For New Year’s Eve, mom thought it would be fun to have a fancy candlelight dinner. In full support of this idea, Genesee excitedly set the table and put on her best unicorn dress. And even though I typically prefer a good sweatshirt and lounge pants, I was a pretty good sport, too. Because who doesn’t like to be wined and dined?! Truly, it was the sparkling grape juice for me, but the pecan-crusted chicken, mashed potatoes, and side of Cheetos were also quite marvelous.

After we toasted to the new year, Genesee and I made a list of intentions for 2022. While I plan to get busy seeing a few more national parks, Genesee hopes to steal less of mom’s makeup. To each their own, I guess. Then, we had a coloring contest, created a time capsule (not to be opened until after the year 2030), enjoyed a movie night in front of the fireplace (complete with hot chocolate, nachos, and popcorn), and stayed awake until midnight to ring in the new year. It was epic! Hopefully 2022 will live up to our hype.