2018 Year in Review
January
The year started off with a brr, at +1F for the high. The chill would continue into the first week of the year.
My cousin's MIL passed away after dealing with dementia for years.
By the 8th, we finally get above 20F.
Thanks to Valerie Bertinelli, my mom gets on TV.
My cousin Kevin's son turns 1 and gets covered in frosting at a bowling alley in Kankakee.
Laura's daughter turns 2 on a chilly, rainy, icy day.
My father's retirement is cramping my style (and, yeah, I pretty much don't sing in the shower any longer).
Icy roads make Route 38 a magnet for slide-offs, including a spin-out right next to me.
My parents' bank goes through a time warp and thinks we still live in the city.
I try sleeping pills for the first time.
I discover I am no longer part of the bequeathment library project through band.
February
A reminder of blizzards past.
Speaking of snow… Inclement weather cancels band and makes it hard for me to see on my ride home. A threat of up to 14" of snow cancels school, but I still go to work. And I still go to solo contest…which, unbeknownst to me, got canceled due to the weather. ( Eventually I'd get an apology.) The snow ends up getting to be so bad that it displaces a bunny from his usual warren. After a week or so, he moves on. Later in the month, the overflow of snow turns into an overflow of rain. And then it freezes again, almost preventing me from getting in my car. The rivers are still pretty high, though.
The brutally cold weather affects the way my car drives…and the police call to let Elizabeth know about her van. At 11 o'clock at night.
I make it to an NCC basketball game.
Dad fixes a hole in my bathroom ceiling and annoys me in the process.
Our Steak & Shake turns sketchy with a shooting in the drive-thru.
Who wants to taste skunk? (I don't, but get to anyway.)
I judge the new contest I started doing last year. Which is good, because I found out I couldn't do the revised date for Mr. C's contest. (And I predict…correctly…the death of camp.)
I get to join Avery and Rita (and Rita's cousin) for more cards, but this ends up being our only gathering of the year. (Plus being Lent, I make it fun and exciting. :P )
March
Our unpleasant work neighbors move out. Later in the month, there is a hole in the wall for a new door to the dock.
I go to see my friend's band concert.
Mom thinks she has long hair and dad keeps working on my bathroom. Dad calls it quits midway through the month and I keep using my rusty shower caddy. Eventually my bathroom gets cleaned and put back to normal.
The work intern gets on several people's lists, and my dad attempts (and fails) to get rid of our landline.
Dr. K and I hang out after another of his concerts, and he mentions the possibility of chaperoning the summer band trip. Also, I may have kicked him in the shins.
Stephen Hawking passes away and we learn Toys R Us will be closing.
I reconnect with one of our French-related cousins.
Grandma up and decides to go on a trip…to see the Ark. Meanwhile, yes, I'm really Irish for St. Patrick's Day. And, yes, the Ark definitely is in Kentucky.
My LJ is lacking moods and I find out why.
My father washes the mail. Mom later relates what happened to grandma.
We get new cable boxes, the kind with a voice remote, and I hit 3K days on the Wii.
Oh, goody. Another skunking.
Work at the end of the month is weird, in part because I have to take an evening shift. Plus, it makes my Easter food plans go kaput. The construction for our new neighbors means I have to close in the dark, with no option to turn on the dock light. The work also affects our end-of-fiscal-year stuff.
I hit 700 days on the "new and improved" (read: now has ads) Duolingo.
With my Easter altered due to work, I pull out egg wraps rather than dye.
April
Our April Fools Easter involves mom's food miscues, learning about the Ark (it has wifi), and me debating what to start eating again. It also leads to me realizing my father has quit smoking. (Also, the Loyola Ramblers make the Final Four and Sister Jean becomes a celebrity, plus other ramblings.)
Post-Easter at work, we have a light *and* a light switch in the dock area, the internal electronics go haywire, and my young coworker decapitates the Yoda lamb cake. The same week, I have three computer monitors in one day.
I find a newspaper article about a new school going up in my old neighborhood--and how it might be built on top of graves. Also in my old neighborhood, the last Sears in Chicago is closing.
Remember our snow and cold from earlier in the year? It's back!
