2019 Year in Review

As usual I fell behind on projects I wanted to accomplish this year, but that’s okay. There’s always next year. I did manage to tick a few things off my list, and I did pick up a reading habit again (even if the “reading” mostly consisted of audio books).
 

Here are a few of the things that happened in 2019, in no particular order:

1. Lots of letters received but not as many sent. I need to improve on that!
2. I went to the Downton Abbey Exhibit in Boston..
3. More genealogy and DNA cousin discoveries.
4. Read a fair amount of books but did not meet my Goodreads challenge goal of 50 books.
5. Reached out to some relatives and offered them an extra (free!) DNA kit and either never heard back or was told "no, thank you"
6. Funeral for my Uncle Manny who passed away 30 Sep 2018)
7. Took some courses online through Future Learn and managed to finish some but not all
8. Did not finish this year's NaNoWriMo effort
9. Tried NYC Midnight’s MicroFiction Challenge and received really good feedback
10. Submitted flash fiction to Alone in a Room with Invisible People's Halloween Podcast and was thrilled to have it read on the podcast! You can listen to my story, "Once in a Blue Moon," here on the Apple Podcast or Podbean at 19:14.
11. Saw my first Broadway play, Betrayal, in November, starring Tom Hiddleston, Zawe Ashton, and Charlie Cox, with special appearance by Eddie Arnold.
12.Took a bus to NYC for the first time
13. Rode the NYC subway by myself for the first time
14. Had lunch with Sharifa in NYC
15. Walk for Hunger in May
16. Took my niece to Harvard Square for the first time
17. Real ID adventures
18. Used Amtrak rewards points toward a free ticket (woo!)
19. Spent too much money
20. Saw some new shows on Netflix
21. Finally got to see the Avengers movies (;ast one / last two)
22. Played Monument Valley 1 and 2; also, Wizards United
23. Lost one pound (woo!)
24. Bean was concussed the weekend before her birthday.

25. Sick for the holidays and end of the year

January Goals

 

1. Cake
2. L.A. Burdick
3. Tea Party
4. Escape the Room

Those are my “goals” for January. If I manage at least two of them, I’ll be very happy. Mostly, I’m aiming to accomplish #1. Cake. Yep. (hee!)

2018 Review

2018 was eventful but thankfully not as eventful as previous years. Here are some of the things that happened in 2018, mostly in no particular order.

1. Made a new 101 in 1001 and started up this blog again.
2. Downton Abbey movie was announced!
3. Lots of letters sent and received!
4. More genealogy and DNA cousin discoveries
5. Read some books (I rediscovered audio books and podcast university lectures), saw some movies (finally saw ThorRagnarok), but didn't get much walking in (mostly due to the very hot summer we had)
6. In April Sharifa & Irvin visited Boston, and we got to hang out
7. Took my niece to L.A. Burdick for hot chocolate
8. Walk for Hunger in May
9. Letters Live, NYC in May
10. Helped with researching props for a NY festival play
11. Victory Gardens, Boston with my sis and dad (June)
12. June 10 - Sagres at Fan Pier, Boston, and the Boston Portuguese Festival on City Hall Plaza
13. The Wizard School Scavenger Hunt at the MFA (Watson Adventures, Aug.)
14. Mid Aug.-Sep. 30 was spent worrying about my Uncle Manny. It was a deja vu feeling in many ways from the year before when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, and we had no word as to how he was until Oct. 7 when an internet angel actually went to his house (all I had was a PO Box and a vague description of where he lived) to check on him. Cells weren't working in his area so she snapped a photo and messaged it to me on Facebook once she was back in an area with reception. We were able to reach him by phone a week later and were overjoyed to hear his voice, but seeing his photo on Oct. 7 and being the receiver of such kindness from a total stranger had my mom and me crying happy tears. Fast forward to 2018 when he was supposed to visit us but had returned home early and fell ill. By all accounts he was ill when he was visiting other family, but he was worse when he returned to P.R. Weeks followed where the news of his health yo-yo'd between improvement and worsening. We got the call on Sep. 30 that he had passed away.
15. Finally attended the Boston Book Festival (Oct. 13)
16. November saw a get together with friends from high school, and it was great to catch up!
17. NaNoWriMo fail
18. Tried pork pot pie and a piece of English country manor farm cheese (it was green and had sage in it), although not at the same time