Yikes. Forty-five? I mean, okay, if that’s what we’re doing now, but I don’t know. Seems excessive. Not that I’m complaining, mind you, it’s just that it really is bizarre to be an age where I distinctly recall thinking, when my mom was this age, that she was Super Old.
(I keep trying to make that last sentence anything other than a pile of awkward phrasing and I can’t do it — please don’t email me your edits.)
As far as years go, last year was a pretty good one. I was able to get back into doing some live theater, which is one of my very favorite things to do.
I got to see some great live theater as well, including one birthday trip to Stratford and a detour to Niagara Falls, because why not.
I got really sick with a mystery virus that wasn’t covid or flu or RSV and had it for 6 weeks, but two rounds of antibiotics (the first time for the ear infection and the second time for the neverending hacking cough) and one round of steroids later, I finally got better, only to get covid from one of my kids two weeks later.
At the start of the year, we began the process of moving my mom into an assisted living; as I mentioned in my last post written approximately 100 years (give or take) ago, it was time. I’m not going to get into all the ins and outs of my mother’s health because it’s not that kind of blog, but overall she has been doing well. Moving her from her home into an assisted living meant that we needed to sell the house, however. Cleaning out and then selling my childhood home was quite an experience that took a lot of hours of work. I didn’t spend as much time processing all of that as an overthinker like myself certainly could have, but overall I am happy with how everything worked out. I now have boxes of stuff that I’m… not sure what to do with. Family photographs? Cool. My old notebooks from eighth grade? Hilarious but probably unnecessary (after I read them and laugh at myself).
I have a piece of writing that I’d like to do about some of the family photographs and some of the memories they conjured, and if I can ever work out how to have a writing routine ever again while also living the rest of my life, I will probably do that.
Probably. Maybe. Something.
This year marked my fifth wedding anniversary, and my husband and I went to New Orleans, which was fucking fantastic, albeit hot as Satan’s nutsack. We ate an insane number of beignets, toured a cemetery, went on a bayou tour, partied on Bourbon Street and rode a streetcar. Among other things. It was great.
We had an anniversary dinner at Commander’s Palace, which was lovely. Our head waiter Brandon and his crew executed everything beautifully — watching them work was like watching a dance.
Also sometimes I still think about that bone marrow boat. All those colors and flavors and textures and temperatures on one plate, my god.
Best meal I’ve ever eaten.
The night we came home, we saw the Northern Lights! Living in southern Michigan, my friends further north get more opportunities to see the Aurora, but she doesn’t typically come this far south. But that weekend’s solar storm was something else. We missed night 1, but made it home for night 2. After a couple of hours of driving around the countryside trying to find it, we… found it. Man, what a spectacular show.
A couple of weeks later, we went camping up north in Petoskey with my BFF&E Missy, where we had unseasonably cold weather, and it rained when we packed up camp on the last morning, but we had a great time because when we camp together our main agenda item is to chill the fuck out and we do that splendidly. Shadow also made a friend at the dog beach!
The following week, I went out to Vegas; my husband was at a tech conference, and I normally would rather be at home reading a book (though in this case I read a book by a pool and had drinks) but I went because this conference was hosted by tech giant Cisco and Cisco has enough money to lure Elton John out of retirement, and I thought it would be fun to go to an Elton John show.
Guys, it is fun to go to an Elton John show.
Also we had dinner at Nobu and I still think about the jalapeño yellowtail.
What else? Two more camping trips (one with kids, and another with BFF&E), saw the Northern Lights one more time, and then I rounded out my 44th year with a trip to Spain! I have wanted to go to Spain for approximately forever, and I finally made it. I loved every minute, and my rusty college-level Spanish kept getting better as the week improved; if I’d been there another week or two I think I would’ve been much better at speaking with the locals. As it was, I did okay ordering the right food in restaurants and whatnot. Tinto de verano is better than sangria. Salmorejo is great. I don’t even like tomatoes and I ordered pan con tomate every chance I got.
I had the best time — I have a gajillion pictures that I haven’t even scratched the surface of, but here are some of my Instagram posts:
So yeah, very eventful year. Eventful doesn’t always mean great, but in this case I can say that I am pretty happy with how it went overall. But while I am enjoying the privilege of traveling all over and enjoying myself, always in the back of my mind is what’s happening in Palestine. I have several followers on the social media site Bluesky who are from Gaza and are desperately trying to raise funds to evacuate from there in order to, you know, not be murdered. If you have it in your heart, and you have the means, here is a list of folks who could use your help. Direct aid really can make a difference. Pick an amount you can afford and split it among a few folks. You could change the world for someone in a very real way. Thank you.
2 responses to “forty-five”
Happy birthday! And here’s to many more years filled with adventures.
[…] think I did a pretty good year in review on this year’s annual(ish) birthday post so I don’t need to rehash it. After my birthday this year, I went to a work conference in […]