Duolingo goes through another update, switching from fluency percentage to crown levels.
I come to realize I am near the top of the chain at work, and I start training someone new. (It saddens me to see how promising things looked back then.) When my vacationing coworker returns, he has to deal with a busted pipe in his house. We find out what caused his issue, but also have another meeting cancellation, which causes my father to blindside me with vehemence about my job and sends me down a dark hole. Work starts getting hectic, and I realize, with the night person retiring, that I likely will need to work a few evenings.
With one bathroom down, my father starts working on a second--the master bath. Mom then has to join me in my bath…with her toiletries. She and dad disagree about chair rail, and she buys more Joy towels.
We officially gain a second assistant conductor in band, who apparently dresses the part, I shop at the Warrenville Target which is getting redone, and after 13 months, our ill bassoon player finally passes away. Our spring concert goes really well and our Pearl Harbor piece garners a standing ovation, which is completely deserved (and I will rarely say that--it was probably the best piece we did all year).
I attend a quick little band concert at school. The next night, I'm back for T's small-group concert, learn about my cousin's temperature-taking superpower, and even have a random Dr. K sighting.
May
Dirty rain hits the suburbs.
My late-shift coworker retires…and I have to start working Tuesday nights. We run out of soap in one of the bathrooms, and one of our room renters is unaware she can simply use the other bathroom to wash her hands. The front-building intern FINALLY leaves, while the office manager has more house woes to deal with. I suffer the Great Email Disaster of 2018.
The weather switch flips and we go from dry weather where we haven't even hit 70F to hot, rainy weather where it's 70F at night.
SJ turns 16, and I'm never supposed to see CC again. (There's also the incident with the squirrel and the maraschino cherry.)
A new piece of music includes "snore" as a musical direction.
My beloved white Bic pen is no more.
The master bath is finished in time for Mother's Day, and I hear from a number of people, including Mr. M…who tells me it's not looking good for camp. I then find out from a counselor family that everyone likely had been mailing their forms to the wrong place.
I hit 750 days on Duolingo.
My parents decide they can't take the obnoxious neighbor dog any longer and decide to put up a new fence.
The band's sole marching rehearsal occurs in very humid conditions. Afterward, I run over to Dr. K's concert…and find out he's not up for hanging out. ( When I eventually see the recording of the concert, I discover I don't have a soul.) The next night is T's senior choir concert; she solos, and CC thinks my face is weird.
Mom, grandma, a cousin, and I celebrate their birthdays at the Olive Garden.
The weather heats up just in time for Memorial Day, so that our marching uniform gets altered… And ultimately canceled out of safety, though we still have the post-parade concert.
My newest coworker takes it upon herself to clean up the place, and people notice. (I also say nice things about her…just wait a few months.
June
We make our first visit to Lake Geneva in about five years, and it's unusually chilly. We also finally experience the Route 47/Burlington Road roundabout.
We decide to replace the whole fence.
I get an unfortunate surprise after my first summer concert--my car got hit and is undriveable. Much of the following day is spent dealing with the situation--and breaking out the window glass with my dad. My rental car is a Juke and I spend a little time getting used to it. The work estimates come in, and it's a decent chunk of money. I do start to get used to the Juke, and mom takes a short ride in it (then can't get out the backseat). Finally, just before my third concert (literally), I get my car back--but not before having issues putting gas in the Juke.
In the middle of my car excitement, I discover--unceremoniously--that camp is permanently canceled. Mr. C sent out a letter and I did the same. Eventually, I speak with Mr. M on the phone, and I come to the realization that camp really is over.
At least my first concert--on piccolo and with a major solo--overall went well. At the second concert, my contrabass clarinet friend tries new things with his chair--and those of us in front of him worry if he'll fall on us. For the following concert, my friend gets upgraded chair blocks, I get a temporary Texan stand partner, and the weather keeps the crowd low.
My new coworker brings in homemade salsa.
Mom's ganglion cysts spread to her foot.
More car fun--my car needs struts, its check engine light came on, grandma's car is also having issues, and this all coincides with the death of the mother of mom's friend Judy. I also find residual glass on my passenger seat.
