2018 - Not my best year/Not my worst year

I usually do a year end blog sometime in late December or the first week in January.   I am late writing one for 2018.   I almost did not write one for this past year at all.   2018 was not one of my favorite years.   I'm not sure why.   Lots of good things happened.   I was able to travel with good friends.  I met new people and made new friends.   I had no serious health issues.  But still I struggled with 2018.   It might have been the weather.   They say we need a certain amount of sun light to help keep us happy and healthy. We had a record rainfall in Maryland this year with 71.8 inches of rain.   There was at least one-hundredth of an inch of rain at BWI airport on about 4 out of every 10 days. That adds up to 12 or 13 rainy days every month, on average — but in September, it rained on six out of every 10 days. I know a lot of people suffered with depression and anxiety orders this year. I have talked to many who were as confused as I was about feeling so bad for most of the year. Normally the Christmas and New Year holiday week is my favorite week of the year. This year it just seemed to pass by with no real emotion or feeling. Looking back now ten days later I feel like I just missed the entire season like it never happened. We had friends over on Christmas Eve and we usually take a group photo for prosperity. We tried this year. We really tried after six failed photo attempts we all just agreed to forget it. So even the photo to remind me of how bad it was this year never happened. Maybe that is for the best.

Early voting helps with the mood

If not the weather maybe it was politics. Facebook lover that I am , I even stayed away entire days at a time just to avoid reading or hearing any thing about the orange buffoon in the White House. I did not want to hear the lies and praise on Fox and did not want to hear the complaints and arguments of the CNN and MSNBC commentators either. It was just a real ugly year politically until the big Democratic wins in Congress in November. And with all the negativity it has to have affected my mood some what. So I am blaming the weather and Washington DC on part of my dislike with 2018. I started taking vitamin D3 for the lack of sunshine problem and I voted on the first day of early voting in November to take care of the political problem.
Of course 2017 was a difficult year to compete with so 2018 had it's work cut out for it. I had some wonderful vacations in 2017 highlighted by climbing Diamond Head in Waikiki for my birthday that year. It's hard to top that. But I tried in 2018. I had several wonderful vacations. I really can't complain or whine about that. First of all our sister from England, Gillian, come over to visit us and we took a car trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Nashville and Memphis. I also made a wonderful new friend in Margie Sweeney while in Nashville. She is a friend of Marks who moved to Nashville.   

We got to tour Graceland which two of us thoroughly enjoyed. Don't ask Mark his opinion about the tour.

Not the Blue Ridge Mountains this time.  Here we are in Tivoli, Italy

When I upload my travel photos I always create a file and unique name for the trip. In July Gillian met us in Italy for a visit I called Mama Mia I'm In Rome Again. So how could 2018 been so bad when I get to return to Italy? I had traveled to Rome solo in 2016. Mark had been unable to go due a family emergency that year and was unable to go with me. So it was wonderful to return so soon and have Mark with me this time. We walked the streets of Rome. We drank the wine of Rome. We ate the food of Rome. And even took a day trip to Tivoli just north of Rome for a day of beautiful fountains, landscape's and excellent food. I had my favorite dish of the holiday in Tivoli. It was a red wine marinated pasta. Nothing compares to it.

Foodgasms in Tivoli - Red wine marinated pasta

And finally in November we finished up the years travel with a return to Nashville. We enjoyed it so much on our first trip in the spring we decided to return for Thanksgiving weekend. And it was a wonderful trip. My two daughters Katie and Danielle and also Danielle's wife Andrea joined us for family holiday here. And like in Italy we ate, we drank, and we even sang some country music.

On stage at the Ryman Auditorium

The highlight of the second Nashville trip was meeting The Sweethearts of the Rodeo. They are a country music duo from the 1980's the both of my daughters and I loved. Mark has grown to appreciate their music also. We attended their concert at The Blue Bird Cafe and had the chance to meet them in person afterwords. They could not have been nicer and even became emotional when we told them that Danielle and I danced our father daughter dance at her wedding to one of their songs.

Meeting Janis and Christine, The Sweethearts of the Rodeo in Nashville.

As for our trivia team, well lets just 2018 was not our best friend either. We always say we play for fun. But it sure would have been nice to have won a little more often this year. We still met each week in Port Deposit, Maryland at the Granite Run Tap House and did our best. We dressed up for Halloween and wore ugly sweaters for Christmas. And we finished way in the bottom of the group at the end of the season. However in the off season games during the Christmas holidays we placed in the top three on three weeks in a row. So maybe we are preparing for a winning year in 2019.

Barbara and Bonnie from Trivia Team L&B 

So it was not an awful year. Looking back a lot of nice and fun things happened this year. I still will never call 2018 one of my favorite years. Some good friends passed away this year. Some other good friends battled the Big C and other medial issues this year. Mark's Mom's Alzheimer's continues to take her away from us a little more each day. But all in all it certainly was not one of the worst years ever. I am determined to make 2019 one of the good years. It will not be difficult after 2018 to make it much better. So what happened with 2018? Why did it leave me less than thrilled. I'm still blaming the rain and to quote The Beatles, The Fool On The Hill in Washington. But that's just my take on it. Here is to a better 2019. Cheers

To 2019.  Here's your chance