Bye 2016

December 31, 2016 by The Sonia Show 2 Comments

Yeah, so, I’m so glad this year is going to be over. 2017 is going to be a great year, you guys.

*reads a news site about our upcoming Predator-elect and sobs for days*

OK, so, maybe it’s not going to be a great year, but 2016 really sucked, and I’m glad it’s over. During 2015, I was recovering from a mastectomy and did six months of chemotherapy. I kept telling myself that 2016 was going to be a better year. It wasn’t. My Homer died. Prince died. Carrie Fisher died. George Michael died. Gene Wilder died. Oh, and David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Debbie Reynolds, Leonard Cohen … I don’t have time to list all the talented artists that died this year. Plus, the realization that I’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer twice and the physical and emotion trauma of that, as well as chemotherapy, finally caught up with me, and for more than half the year, I was dealing with general anxiety and panic attacks that were so scary I thought I was going to die.

Good times.

But now, I’m cancer free, and my anxiety is under control. I still miss Homer every day, but I do love the new additions to our family, Toby and Kubo.

There were a few bright spots in 2016. I had made a New Year’s resolution to spend less time on social media and more time doing something creative. I managed to do that. I started a podcast with my good buddy Smith. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? Dorking Out with Chris & Sonia: You should listen. We also just launched our first official spinoff, Dorking Out About Trailers. We will have another spinoff later this year, Dorking Out About Star Trek, a special podcast that we will do while “Star Trek: Discovery” is airing.

I also went to a few Paint Nites with my sister and friends. I’ve never painted before. Sure, some of the paintings are laughably awful (see my Halloween castle below), but some of them turned out pretty decent.

Those orange blobs are supposed to be pumpkins. LOL.

Cat family.

Peacock. Ha ha. I said “cock.”

My New Year’s resolutions for 2017 include the obligatory “I want to read more books” and “I’m restarting Weight Watchers because I have 25 pounds to lose.” Ugh. I hate that losing weight is something I worry about. I hate how much space it takes up in my brain, and how much energy I spend thinking about my weight. I know that someday (a long time from now *knocks on wood*) when I’m on my deathbed, I won’t think, “I’m so glad I spent so much time worrying about my weight.” My body and my mind have been through a lot in the past two years, so I’ve let it slide. But now it’s time for me to focus on being healthy, which means I’ve got to drop these extra pounds. I’ll try not to write about my Weight Watchers points too much, because that shit is fuckin’ boring.

And speaking of writing, my other New Year’s resolution is to write more, specifically to finish at least a rough draft of my first book. No more stalling. It’s time to get to work.

Oh, you guys! My hair grew back in 2016. My hair has style now! You can’t even tell I did chemo.

I really love my new hair. I’ve never warn my hair short before. I guess the bright side of chemo is it forced me to change my hairstyle after almost a decade.

My mighty, mighty good boy Calvin had a terrific year. He is making amazing progress. His communication skills are improving every day, and he is just the happiest kid in the world. And I’m still married to the most handsome, kindest and funniest man. Being married to my mighty, mighty good man David makes every year a pretty good year.

 

We will be ringing in the New Year doing what we always do: recreating a meal that we had on our Paris and Belgium honeymoon and then watching “The Thin Man” and “After The Thin Man.” It’s OK to be jealous. They are the best NYE plans.

I’m going to make a roasted chestnut soup, which we originally had at Café des 2 Moulins, also known as the cafe in “Amelie.” I’m going to make it vegan. However, David is going to make creme brulee, which of course is absolutely not vegan. I didn’t have any vegan meals in Paris, and I don’t want to stop our fun tradition. Maybe next year he can try to perfect a vegan creme brulee. We also one last bottle of wine that we brought home from Paris, and, of course, we will have some fancy beer, because duh.

I’m looking forward to watching 2016 die at midnight. Obviously, it’s going to be a tough year with that Rapey Dorito as our president, but there are a lot of good, brave, smart people out there who are fighting for what’s right. If we all work together, we can get through this … maybe.

Seriously, though, 2016 sucked so hard. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, 2016.

Have a happy and safe New Year, you guys!