Wow...New Year's Eve, 2012. So, as I pointed out to everyone on Facebook, I started a blog last January that quickly fizzled out. One lousy entry for the entire year (ok, now TWO ! :)
However, let me rationalize. I'm really good at rationalizing.
Remember how I said that it was the year I needed to grab the bull by the horns (or something like that) and start making things happen for myself ? Well, now that I think back on it, I really DID do a little bit of that this year. I hope to expand on it in 2013, but I can't beat myself up too much for the past year. Instead of letting dust collect on my life (or spending my time blogging about what I should be doing) I did the following things, among others...
#1) February trip to Florida ! Took the Amtrak Silver Meteor (which is an adventure in itself) from Richmond to West Palm Beach. Had a great week with my friend Joanne which included, among other things, the best Chile Relleno I've ever eaten (Lupitas), possibly the most sinful dessert I've ever indulged in (Baklava Sundae at the West Palm Beach Greek Festival), one of the coolest street festivals anywhere (Lake Worth Street Painting Festival) and probably the best Brie En Croute ever encountered (Joanne made it !)
#2) April camping trip to Sherando Lake with The Beach People ! An awesome time was had by all, in spite of (in fact, maybe BECAUSE of) lots of rain that caused us to huddle under a leaky screen house canopy drinking Mike's Hard Everything, eating KFC and Chocolate Dipped Strawberries (thanks Carin!) So much laughter that we thought we were going to pass out, and the birth of an invention that we really need to look into....the Campfire Carousel ! (At least I think we called it that. As I said, there was alcohol involved) The weekend campout was a great warm up for...
#3) Memorial Day at "The Rivah" ! Terrie and Alex graciously hosted the whole gang at their lovely home on some bay that I can't remember the name of, gosh darn it ! Anyway, it fed into to the Chesapeake Bay and was absolutely beautiful. I took my trusty "Instant Tent" and slept outside all weekend (even though indoor slots were available) and my dear pal Sha Sha joined me in the tent so I wouldn't be lonely. The entire weekend was a blast, as Cap'n Alex took us out for a ride in his sizable craft, we women-folk ogled the attendants at the boat fillin' station, and we toured a vast section of the intracoastal waterway. (I think it's called that) Top it off with the Mason's amazing barbecue, Lisa's drool-worthy chocolate cake, Sherry's dangerous AMF's, a very new spin on Bananagrams and several rousing games of Cornhole and we had us a WEEKEND ! Then, a couple of months later it was...
#4) OBX 2012 - We BROKE a TABLE ! Need I say more ?
#5) Also August - Good times with the bro on his annual visit from the Channel Islands. Lots of Legend Brown, O'Toole's Wings, Northside Grill and much more ! Always a great time. Hopefully by no later than 2014 I'll be having fun in HIS neck of the world again !
#6) September - Spontaneous camping trip and concert with Terrie and Sha Sha at Pocahontas State Park ! Terrie almost lost an eye to a rogue bee, or hummingbird, or moth, or something. Other than that, though, it sure was fun. I had no idea that I knew every word to every Foreigner song !
#7) October - Garlic and Wine Festival and camping at James River State Park ! What started as a tradition with my ex boyfriend has now become an even better tradition with my besties. Great time of year to be in the woods, and it's ALWAYS a good time to drink wine ! We also dreamed up another invention, the "Extend-a-Glass," for getting around the long lines at the wine tasting tent. Picture one of those boxing-glove-on-the-end-of-an-accordion-like-extender-that-comes-out-of-a-wall-and-punches-someone-in-the-face thingies that they used in a lot of old Laurel and Hardy-type movies. Except picture a wine glass on the end of it. Genius, no ?
#8) Also October - JMU Homecoming - always a blast with the gal-pals. Good tahmes tailgating with the next generation of JMU grads (love you Kristen and Sarah!), dinners at Wright's Dairy Rite and Mill Street Grill and the traditional watching of "The Lost Boys" (mmmm....Kiefer....) and a new cinematic addition, Sweeney Todd. Holy crap that was one gory movie !
#9) Lastly, after years of hemming and hawing, I finally made the big jump to a new position at work. It was a real leap of faith, but those have generally worked out well for me. So far so good ! I miss my old work pals, but have some great new ones, and feel like I have a new start and some new motivation. Seems to be bleeding over to the rest of my life, so I think it bodes well for 2013.
