2024, the Year in Review

Happy New Year's Eve! Tomorrow will be a brand new year! Before we can ring in 2025, however, we need to say a proper goodbye to 2024.

For the past—I don't know how many years—I have achieved this by posting the highlights of each month, and I wouldn't feel right not doing it again this year, considering that it was a pretty good year. Usually, this post is incredibly picture-heavy; however, in the spring, my trusty old laptop (known on this blog as The Lazymaker since 2010) finally gave up the ghost, taking all the photos I had taken with it to the computer graveyard. Don't worry, I still have the pictures on an external hard drive; I'm just too lazy to dig it out right now. So, if you really need photographic evidence, there are over 100 posts on this blog that you may refer to.

January:

January was a chill month. We were in holiday recovery mode, so we spent a lot of time at home, where I worked on brushing up my embroidery skills in preparation for the wedding later in the year.

February:

Early in the month, we got the devastating news that Boomer Dog had cancer. We would spend the next eight months loving on him and keeping him comfortable.

Queen B visited and we celebrated her birthday with a large group of her friends at a dive bar in Pixler. It was a good time.

March:

I was honored as one of Hooterville's Women of Distinction at a dinner gala. Mom, Hugh, Shanti, the Man-Cub, and my staff all joined me. It was a huge honor, and I was humbled beyond words to accept it.

Sadly, Queen B also got the sad news that her Nemo kitty had bone cancer. Luckily, the diagnosis had a far better prognosis than Boomer Dog's and, after an amputation of her hind leg, Nemo would make a full recovery.

April:

This month, our dishwasher shit the bed, necessitating a trip to the Home Despot, where we purchased not only a new dishwasher but a fridge as well. Installation of the new appliances would turn into a shit show of its very own, but it all worked out in the end.

 

Mom, Hugh, Shanti, and the Man-Cub spent a morning at the spring edition of Pickin' at the Pea and had a great time, as always.

May:

I planted flowers rather than vegetables in the garden, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best. I also started on the flower arch that Shanti wanted for the wedding.

Mom and I went to a new antique show and I purchased a fern that would have made my grandma weep with envy.

The White Barn was a beautiful venue for the sale, and Mom and I knew that we would make it a point to visit each sale held there in the future.

I flew to Dallas to go shopping with Queen B. I was on the hunt for my Mother of the Groom dress, and while I didn't find it on that trip, I had a fantastic weekend with my girl.

June:

Huh, the Man-Cub, and I finally got some boat time in on the lake. We went with Chris and Jana and it was like old times.

Queen B flew home and helped me throw the best bridal shower for Shanti!

July:

I spent hours on the porch, working on the Converse high tops that Shanti and the Man-Cub would wear for the wedding, while Boomer snoozed at my feet. 

When I wasn't embroidering, I was tending the flowers in the garden. The Great Garden Experiment of 2024 was a success and I grew a lot of the flowers that we would use in the wedding in August.

I even managed to grow a dinner plate Dahlia that would take Best in Show at the County Fair. Without even trying, since I was unaware that I had planted the variety and was under the impression that all my Dahlia tubers were for smaller blooms.

The month also featured another successful golf tournament for Not So New Job and the return of my staff to the golf course for another summer of Wild Women Wednesdays.

August:

The month we had been waiting for finally arrived! We kicked off the wedding festivities with a luncheon at the local nursery, followed by picking the majority of the flowers that we would use in the centerpieces and other floral decor at the wedding.

The night before the wedding, Hugh and I hosted the rehearsal dinner under a tent on Oscar and Emily's lawn. My vision for the dinner had always included a long farmhouse table big enough to seat the entire bridal party and plus ones, Shanti's parents, Hugh, myself, and the officiant. Hugh came through for me by building my dream table, and I enjoyed decorating it for our guests. I also knew that I didn't want to have to lift a finger for the dinner portion of the program and, thanks to an amazing caterer, I didn't. Everyone who was at the dinner still raves about the food.

Earlier that day, the bridesmaids, Shanti's mom, and I had gathered to put together the floral arrangements from the flowers we had picked the day before. I arrived with several buckets of blooms from my garden, and we got busy.

Of course, the next day was the wedding and, I could fill this post with nothing but wedding pictures, but I won't. Suffice it to say, it was a perfect day for the perfect couple and we wouldn't have changed a single thing.

I ended up purchasing my dress from an online shop, and while I jokingly referred to it as "the circus tent dress", I truly loved it. It was flattering and comfortable and it fit the garden party theme of the wedding to a T. What not many people know is that, when Hugh and I got home after midnight that night, Hugh unzipped the dress and, as it fell around my ankles, a huge bumble bee buzzed up from somewhere within the layers of embroidered tulle. That bee was a survivor.

September:

Kristi and Erin arrived in the US in time for the wedding. Erin had to return to Wales right after, but Kristi was with us for the next couple of months. She, Hugh, and I spent Labor Day in the mountains on the 4-wheelers.

We also found some time this month to make homemade pasta.

We ended the month with the annual Barn Dance for Not So New Job. Shanti and the Man-Cub volunteered again this year and we had another successful event.

Hugh and I said goodbye to my Boomer Dog on the last day of the month. He went peacefully in his favorite spot on the lawn, right in front of the porch, where he could keep me within eyesight while he lazed in the shade and I sat on the porch. I'm still not over the heartbreak, and I miss him every day.

October:

I played in my first ever golf tournament with Kristi and two of my staff. The tournament was part of a co-ed baby shower for one of our contract Forensic Interviewers and it was held at one of the most challenging courses in our area. I didn't do as bad as I was afraid I would, and we ended up having a really good day.

Later in the month, Jules came down from Neighboring City and joined Hugh, Shanti, the Man-Cub, Kristi and me on a trip through a haunted corn maze in Hooterville.

And, of course Hugh and I chose another winning theme for the annual skeleton display.

November:

Mom and I started off the holiday season with a trip back to the White Barn for another antique sale.

At the end of the month, Mom, Hugh, and I boarded a flight for Texas, where we celebrated Thanksgiving (and my birthday) at the Rodeo Princess's new home. The Rebel Without a Pause, his intended bride, and daughter met us there, and it was a great family-filled weekend.

December:

This month was all about family and fun. There were holiday traditions, such as the Parade of Lights and the Garden of Lights at the Botanic Gardens, the annual Christmas play at The Magic Circle, and our annual Christmas Cocktail contest, plus plenty of quiet time in front of the television while the Christmas classics aired. And, of course, there was plenty of good food, gifts on Christmas day, and, this year, lots of baby snuggling, thanks to Queen B's friends and their families.

We had a full house for Christmas dinner: Mom, Oscar, Emily, Shanti's parents and brother (and his new girlfriend, who you might remember from other posts on this blog: Frankie!! It's still new so we were all playing it cool so as not to scare them), plus the five of us. I didn't take a single picture of us all, but, since I said earlier that this would be a less picture-heavy post, I guess that doesn't matter.

Also, in hindsight...this is still a pretty picture-heavy post despite the loss of The Lazymaker.

Oh, well! That's the year in review!

see you in 2025!