Year in Review

[coffeehousemt]

Here are some things from 2019:

Some of my favorite things I read:

• Dominicana by Angie Cruz
• The Rest of Just Live Here by Patrick Ness
• Journal 29 Revelation by Dimitris Chassapakis
• A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi
• Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
• And other books:

• The Phantom Tollbooth
• The Shark Texts
• Bossy Pants
• Congratulations, By the Way
• The Little Prince
• TransAtlantic
• Driven by Data 2.0
• and I'm reading The Water Dancer

Some of my favorite things I've watched:

(An asterisk means I saw it in theaters. I saw SIX movies in theaters!  That WAY MORE than I thought!  Also, all TV shows are just the new season, unless otherwise noted.  Although I did often watch the old season to refresh my brain.)

• Parasite*
• Booksmart*
• Grey's Anatomy, from Derek's death through current episode.  Again, of course.  In approximiately two weeks.
• Mindhunter
• Ramy
• When They See Us
• Shrill
• Coco, for the first time
• The End of the F***ing World
• Unbelievable
• Orange is the New Black
• Blown Away
• all of Sherlock
• Santa Clarita Diet
• The OA
• Russian Doll
• Flea Bag--many times
• The Handmaid's Tale
• The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
• Survivor
• undone
• Making It
• Killing Eve
• Us*
• and other stuff:

• All of Queer Eye
• More Nailed It
• female comedians like Michelle Wolf, Iliza Shlesinger, Jenny Slate, Sarah Silverman, Chelsea Handler, Whitney Cummings, Katherine Ryan, Wanda Sykes, and the Comedy Lineup that was all women and people of color
• Aziz Ansari's new special
• The Hate You Give
• Stranger Things
• The Umbrella Academy
• Marriage Story
• All the new Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead
• Forged in Fire
• Project Runway
• Raising Dion
• all of The Good Place, again
• Good Girls, season 1
• The 100--all of it, except the new season
• Top Chef
• Zombieland Doubletapped*
• Captain Marvel*
• Modern Love
• The Dead Don't Die*
• some Netflix movies (Always Be My Maybe, Unicorn Store, Dumplin, etc)

Things I Did:

• 3.5 Escape Rooms
• Went to Orlando.  Highlight: a cat cafe.
• Went to Austin.  This was probably the highlight of my year.  It was so needed for Cristin, Shanny, and I, and it has led to an even stronger friendship since.
• Went to Dominican Republic.  BECAUSE I WANTED TO.  Highlight: monkey.
• took a color theory class in RISD.  Highlight: my professor.
• started an etsy site that has sold 0 things
• went to the PEZ Museum
• Went to "Then She Fell" in NYC, saw a pig being butchered, and stayed in a hotel with the toilet in the shower.  Every part of this trip was a highlight.  Bummer I was super sick the whole time.
• saw Mumford and Sons.  Would not have gone if not invited, and I was super annoyed at all the thirty-somethings in flannels filling up the restaurants, but it ended up being fun.  Also, it was snowing so bad at the end, I couldn't get a ride home.  Some random couple on the street did ask me for a threesome.  I politely declined and hid out in a Mexican restaurant until an Uber was available.
• went to my first college graduation for an alumni
• organized our first field trip to Mysitc Seaport, which was a BLAST.
• took my grade-level team out to Al Forno for a well-deserved celebratory dinner.  Will become an annual tradition. Also sick for this experience.
• found Waldo at 9pm in a deserted neigborhood on a Thursday, in June.
• Harry Potter Wizarding World app
• officiated my sister's wedding
• drove the boat
• drove to Illinois and back with a cat and a lot of car trouble
• went to the Wndr Museum, Taste of Chicago, and a ghost tour
• the Rosewood wedding
• went to a rodeo
• created and ran "Detective Club" this fall
• had NOS4A2 film in my neighborhood
• attended a John Hattie/ Visible Learning conference
• went camping . . . sorta
• first ever ASM team mini lock-in
• fed a chicken hiding under a porch at a student's house
• had my parents visit
• went to The Choo-Choo restaurant
• a PechaKucha on beer that was meh because my slides failed
• supported a group of students in having our first Dating Violence Awareness Week

