2012 recap

It's been a while since I've posted.  I'm still getting used to my job and my commute adds about 3hrs to every day (and I don't even drive!) so whatever free time I have, I don't relish spending more time in front of a computer.  And some very unsettled business has reared its head, taking a lot of my time and a lot of my head space.

Tomorrow is the last day of 2012.  Adios!  I much prefer January 1 to December 31, but I'll go to work and then put on my party clothes and attempt to stay up until midnight to ring in the new year.  And when I wake up on January 1, a sparkling brand new year will await, full of promise.  In the meantime, I've been spending a lot of time reviewing 2012, including the goals I set for myself last year:

1. Take a class on yoga arm balances. So this didn't happen.  I dramatically messed up my hamstrings to the point where yoga has been out of the question.  I've starting running again; I hope to return to yoga in 2013.  I miss it.

2. Travel somewhere new.  So this didn't really happen either.  Limited funds tends to mean limited travel.  I went to Maine a few times, to NYC and Quebec City, all places I've been before and enjoy.  In October, D and I returned to Truro, Nova Scotia but didn't stray far from D's mom's house. 

3. Wear less black. Success!  I am happy to report that I have been at my new job for two months and only twice have I resorted to an all black outfit :-)  It's still challenging to buy clothing in colors but once something colorful is in my drawer, I kind of want to wear it. 

3. Do something with my hair.  Fail.  My hair has been growing so fast lately, that I need to get my haircut every four weeks, and every four weeks I get close to an inch chopped off.  It's kind of crazy.  At my last cut, I got even more cut off, making it shorter than it's been in a while, which I kind of like.  I'm not sure I can even color my hair with it's insane growing - I just don't think the "roots always showing" is a good look for me. 

4. Sewing goals. I made quilts, skirts, bags and dresses, learned to embroider, knit a bunch of socks, ripped out a bunch of knitting projects and made some gifts.  I'm not sure if any of these items were on my list of goals for the year, but craft-wise, I'd say 2012 was a raving success. 

5. Live band karaoke. It too me a year to work up to this one, but I did it!  It was terrifying and humiliating.  I ended up picking Piano Man by Billy Joel because I figured I could talk my way through it (a la William Shatner).  When I mentioned my choice to some random drunk old guy at the bar before karaoke started, he exclaimed, "That's a really long song!"  Half way through the song, I realized he was right; I was kind of tired of it and was ready for it to be over.  The silver lining to the whole nightmare is that I didn't know how far away from my face to hold the mic, so no one could really hear me, lucky for them.  I am very happy I did it, but not necessarily in a hurry to do it again. 

6. Graduation.  DONE!! I graduated in May!!!  I am so happy I made it through the MBA program and though I am kind of bored in the job I have, I am really happy to not be working in libraries anymore. 

7. I need to widen my circle of friends. I'm working on this though I need to make a concerted effort to cultivate a few prospects (And did I just pepper a bunch of vocabulary from my job into that sentence?  Yes, I did.  Ugh.) 

8. I'd like to take a class in the fall. After the stress of school and finding a job and getting settled into my new job, the last thing I've wanted to do was take another class.  I dislike this time of year.  There's so much darkness and it gets so cold that I feel like if it's dark and I'm home, I should be in bed.  Perhaps in the spring?  I've been thinking about taking Japanese again and I'd really love to take an improv or acting class. 

10. Entrepreneurial venture. I'm still working on this one!!  I think about it all the time! Maybe 2013!!

So all in all, 2012, was a mixed bag, from the highest of highs when I finished my MBA program to the lowest of lows when my amour told me he might leave me.  It is not possible for all aspects of your life to be in balance all the time, sometimes you have to just have to take the good with the bad and realize that things are changing all the time and anything can happen in the future.  And I am.

Happy New Year!  Welcome 2013!!