2011…Was The Year That:

• Pinterest began telling me what to do.  I don’t eat, drink or decorate (*cough*…I still don’t decorate) without it
• The tooth fairy left our house.  I believe Santa held on for his last season
• I discovered I could be really good at my job…and that it may not matter
• Vanilla vodka overtook rum as my drink of choice
• I was forced into the realization that you can be as independent as you damn well please, but you cannot pick nits off the back of your own head
• I went with a short cut for the first time in several years
• I spent the first six months of the year feeling invincible in my marriage…and the last six wondering where the hell I had been when it threatened to collapse at the next careless glance or intonation
• It became clear that just because you trust someone with your entire being doesn’t mean they won’t be careless with it
• I discovered I would drink anything as long as it had “-tini” as a suffix
• I felt as alone in moments as I ever have
• I learned I can drink anything, actually
• I learned unexpected kindness can hit much harder than cruelty
• I learned what a duvet was
• I witnessed a tragedy that hit the national news.  I found it disorienting how the news cycle moved onto the next story well before I was able
• My beloved Colts threatened to go 0 for 16 in the season.  They corrected, but remained historically bad.
• I developed an unhealthy fascination with Polygamy
• Logan became the child with the most one-liners
• Jake became an athlete I saw willing and able to work and earn his way past politics–and one I learned I need to balance my praise with concern for his humility
• Jesse took on Jujitsu and gained the respect and awe of all who watch her go it alone in the class of boys
• I made rediscovery of my connection with the outdoors and the peace it brings a priority
• I prioritized other things that make me happy and I paid the costs.  I WILL choose this over the path of martyrdom in 2012
• My mother’s caution against ever depending on another person for anything refused to leave my head
• I hit my heaviest weight
• I found I might actually love Yoga–even though I would never have considered myself a Yoga kind of person
• I discovered Amos Lee, Sugarland, Pitbull, Duffy and rediscovered Otis Redding–all of whom helped me through what I can’t help but classify as a very trying year
• The struggle took some of the weight and left…something in its place

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