2012

Despite the fact that we are already a couple of weeks into 2013, I still feel the need to write a 2012 wrap-up post. This is due, largely, to the fact that my 2011 wrap up post was such a downer. 2011 was pretty depressing, and left me eager to make 2012 the Best Year Ever. That New Year's Eve, at midnight, Kale and I raised our glasses of pink champagne to each other, ate another spoonful of mint chocolate chip ice cream, and vowed that we would make 2012 wonderful.

And so, as a sequel to "2011: A tragedy," I give you...


2012: Year of Joy

What. a. year. I can't believe all of the good things that have happened, and I feel certain that listing them will only result in leaving something fabulous out. After all, I don't want to spend the rest of 2013 (already shaping up to be a winner) writing about 2012, now do I? And, honestly, do You All (invisible audience) even really care about the details? But this is for me, my own reflection, and you're more than welcome to enjoy it (or not) as you so choose.

And so, a synopsis:

My family is doing well. Eco started college this fall, and while it certainly has been An Event for him, it's been equally as exciting for me. My baby brother all grown up and off to college! Who would have thought? This is shocking in no small part because he is 7 years younger than I am, and wasn't I just a first year? That's what I thought. Time flies, kids.

My sister, meanwhile, got her first paying job. This feels me with delight for her, and gratitude for the wonderful, wonderful establishment that prioritises hiring people with disabilities. My hearts swells every time I think about the incredible people who choose to put someone else's success and learning ahead of their own convenience. There are people like that in the world, guys, and so sometimes I think things will all work out ok.

 My cousin has a Real, Grown Up Job in The Big City, and it's so fun to hear my little Montana cousin talk about her life there. I'm endlessly excited for her, and really hopeful that I'll get to visit her sometime in the near future. Our past is full of family camping trips, playing the same game (it involved a mountain-- her staircase-- and a hiking woman-- me-- who brings home a pet mountain lion-- her), hiking, and gathering quartz from a nearby mountain with big "No Trespassing" signs all over it. Our future, I know, is full of Skype conversations, phone calls, meaningful conversations, and big adventures. And hopefully some camping trips, though maybe not on hilltops with unwelcoming signs.

Clover and Neptune are growing up faster than I could have ever believed, and while I feel a twinge of sadness now and then, overall I am so proud of the people they are becoming. Their senses of humour continue to grow, their compassion is sincere, and I am thrilled with the people they are becoming. I feel so blessed to get to be a part of this process. A has regained her health, and we are all thrilled and relieved.

Panda and Pom Pom are growing up to be young ladies to be reckoned with. I can't believe my good fortune to get to be privy to their adventures and accomplishments. Panda will be testing  for her black belt in karate this spring (!!) and Pom Pom is busily immersed in 5th grade and the school's upcoming musical.

2012 was also a year of friends and adventures, 

January brought a visit from Aloha, whom I had not seen since graduation in 2010.

February found me in DC to visit Ginny, Pearl, and Monica, which was a fun, not-nearly-long-enough long weekend. February was also the arrival of the ChickFam!

                                     

March brought me to Portland to hang out with Wednesday (in for the weekend from the Bay Area), Aslan, and Hanz.

Also pictured: Bottomless Mimosas.

April was... epic. At various points in the month, I could be found farther south in Oregon for an Arbour Day Party, dressed up as a tree; at my second Ingrid Michaelson concert of the year with Harmony and Dash; hanging out with Twirl and, shortly thereafter, Polka Dot, showing them the best places to eat explore in Seattle. 

This is a terrible picture of me, but it's cute of Harmony and Dash.

In May, Apis came to visit, and we were both thrilled to find that we liked each other as much as 20-somethings as we had as 12 year olds. We hadn't seen each other since then, and hadn't kept in touch until we re-found each other on Facebook, so this was really a fabulous discovery! 

June found me in Portland again, to clap and cheer for London as she performed in Hamlet, staged in a graveyard. Creepy! June also began an epic summer during which I looked after all four children (ages 9-12), and we went on many fantastic adventures, wrote glorious songs, and came up with a team name.

These are the homemade silk-screened t-shirts that Panda and I made.
They say "BuMa," which stands for "Bubble Mafia."

In July, Daisy arrived to spend the rest of the summer with us in Seattle, as she completed one of her clinicals for her PT programme. We haven't lived in the same place since we were 11, so this was a real delight.

September brought Daisy's departure (sad!), but another visit from Apis (joyful!). It was a true photo-explosion, especially when we went to the Chihuly Glass Museum (haven't been yet? Go!). In September, I also began my Masters in Teaching programme! If you know me in real life at all, you know I have been talking about doing this for.ever. It was a great triumph for me to actually get my ass in gear and go back to school. I'm relieved and elated to find myself on the path about which I feel so strongly. Middle school language arts and social studies, here I come!

On the first of November, we celebrated Halloween in the same way that Arbour Day was celebrated-- wild costumes, lots of beer, wine, and cocktails, and generally extravagant behaviour. At the end of the month, I flew to O'ahu to celebrate Thanksgiving with Aloha. We spent a glorious long weekend luxuriating in the sun, eating delicious things, dressing up in muumuus, and playing with sea turtles.

I finished out the year well, spending the days leading up to Christmas with Clover, Neptune, and their grandparents at their cabin in Montana, playing in the snow and drinking hot chocolate. On Christmas Eve I joined up with my mom's side of the family and generally had a calm, lovely time. The year ended with a cheerful bang at a bar on Queen Anne, surrounded by some of my loveliest Seattle  friends. 

And just in general, 2012 has been a wonderful year of strengthening friendships, developing new ones, and appreciating those forces of nature I call my friends. I can't tell you how fortunate I feel to have such a strong, funny, brave, adventurous, kind, generous, FUN group of people in my life. 2012 has been a year of continuously expanding my definition of family, and carrying on with the happy spinning of my web.