2023, A Summary

We find ourselves at the end of yet another year.  They are shuffling awfully fast.  I'm often reminded of that lyric from Rush's "Time Stand Still"....

I'm not looking back but I want to look around me now.

Well, I do tend to look back (hence, this very entry), though mainly to try to understand who I am. What led me here.  Not quite there yet.  But, yes, looking around me now I see abundant blessings.  2023 was not a year jam packed with exotic trips, but there was one big story: we finally moved.

Not out of Florida.  Not yet.  Back in October we purchased a condo about a mile down the road from our previous residence, my mother-in-law's house.  A twisty, arduous process, but isn't it always? Recall that my wife and I moved in with MIL in 2015 following the request of my step-father-in -law, who learned he had pancreatic cancer..  Five weeks after delivering this terrible news, he passed away.  We moved in to help with the transition.  It lasted way longer than planned.

It wasn't always easy.  My MIL and I get along fine but she is a definite Type A, and at times it could be challenging.  Her home was large enough for us to have our own space, though limited.  The eight years were filled with house parties, quiet dinners, much laughter.  Some tears.  A pandemic.  I did get to save  money, making our move that much more possible.

You know I get wistful with each move, and this time was no different.  Eight years is a long time.  The house became a part of me.  We go back at least twice a week for visits, and it's interesting how quickly it has become "somewhere else" again.  An odd feeling.  Almost like we had never spent thousands of days and nights there.  Yet mostly warm memories remain. 

Our new condo is familiar.  It is part of a development that is identical to one we lived in years earlier.  Same developer.  The development even has the same name as the other, though is further west and not owned by the same company.   Ideal layout, and spacious enough at just under 1,400 square feet.  The kitchen and bathrooms were updated recently.  Unlike the previous pad, we have a balcony.  We also have optimal views of a clubhouse, swimming pool, and country club golf course.

We are still getting it set up, and getting used to a certain measure of freedom again.  Our cat is enjoying it.  This move was more necessary than I can possibly share here.  My wife's co-worker very generously gave us a sectional and dining room set, which blends in perfectly.  We look forward to having guests.  You might get a posting or two about such visits.

No travels, other than early year trips to New Jersey and Washington State you can read about.  Had to save money, you know.  We'll try for something noteworthy in 2024.

How was work? Mostly good.  The usual round robin of front desk staff.  The current crew generally gets along, though get carried away with their chatter and noise level, a problem when your patients can hear them through closed doors.  A new ENT doc came onboard this year, a young chap originally from Scotland.  Very friendly and ambitious.  He has taken over several of the patients from an ENT who is now part time, spending more of his hours developing medical software. 

I've been trying to get home earlier during the week, but with an influx of new residents it's been hit and miss. Our schedules are booked.  South Florida is saturated with people, and traffic.  It really is quite bad.  The sound of car horns are almost as common here now as in Manhattan.  West Palm Beach is being dubbed the "Wall Street of the South", what with a plethora of new office buildings and investment firms.  Goldman Sachs already has a presence here. 

I could share more.  Personal things that are just too private for public consumption and scrutiny.  Let's just say again that we are blessed, and trying to manage a complex New World hour by hour.  Like everyone else. 

Lamplight Drivel will continue into '24 and beyond.  I have a very sizable backlog of film reviews to post.  Since the move, I've not had time to watch a whole lot, so good thing.  This blog is mainly about movies, and I hope as always that my opinions provide some insight.  Aren't just the same sort of ramblings over and over.  Or at least clue you in to something you may not have heard of or otherwise dismissed.  My audiology postings were scant this year so I'll try to beef that up.  There will be the occasional life update.  Thanks for sticking with me.

Happy New Year!