to San Diego with the zoo AND Legoland. His own birthday party at Lisa's house. The Big Boo at MV Elementary. The QueensCare Dodger game. The Lakers game with Silvia (more on that later). The LA Zoo in November to make up for the one we didn't really do Labor Day weekend because it was so hot. Thanksgiving with just he and I at my sister's house (Lisa had Covid). And then of course another Legoland trip with Lisa after Christmas. It was a very cool year for Johnnie and I.

I wanted to write something about Lisa because she represented the one thing that was unstable in my life this past year. It was up and down with her all year long, mainly because she struggled with her office. She lost Nikki who had her baby. And she lost doctors, assistants, other staff. And she did not deal with those very well. But she didn't lose money either. And despite all the mostly down stuff, we did manage to end the year on a good note. The other thing of note was that she hosted the Au family (Maui) this year though I never got to see them. AND she hosted Silvia who came out for a couple of weeks in October. We had dinners, went to Disneyland, the Lakers game and though all of the above contributed to more emotional instability and drama on Lisa's part, we managed to make it through ok. I do remind myself that everything is me pushed out. And whatever instability I experienced with Lisa was merely something I need to heal. About ME. On the potential relationships front, I did manage a few dates though in the end none of them panned out. And that was ok. I will keep trying. The one constant I did get to do all year was that Scott and I played golf on Sundays pretty much with the exception for 4 or 5 all year long. And I had games where I played really well. Definitely can't complain about all that. 

So all in all the year had some ups, some downs. But in general, here it is the end of the year and I am doing just fine. THANK YOU 2022.