Hopefully (fingers crossed) I will be helping my newly minted PhD son to his post doc position. It’s been a long haul and it seemed he would never be done. He will be moving from one small midwestern town to a slightly larger college town in the Midwest.

We're getting a granddaughter in March! I have a lot of concerts in the que-including LP, John Mellencamp, The Rolling Stones, and Ozzy Osbourne. Oh, and going to Michelle Obama's book tour in February.

Thinking of a 3 day cruise to Mexico, if I can get the time off work. Also there is rumored to be a family reunion in Los Angeles in the planning stages-I might try to combine the two, since I'd leave from LA for the cruise if I do it. And may join some friends in Las Vegas, depending on when the band is having their residency.

Other than that, on the home front we plan to finish getting the deck built, the house painted and the back yard redone.. Yeeps-sounds like I have a lot on my plate for 2019!

DH is scheduled for knee replacement (his second) in February. Hoping for no snow after that so I don't have to deal with it. No big or different plans are on the horizon. One of these days I need to figure out a retirement date. Wish it were in 2019, but that's doubtful given what the market has been doing.

Thinking of Molly the Beagle!!

Starting Jan. 2, we are remodeling part of our basement-redoing the laundry area, adding a bath and an area for DH to keep his skiing equipment.

We will walk the Camino Portuges - Tui to Santiago 60 mile walk in May. I am very excited about this!!

In August we will take a Seabourn Cruise.

We are taking our customary trip to Florida to visit the in-laws in February. I’m really looking forward to it! I am starting IVF again in January, I have one embryo left. If it doesn’t work, I will be doing a fresh cycle this year with my decidedly close to expiration date eggs!

Trying to coordinate a trip to meet up with friend and husband (Paris), then to Lyon to meet friend‘s brother/SIL, on to the Holy Land for 10 days, thence to NZ for a couple of weeks travel, visit with friends, then to the final destination: Great Barrier Reef. The only hitch is the trip to the Holy Land as those dates are unknown at this time.

Man. I was about to reply and I get a "OH NO!" text about my grandma. I'm trying to keep it together in front of my kids so, I'll share the thoughts I was just about to write. Dang it.

We're finally far enough along with our post-Harvey reno to move in within the next few weeks. I just want working bathrooms and carpet in the kids' rooms so that we can get their beds set up. The kitchen can wait. I swear, the closer you are, the harder it is to deal with delays. The holidays really put the brakes on progress, hahahaha. I recently bought a great 70s Ethan Allen dining set on CL. It has pristine acid avocado-green upholstered seats with cane backs. The table weighs a ton, even without the leaves. I've been chomping at the bit to get it in the dining room.

For the first time, my husband will accompany the kids and me on our yearly summer trip home. We visit family in East Tx, OK, KS, and MO. I usually take about 3 weeks but his 2 wk vacation will have us moving along briskly. Still, I'm looking forward to seeing my grandmothers (please) who are both in their 90s, DH's parents who are in late 80s and nearly 91 when we visit, and tons of family members who orbit around them. It's always fun and it'll be wonderful to be together. I missed last year due to meeting with the contractor/being at the house to get things started.

I'm just looking for a little normalcy and, Annie, I'm setting an alarm so that I say "rabbit, rabbit" on day 1. Any little "yay!" is welcome in the coming year!

We have a wedding to look forward to in May when our younger DS is getting married! And we have a Rick Steves tour scheduled in September for 2 weeks in Spain. On the home front, I'm hoping this will be the year that we get rid of all the dark colors in our house and lighten things up!!!

wwbungalow, I'd like to know more about your Camino Portuges plans. Please message me. It doesn't appear your profile is set up to receive messages....

alex, I'm so sorry...

What wonderful and varied plans everyone has!

Our DD is getting married in the fall. Don't know where, don't know when, if It will be big or small. She totally stresses when she thinks about the planning. I've helped with researching places and done all she has asked me to do thus far but she needs to make some decisions! We may visit her in the next couple of weeks to go dress shopping....if she can get it together to make appointments. In her defense...she has a high stress job with a fair amount of travel. I'm hoping she keeps the wedding small and intimate to make it easier on herself.

