Year in Review: 2014

The Year In Health

After a D&C and my very last endometrial biopsy ever, the monthlies were gone. And then back. And gone. And back again. Meds were prescribed and ignored. Evidently ignoring is the trick, because it hasn’t been back for a month and a half. How I have a period with no hormones to provoke it I don’t know. Gravity? De-cluttering?

After the biennial MRI I again have… No! New! Lesions! Rah! That result came from my second MRI, because I pooped my way out of my first one. I had made cookies that morning and liked a bit of raw dough off the tip of my finger. Forty five minutes later I had to call from the WalMart restroom and beg off, since an MRI is not a good place for someone suffering the effects of a raw egg allergy. Later though, I got an MRI when I was no longer a ticking time bomb and got a good report. Of course, they stop counting the lesions after fifty lesions, so how can they really know there are no new lesions?

The Year In Music

I am surprised to say we only saw BNL once this year, when they came to our doorstep at the Soulard Mardi Gras Pet Parade. We saw Ingrid Michaelson in Vegas, along with the Michael Jackson and Beatles-based Cirque Du Soleil shows. However, Guster and BNL are both on the schedule for the beginning of 2015.

The Year in Retirement

Gary forgot his birthday month until it was half over, his life is so full of relaxation and amusements. Still, kids, if I had It to do again, I wouldn’t schedule two major life changes in the same year: a menopause and a retirement. There have been some noisy fights the last few months.

The Year In Food and Beverage

Gary swapped out Diet Crush for Water Enhancement Drops and Wine. The wine surprised both of us. Interestingly, it seems if you pour wine through an aerator it tastes almost fine, and then if you drop a magic metal coin in it for a second it becomes mellow and aged. The magic coin was Gary’s Christmas present.

Gary learned to make cookies, and turkey, but not soup. He claims if you make a soup and then throw in a stick of butter and a quarter cup of flour “to thicken it,” that’s the same as making a roux. All I learned how to make this year was fondant icing.

The Year in the News

Ferguson. Hello, global spotlight. I feel like I live in the Scopes Monkey Trial town.

The Year in Travel

Thank you, Grand Canyon, for giving us 1) the worst cold of my life 2) straight hair for six days 3) the chance to pee standing up and 4) most of all, our new family member, Packie. Packie is Gary’s fully-stocked pack. For at least six months Packie sat on a chair at our table, waiting to spring in to action if we needed to go off the grid. Now Packie sits in Gary’s room under a few hoodies and socks. I will bet Packie goes with us on the cruise we have scheduled.

The Year in Old Amusements

I’ve taken up the guitar again. I’m rusty on all the chords except the Es, As, Ds, Gs, and the one C. However, I’ve found that fingerstyle guitar works for me, and not only can I pick out a recognizable tune, but my fingers remember how to do it after about ten minutes. They act on muscle memory, like touch typing. It’s a little freaky to have my hands know how to play the guitar without any thought from me.

Gary got me an adjustable easel so I rehydrated my decade-old water colors and I’m trying to paint one thing a day.

The Year in New Amusements

Gary is tearing through all the social media sites. Linked In, LiveStream, Vine, Facebook. He shares very liberal posts on Facebook, then tacks on wordy super liberal comments that can be measured in yards. He doesn’t like Twitter, obviously. He’s hinted he want to start a blog.

You think this post is long? Just wait till Gary starts blogging.