Blogging year in review

(A hat tip to Mali, whose post "2016: Looking back on the blog" has inspired me to do the same for the past two years. Also to Mel, whose Crème de la Crème lists from 2007 to 2012 prompted me & other bloggers to review our posts from the year past & pick out our favourites to share.  (There was a list in 2006 too, but that was before I started my blog.)  If the Crème de la Crème list still existed, one of these posts would probably be the one I would have submitted. :) )

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As I mentioned in my 2018 year in review post, I published 158 posts last year. In addition to posts about childless/free issues, I tried to do a "Right now" or "The Current" post every month or so, and participated in 47 #MicroblogMondays.  I reviewed 25 of the 27 books I read in 2018 (the other two reviews are coming up...!), and wrote about news items (usually ALI-related) that piqued my interest.  I also wrote a lot about what was going on my life, some of which touched on aspects of ALI/childless/free living and some that didn't, including aging, (peri)menopause (and Aunt Flo's refusal to JUST GO AWAY ALREADY...!), retirement and life in a condo.

Here are a few of my favourite/noteworthy posts from 2018, in more or less chronological order:

• A life worth living -- A childless life IS worth living. 
• Leaving home -- Younger Nephew & his fiancee move away from their parents & in together -- a few blocks away for him, into the basement for her. Their mothers are heartbroken. Aunt Loribeth is bemused. ;)  
• Toronto the heartbroken :(  -- My city is (sadly) not immune to mass violence. :( 
• Social capital, adult friendships and childlessness -- Making & keeping friends is more difficult as a childless adult. :( 
• This sucks :( -- FIL's declining health & memories of my pregnancy. 
• Deja vu -- Eerie echoes of summer 1998.  
• Bye bye, Alan... -- The death of a Bay City Roller. :( 
• Happy birthday, Louise Brown -- 40 years of IVF, and a video gathering of childless bloggers/infertility survivors to discuss it. 
• #MicroblogMondays: Visitors -- FIL sees dead people. 
• It was 20 years ago today... -- Marking 20 years since Katie's stillbirth. 
• Love you, Dad -- The death of my FIL. 
• #MicroblogMonday: Of coffee cups & caskets -- Saying goodbye to FIL. 
• A blast from the past -- An unearthed 25+-year-old note from my great-aunt brings a surge of emotions. 
• Memories of campus life -- Christine Blasey Ford's testimony before the Senate committee brings back memories of campus life in the early 1980s. 
• #MicroblogMondays: Yeah, I'm amazed... -- Seeing Paul McCartney in concert! 
• This blog goes to 11 :)  -- My 11th blogoversary! 
• Thinking about Christmas -- Thoughts about Christmas, with links to past Christmas-related posts.