The Season of Plum and Cobblestone: Looking Back at 2022

• January •

• Started off 2022 with a full fridge!

• This text from Mum on the 6th:

• Texting with Uncle Alan on the 7th:

• Late night of showing Xavier The Bodyguard on the 25th

• February •

• 1500 Days on Duolingo!!

• Tetris with Xave and Mary and finding that I still got it! - Feb 2nd

• A Valentine from my bestie!

• Jax asked me to sit with him and the fellas for Moonfall when his parents rented out the theatre for his 10th bday. I was the only grown up he asked to join them. (I sat in the seat just behind him so his friends wouldn't feel weird sitting with an old broad.)

- Followed by a fun mirror selfie with the girls - Lisa, me, MeMom, and Chrissy - in the theatre's peepod!

• Dropped off a care package to Melanie after her mother passed away and met her wee lasses. The oldest, Evelyn, I hadn't seen since 2013 and I met Miss Lacey for the first time. She instantly endeared herself to me when she came to me and gave me a great big hug out of nowhere. I said to them, "I'm the weird lady who always sends you goofy stuff in the mail." Evelyn's eyes lit up and she turned to her mom and said "she's the anonymous letter sender!?!" Then for the next 40 minutes Evelyn showed me all her cool pop-its and drawings while Lacey kept tossin' mini unicorn stuffies at me and giggling. I had such a great time seeing Mel, Scott, and the girls and I was glad that I could, I hope, take their mind off of a recent tragedy if only for a little while.

• Melissa's rant video about how bright the sun is.

• Out in Collingswood with Bishop on the 20th.

• March •

• The Music Man with Amy!!

• Introducing Xavier to LesbiVeggies

• Having a silly duel with Jackson

• Start co-writing a story with Jax

• April •

• Jackson texts me to hang out on Good Friday.

• Dreamt I bumped into Susan Sarandon in makeup department of Walgreens - she was very nice and said she read my blog - lol!

• Jackson texts "i think Mom's gonna kill me"

• May •

• Marina stops by for a hug and a bit of chit-chat

• More movie recommendations from Uncle Al!

• On the18th Jackson texts me and asks me to come over. He wanted advice on what to say to his friend who was being bullied. We went out back on the swings and discussed the situation and how to best help his friend out.

• The gorgeous rhododendrons at Hidden Acres on the 19th.

• Took Bailey to Ikea and she drew a pic of me!

• June •

• Natalia's bday! She did a mini movie on the beach and I snapped screenshots of the little card I sent her.

• Visiting Aunt June's grave to celebrate her 100th birthday and feeling overwhelmed that there is finally a stone to mark her home on this earth.

• Mid-month dream I'm at a Golden Globes type event and someone comes over and says Mr. Baryshnikov would like you to sit with him. Oh if only!

• Texting with Bishop during Pride Month:

• July •

• Amy guesses that I'm watching Jaws on the 4th.

• Blobfest with Jackson!

• Christmas in July Hallmark movies

• Natalia sends bear videos from Alaska.

• August •

• Hilarious texts from Jax - he said fiddlesticks - lol lol lol!!

• Getting skunk sticker!

• Late night puzzling with Jax and Syd. (We didn't get far.)

• Texts from Uncle Alan about Lamb

• August 25th - the 43rd anniversary of Hart to Hart premiering on television. It was commemorated by both RJ and Stef on their Instagram pages.

• Brian Blessed sketch by and from Helen all for me! It started with my messaging her about searching Etsy for Brian merch and one of her cards popped up. Nine days later my very own Prince Vultan sketch arrived by post. And it is fantastic!

• September •

• Seeing Uncle Alan and Lauren - I hadn't seen her since Nana Irma's funeral in May of 2019. I remembered the photo Lauren brought to share with us and noticed that the clip in Nana's hair was one that I saw among her possessions and hung on to. I went digging through my drawers and closets and found it to give to Lauren. She loved it and it looked perfect in her silver hair.

• Introducing Bella to Gidget

• Lunch with Wayne - he tells me of the video he found on YouTube from the 2011 Philly Folk Fest. He said that he was very intoxicated and the person screaming at 16 seconds in was Wayne. Oh my gosh, I cried from laughing when I watched that clip.

• Texting with Jackson about getting a dog.

• October •

• Gettysburg with Jax and staying up late in the king size bed.

• Back and forth texts/DMs with Amber and Bella. Amber gave me oodles of helpful tips for Bella's first business trip alone to Chicago and set her mind at ease, mostly. She even went out and took a selfie with the Bean!

• Amy and crew visiting the Football Hall of Fame

Amy told me her mom put on the helmet and said "Put me in, coach!"

• Lunch with Uncle Phil - we hope to make this happen more in 2023!

• Bella and Jacob are engaged!!

• Got a card from Michel.

• Vincent Price Day!

• November •

• Game 5 of the Phillies at the World Series plus the Eagles vs Texans with Xavier, Mary, Zach, Jackson, and Dave.

• On the 5th I was sitting on the couch at Xave's when scaredy-cat Rufus came over to me, nuzzled, let me pet him, sat next to me and licked my fingertip. Mary, Xavier, and Jax were all shocked. (He normally runs from me.)

• Margherita pizzas then Reads & Company with Jackson!