My faith in God is tested yet again.
July
Ancestry.com shows just how close mom and I are genetically…and perhaps I'm related to Jimmy Fallon?
Lightning postpones the 4th of July fireworks…but we don't find out until we get there. They got a redo the next day, but the weather was still unpleasant for a time.
On a slow Saturday where I have to work, my young coworker has me take a personality quiz. I am an Advocate (INFJ-A).
Our old fence finally comes down. A day later, we finally have our privacy fence. Later in the month, dad stains it--and gets permission to stain the neighbor dog as well.
I finally get a chance to hang out with Dr. K and hear about their upcoming band trip--to Ohio, not Canada. And I have not-water for the first time in 5 months.
Mom and I meet Bubba at Windmill Fest.
I get to feel like a superhero at work.
My parents celebrate 41 years of marriage at Cooper's Hawk. After all this time, my father knows what my mother wants.
By the end of the month, I am on vacation…and at a loss as to what to do with myself. I start making lists of what I'll miss from the different days of the week at camp, starting with Saturday. Sunday. Monday. Tuesday.
Laura takes pity on my situation and invites me to join her family at the Ren Faire. Before that, I'm actually able to attend my cousin's party, which this time around is for multiple milestones and such. Also, she's friends with Def Leppard.
August
More camp remembrances: Wednesday. Thursday. Friday. Second Saturday.
For the previous week's concert, I played piccolo and feel threatened by the flute sub…are we getting an addition to the section? At least something good happened with the concert I'd normally miss--I got my 5-year band pin. Meanwhile, mom gets caught in a freak hailstorm on her way home that Wednesday. I also find out the band director wants to get down to an 8-member flute section. Our season ends abruptly with a downpour.
I have a close encounter with a hummingbird.
I get my car worked on, we look at getting a new driveway, and dad starts to put up the little stage in the corner of the yard.
I return to work and dread having to deal with my new coworker. When the busy season rolls around, it turns out several of us feel the same way. I also am needed to work two straight weeks of open-to-close shifts.
I get an interesting proposition: I get invited to go to Europe with Dr. K and NCC's bands. I'm inspired to start learning German.
Grandma spends a couple days with us to check out retirement communities in our area. Part 2 of grandma's visit.
There is a body found near my house (later determined to be a suicide) and a murder occurs on my route to work in West Chicago. News of what happened starts trickling in. Fuller stories appear--and it's pretty heinous. A fourth person eventually gets charged.
Dad & I crash the Elburn Days parade on a quest for funnel cake.
More projects: Mom gets her hail damage fixed; dad assembles the little deck; our neighbor adds his own new fencing; and our new driveway is pending. In preparation for the new deck, dad moves one of our bushes, and also nearly starts a grease fire on the grill.
September
The month does not start off well for mom: She learns the O'Hare Oasis is closing in a few days. She makes one last visit before it closes.
I am so exhausted by the first week of open-close shifts that I spend much of Saturday in bed. This gave me just enough energy for the Labor Day parade--and I even made it on TV.
Laura's parents celebrate their 50th anniversary.
The truth comes out: I'm ready to be done with my new coworker. Because dealing with her means dealing with drama. Following her car accident, she makes it into work the next week…rats. Though she does up and walk out on us.
I make it to the opening home football game at NCC.
Our genetic results get updated on Ancestry.com.
After years of talking about it, we finally get our new driveway.
Band loses another flute player.
Mom and I go to Morton Arboretum to see the trolls. I head back a couple days later to see what I'd missed--and find the hideout.
The North Aurora marquee finally stops reading May. (It has read October 2018 ever since…and I'm typing this up at the end of January 2019.)
October
The coworker drama continues into October, but the big bosses are on it. The fire alarms go off at work, the dramatic coworker has more drama, and I discover I am getting yet *another* person to train. The dramatic coworker then needs to revise her schedule (and wasn't she supposed to be let go already?). To our chagrin, the boss agrees to modify it.
Scarecrow Fest with Laura's family is cut short by rain.
Avery and I realize we have so much to discuss that we get together two weeks before Homecoming to have a marathon 3-hour gab fest over Chinese.
