2022 Year End Wrap Up

 

• January ~ Got warm and daffodils all woke up then it dropped below freezing for awhile and I had to cover all the shoots with ice cream buckets. It's a good thing I save those! 
• February ~ New Windows were finally installed on the 1st. Woot! Bathroom window came with a bent frame so they are ordering another. Painted and completely redid Anna's room. Again.
• March ~ I turn 54.
• April ~ Trip and I made racks and split a shitload of wood. Finally got the correct bathroom window. Hubby's been digging up stumps with the Kubota.
• May ~ Anna goes to OH to spend time with mom, I take her there in her car and rent a vehicle home.
• June ~ Trip turns 23. At the end of the month mom gets diagnosis of stomach cancer.
• July ~  George turns 37. 4 yr anniversary of dad's death. I travel to OH for 4th of July weekend to comfort mom. Our 4th grandhild, Lori, is born. Anna returns home late in the month. Had a front porch added to the house. It's a nightmare. The shittiest work possible. We're going to have to tear it off and do it ourselves. We should have just sucked it up and did it ourselves to begin with and we wouldn't be out $5K. Piece of shit contractors. I won't be using Angi's List any more.
• August ~ Hubby celebrates 2 yrs at new job. Mom begins chemo and radiation. I take Anna back to OH in her car so she can help mom and I rent a vehicle to get home.
• September ~  Anna turns 25, hubby turns 54. I roll my ankle pretty bad while mowing. Oncologist stops mom's treatment 6 days shy of finishing because she's gotten too weak. I go to OH for a week to help with mom while bro & SIL head to SC for my nephew's wedding.
• October ~ Kyle turns 22. Finally get to see podiatrist about ankle. No broken bones.  Told to wear brace for 6 weeks. I head back to OH for 2 weeks to help Anna with mom. Bro, SIL, and I tour assisted living facility since mom doesn't feel comfortable staying in the house alone (after Anna and I head back home) as weak as she is. Get mom all moved in then Anna and I convoy home.
• November ~ Mom gets Covid (early Nov.) but doesn't require hospitalization. We go to OH for Thanksgiving (my 6th trip this year). Mom's CT scan shows no spread of cancer and tumors have shrunk. Anna flies to Arizona to meet her online boyfriend for the 1st time.
• December ~ Mom gets some kind of nasty respiratory illness. Despite feeling absolutely awful, no hospital stay is required. Physical therapist very pleased with mom's progress despite illness set backs. Had a wonderful Christmas. Meet Anna's online boyfriend.

•  January ~ December: Just going to mostly play it by ear. However I do have a list of things: 
• Try to read more. 
• Exercise
• Maybe try writing a book. 
• No cooking M-W-F
• Build raised beds, grow veggies.
• Tidy up outside.
• Tear off shittyass porch and rebuild (fucking POS contractors).
• Also tear off old back deck (leave the joists), expand it, install step down decks, and add a roof to cover door and windows.
• Sort and organize all the shit in 3 sheds. Paint them.

On the Home Front: I really need to stay up-to-date with this kind of post. What the hell went on this year? Basically what I jotted above in the Flip Back category.

However, the year in a nutshell:

My eldest spawn loses his 14yr old sheltie (Tank), Andrew broke up with Anna (little bastard), new windows installed, Anna's room gets a complete makeover, the house is in chaos while we move things around, Anna goes to Pigeon Forge for a long weekend, Kyle buys a car, Trip and I split a fuckton of wood, Anna quits her job at Goodwill and goes to OH to spend time with mom, we had contractors add a porch to the front and they did such a shitty job we need to tear it all off and do it ourselves (expensive lesson learned), mom gets a cancer diagnosis, 4th grandchild is born (Lori), Anna comes home for appts then heads back to OH to help mom while she goes through chemo and radiation, my nephew gets married, mom's treatment gets stopped with 6 days left, my eldest bro finally gets to go to Greece (a life long dream), I go to OH for 2 weeks to help move mom in to assisted living (her idea) so she can get stronger, Anna and I head home, Anna flies to Arizona to meet online boyfriend (turns out he's a real guy and not a human trafficker), mom gets Covid, we go to OH for Thanksgiving (my 6th and final trip this year), mom's scans come back with no spread and tumors have shrunk, Anna gets new job as receptionist at an animal hospital, mom gets a terrible respiratory infection, nasty winter storm hits the US and we get power outages and weather down to -8º with windchill, pipes freeze Christmas Eve morning (we used a hair dryer to unfuck them), Christmas is hectic but great, Anna's boyfriend flies here to meet us. 

There. That's about it. I think. Happy New Year!

Touching Nature: The weather was all kinds of fucked up this year. That's all I'm going to say on that subject. Except for this: I had an inordinate amount of leaves and acorns infiltrating our territory this Fall. My steadfast companion, Backpack Blower, and I were kept very busy during Leafageddon.

Book News: I read 62 books this year. Pathetic. At least 55 of them were 4 bites and above.

Don't Touch That Dial!: Started (yet again) and finally finished Supernatural. Also watched Medium, The Mentalist and Lucifer. Working on finishing Bones.

At the Flicks: We've seen: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Dr Strange 2: In the Multiverse of Madness.

Cyberspace Playground: Just some games on my iPad, Pokemon on my phone, and Wordle.

Randomness:  

Carol's Nuggets of Wisdom: Stay weird, my friends. Do the things you enjoy even if that means others give you the side-eye. Except murder. Don't do that.

That's it for me. AVR News Update signing off. May all your books enthrall you.

From the library

Nothing again this year. I still bet the librarians wonder if I died.

Physical books

Hit up the Friends of the Library book sale this Fall and picked up many many books (that we really shouldn't have, but did anyway.) I also got some for birthday and Christmas.

Tour Books

Many. So, so many.

Review Requests

Several but I currently only accept from a few authors I love.

Kindle Unlimited

I still have a subscription and I haven't been using it. 

I should really cancel and then re-subscribe when there's a special.

Freebies

I cut back again. A lot.