2017: A Year in Review

It doesn't feel like the end of the year without the Review!

1. What did you do in 2017 that you’d never done before?

After many years of hemming and hawing, I got my first tattoo!  It's a heart on my right wrist, made up by the boys' fingerprints.  I love it!!  I THINK I may be a "one and done" when it comes to tattoos, though.  

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I'm not a "New Year's Resolution" type of person.  I'm more of a "Make Plans and Goals" kind of person.  That being said....i made a goal of being healthier.  In some ways I did well--started drinking protein smoothies for breakfast and cutting back on the ice cream.  Then my stress-eating tendencies came out late in the year and well, My Fitness Pal shows me to be the same weight as I was last year at this time.  Turns out I'm a fantastic maintainer.  Goals for 2018?  Wag more, bark less.  Maybe get some more sleep, who knows.  

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?  I covered maternity leave for one of my co-workers, she had a baby in June.  

4. Did anyone close to you die?  Not close anymore, but one of the residents at my first property management job died in September.  We kept in touch for ten years after my leaving that job.  She was a wonderful person who dispersed fantastic advice, I'll miss her.  Traveling to that site will be weird, not stopping in to say Hi.  


5. What countries/places did you visit?

We had an AWESOME trip to Disney World in June!!  Can't wait to go again in a few years.  

6. What would you like to have in 2018 that you lacked in 2017?
Honestly, 2017 was a shit show in a lot of ways.  I'd like for 2018 to be a kinder, gentler year for my family.

7. What dates from 2017 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?   On October 19th, my mother had a small stroke.  Things ended up being OK with time, but it was rough.  

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Instead of achievements, I'm going to call them lessons.  

A.  When it comes to your kids, it's amazing how strong you can be.  Especially when strength is all you've got, and what you really want to do is fold or crumble, but you stand strong.  

B.  I've always had a hard time asking for, and accepting, help.  I think it's because I'm usually doing to the offering and helping.  But when it hits the fan, you have to learn to let people help you.  And man, I had a lot of help this year.  I've had friends and family members flock out to help us get through stuff, and I'm forever grateful. 

9. What was your biggest failure?
I refuse to call anything a failure this year.


10. Did you suffer illness or injury?  Nothing major.  


11. What was the best thing you bought?
For Mother's Day, Brian got me a cleaning service!  At first it was weird, but I cannot tell you how wonderful it is for someone to come to your house once a month and clean your bathrooms, floors, etc.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Skip.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Donald Trump, and many of his supporters.  Actually, the supporters were more appalling.   (this answer is too good not to keep)

14. Where did most of your money go?

Living expenses.  Pretty boring, right?  

15.  What did you really get excited about?

Disney World....and Universal Studios to see Harry Potter's Wizarding World.

16. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? A big ol' mix of all of it.

b) thinner or fatter? Right about the same.  (BTW, I hate this question.)

c) richer or poorer? Both, rich in some ways and poor in others.  It all offsets in the end.

17. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Read.  Knit.  Socialize.  Maybe not in that order....

18. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Work.  I took on a second property in May, and I covered a maternity leave and a manager vacancy this summer as well.  At one point I was providing coverage for FIVE SITES, bringing work home often, working long hours, going back after dinner, etc.  I often wondered "just how in the hell are you doing this, Ginny?"  But I knew all along that it was just for the short-term, and the bonus at the end of the year was worth it!

19. How did you spend Christmas?

We had a big family celebration at my house a few days before, and then my parents came on Christmas Day.  

20. Did you fall in love in 2017?

I've been in love with the same man for 19 years.  NINETEEN YEARS, holy crap.  

21. What was your favorite TV program? 

Eh....nothing really grabbed me to be a "favorite."  Though I do love that Will and Grace came back with new episodes!  

22. What was the best book you read?

I read 26 books, which sounds kind of low for me.  I really enjoyed "The Nest" by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney.  


23. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Pass.  

24. What was your favorite film of this year? 

The four of us recently went to the movies to see the reboot of the 90's film "Jumanji" and loved it!

25. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

For the first time in 12 years, I worked!  The residents had a cake for me, which was really nice.  I took the following day off so Brian and I could spend it together.  We ended up watching Wonder Woman and going out to lunch.  

26. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Less stress and worry.  Getting my son the help that he needed sooner.  But hindsight IS 20/20, and not worth it to dwell.  


27. What kept you sane?
My friends, that checked up on us, fed us, offered help, listened, offered advice when appropriate.  My mom, for being there when my husband couldn't.  My husband, for his shoulder to cry on, and his jokes to keep us both sane. 


