Looking Back on 2024

2024 was without question the worst year of my life. It started with month three of dental pain and anxiety, which after two root canals on the tooth, it could not be saved, and had to be pulled and an implant set into my jawbone by a young, hot shot oral surgeon who had zero bedside manners, too consumed with how cool he was, or so he thought. I loathe him and hope that he stubs his toe on the foot of his bed every single day of his life and that every time he eats anything, it has a hair in it. Pain continued until I discovered that the tooth next to the now gaping hole where a molar once was, needed another root canal, through the crown, because one of the canals was missed, back in November 2023. This was not discovered until May 1st of 2024. The only good thing that came from the months and months of non-stop pain was meeting Dr. Kurtz and her office full of the most delightful women I've ever had the pleasure to meet. She was compassionate and even texted me on a Friday night to see how I was doing. She told me that I would still feel pain in the area because of all the trauma to it and that my pain levels needed to deregulate, but that over time I would go back to being 100% fine. And y'know what? She was right. But it took until mid-Summer for this to set in. Then there was moving back into my place full time once my former upstairs neighbour left and I got a new one. Spiders had taken over during the two years I wasn't there full time (due to the noise from the c-word neighbour) and there's still so much that needs to be done here. Ending the year with the presidential election results was the rotting cherry on top of a shit show of a year. All that is left to do is hope that 2025-2029 won't include a world war, second civil war, or full-on dictatorship here on US soil. All that said, here is one thing from each month that was good and helped me to keep going even though all I wanted to do was give up:

January

Stacey's genuine excitement at the Endo check. (Granted I spent close to ten grand total for x-rays, extraction, implant, phony tooth, and additional root canal on #4 tooth, but having the Endodontist's office owner cut me a check for $554 {since the root canal they performed in December did not save the #3 tooth and it had to be yanked} felt like someone was compelled to do the right thing and help this poor gal out a little.)

February

Discovering Doylestown with Kayla (And showing her a family favourite - Return to Me - on the big screen at the County Theater!

March

Getting so many people into watching Mr. Inbetween! 

Kayla - 19 Feb

Bishop - 29 Feb

Sean - 14 March

22 March

25 March

April

After dropping Kayla off on the 20th, her wonderful beau Kenny sent me off with an "I love you". Oh, that fella is just the best ever!

May

Meeting Dr. Kurtz and co.!

June

Beginning to move back home, permanently.

July

Playdate with Bailey and Lucy

August

Spending the day with Lucy in Haddonfield 

September

LesbiVeggies with Bishop!

October

Halloween Book Club with Wayne: ‘Salem’s Lot plus our watching a scary movie a day and comparing notes on November 1st.

November

Going to Ikea with Kay three Sundays in a row.

December

Books & Cooks Tour with Lucy and Jackson!

December 2024 Donations

Children's Craniofacial Association

One of my Spinster’s Christmas gifts this year was the director's cut of Mask starring Eric Stoltz, Cher, and Sam Elliott - all of whom turned in extraordinary performances. I've always loved this film, since I first saw it when I was in high school. After the credits finished there was a surprise clip of Cher discussing the Children's Craniofacial Association and how she became aquainted with them and eventually became their spokesperson. I was really impressed that forty-five years after her portrayal of Rusty Dennis in Mask she is still devoted to the CCA and bringing a voice to the cause. What a class act.

Children’s Craniofacial Association is a national, 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Nationally and internationally, CCA addresses the medical, financial, psychosocial, emotional, and educational concerns relating to craniofacial conditions.

Our Mission

CCA’s mission is to empower and give hope to individuals and families affected by facial differences.

Our Vision

CCA envisions a world where all people are accepted for who they are, not how they look.

Cher – National Spokesperson

Children’s Craniofacial Association’s National Spokesperson, entertainer Cher, became involved with the organization after having starred in the movie Mask in which she played the mother of a child with a craniofacial condition. Since that time, Cher has supported the organization with her time and talent and has been CCA’s most generous contributor.

Cher promotes public awareness of individuals with craniofacial conditions and the problems these individuals and their families face. She is dedicated to doing everything possible to “spread the word.”