So now that I think about it, 2012 was actually a really fun year ! I can only hope that 2013 will be half as much fun. Wait...I forget. It's up to me, right ? In the words of Yoda, "Do or do not....there is no 'try' " :)
Happy New Year everyone !
Monday, December 31, 2012
Monday, January 2, 2012
New Year 2012
Happy New Year !!!! Even though I am not inclined to believe that the absence of years beyond 2012 in the Mayan calendar really means anything, I'm using it as a good excuse to try to make it a really great year. I mean, none of us really know when it's going to be our own personal "final year," right ? And even if it's not, why wait to live big ? I'm not talking about skydiving or climbing Everest (although if that's on your bucket list, this year is as good as any to go for it.) I just mean that it's time to stop waiting for meaningful things in life to happen (which really hasn't been working out all that well in my case) and, instead, grabbing your life by the horns and making the things happen that will improve it.
It's up to each of us to figure out what those things will be. Some will be big, some will be small, some will work out and some won't. But whatever those things are, the time is right to start working toward them. They say that, at life's end, most people regret what they didn't do more than what they did. Certainly there are a few exceptions....Bernie Madoff comes to mind. But for most of us, if asked "what have been your happiest moments in life," a laundry list of past events will come to mind. Few will say "the time I laid on the couch and watched a 24 hour Seinfeld marathon from end to end," although downtime is certainly a thing to be cultivated and enjoyed. Most of these treasured memories will be special moments spent with family or friends, such as a wedding, a baseball game with a beloved nephew or a "for the hell of it" trip with friends to The Big Apple . Others will be times that we did something that we might have never pictured ourselves doing, like running a 10K or going on a white water rafting trip.
So this year, I am resolving not to let opportunities for meaningful life experiences pass me by. In fact, I will seek them out and, in some cases, create the experiences for myself and others. Don't get me wrong. There will still be plenty of my legendary yard naps. I'm definitely a "stop and smell the roses" kind of gal. But I'm also tired of feeling like I'm waiting for my life to start, to quote a line from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I'll be fifty next year, which they say is the new thirty. Thirty is the age when Loving Care hair products used to tell women "you're not getting older...you're getting better." (Can you believe it ? Thirty ???) In spite of the frighteningly young age at which they felt that women needed to be reassured about their worth, I do agree with the general sentiment. It truly seems that youth is wasted on the young, and its about time this almost-ready-for-AARP chickie started living the way she should have been living all along. And, my friends, I suggest you do the same....no matter what your age.
It's up to each of us to figure out what those things will be. Some will be big, some will be small, some will work out and some won't. But whatever those things are, the time is right to start working toward them. They say that, at life's end, most people regret what they didn't do more than what they did. Certainly there are a few exceptions....Bernie Madoff comes to mind. But for most of us, if asked "what have been your happiest moments in life," a laundry list of past events will come to mind. Few will say "the time I laid on the couch and watched a 24 hour Seinfeld marathon from end to end," although downtime is certainly a thing to be cultivated and enjoyed. Most of these treasured memories will be special moments spent with family or friends, such as a wedding, a baseball game with a beloved nephew or a "for the hell of it" trip with friends to The Big Apple . Others will be times that we did something that we might have never pictured ourselves doing, like running a 10K or going on a white water rafting trip.
So this year, I am resolving not to let opportunities for meaningful life experiences pass me by. In fact, I will seek them out and, in some cases, create the experiences for myself and others. Don't get me wrong. There will still be plenty of my legendary yard naps. I'm definitely a "stop and smell the roses" kind of gal. But I'm also tired of feeling like I'm waiting for my life to start, to quote a line from My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I'll be fifty next year, which they say is the new thirty. Thirty is the age when Loving Care hair products used to tell women "you're not getting older...you're getting better." (Can you believe it ? Thirty ???) In spite of the frighteningly young age at which they felt that women needed to be reassured about their worth, I do agree with the general sentiment. It truly seems that youth is wasted on the young, and its about time this almost-ready-for-AARP chickie started living the way she should have been living all along. And, my friends, I suggest you do the same....no matter what your age.
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