This little girl got another year bigger today. Ten years ago she shot out of my body like a bullet and she has been a blast ever since. No regrets!
Author: peanut7312
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January 1
I usually go hiking on New Year’s Day, but this year Billy suggested disc golf. We did great through six holes until Christina learned there are EIGHTEEN holes. She instantly lost interest. We followed this one family through 15 holes and were about to start the 16th after them when this group of eight obvious disc golf enthusiasts with their frisbee carts and visors cut in front of us and told us to go to an alternate hole. Is this standard disc golf etiquette? I hope not. I was angry. But since Christina was done anyway, we decided to go out for ice cream instead of picking a fight and forcing our way through the last three holes. It was the right choice.
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2023 in Review
Here we are, turning another calendar page once again. January 1 is really just another day in a long string of days, but it’s as good a time as any to check in and see how things are going. This year, thanks to this project, I get to sit on the floor with 365 pages of my life surrounding me that I can pick up and touch and remember and reflect.
Without even needing to think about it, I lift up our day at Disney World, hands down the best day of the year, and maybe one of the top ten best days of my life.
And, because the Universe loves to keep perfect balance, I also remember the toughest day of my year, a day filled with so much debilitating anxiety I could not get out of bed. That one day led to weeks of turmoil and months of tough choices. But I made those choices instead of ignoring them. And after years of stagnancy, I feel energized. One decision seems to lead to another and before I know it, momentum builds and I start to see change. How refreshing. Not in any way easy, but refreshing.
So what images do I want to see on my floor next year? Maybe more beaches and more camping and more finished projects. More state parks and maybe even some national parks. More home improvements and more time spent baking with Robin or paddling with Christina. Maybe even some cheerleading wins. And even though it may not photograph well, certainly more writing. Too many days with photos of the wall or selfies in bed means I need to readjust.
And so may it be. I look forward to the continued revelation of days.
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December 31
It was a nice end to the year. We had our annual Festivus celebration at church, then food shopping, then Robin cleaned out our game closet, which was an insane mess, had fried ravioli, meatball subs, and then had a nice celebration at midnight with our traditional deviled eggs (I think Robin had 8 or 9 of them), homemade hummus, and almond M&Ms with sparkling cider and champagne. This year I even splurged on some hats and noisemakers, which the dogs did not appreciate at all. Considering how much they annoy us all year, I think we can call it even.
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December 30
Today was a day of downs and ups and downs and very little in between. I wanted to get something sparkly to wear for New Year’s and I found five dresses at Goodwill in what I thought was my size, only to find that all but one were too small. I came home in tears, feeling ugly and fat and everything but sparkly. But then Robin and I made cupcakes for dinner at Rosina and Dion’s tonight, and that was fun. And dinner was fun. We played Apples to Apples and Robin won. Lots of laughing and fun. But then about ten miles from home, I got a flat tire. I managed to coast into a gas station and fill the tire with just enough air to get home, but that tire will be absolutely flat by morning at the rate it was losing air. Luckily I have a spare, and we made it home, so it could definitely have been worse.
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December 29
Didn’t do as much today as yesterday, and I decided that’s ok. I did prune my roses and catch this hibiscus in the sun. Christina and I also took apart the Lego pirate ship we built earlier this year so we can build one of the other 3-in-1 models in the kit. We watched a lot of football. I think sometimes it’s ok to be lazy and unproductive.
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December 28
The girls are giving themselves facials, and loving it. Also today: wrapped up last week’s photo shoot, finished proofreading my website, created and ordered next year’s photo calendar (had 407 nice photos this year as opposed to 50 last year; photo a day project for the win!), organized my craft supplies, and cleaned up my office. Oh, and I built a Lego snowman. I have no idea what I am going to do with the rest of my life.
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December 27
Christina got a clay kit for Christmas and this is her first creation. We guessed it was a robin, but not surprised it isn’t. I particularly like the worm, which was a late addition.
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December 26
Today was being way too productive at work, finishing editing the photos from the family shoot I did last week, amazing homemade pizza for dinner, and beer with old friends until midnight. Girl’s still got it. (Ha.)
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December 25
Christmas was pretty great this year. The kids said a few times that Santa outdid himself this year. They literally loved everything they got. We made homemade pasta carbonara for dinner with family and it was just a nice day. We still have 275 cookies left to eat.
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December 23
We have baked something like 250 cookies in the last two days, with one more recipe to go. I just ran out of steam for that last one. I don’t know who is going to eat said cookies… Santa? But even he has limits. We also baked three loaves of banana bread a few days ago and have one loaf left. Four human beings simply can’t consume all this, but I can’t stop myself from doing it. I enjoy it too much.
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December 22
I’ve been watching the Holiday Light Fight show on TV and been impressed at some of the intricate displays people put in their yards for Christmas. Billy said he’s been driving past this one for a while and wanted to see it, so we went. It maybe wasn’t the same caliber as the ones on TV, but it was pretty damn impressive. The lights were synchronized to music and we could walk through it. I would love to do this in our yard, but do you know how much work (and money) goes into this stuff? It takes a lot just for us to put up our six strings of lights every year. But this was cool to see. I’ll just admire someone else’s work.
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December 21
The catalog of Christmas decoration photos continues, mostly because I don’t feel creative enough to do anything else. Actually, most of my creative energy is going into wrapping up this project and a photo shoot and I’ve been happy with both, so I guess it’s a fair tradeoff.