Cher has developed personal relationships with many children who have craniofacial conditions. During her tours and her Las Vegas shows, Cher invited children with craniofacial conditions to her concerts and backstage to visit. This was a very special time for both Cher and the kids. Cher has seen many of her special friends grow from children into bright, young adults. She has followed their surgeries and progress throughout their medical treatment. Cher often calls children before and after surgeries to offer encouragement and comfort. Although not all of the younger children grasp her fame, they do understand she is a friend who loves them, cares about them, respects them and treats them like the valuable children they are.

Celebrating with Bish

Today I picked up Bishop and we celebrated the holidays by returning to Princeton for the afternoon! We hit Mamoun's Falafel for a delish late lunch then to Labyrinth Books, Princeton Record Exchange, and then The House of Cupcakes, where I scored four of the most divine vegan cupcakes I've ever had. 

Christmas with Terri

Mum and I have been extremely worried about our friend Terri over the past several years. Her health has been in decline and her short term memory is coming close to non-existent. She'll call and we will talk for a bit and then a half hour later she'll call again, having completely forgotten our previous chat. We have plans to hang out but she won't remember to look back at our texts and instead she will call every other day to ask when we are getting together. This month alone we had over twelve calls and texts where I reminded her again and again of the date, time, and what we were doing. Today I waited for her to phone me when she got in from work so I could pick her up. Finally, after two texts went unnoticed, I called her. "Do we have plans today?" was her reply. Scary. Very scary. Luckily she was available and I went to get her, since she can't drive anymore. We got to Mama Rose's place and wound up having a really good time. I made sure that everything was gluten free - quiche, chocolate silk pie, cookies, and fruit with chocolate hummus dip. All yummy! We went through the Debatable Holiday Edition questions, reminisced, talked about our fave Hallmark Christmas movies, past and present, and I managed to film her for a bit. I've been collecting mini-videos where I ask friends and family questions and get their responses, à la 306 Hollywood. I asked her about her kids, her Dad, grandmother, and her first car, Tank. Terri's long term memory is still sharp and I'm glad I was able to make her smile while she thought back on so many happy moments. Rose and I fear that this will be our last Christmas with Terri, as we can't see her getting any better, so we wanted to make it special for her. Naturally we ended the evening with selfies in the living room. Hopefully we are wrong and Terri will miraculously improve, but if she doesn't, I'm glad we got together and celebrated our friendship with food and laughter.

Holiday Flicks 2024

♥ The Christmas Waltz ²

* Gremlins

* Signed, Sealed, Delivered for Christmas ²

The Reason for the Season ¹ ²

* Frosty the Snowman

* It Happened on 5th Avenue ¹ 

♥ Ziggy’s Gift

♥ Babycakes

♥ One Special Night

* Elf

** Mystery on Mistletoe Lane ²

* A Christmas Spark ¹ 

* While You Were Sleeping

* Die Hard

** White Christmas

* On the 12th Date of Christmas ²

* The Mistletoe Secret ¹ ²

* The Man Who Saved Christmas ¹ 

Rise of the Guardians ¹ 

♥ A Christmas Carol

* Christmas in Rome ²

♥ It's a Wonderful Life

** A Biltmore Christmas ²

* All Mine to Give ¹ 

♥♥ The Gathering 

Bonus:

Hotel: Christmas 

* Magnum: Thank Heaven for Little Girls and Big Ones Too ¹ 

Abbott Elementary: * Winter Show ¹  & * Winter Break ¹ 

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000) ¹ 

¹ - first time viewing

² - Hallmark
* - liked
♥ - loved
Any unmarked titles were, in my opinion, so-so.

Advent Puzzles!

I ordered an Advent calendar with twelve mini puzzles and while I didn't finish them by the twelfth, I did them when I could and finished the last one on Christmas Day!

Spinster's Christmas 2024

So nice to spend the entire day at home, sleeping late and relaxing. I even got in a nap! As always, I celebrated Christmas with pre-purchased gifties that I wrapped all for me. I'm probably the last person that still buys dvds but movies and books are my faves and I scored big time. I even forgot that I bought myself Jim and Sybil Stockdale's memoir In Love and War that's a signed copy. I love being able to hold something in my hand that was once touched by someone I admire and adore. I spent the rest of the day binge-watching Dispatches from Elsewhere. It's so good and I get more out of it every time I see it.