My phone rings and it freaks me out.
I visit the arboretum to see the fall colors…and there aren't any. A second trip really only shows me ginkgo leaves on the ground.
Kanye West stopped by Pepe's in Naperville.
I find out I don't need a passport after all. I miss Dr. K after the Homecoming concert, but I didn't feel well so that was fine. Also, it was a brownie convention. At the game, it turns out Dr. K played defense for Elmhurst.
Just in time for trick-or-treating, we discover a sex offender down the block.
November
I make my final trek to the arboretum this fall, and finally get to see the colors.
The band preps for its fall concert with a guest conductor, and a high school member suggests we get to know each other better. And then plans change and our guest cannot make it. Plans change again and I end up subbing for the piccolo player in the middle of the concert. Also, the crotchety librarian finally retires. I learn I'll play piccolo legitimately for the truncated Christmas concert, and I help out with getting new folders. The oboe player gets creative with a flask.
I mourn the loss of the Europe trip.
I get confused as to what type of dance firefighters do (care of my young coworker).
I might be on Google Maps at some point (but not as of January 2019).
I discover the dramatic coworker still doesn't know how to do basic tasks after seven months, and also apparently is 12.
Avery and I have our third and final Chinese dinner, and I see my first show at Meiley-Swallow Hall.
Mom celebrates her 50th grammar school reunion.
I get to sit in the balcony for Dr. K's concert.
On a light and fluffy note, I discover the existence of angora bunnies.
Grandma gets sick and calls off coming to Thanksgiving, so we go to Illumination instead. The next day, we celebrate a low-key Turkey Birthday, my last one for over a decade.
I'm in charge of the work Christmas gifts, and my boss accuses me of being on the spectrum.
The Monday after Thanksgiving involves a stupid amount of snow, and my commute takes forever.
I end the month with a cardinal party--roughly half a dozen birds hanging in the tree outside my window.
December
The month starts with whooping cranes and me taking a week off work, and finishing up with the sweatshirts before I'm off.
Our unusual holiday concert is full of surprises--and Lincoln drives a Silverado.
During my week off, I officially get new mittens and show dad what lava beads are; I go to an appointment and then Ikea; I do some cleaning and finally work on uploading pictures--and discover I'd had over 11,000 visitors to my Flickr site in one day; dad and I run more errands (oh, sheets); I manage to have lunch with Dr. K; and I celebrated biscotti Saturday.
I get my young coworker a kitten of sorts for her birthday.
For the first time, my parents make labels for their Christmas cards.
We start making plans for grandma to come out Christmas Eve. We end up taking her to the Mooseheart holiday lights display. Grandma then gets to experience Christmas morning with us.
I connect with a distant cousin on Ancestry.com--finally.
Dad decides that Buster is a good name for a dog. He also tries out his new air mattress; it's a success.
My new waffle iron isn't the greatest thing ever.
Several recent online articles reflect what I've been feeling and dealing with recently.
I reflect on the year in pictures.
The mom files
1-31-18: The sun and the moon aren't the same celestial body? (And there are…how many states?)
2-3-18: Mom catches Alzheimer's at the library.
2-14-18: Mom gets us V-Day coupons for McDonald's…that you can't use if you're over 12.
2-16-18: Short on pants, long on confusion about opening a box.
9-26-18: The sexuality discussion.
10-7-18: Driving to Canada and the Poles (this is one of my favorite posts from last year…well, now that I can look back and laugh)
Wacktastic dreams
2-22-18: Harold the pocket alligator (foreshadowing Windmill Fest???)
3-29-18: Hummingbirds on my finger at church
5-10-18: Three dreams, one night: A gathering at home, punching a wall, and a potential drowning
11-3-18: Dreams of my grammar school and animals.
11-7-19: I crash a wedding that has piglet sausage.
11-16-18: I have my creepiest awake-dream ever, where I think I am bleeding all over the place. (The analysis suggests I am experiencing deep emotional stress.)
11-17-18: I then discover my awake-dreams have a name: Pseudohallucinations.
