2011: Year in Review

I will admit that the frequency of my posts has diminished more than I'd like to admit, but I have no excuse to offer other than life. I'm busy with other stuff. But I would be remiss if I didn't offer my traditional Year In Review, so here it is. I can only hope it's better than last year's was.

JANUARY
Oh, January, what did you have to offer us last year? Snow. Cold. Seemingly endless winter days falling on the heals of the next. But G and I stayed warm in our new king size bed. Yes, it was time. Honestly, we had been sleeping on a queen size bed with a large dog and that's not so much an issue as the fact that the bed was pre wedding and from G's bachelor days.
Oh, how we love our new bed.



FEBRUARY
Another cold and endless month, even if it is the shortest. I remember lots and lots of snow. See, Sammie is barely a spec in all that snow.




MARCH
Slow-melting snow, but the prospect of spring! I was one of three to receive Londonderry's annual Volunteer of the Year Award, which was an honor. Here it is, displayed on our mantle. Charlie Brown is in awe.

Also in March, Aunt Dee came to visit. She had a business trip and extended her stay to visit with us. Seeing as my sisters rarely come home anymore, it was an unexpected and pleasant visit.



APRIL
Apparently it was a pretty insignificant month because I didn't blog during any of the 30 days. Either that, or I was too busy working in m garden.

You know what, I think I will go with the latter.




MAY
I have nothing. It got warmer, the garden grew, days got longer.

JUNE
I saw John Oates from the former Hall & Oates at Tupelo Hall. Met him personally, got his autograph. Very nice guy.

The school year wound down to an end with a flurry of activities. I like June, except for the day I got a dirty traffic ticket. I will either be ordered to pay it on January 6 or will be pardoned. I'll let you know.



JULY
Oh, what can I say about July? Mom visited while my cousin Gayle underwent heart surgery. My mom was the nanny to Gayle's baby girl. We did the beach, the garden blossomed, and I went to a couple of country concerts. No big vacation this year because of other obligations, but it was still a good month.

AUGUST
August was busy. More concerts, more summer outings, and the first day of school (first day for Chris as he entered 6th grade at the middle school), to name a few. I got the quilt that I had been working on completed and mailed to my sister in time for what would have been Lauren's 14th birthday. I am very thankful to CFA and KC for their help.

This was, by far, the biggest accomplishment of the year for me.






SEPTEMBER
Besides the plunge into soccer season again, the best part of this month was my sister's wedding in Tennessee. It was the first time my sisters, mom, stepdad and I had all been together since August of 2010, and for a celebration this time. That was a great weekend. Oh boy, can we tell you stories...










OCTOBER
More soccer tournaments, but Jeff and I got to visit an old friend/coworker of mine in New Jersey during Tommy's tournament, which was a lot of fun. It was Jeffrey's desire to get to see a real black sheep in person. He got his wish.


The year ended with a bizarre freak snowstorm none of us will soon forget. We lost power for 4 days. Trick-or-treating was postponed to the first weekend of November, and within a week the snow was mostly melted. I said it was bizarre.













NOVEMBER
I got a job! Well, not a full-time job, but a little one-day-a-week job to supplement my 10-hour-a-week job. I sit on the block every Thursday at the local auto auction. I have to say it is really quite interesting. I am still amazed at how fast those auctioneers can talk.

DECEMBER
It was questionable as to whether or not we'd actually have a white Christmas, believe it or not. Yeah, the October snow was long gone. But we did get a little dusting. We celebrated Christmas this year not at our house like we usually do, but at G's sister's instead, which was a nice change. And as is typical for me, the decor started coming down the day after. It's the clutter! I can't stand it! But on this last day of 2011, I do still have all of the Christmas cards up and on display. Until tomorrow.

What will 2012 bring? I hope for many things like everybody else, like getting fit again and finding a job that is more than 10 hours a week (although I hope to never give up my job at the church). But mostly I hope for more peace and love, and that starts at home. I'm on it.