This year has bit. It has sucked. It very nearly was my 13th Reason Why, the origin of my villain story and a litmus test for all the years that had ever sucked before and there were quite a few.

So while I haven’t posted awhile on this blog, let me tell you everything that’s happened to me this year. It’ll be mostly negatives because that’s what this year has made me – a bitter husk of a gal who can suck the joy out of any goodwill. Pollyannas can skip this post, there’s nothing for you here.

THE NO-GOOD VERY-BAD TERRIBLY ROTTEN OF 2023

No FunEmployment – I worked for a very large company on contract when, right before a big project at the end of 2022, I was told my contract would be ending even though I was originally continued for another year. It wasn’t me or my work. ALL the contracts were terminated and the next month they announced 19k layoffs over all. They kept me through early 2023 though because of a big major project I was working on. So I got all the stress of finishing my project and then left. My team was awesome though, they were blindsided too.

Root canal – The day after my contract ended, my tooth started hurting. It was unusual since I usually don’t have tooth pain but it was so severe I had to go into the dentist immediately. They took me in and I got to have a four-hour long emergency root canal to the tune of a couple of thousand dollars (insurance only covered so much).

Bye Bye Jeep – On they way home from my emergency root canal, my normally dependable Jeep started sputtering. Made it home and made an appointment to get it looked at the next day while crying and eating soft foods. The next day, took it in and the transmission was dying. Nothing they could do as it was a 2008 and I had bought it used so time for a new car, with no job.

Hives Mentality – Okay, all of that happened over the course of 2 days so the worst was over right? Nope, after taking my root canal medication like a good girl, I noticed AFTER the final dose that my arms were itchy, then my face was itchy, then my entire body was itchy. Before long I was covered completely in red with hives. Apparently I am now allergic to penicillin. Shit.

Covid Sucks Bocci Balls – Okay things started to turn a corner, after almost three weeks my hives were disappearing. After several failed attempts at leasing (lease prices were up 33% at that time) I got a nice used car with 15k miles on it and I was going to have fun with friends at charity event. The event was awesome, the food and companions were great. Four of us snuck out to the indoor Bocci Ball court and played a round. There were 12 people at our table – only four of us caught Covid – the four of us that played with balls. It was a bad strain. We all tested positive for weeks, were sick as dogs (even though we were all vaxxed) and I could barely move off the couch. I did watch a 7 hour long book review on YouTube during my convalescence though so…win?

The Trip that Almost Wasn’t – I was ready to forgive it all though because after 3 years of being delayed, 50+ members of my family and I were going on a trip! It had been planned for years and nothing was going to stop us. Except…the cruise screwed up the airlines so my teen niece and I would be traveling separate from her family, but what could go wrong? Oh yeah, it’s 2023. Our flight was cancelled, we had to scramble to get a new one OR if we couldn’t we’d miss the entire cruise. We spent 11 hours in the Montreal airport (we were never even supposed to be in Canada), and missed all of Venice where our cruise was supposed to depart from. I made it in time for spaghetti in Venice and thankfully the cruise. No time for a gondola ride. 🙁

There’s No Place Like Home – The trip was amazing, incredible. I did things like ride a donkey in Greece and eat Turkish Delight in Turkey which I have to say is well worth betraying Narnia for. Then came time for us to leave. We got on our plane – again it was my niece and I. We made it to JFK, first part of the journey done. Whew! Then our flight was cancelled. The bad/good news is that everybody (almost all 50 plus people) had travel issues so we weren’t alone. The bad news is that my brother and the rest of the family were in Paris, where they got stuck, and they got to take pictures in front of the Eiffel Tower while my niece and I were stuck in a moldy hotel in New York next to a Popeye’s and a Burger King. Oh and my niece is a pescatarian.

But we got a flight to O’Hare (after lots of texts back and forth at 2am) and then had to wait in Chicago while the plane was delayed again and let me tell you when I was so happy to be back in Detroit. I think I’m the only person who ever said that.

Dazed and Not Amused – If you ask me what happened through the rest of the year, I couldn’t tell you. I gained weight, went on job interviews that went nowhere and I literally cannot remember anything happy happening. So yes, 2023 sucked.

Wait, I ate a Greek salad in Greece. Okay, 2023 rocked.