Good morning January

Well, 2013, you're here. I've been wishing for you for a while, but when I woke up this morning, nothing had changed except the calendar. I guess those changes are up to me and aren't some miracle that happens at the stroke of midnight between December 31 and January 1.

Your good friend 2012 threw a few fast ones our way last year, but we just kept pushing forward. I think, for now, 2012 will stay on record as being the most challenging year of my life (to date). Just when I figured it couldn't swing anything more at me, it mustered up another punch from somewhere and aimed for my head, or my heart.

But we outsmarted 2012. We won because we made it to 2013 and 2012, well, it needs to stay back there in memory land and it doesn't get to move forward. Maybe it's in a perpetual 2012 Groundhog Day. It can stay there.

At our house, and in the homes of many of our family and friends, 2012 dealt out too many servings of heartache, poor health, loss, uncertainty and general misery. But do you know what, we're better for it. Our family left 2012 as a stronger, more cohesive, harmonious, happy unit, despite the challenges the year brought us and some it refused to take with it. And even with the challenges, there were so many joys. We have so much in our lives to be grateful for and yes it was challenging, but remembering how blessed we really are kept us going through the challenges.

So to 2012, thank you for giving everyone in my family strength(s) we didn't know we had, when we needed it (them) most. Thank you for the kindness, empathy, sympathy and warmth shown to us when we needed, when we didn't need it and most especially when we were certain we didn't need it or want it but couldn't do without it. Thank you for reminding us in so many ways to be thankful for the people in our lives and grateful for what we have. Thank you for the challenges, because they made us stronger. Thank you for the constant reminders to tell the people who are important to us just that. That they are important. And to tell them why. And often. Thank you for forcing us to grow and change because that is where we'll find our happiness this year. Thank you for showing us we are resilient and stronger than we ever knew.

And 2013, thank you for being here this morning to offer us the hope of fresh beginnings. Thank you for the happy times we know you hold. Thank you for the arrivals we're eagerly anticipating. Please be gentle to us as you, like every year before you, give us whatever challenges you think we need and as you keep something dear to us when we move on to 2014 (I know, it's still a long way away).

My promise to you 2013? I am going to savour every moment I get with every person I love. I am not going to dwell on 2012, but I'm going to look forward to the wonder 2013 promises. Every morning when I wake up and every night when I go to bed (even if it is multiple times) I am going to remember all that I'm grateful for.

So 2013, give me your challenges, give me your joys. I'm ready for you. This is going to be a good year.

Oh hello 2012, yes I am a bit behind the times...

Well, I was going to do a 2012 resolutions goals post, but I didn't get around to it. And then I thought, meh, why can't I do it now, 11 days into 2012? I normally don't make resolutions because I figure if I want to set a goal or make a change, I may as well start now...I don't have to wait until January 1, because sometimes that's a long wait (e.g. 355 days from now if I thought up something brilliant today)

So what will 2012 hold for me? I have no idea. But I hope I can take it in stride. In the past, the way 2011 ended would have had me living life as a raging insomniac with an upset stomach. But this time it didn't and I'd like to see that continue this year. Nothing was particularly horrible. Mostly it was stuff that I couldn't change and that would sort itself out on its own and until that happened, I just had to live with it one way or another.

That sounds cryptic.

It isn't meant to be.

Let's see. I can't really give a good example, but here's something that happened before with my job that is similar but different to my job situation in December. Let's pretend that's what's happening now.

There are things happening in a number of departments, some closely associated with mine, some not remotely associated with mine, that likely will impact the nature of my job and quite possibly my job description in the next 3-6 months. I can't do anything to change those things and the result of a change in one department can easily cause something in another department to do a 180. So, in the next 3-6 months, my job will

(a) stay the same
(b) have a huge change in job description and no change in salary
(c) have a huge change in job description and a change in salary
(d) stay the same but I'll be in a different department
(e) disappear

In a perfect world the best outcome would be (c), followed by (a), but at this point I can't do anything other than prepare for the worst possible outcome and then put it out of my mind. Because otherwise I'll go crazy.

So I've done that. I updated my resume (which I probably should every 6 months anyway) and I go to work every day like I usually do. And I'm okay with that. A few years ago, I'd be all stressed out over it and it would be making me miserable.

I also said no to bunch of Christmas stuff. I decided we didn't need to have cookies. Because I didn't have time for them. I love doing the Christmas baking and most of the time find it quite enjoyable, but when it becomes a rush to beat the clock and I end up staying up too late, well, it sucks. So I didn't bake this year. And do you know what? Christmas was awesome! I didn't even notice the missing baking and if anyone else noticed, they didn't say anything.

So what are my goals for 2012?

1. Exercise a minimum of twice a week with Georgia
2. Go to yoga regularly (once a week at work) and try to do yoga at least 4 days a week
3. Stick to our weekly menu plan - I can't believe how much bigger our grocery bill is when we don't stick to it - not necessarily because of eating out either
4. Sort out the storage issue
5. Get moving on our plan to move (this is not an imminent move - it's a good 6 months away, but we figure it could take up to 24 months...)
6. Hone my cribbage skills in preparation for SACO 2012
7. Finish up the list of tasks from 52 weeks of organizing

Some of those are big goals - like #5 - that have multiple little steps on the route to accomplishment. Some are smaller - like #1 - #3 - and I just have to make time to do them regularly.