A Few Things I Purchased:

• a popcorn machine
• a Cricut machine
• a cordless vacuum I haven't taken out of the box
• a pack of seven Betty Crocker instant mashed sweet potatoes.  Purchased while intoxicated
• a montly detective kit
• a new bean bag
• a new humidifier that is soooo quiet!
• an oversized inflatable cactus cooler tube pool float
• a pet camera
• a Shephard Fairey print

Tattoos I've gotten:

• a salt shaker by the talentedt Delilah
• a bee and flower upgrade by Amy Pate

Life hacks:

• tattoo numbing gel: apply once the skin is broken.  I did it between the outline and color.  It is a GAME CHANGER!  I don't care who calls me a pussy.  The pain is fine when the adreleline is working, but after it fades, it's just awful.  I sat SO WELL too.  By the end, I was just bored.
• PrettyLitter: delivered monthly, light, gets rid of the pee, medical indicator, win.
• interactive feedback bowl: It make Ginny eat slower.  Which is a good thing.
• jersey v-nck dress: It's just a big t-shirt, but it maaaay have replaced my jersey jumpsuits for around-the-house wear
• chiropractor: the drive back from Illinois left my hip in bad shape.  But Dr. Tom is the best and fixed me right up!
• Google translate camera option: Have you seen this?!?!?  We live in the future!

The tough stuff:

• had a couple tough interactions with the head honcho.  Sort of the norm though.  But they really upset me more than I should let them.
• a former student with a chronic illness had to have heart surgery and was in a medically-induced coma.  Not only did she recover, but after years, she found a blood marrow match and will be getting a transplant this year to hopefully cure her!
• my anxiety and depression had some rough patches, but I was able to head them off with therapy and meds.  I feel really positive about my ability to identify and respond with action.

Highlights and Wins:

• Toni Morrison door: It was a beautiful door.  But the real possibility that Toni Morrison saw it is the real win--and that I got to be creative and create something beautiful.
• took the SAT: 1420.  Not terrible for someone who hasn't taken math in almost 20 years.
• pet stairs: Ginny learned how to use them incredibly quickly.  I suppose that's her win more than mine.
• number one high school blood drive in the state: Woooooo!  And the whole RIBC got a good laugh of me taking that pic in front of the billboard, with my blood drive shirt on.
• my Ooogie Boogie costume: this will come out often.  Because it is a maker of joy.
• won HQ words a couple of times
• shook John Carlos's hand
• beat my brother at mini golf, drunk on margaritas
• KNEAD Friday hot donuts: The Night Cruller.  LIFE CHANGING.  They're doing one in January.
• unveiled the seven ninja turtles.  One day, I will write the saga of the ninja turtles.  Although now I'm leaning toward Adobe Spark.
• ladies night: Siss, Jess, Kelly, and I have successfully pulled off three ladies nights this fall.  It is a huge scheduling win, but an even better friendship win.
• the Columbus statue got vandalized: it was MESSY.
• our first ever Haunted House: for the kids, it was a big win because they all came together and we made $, but for me, it was just seeing the dream realized.
• accidentally ran into a group of people getting their US citizenship.  There is a facebook post I never posted about it, but it was one of a few real-world-cry moments of the year.
• the sticker initiative: in response to some things happening at school and wanting to make allyship and true self more visible, I bought a TON of stickers from Redbubble and made kids trade nice notes or supportive photos for them.

Overall:
I appreciate "1 Minute a Day" and all the internet platforms that help me remember what I've seen and done.  There'd be no list without it.  I often feel like my life is ho-hum, but things like this help me realize that I'm living quite a full life that I'm quite proud of.  So huzzah for 2019 and moving into 2020 with exciting goals.