Previous years (Note: Not all are in this same format):
2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2008
The year started off with a brr, at +1F for the high. The chill would continue into the first week of the year.
My cousin's MIL passed away after dealing with dementia for years.
By the 8th, we finally get above 20F.
Thanks to Valerie Bertinelli, my mom gets on TV.
My cousin Kevin's son turns 1 and gets covered in frosting at a bowling alley in Kankakee.
Laura's daughter turns 2 on a chilly, rainy, icy day.
My father's retirement is cramping my style (and, yeah, I pretty much don't sing in the shower any longer).
Icy roads make Route 38 a magnet for slide-offs, including a spin-out right next to me.
My parents' bank goes through a time warp and thinks we still live in the city.
I try sleeping pills for the first time.
I discover I am no longer part of the bequeathment library project through band.
February
A reminder of blizzards past.
Speaking of snow… Inclement weather cancels band and makes it hard for me to see on my ride home. A threat of up to 14" of snow cancels school, but I still go to work. And I still go to solo contest…which, unbeknownst to me, got canceled due to the weather. ( Eventually I'd get an apology.) The snow ends up getting to be so bad that it displaces a bunny from his usual warren. After a week or so, he moves on. Later in the month, the overflow of snow turns into an overflow of rain. And then it freezes again, almost preventing me from getting in my car. The rivers are still pretty high, though.
The brutally cold weather affects the way my car drives…and the police call to let Elizabeth know about her van. At 11 o'clock at night.
I make it to an NCC basketball game.
Dad fixes a hole in my bathroom ceiling and annoys me in the process.
Our Steak & Shake turns sketchy with a shooting in the drive-thru.
Who wants to taste skunk? (I don't, but get to anyway.)
I judge the new contest I started doing last year. Which is good, because I found out I couldn't do the revised date for Mr. C's contest. (And I predict…correctly…the death of camp.)
I get to join Avery and Rita (and Rita's cousin) for more cards, but this ends up being our only gathering of the year. (Plus being Lent, I make it fun and exciting. :P )
March
Our unpleasant work neighbors move out. Later in the month, there is a hole in the wall for a new door to the dock.
I go to see my friend's band concert.
Mom thinks she has long hair and dad keeps working on my bathroom. Dad calls it quits midway through the month and I keep using my rusty shower caddy. Eventually my bathroom gets cleaned and put back to normal.
The work intern gets on several people's lists, and my dad attempts (and fails) to get rid of our landline.
Dr. K and I hang out after another of his concerts, and he mentions the possibility of chaperoning the summer band trip. Also, I may have kicked him in the shins.
Stephen Hawking passes away and we learn Toys R Us will be closing.
I reconnect with one of our French-related cousins.
Grandma up and decides to go on a trip…to see the Ark. Meanwhile, yes, I'm really Irish for St. Patrick's Day. And, yes, the Ark definitely is in Kentucky.
My LJ is lacking moods and I find out why.
My father washes the mail. Mom later relates what happened to grandma.
We get new cable boxes, the kind with a voice remote, and I hit 3K days on the Wii.
Oh, goody. Another skunking.
Work at the end of the month is weird, in part because I have to take an evening shift. Plus, it makes my Easter food plans go kaput. The construction for our new neighbors means I have to close in the dark, with no option to turn on the dock light. The work also affects our end-of-fiscal-year stuff.
I hit 700 days on the "new and improved" (read: now has ads) Duolingo.
With my Easter altered due to work, I pull out egg wraps rather than dye.
April
Our April Fools Easter involves mom's food miscues, learning about the Ark (it has wifi), and me debating what to start eating again. It also leads to me realizing my father has quit smoking. (Also, the Loyola Ramblers make the Final Four and Sister Jean becomes a celebrity, plus other ramblings.)
Post-Easter at work, we have a light *and* a light switch in the dock area, the internal electronics go haywire, and my young coworker decapitates the Yoda lamb cake. The same week, I have three computer monitors in one day.
I find a newspaper article about a new school going up in my old neighborhood--and how it might be built on top of graves. Also in my old neighborhood, the last Sears in Chicago is closing.
Remember our snow and cold from earlier in the year? It's back!
