As it's now the last day of 2025, it's time for....
The Top Ten Things Of 2025
There were other things that occurred this year that didn't make the Top Ten list. Things like weird weather (sub zero temps in January, Autumn temps and conditions in August); renewing my passport and getting it back in the mail in only 3 weeks!; reading the new Dragonlance Books and re-reading the old ones from 40 years ago; anxiety, depression and apathy at various times throughout the years; stomach issues (nausea, diarrhea, cramps) which I'm attributing to the Ozempic, happening at various times during the year; binging the first 17 seasons of Law & Order and binging all 8 seasons of Bewitched. Things like those. But onto the top ten list....
10. Mom Fell
Earlier this year, on a Sunday, I got a call from mom that she fell out at one of the buildings in the retirement village she lives in. I hurried my way there and got her, she seemed okay except for her shoulder and said I needed to take her to the hospital. The end result was that she was fine, except for a bruised shoulder and arm where she landed. They gave her a sling and some pain killers and sent her home. Thankfully, that's all it was. (that's a generic pic by the way, not mom or what happened.)
9. Retina Study Ends
Back in 2021 I was sent to the Retina Specialist and they told me I had a retina edema and I was a perfect candidate for a study they were conducting. So, I got a port put in my right eye and it got refilled every six months as part of the study, which I still had to get a shot in my left eye every month.
Well after 4 years, they told me study was over. Once the study ended however the company running he study would no longer pay for anything. So while over the last four years I had everything done for free now I'd have to pay. And the FDA had approved the port, so that was all good, but since it was new my insurance said they would not cover treatments for the port. So it's a shot in both eyeballs now, which insurance will pay for, but there's a copay now. So I suppose there's both good and bad news for this result.
8. Deaths
This year had some deaths of people I knew, some more disturbing than others. There was Puntabupeep Mikey. There was Sis, the grandmother of a good friend of mine who, 37 years ago, I spent a LOT of time with at his grandparents house, especially on Sundays when she cooked dinner and the whole family was there to eat and play cards and stuff. There was my mom's cousin Bonnie, who was her age and who had grown up with her. Also, when I was a younger, they, their husbands and their kids would get together at each other's houses at least once a month. There were other deaths, but these hit the closest and hardest. Sadly, as I get older, there will be more of them.
7. New Doors
When I bought the house the front and back doors (and upstairs balcony door) were all old and wood and drafty. Finally, after all these years here, I decided to get them replaced. The new doors are metal and have new door frames so they fit perfectly, no drafts. They lock a lot easier and unlike the old ones, they have to BE locked, they don't automatically lock when I shut the door behind me, so no more accidentally locking myself out of the house.
6. Reconnecting with Borders' Friends!
I worked at Borders bookstore from 2000-2003, and not only was it the best job I've ever had but I met some amazing people. The ParisPekings and Ghostie are all from Borders. I still keep in touch, online, with others. Well this year, one of them, Candace contacted me about going to see Ken Burns give a speech in Gettysburg. And we went and had a great time together. Then another one, Kristen, saw me post about it online and since she lives in town, contacted me and we went to the Waynesburger, had a meal and caught up. It was great fun, too! I hope to keep in touch with them more this year.
5. Tooth Issues
Once again, I've had a bunch of tooth issues: problems with a bridge, a big cavity between two teeth, part of a tooth cracked and I had a filling put in, which dropped out, and I had a replacement put in, which later fell out, so I decided to a crown put on it...which I'm still waiting to get put on. So yeah, like every year, my teeth are crap.
4. Colonoscopy(s)
So this year, it was time for my second colonoscopy. After my prep in January I wasn't cleaned out enough so we had to reschedule. At the reschedule in March, and after a TWO DAY fast and a different prep...I STILL wasn't cleaned out enough. But after TWO enemas later, I was good to go. However, one of my nurses said the problem may be that I'm on Ozempic. So even though I went off it a week beforehand both times, the next time I have one, I'm gonna see if I can stop it for a month, so that i CAN get cleaned out properly. But on the positive side, they found nothing, not even polyps like last time. So that's all good. In the end. (ba-dum-DUM!)
3. Work Changes
So at work, there's been some changes. A few people retired. A few people left under....less than ideal circumstances. And some 'linear' movements. One of the other two people in my department decided she wanted to move to a different department. Which is fine, good for her. But what it did is open up that position in my department. Which meant that now, in my last couple years here, I'd have to retrain a new person, and wait for them to hire a new one, and while I waited for that to happen, two of us would have to do that work of three people. How horrible. But luckily, there was a guy in another department who had experience in the things MY department does, and he took the open position. SO I didn't have to totally retrain him, as he already knew quite a few things. And he's been working out very well. Thankfully.
2. tRump Clown Circus
I refuse to spend a lot time on these deplorables, but the damage they've done to this country, and in fact the world, will last for years for not decades. And who knows how long it will take to correct once we've finally rid ourselves of them. America has a very BIG reckoning coming to it, and I don't believe it will be pretty. And it WILL get worse before it gets better here. Sadly.
1. Cedrik
Of course he's number one. He made my year, and changed my life. He's the first man I dated that I introduced to mom as my boyfriend. He's the first man I introduced to my closest cousin and her son. We spent most weekends together. And then, well then it became clear it wasn't going to work. At least now. So we split. But that doesn't change how I (and I assume he) feel. And maybe sometime in the future we can make it work. But regardless, he's had the biggest impact on my year.
POLT
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
