1. What did you do in 2018 that you’d never done before?
Hit my first and second big business goals as a travel agent, and got my own IATA card
Went to Austin, Texas
Started brewing my own kombucha
Went to Jazzfest in New Orleans
Saw the green flash (twice!)
Used our Priority Pass lounge benefits and loved them
Learned to rivet and fixed my kayak
Joined an organic produce buying club
Went to a Miami Hurricanes football game
Got to fly on the upper deck of an A-380
Won the 8-week trivia contest at Mary Ellen’s
Wrote a giant Angular application
Went to a Miami Heat game and had a suite (thanks to our tickets from Viva Saloon)
Did a Viking river cruise on the Rhine
Got new unknown-to-me travel agency clients from Travel Leaders Network and web searches for Key West agents
Did the St Paddy’s Day Pub Stroll, Tutu Tuesday, Cow Key Bridge Run and the Lighted Bike Parade here in Key West
Saw the Obama portraits at the National Portrait Gallery, and went to the National Museum of African American History
Saw chicken shit bingo in Texas
Had Julefrokost at our house (the beginning of a new tradition, hopefully)
2. Did you keep your new years’ resolutions and will you make more for next year?
Last year I resolved to use my Christmas fund money only for Christmas presents. I succeeded. That wasn’t the most challenging goal, was it?
In 2019 I’m resolving to:
- Put $10,000 in our mid-range investment fund
- Lose 25 pounds
- Get a new tattoo
- Market group travel more so I can organize a group trip
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not unless someone has some serious secrets.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thankfully.
5. What countries did you visit?
Switzerland, Germany, France, The Netherlands, The Bahamas
6. What would you like to have in 2019 that you lacked in 2018?
Focus? My brain is all over the damn place. I can only get by with everything on an elaborate to-do list.
7. What date from 2018 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
The day we flew to Paris on the A-380, the day Roy first sat on my shoulder, the day my IATA card arrived, the day our fence was finally installed 15 months after it was damaged by Hurricane Irma
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Acheiving zero debt, hitting my travel agency goals, qualifying for my IATA card, not really having to pay out of pocket for travel
9. What was your biggest failure?
I’m bad at maintaining an exercise program that gets interrupted by travel. It totally derails me. I need to have a plan for that.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Just annoying things like colds that get worse when I fly on airplanes, or my rotator cuff/neck problems.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Our hot tub and robot vacuum (Mr Peepers, who does a great job of cleaning up after Roy)
12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Everyone who managed to continue organizing and stayed positive in the Trump era. I don’t even know how it’s possible to not want to just light everything on fire every single day, because, seriously, what do we have left that’s even salvageable?
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Everyone in government? Either they’re a flat-out white supremacist garbage human or they’re not doing your job of standing up to white supremacist garbage humans. Either way, they’re all failures. The American electorate isn’t that far behind.
14. Where did most of your money go?
Savings. For the first year ever, it wasn’t travel.
15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My travel agency, our trip to Europe, planning vacations for people, my awesome jungle of a garden
16. What song will always remind you of 2018?
Havana (NA NA NA), Like it Like That
17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) Fatter or thinner: Fatter, see resolutions above…
b) Richer or poorer: Richer
c) Happier or less happy: Happier. Despite our total determination to completely destroy our own world, I take a lot of joy in my life, activities, awesome friends, and the way we spend our time. Plus there’s something about escaping this hurricane season unscathed that is a huge relief.
18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercise apart from riding my bike, since I’m too used to it for it to be real exercise. Travel agent training, which is just a matter of needing more time for it.
19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Fighting with git merges, having a sore neck from being stressed at work
20. How did you spend Christmas?
Matt’s parents came to stay with us. We went out a lot (including taking them to karaoke!), and spent a lot of time outdoors enjoying the beautiful weather.
21. Did you fall in love in 2018?
I *am* in love in 2018.
22. What was your favorite TV program?
Versace, Survivor, that choose-your-own-adventure Black Mirror that just came out.
23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Nope.
24. What was the best book you read?
I don’t think I even finished a book this year. I’m in the middle of several of them and only read on airplanes. Sigh.
25. What was your greatest musical discovery of 2018?
Cardi B
26. What did you want and get?
A trip to Europe, a short cruise from Miami (we’ve only done week-long ones), my IATA card, a hot tub
27. What did you want and not get?
I want a cage for Roy that will allow me to put him on my bike, but I haven’t found one that will work yet.
28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Black Panther, The Favourite
29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
We had a party with our $300 in trivia winnings at Tiki House. I’m 45 now. #old
30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Not living in a country governed by white supremacists, probably.
31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2018?
Lazy?
32. What kept you sane?
Matt, my awesome friends, being outdoors
33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Emma Stone is the best.
34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Not having racist 2-year-olds in charge. Why is that so difficult?
35. Who did you miss?
Our friends from Minnesota. I’m glad that we manage to get people together every time we visit, at least.
36. Who was the best new person you met?
We met way too many awesome people this year to pick just one.
37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2018:
Being financially prepared for setbacks and necessary investments is hugely important.