I spent the better part of New Year’s Day and yesterday thinking about 2024. It always amazes me at just how much stuff you do in a year! Sometimes I wish WordPress had a “memories” feature like Facebook. I’d love to be able to look back on a given day without having to search my entire list of blogs. (Max – Looks like we’re gonna have to work on that index)

The first thing I did was check my stats. I was surprised that last year I wrote 378 blog posts. That’s 104 more than the previous year. I have a theory on the increase. More on that in a minute.

The next stat that I saw was the number of views. In 2023 I had 31,000 views, while in 42,000 views (According to WordPress, that is up about 36%). I am humbled that my content would be something others would find interesting.

The most popular post of 2024 was my post from December of 2018 – My Top 20 Favorite Christmas Characters. It was also my most popular post in 2023. Six years later and it is still going strong!

There were, of course, plenty of highlights from 2024. Briefly, here are some of my favorites:

I participated and submitted a post for all 12 editions of Turntable Talk with Dave from A Sound Day. His monthly music topic is a favorite of many of the contributors and I love being a part of it.

According to Goodreads, I read 60 books last year. Can you believe I had hoped to read 100? It was hard enough to read those 60! All of my reading gave me opportunities to suggest books you might enjoy. It has also connected me with other avid readers. Their posts often lead me to my next book.

In February, I took my daughter and my niece to meet “Gabby” of the show Gabby’s Dollhouse. I still remember how in awe she was sitting next to her.

That same month, she turned 4 and her birthday fell on the date of the Daddy Daughter Dance.

Speaking of her birthday, we visited our favorite photographer quite a few times this year. We got Ella’s 4th birthday pictures, Andrew’s 3rd birthday pictures, Spring photos and our family Christmas photos. Smiles all around!

After an eye exam, we found out Ella needed glasses. She mainly needs them for reading and such.

March started off on a sad note as Sam’s grandma, the kid’s great grandma, passed away at age 94. She was such a wonderful lady and I loved getting the chance to go over for visits.

My blogging kicked up a notch in late April and early May. This is why I think my posts increased so much this year. I decided to bring back a couple features: Tune Tuesday & the Friday Photo Flashback. I had been doing these off and on for a while. On my birthday in May, I debuted a new feature. I thought it would be fun to focus on a different year of my life every week. I called it The Music of My Life and it should wrap up right around my birthday this year. Then, I added a Movie Music Monday feature. It focuses on a movie song every week. It’s a chance to play some rare tunes.

Mother’s Day we celebrated Sam! The kids painted her presents.

We did the Walk for Miracles at the Detroit Zoo. It is a great charity event and we were surrounded by many super heroes!

Ella was excited to start T-Ball this year. She had a great coach and she seemed to have a lot of fun. It’s always crazy to watch the little ones out on the field. Really, all they want to do is hit the ball!

Summer was a blast! Sam made sure of that! This year they had a HUGE home water slide

Summer got even more fun when we spent a weekend at Nana and Pa’s cabin. They LOVED riding on the four wheelers.

For Father’s day, my boys meet me and the kids for a picnic. We had pizza and played at the park. It was so fun to watch the older boys playing with the younger kids.

One of the biggest projects this year was tearing up and reseeding the front lawn. The construction crews really messed up my lawn.

Aunt Margaret called us and invited us to a day at the county fair. It was hot as blazes, but it was such a fun day. There were so many animals, plenty of rides, and the kids had a blast!

When summer came to a close, it was a BIG first. Ella started Preschool. She has excelled there. She LOVES school and I hope that is always the case.

The newest addition to the family was a little kitten named Bitsy. At the time, I was sure it was a mistake to bring in another animal, but she’s grown on me. She loves the kids, too.

Andrew is always on the go. His energy is insane. We had to get him doing something to give him an outlet for that energy. So we signed him up for soccer. Depending on the day, he loves it or hates it. Typical boy! It starts back up again in the spring.

In October, I did an experimental “topic” post. I called the feature Share Your Nostalgia. It was about the one toy that you remembered most from your childhood. Some fellow Turntable Talkers and a few other blogger friends participated. I have one almost ready to go, I may have to push it back to February. That is to be determined.

My son Andrew celebrated birthday number 3 with a poop cake! He had his choice of just about every character you could think of, and he chose the poop emoji! That’s my boy!

One memorable trip was to the pumpkin patch with our friend Miss Christa and her daughters. We spent the day riding rides, eating donuts, and picking our pumpkins. Andrew loved the apple cider slushi!

As Halloween approached , we attended many trunk or treat events. There was one in town, one at Nana’s church, and a few more. There was no shortage of candy!

The day after Thanksgiving, we all went to Wild Lights at the Detroit Zoo. They do such a great job there every year. The kids were in awe of the Christmas lights!

As the year wound down, it stayed busy! Ella had joined dance earlier in the year and her first dance recital was at the beginning of December. It was so emotional for me to watch my precious little girl out there dancing her heart out. She loves dance so much. Aunt Margaret, Nana and Pa, Papa, Miss Christa and mom and dad were there to enjoy the show!

Shortly before Christmas, Ella was scheduled for surgery. She had her adenoids taken out. She was a trooper and pulled through like a champ!

On Christmas Eve, my sons came by and we had a great afternoon. They brought pizza and their younger siblings were SO happy they were there. I love spending time with all four of my kids. Even though the visit was short because Dimitri had to work, it was a wonderful day.

Christmas Eve continued with a visit from Nana and Pa followed by drive through lights down the road from us. Christmas morning was welcomed with Santa gifts, mom and dad gifts and homemade cinnamon rolls. A perfect day to be sure.

One of the biggest surprise of 2024 was a winning Detroit Lions season! And it isn’t over yet! For years, I’ve been a fan and nothing ever came together. This team and these coaches have turned our team into a contender and it is such a tremendous feeling!

I’m sure there was plenty more to rehash, but I will stop there. To quote Sinatra, “It was a very good year!”

As I close, I thank YOU. The fact that you read my blog and comment on them means so much to me. In no particular order (and completely off the top of my head), I want to thank some of the folks who interact almost daily:

Max, Dave, CJ, Beth, Nancy, Colin, Deke, Carla, John, Christian, Britta, Randy, Vic, Sadje, Phil, Keith, Grace, Ruth, Erin, Beth W, Chelia, Melissa, Mary Anne, Mary O, Victoria, Regina, Jill, Stewart, Cindy, Lisa, Jim, Jennie, Paul, Allen, Jeff, Gee, Gary, Matthew, Christopher, Debra, Lesley, Michael, Mike, Kalley, Rebecca …. and anyone who I may have missed. I appreciate all of you in my life.

Happy 2025! I hope it a a blessed one for each of us.

Thanks for reading!