Category: 2023 Highlights

  • 2023 in Review

    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.

  • December 31

    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.

  • December 25

    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.

  • December 24

    December 24

    Santa’s response: You poop like a hippopotamus but Merry Christmas anyway!

  • December 5

    December 5

    The kids said they understood the word, “reverent,” but I’m not sure they did. Christina threw a tantrum before Robin’s spiral, so she went barefoot. I’m either the best or the worst mom for allowing that to happen. To be honest, I was just grateful she was in the car at all.

  • November 30

    November 30

    We have all the number candles except 3 and 5, and our 4 has been used so much, it no longer has any wick left, so we had to improvise. We put a zero in there for good luck. Hopefully Billy had a good birthday.

  • November 23

    November 23

    Billy made an awesome dinner, including one of the juiciest turkeys I’ve ever had. All in all a pretty good Thanksgiving. Could definitely have gone very differently this year, and I’m kind of glad it didn’t.

  • November 18

    November 18

    Robin keeps going through these drawing spurts and I am trying to take advantage of as many of them as I can. We went to Bob Evans for breakfast while Christina was at dance and we did some drawing. There are some proportions off in this one, but it’s one of the few drawings I’ve done of Robin where you might actually be able to tell it’s Robin. My interests are all over the place, but if Robin and I can draw together, that might actually turn out to be pretty cool. We’ll see. Teenagers are not known for consistency.

  • November 12

    November 12

    Today was Robin’s first cheer performance with her new team. The routine wasn’t totally ready, so there was a little bit of awkward while they just stood there, but what we saw looked good! I’m so excited to see Robin cheer on a team where she’s challenged and gets to be competitive. She seemed really happy, and that is worth everything to me in itself.

  • October 29

    October 29

  • October 12

    October 12

    The person who literally made me who I am. I love you, Robin! Happy birthday.

  • September 24

    September 24

    Today was my last NAMI class for this year. I’m so glad I get to do this. It’s as good for me as it is for the people taking the class. But it will be nice to have my Sunday afternoons free again.

  • September 11

    September 11

    Having two kids doing two completely different things in two completely different places at the exact same time is pretty stressful. Add some thunderstorms and it becomes a bit of a cluster. Somehow everyone got where they were going and back again and I even got a little sky porn at the end of the day.

  • September 2

    September 2

    Trying to make more of an effort to do fun things. The pool was nearly empty and it was definitely cooler today than it was last week, but we had fun anyway. There was only minimal fighting over goggles.

  • August 13

    August 13

    Christina is both excited and nervous for the first day of school. Probably more nervous than excited. Worried about where she’ll go when she gets to her classroom, whether she’ll have any friends in her class, whether she’ll ever see Kiley again… I tried my best to ease her mind, but you know how anxiety is. At least we have table-top curling to take our minds off things. She was a little exuberant with her stones. This one went flying across the room.