Our only other plans are a road trip all around Florida hopefully in March visiting friends and family there and along the way. Haven't been to Fl in 40 years so looking forward to it.

Big goal is to finish decorating the main living area of our new house. Need a rug, lamp, artwork. Have to recover DR chairs and make covers for the chair backs. Make or have made a cushion for a window seat in the kitchen. New light fixtures in foyer and LR and new pendants over the island. Accessories, and lastly....window treatments...if any...have faux wood blinds now. Will be so happy when this big open space is done!

Happy New Year everyone!

Lots ahead for us (and for many of you, sounds like!).

I’m seeing a dr this Fri about probable rotator cuff surgery, so that’s a not-so-fun plan for early 2019.

Also this month, a bathroom rehab we had not planned on — but the shower is leaking yadda yadda, long story but we’re getting a new bathroom. The current bathroom is ugly but we were hoping to wait until next year to tackle it. I’ve ordered all the tile, vanity, faucet, and toilet. Here’s my floor tile!

Travel: quick trip to FL for gymnastics with DD; Sedona with my BFFs in early spring; African safari with DH and 3 kids in summer; Santa Fe with DH in fall.

And...in Sept our nest empties as our “baby” leaves for college. With the way she’s been behaving lately, we might just leave her on the side of the road somewhere near campus.

As of today my husband is officially retired-that's an exciting start to 2019 for him, and me!

We are planning to put our house up for sale in the spring and hopefully get it under contract quickly so I can move forward with retiring myself by early fall.

So if all goes well that will mean next holiday season we will be celebrating as full time residents on our island paradise home :). It's been a revelation being here for the past couple of weeks. He hasn't looked at his computer once after 40 years of systems analyst duty. I haven't had a moment of thought about work either and no desire to go back.

2019 is our year to fully transition to the retirement stage of life with high hopes and crossed fingers for what comes next!

Not terribly exciting, but I vow to clean out the garage this summer once and for all, tidy up the cellar and have more gravel brought in to cover floor areas previously not graveled, and have a new back porch floor built.

Now that DH has a pain-free hip, we plan to travel, probably to Ireland and Scotland in 2019. No firm plans yet, but would like to go in late spring or maybe late September.

House-wise, I have procrastinated long enough about getting the great room, hall, and dining room repainted so that is the first priority. The kitchen is on the list too but I haven’t decided on a color yet for the kitchen.

I’ll be taking over as President of our Garden Guild in May (volunteer fund-raising group associated with our Botanical Garden). We don’t meet in the summer, but I will still have much to do to ensure the Board members and other key positions are in place and ready to go before September.

Beagles, I’m glad you posted an update about your journey with Molly. Excited for you both!

Wow, Robo, just wow. Hope your "adventure" goes smoothly.

Very exciting Robo!

Sounds wonderful for everyone in your adventures for the year! Wishing you all success!

My adventures are mostly the quieter kind. DH wants to buy a big piece of equipment which will mean a very quiet lifestyle as there won't be money for a traveling lifestyle. That is a pretty big work adventure though if the equipment works out to help him in his business as much as he thinks it will. I'm okay with a quiet life as long as I can read on here. :-)

Deliliah66: Go to Followthecamino.com and select Camino Routes - then select Camino Portugues. This group makes your hotel reservations plus takes your luggage to the next stop. My DH has had 3 back surgeries so could not carry his luggage. Sorry but I do not know how to message you or I would.

The house is getting new doors (front and side) sometime later this month. I suspect that this may lead to new flooring (tile or stone) in the entry; one thing does seem to lead to another. I am also planning to buy a new car; mine will be 15 this year, and I'm afraid she'll want a quinceanera party! I am trying to figure out what to do/where to go to celebrate a significant bday this fall, but given the other expenses, maybe it will have to be low key.

Good news about Grandma is that she didn't have a stroke, but will stay in the hospital for a few days to treat a staph infection and high blood pressure. My aunt said there were 11 family members in Grandma's room, waiting for the doctor today! Thanks Rabbit! We didn't have good luck getting stuff done at the house (lots of stumbling blocks) but if I had to pick one thing to work out, it's the one that did :)

It will be a fun 2019, reading about everyone's adventures.