So 2012, here I come...I'm going to do my best to not fret about things that are out of my control and do my best to stay focused on small steps to reach bigger goals.

Christmas Resolutions Revisited

Last year I made a list of Christmas Resolutions for this year...in hopes that I'd feel more Christmassy and into the season and motivated and all that...

So here's the list from last year and my progress this year:

1. I will not leave all my shopping until the week before Christmas. Most of it is done...we've got a few things left, but we're close.
   
2. I will do some Christmas baking. Yup! Done that. Lots of that.
   
3. I will not forget an entire box of ornaments in the basement (or storage or closet or whatever other storage arrangement next year brings). Nope, didn't do that...the empty boxes are ready to go back to the basement storage now until after the holidays.
   
4. I will not leave my Christmas cards until the weekend before Christmas. They're mostly done. And mailed. And I have four sleeps until the weekend!
   
5. I will use an assortment of different colours in my wrapping/bagging in future years. All red gets kind of boring. Done! No problem here, lots of colour this year!
   
6. I will not look for a new place to live in the six weeks preceding Christmas. Instead, I looked for a new place to live three months before Baby J's arrival.
   
7. I will not move in the four weeks following Christmas (okay, so maybe those two are somewhat out of my control sometimes, but should I ever get amnesia and forget what it was like this year, this will serve as a memory jog I hope). Didn't do this either...instead I had Baby J three weeks after we moved. I just don't make good moving choices (although some things, like being evicted and early arrival babies, are beyond my control!)
   
8. I will enjoy every moment I get to spend with friends and family. This one is easy. Very easy! And I am thoroughly enjoying the month of December this year.
   

Christmas Resolutions

I know it's traditional to make resolutions for New Years. I don't usually. I have a few resolutions to make before Christmas that I will hopefully adhere to next Christmas

1. I will not leave all my shopping until the week before Christmas
2. I will do some Christmas baking
3. I will not forget an entire box of ornaments in the basement (or storage or closet or whatever other storage arrangement next year brings)
4. I will not leave my Christmas cards until the weekend before Christmas
5. I will use an assortment of different colours in my wrapping/bagging in future years. All red gets kind of boring
6. I will not look for a new place to live in the six weeks preceding Christmas
7. I will not move in the four weeks following Christmas (okay, so maybe those two are somewhat out of my control sometimes, but should I ever get amnesia and forget what it was like this year, this will serve as a memory jog I hope)
8. I will enjoy every moment I get to spend with friends and family

That's the list today...we'll see what happens tomorrow!

Getting ready for the new year...

Last September I mentioned how September always feels like the new year to me...well, whatdya know, I'm in new year mode again.

I keep hoping life will quiet down and maybe become less insane, but every time we get close to that, something else happens. Craziness at home is over, so we think we can relax, and then things get busy at work. Things at work get quieter and then something happens in our non-work lives - trip planning, social events, out of town guests, you name it!

Not that I'm complaining, really. The stuff that's been happening at work has made the days interesting, the stuff that's happening in our non-work lives is good stuff - family and friends getting married, wedding anniversaries, new babies, new jobs, visitors from far away (and not so far away).

I keep thinking, maybe when life gets back to "normal", (huh, what's normal?), I'll start updating the blog again...or maybe this is the new normal.

In any case, a new year starts on Tuesday. I'm making only two resolutions - enjoy the chaos and make sure I stop to take the time to appreciate the wonderful people in my life.

that's all

Happy New Year!

Okay, so it's not January 1 or the New Year according to any other calendar that I'm aware of (yet...Rosh Hashanah is coming up soon), but it is back to school and even though I am not really going back to school, it still feels like the start of the year to me.

So many of our activities are marked by the school year...it doesn't help that I work for an educational institution, but yesterday, it all felt new.

It probably helped that there were all those fresh faced students with lost looks on their faces, crisp new jeans, white white runner and very tidy hair cuts (and no roots) wandering around campus all day.

We spent part of the weekend clearing the bedroom closet of unwanted/unneeded *stuff*, deep cleaning the kitchen and removing junk, dust and cobwebs from one corner of the basement.

And yesterday morning when I left the house, that crisp September air had replaced the warm August mornings I had been used to. Sure, the cooler weather had been around for a few weeks, but there was an edge to it yesterday and there was extremely thick fall dew on the patio table and the windshield of the car.

Aside from the obvious return of the students, the University seemed to wake up from its summer slumber. We're all still here during the summer, and we're all still working, but the email and phone volume increased yesterday as did the urgency of getting things scheduled and booked and having people meet with other people. And I don't even work for an academic office...

For me, even though the calendar still says 2006, a new year just started....I guess I could make some new year's resolutions...somehow the September resolutions always seemed to stick for a day or two longer than the January ones ever did. Maybe it's because the weather's nicer!