Here's my 2017 recap:
January - We opened a second shop in Phillipsburg NJ. I traveled to Baltimore for the Board of Director's celebration dinner for our big merger. I saw Menopause The Musical with my friend Rachel Riordan. My daughter Rachel was diagnosed with a melanoma and underwent surgery to have two moles removed. One on her arm and one on her back - just above the bra line to the left of her spine. The arm healed well. The back did not. The sutures ripped and the wound completely opened - a round hole about the size of a quarter. To add insult to injury, after the surgery, Rachel was let go from her job at a real estate office - the agent decided he would rather have someone with experience than train her. Cue drama and a new job search. The non-healing surgical wound lead to a frustrating year of doctors visits and many different kinds of medical techniques to try to close the wound. Not a single doctor was able to give us a reason why the wound wouldn't heal on its own as she is otherwise healthy, young, and not diabetic.
February - Saw Postmodern Jukebox at Lehigh University with Sarah. Travel to Rockville MD for work, followed by a three day scrapbooking trip to the shore with Sarah - I spent the whole time at the shore sick.
March - I attended two local day crops, attended an all day seminar at Lehigh University, but didn't travel outside PA a single day thanks to Snow Storm Stella cancelling our scheduled meetings! Rachel got a job offer and began working at Entercom. Jay got a job offer at RCA and gave his notice to MedDecision. Becca got accepted into the PTA (Physical Therapy Assistant) program at Lehigh Carbon Community College. It was a fantastic month! Good news times three!
April - On the 1st we moved Rachel to her new apartment in Manyunk. Travel to Rockville for work meetings. Jay began his job at Recovery Centers of America. Travel to Belize with Deanna for a girls vacation. Becca was let go from her job - the owner wanted to put his daughter in her position. Cue more drama and another new job search.May - Travel to Rockville & Baltimore for work. Had a bunch of doctor appointments.
June - Sarah started seriously hunting for a house so she wouldn't have to continue renting. We went to a few showings with her. She also started her MBA program at Lehigh University while continuing to work full time. Becca got a summer job nannying. Travel to Rockville for work.
July - Travel to Rockville & Baltimore for work. Jay had surgery for melanoma on his cheek. My mother, Sandy, was diagnosed with metastatic soft tissue sarcoma that has invaded her liver. Rare enough that they can't give her a time frame but it is terminal. So far she is not sick and still doing well.
August - Family vacation in Ocean City, NJ. The downtime was fantastic! Becca started her PTA Program and got a part-time job in a PT office. Jay finally gave up his 2003 Honda CRV with 315,901 miles and got a new car. Travel to Rockville for work, but had to cut that trip short and fly to Memphis to deal with my sister Deanna's near-death experience after a fall from her horse. She ruptured her spleen and had to have emergency surgery. Spent 8 days taking care of her while trying to keep things moving at work remotely. Flew home August 31st but thanks to weather almost didn't make it in time for ...September - Sarah's closing on her condo on the 1st. There was a lot of drama with the mortgage company and appraiser in August and it almost didn't happen. But it did! Sarah is now a homeowner. Moved Becca into her apartment in Emmaus on the 9th. Travel to Austin Texas for a work conference and from there straight to Hawaii, meeting up with Jay and my parents. The trip was very enjoyable, but we had at least one snafu/mishap per day. Kept things quite interesting. Came home to find our cat Ashley near death with kidney failure. Lots of vet visits, IV hydration, antibiotics, and a diet change and she is doing well again, but it was quite scary for a bit.
October - Sarah and I attended the PA Women's Conference in Philadelphia. Travel to Washington D.C. for the ACC Annual Meeting (days of sitting through continuing education seminars).
November - Sarah and I took my mother Sandy to New York City for a long weekend to fulfill a bucket list item. Saw The Lion King and Book of Mormon on Broadway, took a carriage ride through Central Park, saw the 911 Memorial and Statue of Liberty. So fun! Rachel had skin graft surgery to close the surgical wound on her back and lived at home for a week during recovery so I could take care of her. Travel to Rockville for work. We celebrated a quiet Thanksgiving here at home.December - Lots of shopping online and prepping for Christmas. Travel to Rockville for work. Came home and got sick. Two days before Christmas I took myself to urgent care to deal with URI and bronchitis. We had a wonderful Christmas at home and I took the week between Christmas and New Year's off. As a family, went to STOMP at the Merriam Theater in Philadelphia.
If you are still reading, you can see that 2017 was a real mixed bag for us with both good news and bad and a LOT happened to my little family. I was away from home a total of 78 days last year which is unprecedented for me! An average of 6.5 days a month, with the fewest days in one month being 3, the most being 19. Work was crazy busy and I had almost no time to myself or to work on any creative projects.
I'm happy to say goodbye to 2017 and see what 2018 brings!
9 comments:
So excited to see you here in blogland Cheri!! It certainly was a year of opposites, good & bad, tough & FUN! Goodness, I do hope this year is filled with lots of PLAY!
Oh my goodness what a year! I do hope 2018 is less eventful. Good to see you back blogging again!
No wonder blogging went by the wayside! Yes, there were some really great things that happened, but you must have felt just overwhelmed much of the year! Here's to 2018---healthy, happy, and less hectic. So glad to see you here again.
Good grief what a year. No wonder you were MIA. Miss you! Hope this year is MUCH smoother!!
I love your re-cap of the year. You have certainly been busy--plus a lot of moving going on! I hope 2018 is a little slower paced so you can relax some! We'll see....I know how things go....
Just lovely to see you, but am so sad to read of so much illness and distress in the family this year :(. I will be thinking of you and your Mum especially ... Sending you warmest good wishes and love, xx Alexa
Lovely to hear from you - I'm another who ended up taking breaks from blogging, but not from thinking of y'all.
Sorry to hear about the bad times, glad there were some good things too.
Our trip to New York City was one of the high points of my entire life. Cheri and Sarah planned everything so as to include everything I had wanted to do and see. I fell in love with NYC, and treasure the time I was able to spend with my daughter and granddaughter. It was magic. I am so fortunate to have such a loving and caring family. Every day is a joy for me, and time spent with them is the most joyous of all.
That sounds like a very busy year. No wonder you were ready to say goodbye to 2017 - I think many of us were. I know I was - it just wasn't a good year. I really hope that 2018 brings much more peace to you and way less bad news.
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