Looking back

At the end of every year, it's customary for people to do a retrospective of the past twelve months. Ordinarily, this means laying out the hilights and great things that have happened for that past span of time.

In my case, I haven't managed a heck of  a lot to crow about. There have been changes, yes, and personal growth and revelation, but not a -lot- that would make someone not related to me and/or inside my own head feel like cheering or slapping me on the back.

The major good thing that happened for me in 2013? We bought a new house, finally, after 2+ years of looking. I know the housing market has been and continues to be grim for some, but it felt especially bad out here in California. Probably because that's where we are, so it all felt very personal. We managed, though, and we now own a larger, more up-to-date home, with a pool and a lovely backyard in a quiet neighborhood, and we're pretty danged happy here. We have a garage! That alone is cause for celebration.

Next up? Surviving fifteen years of marriage to The Engineer with only a few bumps and bruises along the way. Those of you who are married understand why this is cause for celebration. :)

And, as I have most recently been going on about, I finally decided what to do with my writing career, pushed the publish button, and launched myself into a new take on my old writing love. Where this will lead me is pretty much impossible to predict at this point, but I'm looking forward to it anyway.

And that's really it. In the grand scheme of things, it doesn't seem like much. Because:

We moved. Hi there stress and distraction and time suck and stress. No, really, it deserves to be mentioned twice.

I struggled through an extremely nasty infection that lasted from Februrary to, oh, June. A second, less nasty cousin moved in in October. Mostly healed now, but blugh.

As a result I didn't really write. My fiber business has been non-existent since February. I've basically been in this odd holding pattern of surviving for most of 2013.

I'm not at the point where I'd like to kick 2013 in the teeth for myself (though for the sake of some of my friends, I will don my shit kickers and gladly stomp on the year's remains), but it wasn't particularly eventful or uplifting or, well, fun.

So I'm looking forward to 2014. I have goals and hopes and dreams.

They'll be here on Wednesday. :)