Seems apropos to add a new entry on January 1, no? And fill it with all the where has the time gone, blah, blah, blah. Not sure whether it should be "wow, new year, new beginnings, fresh slate" or "let's take stock of the past year."
I've never been a 1st of the year gal, one to set all these resolutions and follow the lemming-like drove to the gyms, and healthier eating. September always seemed to be my time of year, the new school year, new classmates, new tablets, pens and classes about which to be excited. Even though I've left that all behind many years ago, I still love the fall.
But for once in my life, I have to say I am looking forward to this new year of 2012.
Taking stock of last year, it was an incredibly busy and stress-filled year. January, we found the house we wanted in Ann Arbor, and it was a race to beat others to the punch in getting this deal. February was filled with haggling around with finanacing and finally getting to the closing table.
While our little gem wasn't in quite the "fixer-upper" shape as our former house, it still needed some polish. The biggest on the to-do list was gutting the upstairs bathroom, which, while it seemed like an easy project, took until April to complete. But the painting, carpeting, cleaning, all took more work than anticipated, trying to accomplish this, all with a busier than normal work schedule took its toll on me. It never could have been done without what can only be described as Herculean effort by my dear husband, Mike.
Finally in April, the big moving day hit. Overall, we're not quite the hoarders, or packrats of the average Americans, but really, how is it that we have so much stuff? Losing a garage and 300 square feet proved to be a challenge to my organizational skills.
In May, work took over my life and we had one of the biggest trials I've had in over 10 years, a mortgage fraud case with three defendants, all which ended in a hung jury. It lasted until the end of June! The ensuing months of July, August, September & October found me in the office or at my house furiously completing the transcript for the retrial set to begin spring of 2012. (No, Virginia, court reporters just don't push a button and a meticulous transcript comes popping out!)
One shining moment amongst the chaos was my attendance at Jewel Heart's summer retreat, documented in my last blog post.
November, it was gearing up for where we've been this past month: Mike and I, busy traipsing through Asia.
So you see, I'm hoping 2012 to be filled with more people, places and events, rather than work, work, work-- whether on the house or in the office!
