"Goodbye and good riddance, " Glen thought, "and here's to hoping next year isn't even worse." 

 The rules arbitrarily changed at a breakneck pace to ensure only the ruler and his favorites would win. 

Denise decided not to record the moment, preferring to preserve it only in memory. 

 Sleep, repeat, coffee, repeat, log on, repeat, eat, repeat, television, repeat, sleep, repeat. 

After the year of isolation, his brain seemed incapable of socializing or even stringing coherent sentences together. 

 She sat watching the birds at the feeder instead of her phone or television and felt a calm unattainable through technology. 

With the presents unwrapped and the meal eaten, they finally had time to contemplate their blessings and pray for those who didn't have quite so many.