Duolingo goes through another update, switching from fluency percentage to crown levels.
I come to realize I am near the top of the chain at work, and I start training someone new. (It saddens me to see how promising things looked back then.) When my vacationing coworker returns, he has to deal with a busted pipe in his house. We find out what caused his issue, but also have another meeting cancellation, which causes my father to blindside me with vehemence about my job and sends me down a dark hole. Work starts getting hectic, and I realize, with the night person retiring, that I likely will need to work a few evenings.
With one bathroom down, my father starts working on a second--the master bath. Mom then has to join me in my bath…with her toiletries. She and dad disagree about chair rail, and she buys more Joy towels.
We officially gain a second assistant conductor in band, who apparently dresses the part, I shop at the Warrenville Target which is getting redone, and after 13 months, our ill bassoon player finally passes away. Our spring concert goes really well and our Pearl Harbor piece garners a standing ovation, which is completely deserved (and I will rarely say that--it was probably the best piece we did all year).
I attend a quick little band concert at school. The next night, I'm back for T's small-group concert, learn about my cousin's temperature-taking superpower, and even have a random Dr. K sighting.
May
Dirty rain hits the suburbs.
My late-shift coworker retires…and I have to start working Tuesday nights. We run out of soap in one of the bathrooms, and one of our room renters is unaware she can simply use the other bathroom to wash her hands. The front-building intern FINALLY leaves, while the office manager has more house woes to deal with. I suffer the Great Email Disaster of 2018.
The weather switch flips and we go from dry weather where we haven't even hit 70F to hot, rainy weather where it's 70F at night.
SJ turns 16, and I'm never supposed to see CC again. (There's also the incident with the squirrel and the maraschino cherry.)
A new piece of music includes "snore" as a musical direction.
My beloved white Bic pen is no more.
The master bath is finished in time for Mother's Day, and I hear from a number of people, including Mr. M…who tells me it's not looking good for camp. I then find out from a counselor family that everyone likely had been mailing their forms to the wrong place.
I hit 750 days on Duolingo.
My parents decide they can't take the obnoxious neighbor dog any longer and decide to put up a new fence.
The band's sole marching rehearsal occurs in very humid conditions. Afterward, I run over to Dr. K's concert…and find out he's not up for hanging out. ( When I eventually see the recording of the concert, I discover I don't have a soul.) The next night is T's senior choir concert; she solos, and CC thinks my face is weird.
Mom, grandma, a cousin, and I celebrate their birthdays at the Olive Garden.
The weather heats up just in time for Memorial Day, so that our marching uniform gets altered… And ultimately canceled out of safety, though we still have the post-parade concert.
My newest coworker takes it upon herself to clean up the place, and people notice. (I also say nice things about her…just wait a few months.
June
We make our first visit to Lake Geneva in about five years, and it's unusually chilly. We also finally experience the Route 47/Burlington Road roundabout.
We decide to replace the whole fence.
I get an unfortunate surprise after my first summer concert--my car got hit and is undriveable. Much of the following day is spent dealing with the situation--and breaking out the window glass with my dad. My rental car is a Juke and I spend a little time getting used to it. The work estimates come in, and it's a decent chunk of money. I do start to get used to the Juke, and mom takes a short ride in it (then can't get out the backseat). Finally, just before my third concert (literally), I get my car back--but not before having issues putting gas in the Juke.
In the middle of my car excitement, I discover--unceremoniously--that camp is permanently canceled. Mr. C sent out a letter and I did the same. Eventually, I speak with Mr. M on the phone, and I come to the realization that camp really is over.
At least my first concert--on piccolo and with a major solo--overall went well. At the second concert, my contrabass clarinet friend tries new things with his chair--and those of us in front of him worry if he'll fall on us. For the following concert, my friend gets upgraded chair blocks, I get a temporary Texan stand partner, and the weather keeps the crowd low.
My new coworker brings in homemade salsa.
Mom's ganglion cysts spread to her foot.
More car fun--my car needs struts, its check engine light came on, grandma's car is also having issues, and this all coincides with the death of the mother of mom's friend Judy. I also find residual glass on my passenger seat.
