I’ve been living with my new phone for a few weeks now (and I love it), so in a sense this is old news. However, with the time change and the coming of spring, it feels like a good time to talk about new beginnings. For most people, a new phone probably isn’t a big deal, but I’ve had my old iPhone 5S for five long years. When I bought it I knew it would last a while, but I had no idea that it would hang around this long. I posted on BookFace that it drowned, but I didn’t go into much detail – though I did enjoy the speculation that I dropped it into the toilet. The truth is more mundane. Fern and I came out to the car to and I dropped my phone into the center cup holder like I have done a million times before. What I didn’t realize – and what was blocked from view by the corner of a blanket – was an open cup of water. The phone slid in with the grace of an Olympic diver and the blanket hid the mistake for a solid twenty minutes. “Did you put it in rice?” was the instant question I got when people found out the phone took a dip. Fair question, but I don’t think all the rice in China could have saved that.

Now, I didn’t resist upgrading for five years because the iPhone 5S is such a stellar phone (though, seriously, five years? That is kind of amazing). The truth is, by the time it became ridiculously evident it needed replacing a few years back, I couldn’t afford to replace it. With more than a little apprehension, Fern traveled with me to the AT&T store to see what I could afford. Turns out, quite a bit! Some contract restructuring and financing and I only ended up paying an additional $10 a month. So far I absolutely adore my coral-colored iPhone XR. But, let’s hope I don’t need it to last another five years.

If the iPhone drowning panic, followed by apprehension, ending in a good resolution sounds familiar it might be because it’s the second such change of the year.

I wrote about the passing of my dear Pontiac Vibe earlier this year. When I wrote that I had no idea what would come next. My insurance company had indicated they were going to total it out but had yet to get me a number. I was worried that I would have to sell my motorcycle in order to be able to afford anything even remotely reliable. When the number came in, I scrambled with Craigslist listings fired off emails to make meetings and finally took the advice of a friend (thank you, DE!) to stretch a little and try to talk down the price on a 2010 Toyota Matrix. It worked, and I’ve been enjoying getting used to a manual transmission again after quite a while without – and I got to keep my bike!

On their face, these two changes could be seen as minor – sure, the car was a big deal, but a phone is a phone, right? But taken together, they represent something bigger. In the space of the first two months of the year two of the cornerstones of my daily activities had to be replaced in a hurry with limited resources and a lot of anxiety. But it’s worked out so far. Though, I have the distinct impression that 2019 is just getting started.

As 2018 drew to a close, I looked back at my calendar and saw how crazy busy I was most of the year. Juggling three jobs, I still managed to take care of my fur family, spend time with Fern, and retain my sanity – hell, I even managed a road trip! I’m tired just remembering! But I got a lot of help from my friends, and I managed to get through.

I feel like 2018 was a warm up.

Other than the two big changes so far, I don’t have anything to base that on but a hunch. We’ll see what’s next.

PS: For the record, I did buy a lottery ticket today, so… who knows?