Snowpocaplypse 2019 hasn’t been quite as bad as predicted… so far. Well, yes, the entire county shut down and there was a snow emergency and the sheriff said to stay off the roads, but that was this morning. I didn’t get to sleep until after 5 AM, so I slept through most of that. By the time I was up and ready to start the day, the snow had stopped and the plows had caught up. Dump trucks were lumbering down my street to drop their loads of snow in the field, then back up another street to meet up with the front end loader and get another load.

I put on my Bogs boots and parka, hat, scarf and gloves and went out to shovel the back porch and reshovel the loop in the backyard for the dogs. They’re small, so I try to keep a path that they can access without going through deep snow to do their business. This also saves me from dealing with wet dogs all day. What did I get for all my hard work? One ungrateful dog that wouldn’t leave the porch, and one that bounded off the path and bounced like a bunny through the deep snow. At least he got some exercise.

2 ungrateful dogs

I didn’t shovel a path to the van, or clear the snow off the van, or shovel around the van because I wasn’t planning to go anywhere because ZOMG SNOWPOCALYPSE!!! But as I said, the snow had stopped and the streets were navigable, and since I was already wearing my Bogs, I walked to the post office… where I had two bulky packages. I took the unexpected box with me and left the expected package at the post office. The one I brought home was from a friend in Hawaii (my daughter’s kindergarten teacher). She sent a Hawaiian breakfast; Hawaiian resort brand pancake mix, egg mixes and syrup. Also pistachios and macadamia nuts. She is such a sweet woman! My daughter will be 34 soon, so it’s been awhile since she was in Mrs. Chiba’s kindergarten class, but I send her a Christmas card and a letter every year and she always responds and remembers Krysten fondly, even occasionally mentioning what’s happening with some of her classmates from 29 years ago. The school was in a military neighborhood; I think all of the kids there were from military – mostly Navy – families, so she has kept up a correspondence with many of her students, probably from her entire teaching career.

After opening and looking through the contents of the box, I decided that maybe I’d better run to the vet to grab the dogs’ dental treats which I ran out of last night. We still have Chillageddon 2019 to get through this week and there’s no freaking way I’m going out in minus forty degree wind chill to buy dog treats! So guess what I had to do? Yep, shovel a path to the van, clear snow off the van, shovel around the van… Sigh. I did all that, loaded the dogs because they were getting a bit hysterical about me leaving AGAIN!!! I mean that one block walk to the post office and back took an ETERNITY!!! They weren’t happy that I left them in the van while I ran in to pick up the dental treats, but I left the van running with the heat on and the CCR playlist going, and I’d called ahead so they had the treats waiting for me at the check-in desk. It’s just as well I didn’t drag them in because in the short time I was there, two people brought in their cats.

So now we’re all home and warm. Snowpocalypse 2: The Lake Effect has begun. The dogs are snoozing on the furniture and I’m thinking of ways to keep warm during Chillageddon. I’ve seen warnings that home heating systems are not designed to handle 48 hours of sub-zero temperatures and that the temperature in the house will probably drop down into the low to mid 60s. Here’s what I’ve got so far…

• Dress warmly with many layers.
• Cook a Hawaiian breakfast.
• Keep a large pot of water simmering on the stove to add heat and moisture to the air.
• Do laundry and maybe even ironing. Activity and heat from the dryer will add warmth.
• Bake dog treats, cookies, or something else useful.
• The day has finally arrived to self-clean the oven. I think the temperature gets up to around 800 degrees when it’s in the cleaning cycle.
• If it gets too cold with all of that, retreat upstairs and crank up the baseboard heaters.
• Pray the electricity doesn’t go out.
• In case of power failure, pray a neighbor can get the generator started and hooked up because I’m weak and clueless.

How are you surviving winter?

Continuing my review of 2018, here are the books I most enjoyed and ticket stub reviews of the movies and plays I saw.

BOOKS

Because I was so sick for so long, I didn't read as many books as I usually do - only 29 this year (about half my normal amount) - but I read more non-fiction than I normally do. Of those 29 books, only a handful got 3 1/2 or more stars from me. I rate them on a scale of 5 stars for the best and 0 stars for the ones that are so bad I can't even finish them. It almost never happens that I can't finish a book because it's just that awful, but I do occasionally start a book, get distracted and forget to finish it. I have two books in that category - Fear by Bob Woodward, and Snape... A Definitive Reading by Lorrie Kim. Both are Kindle downloads which are easier to forget about than a physical book - at least for me. I'll get them read, though.

Of the 29 books I finished, I gave five stars to four of them, and 4.5 stars to one - all of those books are by the same author who happens to be my favorite author, so no surprises there.

***** - The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien

****1/2 - Letters from Father Christmas by J.R.R. Tolkien

Two books got four stars - a novel about an unusual boy, and a memoir.

