Friday, December 21, 2012

2012 ~ My Year in Review

Well, the good news is, the world didn't end!  I wasn't overly concerned about that, but it did make for about a month of stupid jokes between my co-workers and me.

At the ripe old age of fifty-something-or-other, time travels way too fast.  So, more than ever, it's a good thing for me to stop dead in my tracks for a moment and reflect on the year that was (before I forget it).

When you're a kid, every day is significant.  You can weirdly pinpoint anything that happened to you, down to the minute.  Nowadays, I find myself flummoxed by finding out that something I thought happened three months ago actually occurred three years ago.  It should be the exact opposite.  When you're older, time should pass much more slowly.  Cuz, you know, we don't have all that much time left.

So, no, I don't remember a lot of significant happenings in my life during the year 2012.  At least I don't remember too many good happenings.

I was obsessed for far too long over the Presidential election, and alas.  Obamacare is still the rule of the land, and I'm grasping at straws, hoping that this doesn't mean the end of my steady employment, since...well, I'm the only one in my household who is employed, and although one thinks things couldn't get any worse, they really could.

Finances are seriously dicey for us, at the moment.  I am unsure how the whole thing will play out in the end, but I mostly choose to not think about it.  Folly, I know.  But you can't get blood out of a stone, so what are they going to repossess?  I'm not letting them take my dog, and Josie, aside from my husband, is my most treasured possession (if I can call my husband a "possession", which is really kind of audacious; if not completely inappropriate).  At this moment in time, we are essentially living on gift cards, at least to get us through Christmas.  Tons of folks are struggling, so I'm not looking for sympathy, but I would appreciate it if "normal" people would recognize that some of us can't afford to do the regular things, like they can.

I won't say that I've given up on songwriting, but I'm giving it a rest.  In my gut, I feel that I will come back to it.  I don't know when.  Maybe I'll have some great epiphany when I do pick up my guitar again.  I'm big on hope.

My thirty-six-year-old son finally (finally!) took the plunge and got married in September. So, I have a lovely new daughter-in-law, who fits like a glove with Christopher.  I guess if you wait long enough, the right one shows up.  You just gotta be picky, no matter how long it takes.

One of the best aspects of the whole wedding fiesta was that I got to see two of my sisters again; first time in more than ten years.  We had a blast.  I'd forgotten how much I loved them, until I got to spend time with them again, and then I felt wistful for all the missed chances.

We had a decorating contest last week at work.  One of the few things we do, at our workplace, is decorate for Christmas, as departments, and compete with one another for a stupid trophy.  I don't know where it came from, but I inexplicably remembered my drawing days, and thus, I created a tableau of Christmas scenes out of colored copy paper and scissors.  Frankly, it was one of the most fun things I did all year.  People nearby starting asking me to draw things for their walls, too.  I secretly enjoyed it, although I didn't let on.  It's been more than forty years since I've drawn anything, but I still have the knack.  And I still get a thrill doing it.

For the Christmas judging, one of my co-workers came to me and asked me to write a department-appropriate song for all of us to sing.  She gave me five minutes!  I whipped out a parody of "Let It Snow", which, I have no doubt, clinched the deal for us, because we won!

My big, big thing is the book that I'm writing.  I innocently thought it would be simple.  It turned out to be the complete opposite of simple.  I don't even recall when I started writing it, but the project has turned into a quest; a sometimes torturous quest, and a sometimes lovely quest.  I figure that publishing my e-book will cost me $30.00 for the software to format it correctly; and I will earn approximately $0.00 from sales.  I'll put the $30.00 on one of my not-maxed-out credit cards.  It's important for me to do this; regardless of which way the wind blows.  I don't know how much longer I have on this earth.  It's now or never.

As I have done every year, since 2006, I put together a video for Red River's song, "Ring In The Old".  We recorded the song in our second bathroom (yes!) because the acoustics were ripe there.  I was a new songwriter, and ironically, as I progressed; as the years flew by, I got worse; not better.  I don't think that's how it's supposed to work.  I've heard the song so many times that I don't even hear it anymore, if that makes sense.  But it's become a tradition to put a video together every year, and I'm not breaking the chain.

Here is the 2012 version of Ring In The Old:


And Happy New Year to you!  Like my dad, I am an eternal optimist.  I think things are bound to get better.  I dare the world to prove me wrong! 






No comments: