Firstly, there were a lot of things that happened that didn't make the list, so let's give an honorable mention to computer issues; car issues (battery died) and resolutions (new set of tires); walking 17 out of 30 days in June; dropping my A1C from 8.7 to 7.5; discovering how well Aleve works on muscle pain; getting another crown on a tooth; and meeting a few new hot guys as well as hooking up with a few I haven't seen in a few years. And now, onto the list.
10. Hagerstown Museum of Fine Arts and The Cultural Trail
Nearby Hagerstown MD has in it's lovely City Park a Museum of Fine Arts. I went there with my class when I was in school back over 35 years ago, but never since. And in the last few years, the town opened up a cultural trail, starting downtown and winding through the town to City Park. So back in June, my buddy Michelle and I walked the Trail to City Park, and went into the Museum. Considering it's just in the town of Hagerstown, in the middle of nowhere, it was pretty nice. Both the Museum and the Trail. We plan on doing it again sometime this year.
9. Theater
My bubby Michelle and I have, for a few years, tried to see on average, one play a month each year. Last year, we accomplished it. This year, we did not. She and I only saw 11 shows together. But I did manage to see 12, the 12th one I saw with other friends, and Michelle was supposed to go with us, but she was sick. This year, Michelle and I saw plays in Waynesboro PA, Hagerstown MD, Chambersburg PA, Frederick MD, Charles Town WV, Shippensburg PA, Gettysburg PA and in the Summer Stock theater The Totem Pole. We even saw some Shakespeare In The Park here in town at Renfrew. It was a a wide variety of shows and theaters, and an enjoyable time by all.
8. New Plumbing
This year, my toilet stopped working properly. So I decided to just get a new one. And while I was gonna have the plumber in the house, I'd just let have him replace the faucets in my kitchen and bathroom sink. I had always wanted ones that curved upwards, so I went and got some. And they, along with the new toilet, are now in place and working great.
7. Amazing television on ROKU
There was SO MUCH amazing goodness on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, HBOGo and other channels on my ROKU. I was quite surprised at all that was available and all I enjoyed. Things like Russian Doll, Game Of Thrones, Umbrella Academy, The Watchmen, and the Mandalorian. So much great programming.
6. Avengers Engame
The. Best. Comic. Book. Movie. EVAH!
When I watch the clips online of Cap catching Mjolnir and later when Cap says "Avengers......ASSEMBLE!" I STILL get chills. It's gonna be tough to top this one.
5. Baking Cookies With Mom
For the last 15 years or so, Mom and I have taken her homemade cookies, fudge and peanut brittle to my work for my co-workers. We take quite a few packages. This year, I went out the Sunday before Christmas to get the packages together, and we discovered we didn't have enough chocolate chip cookies or snickerdoodles. SO she set out to make more batches right there. And I she had me help her with some. At the time, I was grumbling in my head thinking, "eh, I don't need to do this, she knows what she's doing." But after it was all over and we were sitting waiting for the last batch to come out of the over, I thought back over the time we had spent doing it: the laughs, the converstaion, the, honestly, fun. And I thought to myself, "Ya know, at some point in the future, when she's gone, I'm going to look back on this day, and remember it and smile." It really WAS one of those memorable moments.
4. Illnesses
Those are anti-biotices I had to take when I had strep throat this year. But that wasn't all that I had. In mid-March I had a pretty nasty stomach bug which resulted in multiple projectile vomiting bouts. In late March I had an upper respiratory infection which consisted of constant coughing and issues gettting my breath. In April I had a sinus infection, which resulted in some real bad tooth pain. Anti-biotics from the dentist ended the sinus infection and with that gone, so did the pressure on my tooth and the pain. In May I had another sinus infection, that wasn't as bad as the one in April and was resolved without anti-biotics. In October, I had the strep throat...LOTS of fun that was. In November, right before Thanksgiving, I had ANOTHER sinus infection, this one being as bad as the one in April, cause it resulted in another toothache. And again, anti-biotics from the dentist cleared both out. And now, since right before Christmas I've had some kinda cold: head stuffy and nose fulla snot, mild cough, and this past weekend, my throat has been on FIRE! Thankfully, yesterday, the pain subsided, so I think I'm getting over it. But DAMN, that's been a LOT of illness!
3. New Air Conditioners
When I bought the house 10 years ago, there were three air conditioners the previous people left here. I've been using them since, a small one in my bedroom, a large one in the dining room for downstairs. In June, I noticed the one in the bedroom didn't seem to be doing much cooling, so since it was at least 10 years old, I bought a new one. And then in early-July, the one downstairs didn't seem to be cooling much either, so I went and bought a large one for down there. And both of them worked GLORIOUSLY throughout the hot summer. I replaced them just in time.
2. Changes at work
When I started at my current job, there were two other people in my department: Bossy Know-It-All Coworker (who thankfully retired in 2010) and Janis. She retired the end of June this year. And to replace her, they hired Todd. Todd and I are never gonna be best friends, as we have next to nothing in common (he's a Republican, he loves to hunt, he likes camping, he does a lot mechanical work with his own hands, etc). BUT, as coworkers we, and the guy who replaced BKIAC 10 years ago, all work together like a finely tuned machine. Todd knows his stuff, and is always ready and eager to help or learn something new. And that's such a change from Janis (who was a very nice person, but she was incapable of change or thinking outside the box). FINALLY, after working in this job for 23 years, my department is working well together as a team and not at loggerheads with each other.
1. Falling on the stairs.
See those, last two steps there? In July, for whatever reason, as I was coming down the stairs in my socks, my feet went out from under me and I landed on the edges of those steps with all my weight. I landed on my upper right back. I thought I might have cracked a rib or two. Went to Urgent Care and I didn't, but I did have a serious muscle strain.
The blue and yellow area on the right? That's the part that I strained. And oh GOD, the pain was horrible. Worst I think I have ever felt in my life. I couldn't go to work for a week. I could lay down for a week, I had to sleep in a recliner. When I could finally lat down, I still couldn't lay in my bed (it was too firm) for two week after that. I had to sleep on the sofa. Getting up and sitting down felt like someone was stabbing me in my back. Once I was sitting, I was fine. Standing was fine...but as I walked sometimes, I just turn slightly and feel the stabbing pains. Coughing and sneezing were right out of the picture. And I never know how many of your back muscles are involved in taking a dump! Pooping was painful too. It was truly one of the most painfully episodes I have experience in my life. And it took me over a month until I could get everything back to normal. So now I'm very careful going down the stairs, and I plan on putting some carpeting or something on them to prevent it from happening again.
POLT
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