So far, my plans are only in my mind. First of all, I need to spend another 5-6 weeks walking a Camino in Spain. It's my addiction. I hope to do that in May/June. Then in August, if all goes according to plan I'll go to Mexico for four months to study Spanish towards a degree, which I started several years ago. But before I purchase any tickets I need to have a follow up appointment after an "abnormal" mammogram.

Hope to get DH to Idaho and Montana this year...it would wind up our quest to get him to all 50 states. If we go, we'll probably dip into Canada as well to see some of the other lovely sites in the rockies...someone mentioned a town called Nelson was especially nice.

I am headed to Thailand in a few days. So excited!

Terriks, sending good wishes your way. Lots of false positives with mammograms.

Yes, terriks. I had a false positive several years ago and had more testing that revealed nothing amiss. They "tagged" the area with a small metal clip so it can be identified on my yearly mammograms to see if there is any change that is concerning in that area. So far so good. Hopefully, the same for you.

This year's big plans for us include my son's wedding in October!

My brother and I are shopping for a second house in the Palm Springs area. We thought we would have the cash to buy it by now, but because our nephew (who is buying our property in Texas) is getting a government loan, which has been approved along with the appraisal, but the government shutdown has stalled the process. Once the government opens up again, we should get our money. We've been looking at Cathedral City, as it is more affordable than Palm Springs, and I do not feel the need to be that close to downtown PS, which has gotten a bit crowded lately. We were there last week.

We probably won't travel overseas this year, but I do want to take a trip to Michigan in the summer to visit a friend. We had originally planned to go to Greece, but DB wants to hold off on that for a year if we buy another house. I consider the second house to be more of an investment than anything else, and we plan to rent it out for part of the year.

I don't even think it was a "false positive" that showed on my mammo. It was micro calcifications that weren't on my previous mammos. My doctor and the radiologist said that I could wait six months and have another mammogram to see if there were any changes, or consult with the breast doctor now. I didn't want to make a bunch of plans, and then find out on a follow up mammogram six months later that I need a biopsy or more tests that would interfere with my plans. So I'm seeing the specialist tomorrow.

Terriks, I had the same problem and it lead to a stereotactic biopsy, which fortunately was benign. I was worried sick and understand your concerns. Hope your visit with the specialist brings you some peace of mind.

Terri, I wish you well and try to keep busy while you wait (from experience I know the minutes seem like hours and the hours seem like a lifetime each)...I do feel as if the professionals who give us information don't really get this part of it.... :(

Honestly, it's not something I'm terribly worried about. I have several friends who have been down this road and biopsies found that the suspicious areas were benign.

Terezosa, I hope everything turns out just fine for you.

Neesiepie - I am horrendously jealous of your plans for the Michelle Obama book tour. I missed the Washington, DC event, but the book is in residence.

RIP - Where is your "island paradise?"

I plan to be a millionaire lottery winner for 2019!

Wishing Molly a successful surgery and a good trip for all.

Lots to do this year. Planned to do updates on my house but it looks like I will need to get my mom’s house ready to sell first. It is likely that she will be moving into Assisted Living sometime in the next 6 months or so, and it is worn. Bascically just doing a refresh. Thankfully we do have some fun plans as well, we usually spend a few weekends out in the Palm Springs area with friends always a fun time. Heading there today for the Palm Springs International Film Festival (Lars wishing you happy house shopping, we hope to join you in owning a home a couple of years from now). Later in the year DH and I are going on a fall foliage cruise with a group of 4 or 5 couples. Cape Liberty to Quebec City, 10 Nights. Visiting NYC for a few days precruise with the group and just the two of us will be visiting family in PA Lancaster area before our group trip. If we can fit it in I would like to go to Philly for a few days too but not sure we will make it this time. We will probably be gone about 3 weeks. Should be fun, have not been to New England in a long time.

Just to follow up on my "irregular* mammogram. I went to see the breast doctor and she agreed that I might as well have a needle biopsy done now, to put my mind at rest. I had the procedure on Tuesday, and received the results from my doctor today - benign! So now I can make my plans for the year.

terriks - glad to hear back that all is well!!

