So Long, 2019

Younglings:

I don't normally do the "end of the year" rundown thing, but I kinda want to this year, because 2019 was a bit of a roller coaster ride.

On January 1, we were gearing up to take a motorcycle ride and my shoulder did "that thing" again. I was just putting on a motorcycle jacket. Geez. So I thought, "Well, that's a fine how-do-ya-do to kick the year off." But I have a friend with muscle relaxers and so I just went back to bed. Thanks, Glenn Smith.

February - I turned 50 on the 5th. Not really that devastating. I had a great birthday party with Poppa Don, Memaw and Poppa Bill, and one of my best friends in the whole world, Christine, at a restaurant owned by one of my best classmates, Jason, from Mena. The food was great, Mom made me a chocolate cake with white coconut icing (as is customary), and all was right with the world.

Then Poppa Don took me on a surprise vacation. I had no idea where we were going until we got to the airport. I thought they'd dropped us at the wrong terminal; Poppa Don kept telling me we were flying American, so...why are we at the Lufthansa gate? That's because we went to SPAIN. THE SPAIN. The one I studied for a year and a half to get my Spanish language teaching license. It was phenomenal - my first trip overseas. The trip of a lifetime.

We had spent three days in Madrid, Barcelona, Segovia, Toledo, Salamanca, and Avila - then I wake up in the middle of the night to a Facebook message telling me my best friend, who'd been at my birthday party, had died of complications from the flu. The next morning we toured the Prado but we had to go back to the room so I could break down. I was on this trip of a lifetime and my best friend has died. On Valentine's Day. She hated Valentine's Day. LOL. I didn't know quite how to handle that. She'd be appalled at the Valentine's Day stuff that's already in the stores here in December.

A few weeks later we went to Alabama for her memorial service, where her brother had asked me to speak. Again, it was not easy, but her family and I shared some wonderful memories, and I know she's up there, petting all the cats. I also made a new friend - Christine's friend Carla from when they were in junior high together, before Christine moved to Mena. When we came home, Poppa Don bought a new motorcycle. Alrighty then!

Later on that spring there were some changes made to my job. Changes I'm not so happy about, but I get it. I won't dwell on that.

In May, we went to Georgia to watch Number One, Kobe, graduate from high school. What a party! Mackenzie graduated, too, on the same day, but it's kinda hard to be on Atlanta and Indianapolis at the same time. We spoke to Kenzie and Nathan via FaceTime on Christmas Day and it was so nice to "see" them.

Both Papaw and Great Great Grandma had medical issues during the summer, and later on during the fall. Luckily, they came through each and are doing much better. Memaw and Poppa Bill are doing very well, and I'm grateful for that.

Poppa Don sold Westark Concerts and is now officially retired. We took a trip to New Orleans and had a great time as always. School started again for me and I was back into the routine. We got the rest of the floors in the Plantation refinished and the house looks amazing. 

In September, I went to see KISS for the first (and last) time. Wow. Worth every dime. I went to Detroit, Michigan for the first time and even wandered into Windsor, Ontario for about 15 minutes. Beauty, eh? Then I went to see Heart and Joan Jett (third time for both) and they were phenomenal as usual. Heart kicked off the show with "Rockin' Heaven Down" (coincidence???) and Ann's vocals on "Mistral Wind" - absolutely sublime. It was almost like a religious experience. My trip to the VIP bar might have had something to do with that, but no matter. That was a show for die-hard Joan & Heart fans.

We went up to Fayetteville in October to hang out with Kaytea and Beau and watch the Cate Brothers' 50th Anniversary show at George's. Another really cool moment, despite the pinot grigio that tasted like soy sauce (!!!). Poppa Don and I were wandering around on Dickson Street afterward and ate burritos from a food truck. We enjoyed it so much we're going to do that again in March when the Cates do an encore show. That same day, however, we went to Sallisaw to remember Uncle Alvie, who passed over into the next world doing what he loved - hunting elk in the beautiful San Juan Mountains of Colorado.

We had four of you Younglings (Bozo Boy, Seven, E, and Master Luke) at the house for Thanksgiving and that was fun. We had a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and watched ALL the Star Wars movies in chronological order (and The Mandalorian) to prepare for Episode IX. We decided Baby Yoda is the coolest thing ever, in addition to the possum that visits our front porch and eats the food I put out for the feral cats, of which there are about four.

We continued to do more home improvements - we built a retaining wall around the front yard and took down the old picket fence. We installed some new "gadgets" (locks and gas logs) and will be doing even more touch-ups in 2020.

I wasn't in the Christmas spirit this year. Don't really know why. After fall commencement, we took off for the West in Garth Vader, Poppa Don's "new" FJ Cruiser. We saw lots of snow in Durango, ate some fantastic New Mexican food in Taos (I miss red sauce!), shopped in Santa Fe. (I especially like my jackalope). On the way home, we stayed in Denison to watch Episode IX. I loved it, as I enjoy all Star Wars films. My opinions about the "toxic fans" - save for another blog post, I will.

We celebrated Christmas in Mena with both sets of parents and fun was had by all. It turned out to be a really great Christmas. I got new clothes, a smartwatch, shoes, handmade bedspreads, candles, homemade soap, honey, wine, all kinds of cool stuff. The trip was awesome but it was good to come home to our beautiful house and our oddball menagerie of pets. 

But this morning I learned that I've lost another classmate, a man I've known all my life since we were little bitty kids in the Methodist Church at Mena. He used to bring Planet of the Apes action figures with him to Sunday School. My mom and his parents were friends for years. We were editors of the high school literary magazine together. We bought wrote for the school newspaper. He grew up and became Indiana Jones. No, really, he was an archaeologist. A real one. He had a lovely wife, two beautiful daughters, was always remodeling his house, made his own beer, ran marathons. I was hoping to see him at our next high school reunion but now he's gone. He was out running yesterday morning and was struck by a vehicle. He had just posted the other day about the Star Wars Holiday Special. I'm still dealing with Christine, and now Michael is gone, too. Both quite unexpectedly and way before their time.

What the $&%*^??

This is why I've begun to take LIFE more seriously, and put up with worthless horse puckey less and less. I don't worry about the things I can't do anything about. I blow off housework to read or write or do the things I enjoy. I'm going to ride my bike and go to yoga whenever I can. I WILL finish the other books floating around in my head. Do what you want to do NOW, Younglings - you don't even have to wait until a New Year starts.

Today Poppa Don and I rode Papaw's Indian trike over to Office Depot and the bookstore. I bought a latte and tipped the barista three dollars because her cash register wasn't working and she brought my coffee directly to me over at the main checkout. I bought a Lillian Jackson Braun book because Christine loved them and I've decided to collect them (and read them!) all in her honor. Later on I posted the picture of me and Michael as Robin Hood and Little John (respectively) from kindergarten graduation in 1975. This has also made me think of Tory and Darrin and Scotty and Ben and others we've lost from the class of '87.

I'm looking forward to spending a nice quiet New Year's Eve eating my favorite Chinese food, drinking my weekly ration of Coca-Cola, and watching whatever I want on TV because Amazon Firesticks are very, very cool. I'm glad I'm NOT playing a New Year's gig. I'll drink cheap champagne and my feet won't hurt at the end of the night. I'll say goodbye to the "Judge Roy Scream" (look that up if you don't know what that is) that was 2019 and hello to the new Roaring 20s - here's looking at you, kid. This is beginning of another beautiful decade.