My faith in God is tested yet again.
July
Ancestry.com shows just how close mom and I are genetically…and perhaps I'm related to Jimmy Fallon?
Lightning postpones the 4th of July fireworks…but we don't find out until we get there. They got a redo the next day, but the weather was still unpleasant for a time.
On a slow Saturday where I have to work, my young coworker has me take a personality quiz. I am an Advocate (INFJ-A).
Our old fence finally comes down. A day later, we finally have our privacy fence. Later in the month, dad stains it--and gets permission to stain the neighbor dog as well.
I finally get a chance to hang out with Dr. K and hear about their upcoming band trip--to Ohio, not Canada. And I have not-water for the first time in 5 months.
Mom and I meet Bubba at Windmill Fest.
I get to feel like a superhero at work.
My parents celebrate 41 years of marriage at Cooper's Hawk. After all this time, my father knows what my mother wants.
By the end of the month, I am on vacation…and at a loss as to what to do with myself. I start making lists of what I'll miss from the different days of the week at camp, starting with Saturday. Sunday. Monday. Tuesday.
Laura takes pity on my situation and invites me to join her family at the Ren Faire. Before that, I'm actually able to attend my cousin's party, which this time around is for multiple milestones and such. Also, she's friends with Def Leppard.
August
More camp remembrances: Wednesday. Thursday. Friday. Second Saturday.
For the previous week's concert, I played piccolo and feel threatened by the flute sub…are we getting an addition to the section? At least something good happened with the concert I'd normally miss--I got my 5-year band pin. Meanwhile, mom gets caught in a freak hailstorm on her way home that Wednesday. I also find out the band director wants to get down to an 8-member flute section. Our season ends abruptly with a downpour.
I have a close encounter with a hummingbird.
I get my car worked on, we look at getting a new driveway, and dad starts to put up the little stage in the corner of the yard.
I return to work and dread having to deal with my new coworker. When the busy season rolls around, it turns out several of us feel the same way. I also am needed to work two straight weeks of open-to-close shifts.
I get an interesting proposition: I get invited to go to Europe with Dr. K and NCC's bands. I'm inspired to start learning German.
Grandma spends a couple days with us to check out retirement communities in our area. Part 2 of grandma's visit.
There is a body found near my house (later determined to be a suicide) and a murder occurs on my route to work in West Chicago. News of what happened starts trickling in. Fuller stories appear--and it's pretty heinous. A fourth person eventually gets charged.
Dad & I crash the Elburn Days parade on a quest for funnel cake.
More projects: Mom gets her hail damage fixed; dad assembles the little deck; our neighbor adds his own new fencing; and our new driveway is pending. In preparation for the new deck, dad moves one of our bushes, and also nearly starts a grease fire on the grill.
September
The month does not start off well for mom: She learns the O'Hare Oasis is closing in a few days. She makes one last visit before it closes.
I am so exhausted by the first week of open-close shifts that I spend much of Saturday in bed. This gave me just enough energy for the Labor Day parade--and I even made it on TV.
Laura's parents celebrate their 50th anniversary.
The truth comes out: I'm ready to be done with my new coworker. Because dealing with her means dealing with drama. Following her car accident, she makes it into work the next week…rats. Though she does up and walk out on us.
I make it to the opening home football game at NCC.
Our genetic results get updated on Ancestry.com.
After years of talking about it, we finally get our new driveway.
Band loses another flute player.
Mom and I go to Morton Arboretum to see the trolls. I head back a couple days later to see what I'd missed--and find the hideout.
The North Aurora marquee finally stops reading May. (It has read October 2018 ever since…and I'm typing this up at the end of January 2019.)
October
The coworker drama continues into October, but the big bosses are on it. The fire alarms go off at work, the dramatic coworker has more drama, and I discover I am getting yet *another* person to train. The dramatic coworker then needs to revise her schedule (and wasn't she supposed to be let go already?). To our chagrin, the boss agrees to modify it.
Scarecrow Fest with Laura's family is cut short by rain.
Avery and I realize we have so much to discuss that we get together two weeks before Homecoming to have a marathon 3-hour gab fest over Chinese.
