It’s February 1, finally, January is over. It always seems that January takes 3 months to finish up, seems that way but this January we really didn’t even have any serious winter weather in Calgary, which is odd. Calgary is typically very cold and fairly snowy, this year, nothing really. But I digress.

2925 was, all in all, a pretty shitty year and I’m glad we’ve put it behind us.

It started out all right. I got into a new place to live, which I’m leaving in a few weeks due to the lease expiring and the landlord deciding to sell. Well, good luck selling in this shitty market.

I reconnected with JT and had a great couple of months with him including living together for 2.5 months. It started out great, ended in early June with him moving out with no notice and not even letting me know what was up. To this date, we haven’t communicated, well, I’ve tried to reach him but he thinks I’m evil, I guess, and won’t reply. Well, sobeit. He left a bunch of his crap here which I held onto months after I should have. In September, or maybe it was October, I paid for a junk removal company to haul almost all of it away. I’ve kept a few items, including a great Ashley Furniture leather couch and some kitchen stuff, but everything else is gone. I plan on replacing the couch as soon as I’m able in the new place and getting something that’ll be mine, not borrowed or left to me.  I am over JT, but he truly broke my heart and I probably became a bit more bitter than I normally am because of it. I wish him well and I hope life treats him fairly. No hard feelings, no grudges. I’ve moved on, it’s unhealthy and stressful to worry about the past and the things that you cannot change. I learned that a long time ago, and letting go has served me well.

My Aunt Bernie, my favourite relative ever, passed away at the age of 95 in May. Her health had been in steady decline for years, but she definitely had spunk. It was nice seeing family and friends when I visited Ontario for the funeral, including my brother that I only see periodically. Her funeral service was very nice, not religious at all which I appreciated and the eulogy was delivered by Bernie’s cousin and he did a wonderful job.

The job was steady in 2025, one of the good outcomes. I doubt that I will ever umpire for Cal Ripken Calgary again, I had a falling out with their director on-field. Although he’s an adult, he showed the same level of maturity as his players and I told him I’d never umpire for him again. I’m looking forward to umpiring for Babe Ruth Calgary again and am thinking of adding some Baseball Alberta work this year.

Another low point in 2025 was at the end of October when Hera passed, unexpectedly in her sleep. Waking up to a dead dog by the front door is not the way I’d hope for anyone to ever have to experience. Twix mourned her sister for at least two weeks before she was more or less back to normal. I miss my German Shepherd girl and her antics, I hope, if there’s a Rainbow Bridge that she’s playing with Blondie and Zeus is treating her well. Until we meet again my sweet girl.

So, when 2025 wrapped up a month ago, I wasn’t unhappy to see it leave.

This year is starting off on a much better note. I have a new, less expensive vehicle that I’m loving. I bought a 2019 Mitsubishi Outlander right before Christmas. It’s great to drive and even better, the monthly payment is only $430 as opposed to the $1190 I was paying for the truck. The insurance is slightly cheaper as well.

I adopted a new dog on January 9 from the Calgary Humane Society, it’s a boy and his name is Apollo, carrying on the tradition of using Greek god names for my dogs. I’ve had Zeus, Hera and now Apollo. He’s a mixed breed and we aren’t exactly sure what breeds, a guess might be Rottweiler and Black Lab, but only a guess. He doesn’t shed much, perhaps it’ll be a seasonal thing with him. He’s fitting in well with Twix, who he adores. She’s warming up to him, he’s just too energetic for her on occasion.

Lastly, I found a new great place for us to live. It’s a brand new apartment complex in the city’s north-west quadrant. It’s never been lived in before and it’ll save me $400 or so a month over what I’m paying here. We move February 20 and I’m looking to it.

So, good bye 2025 and welcome 2026, I hope you treat us all well. Happy New Year.