Congrats on all the life events ... retirements, weddings, new jobs, new homes! And wow, lots of exciting destinations --- the Nile, Iceland, Europe, Asia, Patagonia!

We have a few trips planned and a few on the boards. For spring break the girls and I are going to Canyon Ranch while the boys go to see the Sox in spring training. I'm also going to take them to either Manhattan or Bkyln for a few nights and see the premier of the new, "woke" Oklahoma (after I have them watch the old one).

This summer we will go to Greece... visiting Athens, Santorini, Milos, Rhodes and Symi.

DH and I might go to Santa Fe for a long weekend again this summer; the opera company will be doing La Boheme.

For Christmas '19 we talked about staying for a week in an Air bnb in a European city and celebrating everything there. Buying and decorating a tree, gift shopping. Vienna is a top contender, and then we might take a few days to ski in scenic Kitzbuhel.

Terriks so glad for you that you can move forward with your plans with a clear mind. I know you weren't worried but I'm a good worrier for other people. :-). Thanks for letting us know.

Mtn, Munich is also beautiful at Christmas...but not as close to skiing. I would love to go away over Christmas (more thinking beach somewhere I've never been), but not sure that will happen until after my mother is gone...probably not, and at this rate she will probably outlive me!

jlll, curious as to when you will be doing your cruise. I am doing the same one in Sept 2019. I have done this one before but not all the way to Quebec. Edited to add that I also have family in Lancaster County (Millersville)

jmck, actually, Munich is much closer, about half the distance to Kitzbuhel. I just happen to love Vienna! : )

ETA - we could do an open jaw and fly into Vienna and out of Munich ... have you been to Munich for the holidays? Advice? thx

Ooohhhh Mtn - I like that idea of La Boheme in Santa Fe. That would be a good excuse for me to get to New Mexico, one of my last three states to see. I looked at the schedule and mentioned it to DH and he is intrigued. Maybe we can rendezvous!!

LOL, sure! What fun. Have you been to the SF opera? It's a really great venue. We can't pin down a date until we know what the kids are doing for the summer, probably in the next 30 days are so. There are a lot of dates tho, so that's good.

ETA - Duh, i didn't read very closely, did I? You must see NM, it is very lovely. And the food! (Shout out to the lovely and sweet NM ladies for Vinaigrette btw, yum)

AnnieD has us all thinking about hitting the 50 states. I think I figured out I only need Arkansas and Oklahoma.

Mtn, I have not been to Munich for the holidays, but my brother has lived there for almost 30 years and I've heard lots of stories, seen lots of pictures. I hope to go one day (mother, again...sigh). I'm sure I could get lots of info from him if you are considering it (or put you in touch).

I need to look at the states I've missed. A retirement goal is to do much more traveling in the US. That is about 3-4 years away for us....time to plan!

If we ever get our government back, I will likely apply to renew my passport. No matter what, in April I am driving down from here in MA to my family in FL, with a stop in NC and in VA to visit friends. Best timing is in April.

Otherwise, I have laying hens here, they will continue to grow as they will this next year. I will be raising more dinner chickens over the summer.

AND getting some serious exercise in. I need to!

I was unaware that the passport offices were closed. This shutdown has gone on way too long, and I'm still waiting for my nephew to get his government loan. Fortunately, my passport does not expire until 2023.

My brother is going to a health related conference in Philadelphia in early August, and I am planning to go with him and might try to coordinate that with the trip to Michigan.

Oh no... I hadn't thought about that. We are about to get DD's passport renewed. Yikes.

Passport applications and renewals are still being processed.

So many great plans here! I'm so jealous! I have the next five months of intense work to look forward to and no time off at all. This summer, I'm contemplating taking my mother and my daughter to see Mom's people in Indiana. My daughter has just a few short weeks between grad school terms and she has this sweet relationship with my 88 year old aunt. It feels like I ought to make that trip happen. My spouse and I discussed a New England trip this fall and I might have to start making plans for that, just to keep sane over the next few months!