Looking Back on 2018

Hubby’s big news this year is 1) he got his first deer! He got it during crossbow season. We’ve been enjoying a variety of venison dishes ever since. His buddy Joe and he have been invited to hunt on a local farm owned by another library employee and that’s where they got lucky. The two also traveled to Wisconsin to hunt on our brother-in-law’s property.

Also, 2) he signed up for a subscription service called Aira. It’s a pair of glasses you wear that have a small camera attached. These connect to a live assistant who provides on-demand 24/7 sighted assistance with anything from picking out the right can of soup in the pantry, to making your way through unfamiliar places like airports, to setting a digital thermostat in a hotel room. Very cool.

In February of this year, Hubby had shoulder replacement surgery. It went beautifully and at the 6-month mark he was at 95%-just a minor reduction in flexibility. After he got through with PT, he joined that gym where he’d become accustomed to going and knew the equipment.

After five years of working our way through a 24-part DVD wine class with Greg and Judy, we finally finished it! We had so much fun alternating homes for a fancy meal and an afternoon of imbibing wines that we promptly decided to start on the Wines of Italy class.

We also vacationed in Traverse City wine country with Greg and Judy this summer. We went to a speakeasy that featured handmade infused alcohols, including habanero vodka, and delicious concoctions including vanilla rum and Coke made with syrup and not bottled pop.

The entryway of the speakeasy was a “tea shop” – an old fashioned, light yellow, innocent-looking room with white rockers and displays of tea cups. Beyond a hidden door, it had a dark decor – walls painted ruby red – with an enormous, hardwood bar and ceiling-height mirrors. The furniture was all rich upholstered chairs and lounges in dramatic patterns. Hubby and I sat on what I swear was an opium couch but someone with less imagination might say it was just a Davenport. Imagination is important.

Another night we had a 7-course dinner at Chateau Chantal. All told it was four days of mid-summer luxury and a nice getaway.

We still play pub trivia once a week with Dragon, Clare, and Dan. This holiday season we experimented with a new location and decided to switch to it. Maybe we’ll have a better chance of getting back into the playoffs!

This summer I spent most of my work time on a redesign of https://mel.org which went live on October 1. My actual web development skills are rusty and I was never good enough on my own to design that site (like, not ever, not on my best day), so don’t get too excited, but I did have a legit and heavy hand in both the information architecture and the project management for the site. The whole team was very pleased by the results.

Also, I had another really gratifying thing happen. In last year’s holiday card, I recommended three books. A business associate of Hubby said she enjoyed my selections so much that she wanted me to suggest more! I promptly created a list: a variety of fiction, non-fiction, modern, classic, overtly political and marvelously subtle books that I hope she will enjoy. 12 years away from patrons and I’ve still got the magic. That’s what I’m talking about.

My off-work time was spent knitting up a storm. I started a project to make afghans for all eight of our great nieces and nephews and I got through the first four in 2018. They were mailed off safe and sound in time for Christmas.

We canceled our landline this year. Finally. To reach us, please use our cell phones.

Happy holidays!