A year to remember!

It's 2018. How did that happen? I'm still struggling with that date. I'm still writing 2017 in my journal, but when I look at it I know that it doesn't seem right. The days are flying past. Christmas is a distant memory although we still have some decorations to put away. I've been sick for over a week. I'm not exactly sure what I have but its been pretty bad. Headache, coughing, congestion, lack of appetite. Basically I've been no fun and feeling crappy. I've had to push myself to get out of bed. I was able to leave the house twice since Sunday but it took a lot out of me.

I feel bad for Bob. I'm no fun and haven't been eating much either. Today we have our grandsons Ryan and Michael here and we went to a movie. It was wonderful -- we saw The Greatest Showman with Hugh Jackman. I did pretty well but needed a nap afterwards! Jeez, I sound like an old lady but I guess this is what being sick is like. I don't get sick often and I'm not used to being lazy, but all I can do right now is rest.

The good news is I am blogging and I'm out of bed. Earlier this week when I was laying around I created a list of the highlights from 2017. I wanted to capture them and look back at them so I could remember what I did. I used my calendar because otherwise I would not have remembered even half of them! We certainly were busy😊

1. January - vacation in Sedona with Karen & Monica! My first time there and we had a blast.
2. February - Speaker at 'Part The Cloud' in Menlo Park. Met Maria Shriver!
3. February - Alzheimer's Advocacy Day at the State Capital in Sacramento
4. March - Giants baseball Spring Training with Mike & Kim Ursini
5. March- PBS Special filming - 'Brief But Spectacular'
6. March - National Alzheimer's Advocacy Forum in Washington DC
7. April - Special time alone Danielle & Kristen at the Dream Inn in Santa Cruz
8. April - Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge with friends and family on my birthday
9. May - Contra Costa Times Newspaper article 'Living with Alzheimer's'
10. May - Turned in my badge and officially retired from Intel Corporation
11. May - Hamilton in San Francisco with Bob- Sat in the same row as Steph Curry!
12. June - 'Move For Minds' fund raiser in San Francisco
13. June - Alzheimer's Assoc Early Stage Advisor Group meeting in Chicago
14. July - Australia vacation at Matt & Anna's house with our three grand babies
15. August - Nor Cal Alzheimer's Assoc Board of Directors retreat
16. September - Family time in Sea Ranch with the Linscheid's
17. October - Elected to the National Alzheimer's Assoc Board of Directors
18. October - Two days of filming for Caregiver Nation and an event for Maria Shriver's WAM
19. October - Walnut Creek and San Luis Obispo Alzheimer's Walk events
20. November - Johnson & Johnson Panel discussion in San Francisco 
21. November - Thanksgiving and time with family
22. December - Anniversary celebration on Maui with our friends and family for two weeks
23. December - Christmas at our house with family and our new grand puppy Celly!

I'm sure I missed a few things but this will be helpful to me when I look back and read this later. Some of the events are fresh in my mind, some of the details are fuzzy, but I am thankful for the opportunities that have been presented to me. Thankful for all the amazing people I have met. Thankful I can help others by sharing my stories, my struggles, my fears.

I'm sure this year will be busy too. That's ok, I like making an impact and doing what I can to help. Next week Bob and I will be in Sacramento on Monday to participate on a panel for the California Legislative Caucus. The year is starting off well. Now all I need to do is get healthy and quit coughing!

Happy New Year everyone. I hope your holidays were wonderful and that you were with the ones you love. Let's make 2018 the best year ever!!