**** - Be Frank with Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson, A Higher Loyalty: Truth Lies and Leadership by James Comey

The last of the above average books consisted of a Phryne Fisher mystery, a rather odd novel about a young girl's bond with her grandmother, a Mitford book, and a biography of Queen Victoria that was pretty long but quite interesting.

***1/2 -  Raisins & Almonds by Kerry Greenwood, My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik Backman, Come Rain or Come Shine by Jan Karon, Victoria the Queen by Julia Baird

MOVIES

Whenever I see a movie or play, instead of giving it star ratings, I write a tiny review on the ticket stub and put the stub in an envelope which I keep in the back of my journal. I saw seventeen movies this year, again, less than normal due to illness. Here are my ticket stub reviews of the movies I made it to in 2018.

Jumanji WTTJ – Lots of laughs. Lighter than the original.

Darkest Hour – Excellent!

Black Panther – WOW!

Avengers Infinity War – Enjoyable, but enough Thanos already!

Solo – Enjoyed the backstory, especially meeting Chewy.

Incredibles 2 – Lots of fun & lots of ego issues.

Ant Man & the Wasp – Another non-stop action adventure.

Ocean’s Eight - I remember laughing, but not why.

Christopher Robin – Nostalgic. Gently Humorous.

The Spy Who Dumped Me – So funny! Balzac… LOL

Won’t You Be My Neighbor – Touching – interesting – nostalgic

House with a Clock in the Wall – Cute! Enjoyed Jack Black and Glen Close.

First Man – Good, but tried too hard to be Apollo 13.

Hocus Pocus – Cool to see on the Big Screen. Teri jumped!

Bohemian Rhapsody – Touching – sometimes hard to watch. (for personal reasons)

Fantastic Beasts 2 – Fantastically confusing

Ralph Breaks the Internet – Fun but forced

PLAYS

And finally, I saw two stage plays this year. There were a few others I wanted to see, but didn't make it to the playhouse for various reasons.

Nana’s Naughty Knickers – Cute

Calendar Girls – Sister date for Donna

Next up will be my favorite photos that I took last year. Same old disclaimer - didn't take as many as usual - yada, yada, yada.

This is the post that started the friendship between Bricker and me. It was originally posted on Xanga in April, 2009 and was intended to be a parody of his writing. We read and subscribed to each other's blogs before then, but this took us to the next level and we became good friends... especially after I actually sent him some cookies. RIP Thom - you are missed.

April 1, 2009

Why I Can't Marry Bricker (Poor Thing) - [WARNING: Naked Art]

I made a grave mistake yesterday. I revealed too much of my true self on xanga and Bricker59 fell in love with me (poor thing).

It may have been my tousled, glossy red locks.

(That's not really me; I have bangs.)

It might have been the twinkle in my large, piercing blue eyes.

(That's not really me; I have two eyes.)

Maybe it was my sexy neon blue underwear (which looks great on me).

(That's not really me; I don't have the matching bra.)

Or perhaps my irresistible Rubenesque curves.

(That's not really me; my hair is shorter.)

It could have been any of those things, but it wasn’t. It was this:

(My decadent banana split cake.)

(My delicious chocolate chip cookies.)

He asked me to marry him and I had to disappoint him (poor thing). I hope he had enough beer in his refrigerator to mend his broken heart.

You’ll always have a special place in my heart, Bricker, but it’s for the best that we stay apart. Our combined magnificence would be too much for xanga.

(Isn't he dreamy?)

I guess I’m just a sucker for long, flowing black locks, manly shoulders and a piercing eye. I’m sure you understand.

I lost a friend yesterday. He spent his summers as a teen working at a camp in Canada and formed a lifelong bond with his fellow workers. They knew him as Tripper. Those of us who knew him from the heyday of Xanga called him Bricker. On Facebook, he went by his given name, Thom Newnham. Thom died of cancer. He was a heavy smoker and developed lung cancer which was not diagnosed until it had metastasized in his brain.

I wrote to him after his diagnosis and told him I was angry, at his doctors for not diagnosing the lung cancer when he was vomiting blood a year before, and at him for smoking, and at cancer for being the serial killer that it is. Here was his reply to that:

“You can be mad at me for smoking, but by God I LOVED every single cigarette I ever smoked.”

That is quintessential Bricker right there.

Thom had two daughters whom he loved with all of his heart who took good care of him these last few months. Like all parents, he had moments of hurt feelings, anger and frustration over the years, but his love ALWAYS shone through every word he ever wrote or said about them. His “Legshaver” and “Cuddlebug” meant the world to him. I hope they know that. I know that I will always be grateful for the last words I ever received from him.

