I'm A Voracious Reader : 2023 Year End Wrap Up

January ~ Trip and I manage somehow to get Covid despite all our precautions. Thinking Kyle brought it home from work, but we just thought he had a bad cold and he didn't test until it was too late - came back negative.
February ~ NHL Stadium Series - Hurricanes vs Crapitals. It was awesome! Canes won. Mom's last sibling dies. She's now the only one of her generation left.
March ~ I turn 55.
April ~ Went to Ohio for a week. Brought home Kyle's new computer that George built for him. Anna goes to visit her boyfriend, DJ, in Arizona then they go to Hawaii then back to Arizona. She was gone nearly all of April.
May ~ Husband unjustly fired from job. He and I went to Ohio first weekend of the month to move mom back home from assisted living. Mostly freaking out about loss of income and benefits. Had to put Vengeance to sleep. He was getting worse and worse and I decided it was time.
June ~ Trip turns 24. Mom starts chemo infusion once a week for 12 weeks. Went to Ohio for a week. Hubby gets job driving for Sheetz. Toyota calls - puts hubby through long application process for new battery plant being built then the young guys who interviewed him and had been there a full week (a full week! *rolls eyes*), didn't hire him. Their loss of his vast experience. Besides, we find out Sheetz is a pretty fucking great company to work for. Loss of income is the only con ($8 less an hour-ouch), but he'll be getting raises and quarterly bonuses, so we'll tighten our belts.
July ~ George turns 38. 5 yr anniversary of dad's death. Mom dies on the day I was driving up to spend a week with her. I did make it in time to be by her side for several hours in the hospital. When my oldest brother got there, it was a short time later she was gone. She left the way she lived - when she decided to do something she didn't wait around. I think she was done with all the chemo, cancer, and sickness and was just like, "Peace out, bitches." before yeeting herself into the Great Unknown.
August ~ Many trips to Ohio to help sort and clean.
September ~ Anna turns 26, hubby turns 55. Many more trips to Ohio.
October ~ Kyle turns 23. Online auction for personal property at farm. Hubby starts flying lessons to get his pilot's license.
November ~ Thanksgiving in Ohio. Spread mom's ashes and had Celebration of Life. Rented a UHaul to bring back rest of my stuff. Very stressful. Since all personal property was sold we stayed at a hotel. Sad that we won't be visiting the farm anymore. Artemis diagnosed with glaucoma.
December ~ Papers signed and deposit put down on the farm. We're selling to a neighbor but won't close until Jan 2025. There are reasons and we're fine with that. This month was super busy with Christmas shopping and appointments for both human and furries. Thankfully, last 2 weeks of the year were appointment free. Despite sadness, we had a good Christmas.

January ~ December: Just going to mostly play it by ear. However I do have a list of things:

Try to read more.
Exercise - Sheetz just opened a new fitness center and it's free to employees, their spouses, and kids to 26. It is extremely nice!
Continue with the No Cooking M-W-F
Clear spot for old 12'x12' shed. Empty it, tear it down, and rebuild in new spot.
Move all firewood from under and around deck to new storage area. Oh, yeah...
Set up new firewood storage area
Tidy up outside
Finish redecorating office. Actually, this should be the first thing I do in 2024.

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:

Trip and I get Covid despite precautions. Fuck! Trip, hubby and I go to the Stadium Series to watch the Hurricanes beat the Crapitals. So awesome! Mom lost her last sibling. Hubby and I go to Ohio to move mom back home from assisted living and he gets the call that he's fired after they "investigated" a complaint against him. Total fucking bullshit. Kyle decides to stay there, so now we're driving him back and forth. Had to help Vengeance cross the Rainbow Bridge. Hubby finally gets a job after submitting a shitton of applications. More trips to Ohio to visit with mom. Hubby starts working for Sheetz as a driver and his schedule is 2 on, 2 off which gives him time to start flying lessons to get his pilot's license. Mom dies unexpectedly July 17th. Fuck cancer and fuck chemo! Many more trips to Ohio to help sort stuff and clean. Online auction for personal property at farm. Oldest brother goes to Greece on vacay. He really loves it there. Other brother negotiates sale of farm. It's done. Sadness. Not closing until January 2025 though so technically it's still ours until then. Thanksgiving in Ohio to spread mom's ashes and have Celebration of Life. Rented a UHaul (hubby drove) to bring home all the stuff I claimed. So very stressful. Try to find room to store everything here. We are overstuffed. Busy December. Good Christmas. More than ready for 2023 to be over.

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

Touching Nature: The weather was warmer, but we actually had a fairly long Spring with really nice weather. Finally! Summer was not an endless time of 100º days. Thank goodness! We had a fuckton of leaves, but no acorns to speak of. My steadfast companion, Backpack Blower, and I were kept very busy during Leafageddon. Weather in December had some warm days and some of my daffodils decided to sprout. No! Go back to sleep! 3 weeks in a row we had a day of rain that dumped 3.75" (Sunday), 3.5"(Sunday), then 3.75"(Tuesday) in 24 hours. Everything is wet, wet, wet. But in-between it's been getting below freezing at night. So weird for NC.

Book News: I read some, but not nearly enough. Worst year ever.

Don't Touch That Dial!: I don't think we watched anything this year. I was gone so much it wasn't worth it. Just watched stuff on DStream or rewatched some old favorites.

At the Flicks: I've seen: nothing.

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

Randomness: