So That Was 2018

And the first quarter of 2019!  They say time flies, and I think they’re right.  I had intentions of posting lots of things long before now, but somehow that just didn’t happen.  It’s always a little daunting trying to figure out what to post when I haven’t posted for a long time.  I decided this time I’d go with 19 things that have happened since my last posts. 

1.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  We took lunch to the hospice house, and had friends over to dinner at our house later that evening.  We’ve gotten fairly good at getting everything in and set up at the hospice house, and had everything done exactly on time.  As always, they were incredibly kind, and made me cry.  One year I’d like to make it out of there without turning into a sobbing mess in the parking lot.  Fortunately, the festivities at our house didn’t make me cry.  We had tons of food, and had a great time sitting around talking and playing games with everyone.  We seem to have a regular crowd now, too which I love.  I finally have Thanksgiving traditions! 

2.  We had a big (at least for us) snow storm the first weekend in December.  We were both off of work for a day because of it, and it took over a week for all of it to melt.  I’m never happy to see snow, but that was our biggest snow event of the winter, so at least it was over with early.

3.  We now own a generator.  We lost power during the early December snow storm in 2017, and were woefully unprepared.  The 2018 snow storm was predicted to be very much like the 2017 snow storm, down to the same dates and accumulation, so we decided it might be time to invest in a generator.  All of the stores locally were sold out, so we ended up going to South Carolina to buy one.  We searched Home Depot, and bought the closest one on-line, then went to pick it up.  We didn’t lose power, but are still glad we have the generator.  Between snow, ice, and rain/wind from hurricanes it seems like we’ll be using it eventually. 

4.  I did a lot of baking in December.  I toyed with the idea of trimming down my list, but people started talking about looking forward to certain desserts, so I baked for all of the usual people, and a few more.  I’m happy to do it as long as people are happy with the desserts.  My car smelled amazing the last few working days before Christmas when I was delivering all of the desserts.

5.  We took small gifts for everyone in both of our vet’s offices, and people seemed to like them.  Both of our vets sent us very nice cards, which we really appreciated.  I found some cute cat and dog wrapping paper on an after Christmas sale, and I’m really excited about using it for this year’s gifts.

6.  We had a great Christmas with my sister, Nick’s mom and step-dad, and our friend Alex.  My sister and I are pretty excited to finally have Christmas traditions.  We had lots of great food, watched Christmas movies, and everyone seemed very pleased with their gifts. 

7.  We went to our neighbors’ house for New Year’s Eve, and had a great time.  Everyone made appetizers, and we played Trivial Pursuit.  They have a really fun edition that lets you challenge other teams, and the competition was fierce, but fun.

8.  My car got hit at work.  Again.  For those of you keeping track, this is the fourth time in nine years.  It was a hit and run, and some of the security cameras weren’t working, so we ended up filing the claim with our insurance, and paying our deductible.  That’s all I’m going to say, because nothing else I have to say is very nice. 

9.  Actually, I do have one nice thing to say; it’s definitely a good idea to ask people who are car enthusiasts for recommendations when you need to choose a body shop.  We asked for recommendations the first time this car was hit, and have been very happy with the work the shop has done every time. 

10.  Our neighbors gave us a cat shaming calendar for Christmas.  And our cats destroyed it last month.  I can’t imagine why the neighbors thought of us when they saw a cat shaming calendar.

11.  Nick got his lifetime membership at the fire department.  You’re considered a lifetime member after 20 years of volunteering.  He received a plaque and a nice ring at the Christmas dinner. 

12.  2018 was the year of buying large appliances for us.  Our dishwasher died the week after Thanksgiving.  It had been hobbling along for quite a while, and it was used a lot the week of Thanksgiving, so it wasn’t that much of a surprise.  It’s never fun to replace something like that, but the new one is awesome.  It’s so quiet!  And there’s really no pre-rinsing required. 

13.  I’ve lost 40 pounds.  It’s slow going, but it’s finally the right direction.  I’m hoping the fact that it’s slow means it will last.  I still have a long way to go, but this is a pretty good start.

14.  Nick got his General Instructor certification.  As I understand it, he can teach anything he’s certified in at work now.  He worked really hard on it, and not everyone passed the class and state testing, but he did, and is looking forward to doing some teaching.

15.  February gave us false hope for spring again this year.  We had some warm days, great for reading in the hammock, but they didn’t last.  This week has been fairly cold, but I’m hoping that’s the last of the cold weather for us.  I’m ready to be warm.

16.  We went bowling for the first time in a VERY long time in February.  We had been talking about going, but just never did.  Someone from another department was moving away, and invited us to his going away party, which was dinner and bowling.

17.  We were able to get back in touch with someone who retired from our vet’s office.  She retired very quickly due to medical reasons, and we were disappointed not to see her anymore, or to have had the opportunity to at least wish her well.  At Christmas we asked the office about forwarding a card and gift to her, which they were happy to do.  We included our phone numbers, and she called us.  We’re working on plans for dinner. 

18.  We’ve been watching Tidying Up With Marie Kondo on Netflix, and have been working on organizing the house.  More detailed posts are coming.

19.  The vast majority of my time seems to be taken up with mundane day to day tasks.  I cannot think of an especially interesting 19th thing to share, but it also feels like I’ve been almost non-stop busy since my last post.  I’d love to know where the time goes.

So that’s pretty much it for me for the time since I blogged last.  How have things been with you?  I’m looking forward to catching up with everyone, and I’m definitely planning to get back into posting at least semi-regularly.