Best Things I Learned in 2019

Normally, I would do a "Best Things I Learned" post around my birthday in September. But since I'm trying to get back into a regular posting groove, I thought I'd end the year--and the decade--with a "Best Things I Learned" post instead. And I think we'll do it Outlander style to make it more fun. 

These are never in any particular order, because frankly, prioritizing these would just make my brain hurt. What can I say? I'm a teacher on Christmas break. I'm trying to give my brain a rest and I don't want to work that hard. So anyhoodle, Are you ready?

Here are all the Tinalicious bits of knowledge and wisdom I've gleaned for the year 2019.

• An appendix is a seriously useless internal organ and you can totes live without it. Even my doctor couldn't explain a use for it. Go figure. Glad to be rid of it though, because appendicitis is kind of unpleasant. So, good riddance.
• Wowzers, surgery is expensive! Who knew the going rate for an appendectomy is $45K?! And I live in small town America; I can only imagine what it would cost in a bigger city.
• And also, it's a blessing to have decent insurance after over a decade with the polar opposite. I shudder to think what that surgery would have cost us out-of-pocket if the hubs and I still had crappy insurance. #grateful
• The day you decide not to wash your hair is the day you end up needing surgery. So, you know, messy-hair-don't-care becomes the mantra you live by for a good week.
• There is no tired like teacher tired. Seriously. I'm exhausted. Like, all the time. As in, I'm-struggling-to-stay-awake-when-I'm-sitting-on-the-couch-at-6pm-tired. Sometimes, it even begs the question...

• On a brighter note, I love my job! Teaching is what I'm meant to do. Sure, I have bad days, and long days, and tiring days. But I am still ready and excited to get up each day and teach again. So, that makes all the tired worth it. [And Christmas break sure helps a lot too.]
• I can teach two different subjects in school. Like a boss. I'm teaching Technology and Art now, to grades K-6. That means double the lesson plans, double the grades, and lots more late days at work. It's been an adjustment, but I am doing it! I wouldn't say I'm an expert at it yet, but I'm doing it and learning from it every single day. And hey, it lets me exercise both sides of my Tinalicious brain. That can only be a good thing.
• Flossing was a thing. And it will be almost interesting to see what the next big thing will be at school next year.
• Marilyn Monroe could never have said all those quotes that are attributed to her on Facebook.  And neither could Abraham Lincoln, or Albert Einstein. 
• Your business is your business and it's no one else's business. Period.

• Influenza is scary stuff. The hubs and I had it in February and it seriously kicked our butts. First time either of us had ever had it too. Coughing? Check. Fever and Body Aches? Check and Check. Inability to form coherent thoughts while languishing helplessly on the couch, surrounded by a mote made of wads of your snot-filled tissues? Check! Get your Flu Shots, people, that's all I can say. It's not a 100% guarantee you won't get the Flu, but I'd rather lessen my odds a little when it's possible. The Flu is one beast that I don't ever want to meet again. 
• Sometimes, the series finale of one of your favorite shows can really let you down. I'll just say it: The Game of Thrones series finale sucked Drogon-sized dragon eggs. Debate me if you want, but I won't change my mind. It had some good moments, but overall, it was really a major disappointment made only slightly better by the survival of some of my favorite characters. Here's looking at you, Tyrion. Am I right?

• I don't like movies as much as I used to. That may not seem like a big deal, but I was always the one who wanted to go to the movies--as a kid and as an adult. And I didn't see a single movie in the theater in all of 2019. There really just wasn't anything that was worth going to see for me. Even when new movies come available for streaming, there's very little I want to see anymore. So either I'm just getting old, or the quality of today's films just isn't what it used to be. Or maybe both. Let's see if the cinematic offerings in 2020 will change my mind.
• I'm a Gleek! I know, I know. I'm a little late to the Glee party. I didn't watch it until I discovered it on Netflix this year. For that, I probably deserve a slushie in the face. But now I'm kind of addicted. Granted, I think the show wasn't the same after most of the main characters graduated high school. And the tragedy that befell some of the actors makes some episodes difficult to watch. But I'm always gonna be that gal that loves musical entertainment, and Glee has that in spades. So, when I'm looking for something to watch when nothing else seems to catch my interest, I turn to my favorite kids from McKinely High.
• Getting rid of Cable was so easy and so worth it. Even with my bills for Internet, Sling, Hulu, and Netflix, I'm still paying less than I would have been had I stayed with Cable. My new motto? Stream all the stuff! Buh-bye, Cable. Don't let my Roku hit you on the way out.
• I hate Droughtlander. For all of you who don't know, Droughtlander is what Outlander fans go through when they're waiting for the next season of the show. It is sooooo long sometimes. By the time Season 5 debuts this coming February, it will have been over a year since visiting the 18th century with the Frasers. I miss Jamie, Claire, Murtagh, and Lord John. I miss the Scottish accents. I miss the story! Small problem really, but it seems I have to re-learn how to deal with it every year when another season ends.

• And speaking of Outlander, I miss men in kilts. When we first meet the King of All Men, James Alexander Malcolm Mackenzie Fraser, he's in a kilt--as were all of his kinsmen in the Scottish highlands. And it was Glorious! Who knew kilts were so awesome?! Nowadays though, we scarcely see Jamie or anyone else in a kilt. I didn't realize just how much I liked the kilts until they became noticeably absent from the screen. Sometimes a girl just needs a little gratuitous Scottish knee porn. Know what I mean? Luckily, I can re-watch all those kilted moments on Starz as I continue to wade through Droughtlander.

• Being a Grandma is the best gig ever. I probably already knew that, but it's always worth mentioning. I get to spend time with two awesome grandkids, and spoil them rotten, and no one can stop me. It's an unpaid gig, yet it still makes me rich. You gotta love that.
• A Bad Ass person doesn't need to say they're bad ass. That's all I'm sayin.

• And finally, I don't love the Star Wars saga, but I do love me some Baby Yoda. Believe me I know--he isn't really *the* baby Yoda. But he's a baby, and he looks like Yoda, so whatevs. He is seriously adorable. I've watched a few episodes of The Mandalorian with the Hubs, and I just adore that tiny, little alien goob. [I may or may not be following Baby Yoda on Twitter.] I love him so much that I even pre-ordered the Funko Pop version of him, which won't be released until May 15th! On a side note, I wished they'd released him on May the 4th. I mean, come on now. That would have been epic timing.  Bottom line though: Never doubt the power of Baby Yoda.

So there you have it. Everything that I can think of that I learned from the last year of this decade. And quite the year it has been.

Now at this point, I know what you're thinking...

So, I know it's time to bring this post to a close.

I look forward to seeing you in the next Roaring 20's!

Now get on out there and give the end

of your 2019 a proper sendoff.