The Lost Year

Being the last post of the year, this is where I would reflect on the past year. For me 2010 will go down as, as the blog title suggests, the lost year.

I spent the year learning things about a virus called Epstein Barr virus. I say I spent the year doing this because when I was diagnosed as having it, no one thought it warranted an explanation and my google searches didn't offer up much more help. And since I also had mono, that's what the doctors focused on - so I did too. Only it seemed to be dragging on for so long and no one seemed to understand why. That is until I went to see a new doctor. Roughly six months into my illness, she was the first one to tell me that what I was experiencing was consistent with the Epstein Barr virus - which I still had (and still have). However, she offered no solutions for relief.

A few months later I went to yet another doctor who did offer relief in the way of drugs. Personally I'm not a fan of taking anything that I don't absolutely have to and since this virus is temporary (although I've discovered that "temporary" can be up to two years), I was reluctant to go this route. But I did. And I'm pleased to say that this is the first week I've actually felt good for more than one or two days in a row for a good nine months - and I even went to the gym yesterday . . . the first time since April 21 (I asked).

So, my top take-aways from this year are:

1. If your doctor tells you that you have something but doesn't fully explain the possibilities of the illness, get a new doctor - even if you've gone to the same one for 15 years.

2. If you ask explicit questions about your illness and your doctor won't answer the questions to your satisfaction, see #1.

3. The friend who offers to go to the doctor with you so you can get answers is a better friend than the one who can only focus on when the last time you saw each other and how long it takes for symptoms to appear.

To sum up, 2010 basically sucked for me but I did learn some valuable things - like who my real friends are. And you know what? That's never a bad thing!

Best Of. . .

If I remember correctly, one of my goals for 2009 was to read more books than I had in 2008. Well, I was two shy of reading twice as many books this past year! That happened, in part, because I had more books to read for classes and in part because I've added 25 books to the list since I left my house on November 8th to come to Arkansas to be with my step-father during his recovery from his car accident.

Anyway, here, in no particular order other than the order they were read, were my favorite reads of 2009:

Book Read for Pleasure
Zombie Queen of Newberry High by Amanda Ashby - the first few pages started slow but then I loved it!
Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich - I couldn't tell you what it was about but I can say with confidence that I've loved all of the Stephanie Plum books
Bunco Babes Tell All by Maria Geraci - I loved this debut book of Maria Geraci. I used to be part of a bunco group (and miss it!) and this was just such a fun book to read. :o)
Names My Sisters Call Me by Megan Crane - this book was about relationships between sisters. I could relate to so much about the relationships and normally this would not be a good thing, given my relationship with my own sisters, BUT it was written in such a way that I had a good feeling when I finished it. I really enjoyed it.
Not Another Bad Date by Rachel Gibson - when I think about this book, I can't remember what exactly made me really like it, but I do remember that I did. :o)
Finger Licking Fifteen by Janet Evanovich - see comment to other Stephanie Plum book :o)
What Happens in London by Julia Quinn - Julia Quinn's books are always so easy to read - light and fun. It feels like she sat down and wrote it all in one day, it flows so well. With the exception of one random scene that felt like it was thrown in to add pages, this was a typical Julia Quinn read for me.
Twenties Girl by Sophie Kinsella - by far my favorite book of the year. I've been a fan of Sophie Kinsella's since I read the first in the shopaholic series but this has been my favorite book of hers to date. Absolutely loved it.
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - I loved this story and the way it was told. I think it would be aweseome in audio format. This one is a list topper for me too.
Just One of the Guys by Kristan Higgins - I asked for recommendations of books and Jamie recommended a different book by this author. Since I had this one already, I read it and it was a lot of fun.
Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson (audio version) - This had a sweet storyline that I really liked. It's what I listened to on my drive up to Arkansas.
Bunco Babes Gone Wild by Maria Geraci - The second in Maria Geraci's Bunco Babe series. It was as good as the first. :o)
This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper - Gabrielle Luthy recommended this one on her blog and so I thought I'd give it a shot. It was hysterical! I was reading it the day we had to take my step-father to the emergency room with his gall bladder. People were in the waiting room with injuries and illnesses and I was laughing hysterically. They probably thought mine was a head injury. ;o)


Books Read for School
Changing Places by David Lodge - This book was a lot of fun to read. The author made fun of writers, teachers, academia, life in general. Out of context the material may not be as funny but in the context it was written, it was great. Loved it.
Lysistrata by Aristophanes - funny
Emma by Jane Austen - I really enjoyed this book.
Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi - based on her life and told in cartoon form, this was a very unique book and I really enjoyed it - enough to buy the second part and read it.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain - I really liked this story a lot. Loved the way it was told.

So, those were my top picks of what I read in 2009, what are some of your top picks?

Recap of 2008

I'm stealing this from Alyssa, who stole it from Sarakastic who stole it from others, so this is far from an original post idea but it looked like fun and I'm nothing if not a follower (hey, the leaders gotta have someone following them, right? ;) ). Basically what I've done is taken the first sentence of the last blog post of every month. Then assembled the sentences in such a way that it might tell a bit of a story.

Here are the sentences:

January Well, Slime Boy (the probably married man that asked me out) got let go.

February The other day I had a doctor's appointment.

March Dear Muse, It was so nice to see you this weekend.

April Lately I've felt like I've been so behind on everything.

May I've been having some interesting dreams lately.

June I told a friend of mine yesterday that I'd blog about an eHarmony discovery I made.

July In less than 24 hours I should be in San Francisco.

August Okay, so you know that it took an online dating service for me to reconnect with a long lost friend (who I went out with once before a hundred years ago).

September Well, SCG and his family got here Friday around 10:00 a.m. and worked until about 4:00 p.m. - and we didn't finish the clean up! I

October Well, I went running last night.

November As most of you know, I did the online dating thing this past summer.

December Okay, this has to be a top 9 because well, there aren't 10 books that I feel that I can say I loved this year - of course that probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm down from over 70 books read from last year to just over 30 this year, including audio books.

So, my mishmash, for what it's worth:

The other day I had a doctor's appointment. Well, Slime Boy (the probably married man that asked me out) got let go.

I told a friend of mine yesterday that I'd blog about an eHarmony discovery I made. As most of you know, I did the online dating thing this past summer. Okay, so you know that it took an online dating service for me to reconnect with a long lost friend (who I went out with once before a hundred years ago).

Dear Muse, It was so nice to see you this weekend. I've been having some interesting dreams lately. Lately I've felt like I've been so behind on everything. Well, SCG and his family got here Friday around 10:00 a.m. and worked until about 4:00 p.m. - and we didn't finish the clean up!

Well, I went running last night. In less than 24 hours I should be in San Francisco.

Okay, this has to be a top 9 because well, there aren't 10 books that I feel that I can say I loved this year - of course that probably has a lot to do with the fact that I'm down from over 70 books read from last year to just over 30 this year, including audio books. (Yeah, I know this one doesn't work but what are ya gonna do?)