“I love you my Vi...very, very much. Thom”

I love you, too Thom. This world was a better, funnier, crazier place because you were in it. Your humor, your storytelling, your friendship and the love you had for your family and friends made a true difference. I’m glad I said these things to you before today.

Rest in peace, my dear friend.

Love, Your Vi

I will be reposting a couple of my old Xanga posts about Thom. One was how our friendship started, and one was an online letter I wrote to him when he was in the hospital a few years ago. I’d forgotten about the second one until I ran across it while looking for the other one. They both offer glimpses into the personality that made Bricker so popular on Xanga and, I suspect, in the real world as well.

Well, here it is the first of the year and here I am thinking I need to make more of an effort to blog this year. This happens nearly every year, and most of the time I respond with a year in review post. I didn’t bother last year, because 2017 sucked and, although my troubles were all I could think about, I didn’t want to write about them. In fact, I was instructed not to discuss them on social media. It’s probably okay to write about everything now, but I still don’t feel like it.

2018 was, if anything, even worse than the previous year. It started out spectacularly badly and went downhill from there. I got really, really sick. I’d reached the point that I couldn’t eat much besides applesauce, bananas and Jello, and even those sometimes made me ill. I had a fever for months, often accompanied by chills, I lost a lot of weight, my coloring was… let’s be nice and say ashen. I got so weak I was on the verge of turning in my car keys because my reaction time had gotten so slow and I couldn’t stay focused enough to remember where I was half the time.

I was well enough to drive to Arkansas in April to visit my mom and many other family members. I also drove to Cincinnati in May for GeoWoodstock. A five hour drive followed by a long uphill hike to grab the oldest geocache in Ohio on Friday left me completely done in and had to rent a wheelchair for the event on Saturday. After conserving my strength all day, I was fine to drive home on Sunday once we'd found all the caches on the Butler County Donut Trail. Krysten drove for that, but I drove us back to Michigan via a slight detour in Indiana to drop murisopsis off at her home.

Later in the year, after I was feeling about a million times better than I had in years, I took my daughter with me to Washington Island, Wisconsin to spend a few days with my cousin. I try to go every year and it’s always a fun and relaxing week. Every time I’ve gone, I’ve taken somebody with me and introduced them to the island. So far, I’ve taken a cousin, each of my sisters, and my daughter. I love doing this because it gives me an excuse to visit all the places I enjoy most on each trip. The Stavkirkke, the lavender farm, the lookout tower, The Red Cup, Nelsen’s, Schoolhouse Beach, and of course Fair Isle Books and Fair Trade – my cousin’s shop.

The following month I returned to Arkansas for my annual autumn visit. My sisters and I had so much fun during this visit! We dressed in our similar but not identical LulaRoe outfits for church, visits with our mom at the nursing home, and general sashaying around town. We even had photo shoots with my niece twice and a friend once. Those photos make me smile whenever I look at them.

I couldn’t imagine having the strength or stamina to make those trips when I was so ill in the spring and summer. Happily, I’ve been blessed with the best daughter and sisters in the world, as well as a determined doctor, and they took good care of me. I finally had a test that showed a slight abnormality, went in for exploratory surgery and they found the problem and fixed it. It turns out, when my gall bladder was removed three years ago, some of the sludge and stones got trapped in the common bile duct. By the time the problem was discovered, there were stones the size of marbles completely obstructing the bile duct and toxins were backing up into my liver. My coloring was so bad because I was jaundiced. I probably would have died if they hadn’t finally found the problem. To top it off, the doctor who performed the surgery had access to the pathology report on my gall bladder and told me that it had been gangrenous, so I was probably fairly close to dying three years ago, as well. That’s two brushes with death I didn’t even know about at the time which is probably a good thing because this last time, had I known how ill I was, I would have just thrown in the towel and welcomed oblivion. Melodramatic, I know, but that’s what depression will do to you.

I’m fine now. My hands still tremble sometimes, but not as badly as they did before the surgery. The best part is that I can now eat things I haven’t been able to eat in years - even Chinese food, which brings me in a rather roundabout way to the next few posts I’ll publish. You see, I got a new wallet for Christmas and today as I was taking things out of my old wallet to put into my new one, I found a stash of fortune cookie slips from probably five years or more ago. Those will be one post in my review of 2018. I’ll also look back on books I’ve read, movies I’ve watched and photos I’ve taken. None of those are as numerous as in previous years because of my long illness, but I did get out from time to time, and I read when I couldn’t sleep. At least I tried to.

I don't know why my photos are all uploading wonky, and why I can't rotate them. Just tip your head to the left for this one.

So now you are caught up with as much of my life over the past year as I’m willing to share publicly. I’ll share my fortune cookie fortunes, my ticket stub movie reviews, my favorite reads and probably a few other favorites of 2018 in subsequent posts. Hopefully, it won’t take me until the end of the year to write them!