28. Who did you miss?
My far away friends and family.


29. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2017:
Never ask "Could this get any worse?"  And above all, be grateful.  



30. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

I don't know.

Fantastic Beasts

Tomorrow.  The next trip to the Wizarding World.  Thank you, J.K. Rowling.  I can't wait!!

Wand Duels

One of the favorite activities of the boys are "wand duels."  This is where we chase each other around the house, pointing Harry Potter wands (large plastic drinking straws in mine and Sean's case) and yell spells at each other.  It drives my husband crazy, because the boys are pretty loud about it.  He said that he always thought that he had more time before we started talking around him, probably when the boys took Spanish in school.  Instead it's in Latin and in a fandom kind of way.  He's a muggle so.....there's also that.  

Anyway, the boys want to do more spells, and they want "Harry Potter Homework."  So who am I to deny them?   We'll definitely have to upgrade our straws at some point.

I love the fact that the boys are turning into voracious Harry Potter fans, I am so proud.  :)

2016 Ravellenic Games!!

Now that Cursed Child has come out and I've read it (I have mixed reviews.....I liked it but I didn't LOVE it) it's time for the next thing:  the 2016 Ravellenic Games!

The Ravellenic Games, formerly known as the Knitting Olympics, is something that Ravelry puts on and takes place during the Olympics.  You challenge yourself to do something yarn-related starting during the Opening Ceremonies and finishing during the Closing Ceremonies.  I've done it twice, getting medals during the 2010 games in Vancouver and the 2012 games in London.  (I don't know what I was doing in 2014 during the winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.)  Looking to add 2016 in Rio to my Knitting Glory List.

Usually I cast on something new and challenge myself to finish it.  The first time, I was a green knitter and cast on a simple scarf.  In 2012, we were on vacation and on the road a lot.  So I challenged myself to make as many baby hats for charity as I could in that time period.  This year, casting on something new seemed daunting.  So I am wrestling with WIP's.  (works in progress.)  I chose six things:

My Hufflepuff House Scarf, which just needs ends woven in and fringe.

My Sewanee shawl, which is off on it's stitch count before I can do the lace edging.

Oh my goodness---my spring cardigan.  This thing.....I want to finish but I don't know if I ever will.  I'm going to try!

A newborn hat and sock set--I can remember working on this in 2014 and tossing it aside, since it didn't have an intended recipient.  Hat and one sock are done, and how hard can it be to pull off a second sock?  Pretty hard, I guess.

Sundance lacy hat for charity-a little white lace hat that I started the other night while waiting (fuming) on additional yarn for something else.  (I'm not ready to talk about it.)

And finally, the damned, damned blue vanilla socks.  

Thanks to Brian hooking up a fancy antenna to our TV (no channel 7 on DirecTv because of some crazy dispute) I will be watching the Opening Ceremonies and starting on the WIP pile.  The way I see it, I'm a winner if ANY of these things are completed by the end of the Olympics!!

Wait's Almost Over!!

Two more days until this shows up in my Kindle account.  Two. More. Days.

Two more days til I log off of social media and read my face off, and not log in again til I'm done so i don't see spoilers.  Two days til I put down the knitting and not pick it back up til the book is finished.

Two. More. Days.

Literary Character Day

We got a notice from Sean's school that November 9th was "Dress Like Your Favorite Literary Character Day."  Sean was completely apathetic over the whole thing, stating that he wasn't interested and didn't want to dress up.  And I was on board with that, I wasn't going to make him put on a costume and be miserable for the day.

 Then we see a picture of his best friend on Facebook.  Best friend is dressed as Skippyjon Jones.  Suddenly, Sean is very interested.  Naturally, it's  5pm on Sunday (the day before the event) and after I had been at the New England Fiber Festival for the day, So, since he doesn't really have a "favorite" character and I have no time to shop and am too tired to be really creative, he went as MY favorite literary character....Harry Potter!  The one caveat--Sean doesn't really LIKE HP.  He's a little scared by it, which I can understand because of his age.

Dress-up was a snap, using Will's old Halloween costume.  The morning of the event, Sean's too scared of makeup application to let me draw a scar on his forehead with eyeliner, so I left him alone.  He boarded the bus in his Hogwarts Robe and the scarf that I had knit, and was surprisingly cool about the whole thing.

And for the kid that didn't want to participate?  He was still wearing the costume at the afterschool program, running around and playing in the gym.  He told me that him and his friends were coming up with their own spells that didn't need wands, since I didn't give him a wand to take to school.

The Harry Potter fangirl inside of me is smiling and jumping for joy.  Perhaps there's hope for Sean to be a fan after all!