My phone rings and it freaks me out.
I visit the arboretum to see the fall colors…and there aren't any. A second trip really only shows me ginkgo leaves on the ground.
Kanye West stopped by Pepe's in Naperville.
I find out I don't need a passport after all. I miss Dr. K after the Homecoming concert, but I didn't feel well so that was fine. Also, it was a brownie convention. At the game, it turns out Dr. K played defense for Elmhurst.
Just in time for trick-or-treating, we discover a sex offender down the block.
November
I make my final trek to the arboretum this fall, and finally get to see the colors.
The band preps for its fall concert with a guest conductor, and a high school member suggests we get to know each other better. And then plans change and our guest cannot make it. Plans change again and I end up subbing for the piccolo player in the middle of the concert. Also, the crotchety librarian finally retires. I learn I'll play piccolo legitimately for the truncated Christmas concert, and I help out with getting new folders. The oboe player gets creative with a flask.
I mourn the loss of the Europe trip.
I get confused as to what type of dance firefighters do (care of my young coworker).
I might be on Google Maps at some point (but not as of January 2019).
I discover the dramatic coworker still doesn't know how to do basic tasks after seven months, and also apparently is 12.
Avery and I have our third and final Chinese dinner, and I see my first show at Meiley-Swallow Hall.
Mom celebrates her 50th grammar school reunion.
I get to sit in the balcony for Dr. K's concert.
On a light and fluffy note, I discover the existence of angora bunnies.
Grandma gets sick and calls off coming to Thanksgiving, so we go to Illumination instead. The next day, we celebrate a low-key Turkey Birthday, my last one for over a decade.
I'm in charge of the work Christmas gifts, and my boss accuses me of being on the spectrum.
The Monday after Thanksgiving involves a stupid amount of snow, and my commute takes forever.
I end the month with a cardinal party--roughly half a dozen birds hanging in the tree outside my window.
December
The month starts with whooping cranes and me taking a week off work, and finishing up with the sweatshirts before I'm off.
Our unusual holiday concert is full of surprises--and Lincoln drives a Silverado.
During my week off, I officially get new mittens and show dad what lava beads are; I go to an appointment and then Ikea; I do some cleaning and finally work on uploading pictures--and discover I'd had over 11,000 visitors to my Flickr site in one day; dad and I run more errands (oh, sheets); I manage to have lunch with Dr. K; and I celebrated biscotti Saturday.
I get my young coworker a kitten of sorts for her birthday.
For the first time, my parents make labels for their Christmas cards.
We start making plans for grandma to come out Christmas Eve. We end up taking her to the Mooseheart holiday lights display. Grandma then gets to experience Christmas morning with us.
I connect with a distant cousin on Ancestry.com--finally.
Dad decides that Buster is a good name for a dog. He also tries out his new air mattress; it's a success.
My new waffle iron isn't the greatest thing ever.
Several recent online articles reflect what I've been feeling and dealing with recently.
I reflect on the year in pictures.
The mom files
1-31-18: The sun and the moon aren't the same celestial body? (And there are…how many states?)
2-3-18: Mom catches Alzheimer's at the library.
2-14-18: Mom gets us V-Day coupons for McDonald's…that you can't use if you're over 12.
2-16-18: Short on pants, long on confusion about opening a box.
9-26-18: The sexuality discussion.
10-7-18: Driving to Canada and the Poles (this is one of my favorite posts from last year…well, now that I can look back and laugh)
Wacktastic dreams
2-22-18: Harold the pocket alligator (foreshadowing Windmill Fest???)
3-29-18: Hummingbirds on my finger at church
5-10-18: Three dreams, one night: A gathering at home, punching a wall, and a potential drowning
11-3-18: Dreams of my grammar school and animals.
11-7-19: I crash a wedding that has piglet sausage.
11-16-18: I have my creepiest awake-dream ever, where I think I am bleeding all over the place. (The analysis suggests I am experiencing deep emotional stress.)
11-17-18: I then discover my awake-dreams have a name: Pseudohallucinations.
Previous years (Note: Not all are in this same format):
2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2008