As 2012 comes to a close, I feel as though it is mandatory to take a look back and reflect on the good and bad of this year. There were plenty of "bad" but, there was also plenty of "good" as well. Let's take a walk down the 2012 memory lane, shall we?!?!?!?
I should have known on New Year's Eve last year that we were in for a rough 2012 when my husband fell down the stairs twisting his ankle bad enough that we had to go to the emergency room on January 1, 2012. And no, he was not drunk! He was gracefully (!!!) walking down the stairs to put our steaks on the grill. He may have twisted his ankle, but he made sure the steaks did not fall of the plate! We mistakenly thought that this was going to be our big "well that sucks" moment of the year! Ha! Little did we know!
In February, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The following months were filled with one doctor's appointment after another after another after another...you get the point. Surgery and chemotherapy and filling up my fake boobs. It was a lot to handle, but I kept a brave face, if only to keep those around me from getting too emotional about it. I will admit, that to some I probably didn't take my diagnosis as seriously as I should have, but whenever I am faced with something stressful, I usually make a joke out of it. It's how I deal with things. You should know that whenever I was alone, I usually completely lost it. Very rarely did I lose it in front of people because I didn't want them to feel sorry or scared for me. And I didn't want them to cry either. I pretty much lost it in the shower or whenever I was in the car alone. There were many times when I would show up to work with tear streaked cheeks and red eyes.
Then this past fall, my last surviving grandparent passed away. I have many fond memories of my grandma (my mom's mom). I can still remember the homemade birthday cake that she would make for me every year, her yelling at us grandkids to "stop wrastlin", and getting in trouble for letting their dog in the house during snowy winters. She made homemade Christmas cookies and pajamas. During the summer, we would go shopping at "Walmarts" and "kmarts" (not sure why, but her and my grandpa always put an "s" on the end). I remember going to the farm and picking blackberries and raspberries, riding the ponies, and picking vegetables out of the garden. I was sad when she passed away, but glad that she was no longer in pain and suffering.
Another bad thing...I had to work on my birthday! I know, I know, most of you work on your birthdays. But, with my birthday on Christmas Eve, I am spoiled in that I have never in my entire life had to work on my birthday. I guess that's what I get for working in the "real" world instead of where I used to work...at our state capitol where they get 2 weeks off at Christmas every year. Bah humbug.
Ok, enough of the bad. Let's talk about some of the good stuff that happened this year...
My breast cancer diagnosis. Wait, what? Being diagnosed with breast cancer was a good thing because that meant it was caught before it got to the point where I would be talking about how long I had to live instead of how crappy it is to take Tamoxifen. So, that's a good thing! Also, I was able to hang out with my mom a lot during my recovery from my surgery and after my second chemo treatment. In that time, I proudly realized that I am becoming my mom! Even though I spent a lot of time sleeping, we still found the time to gossip and over analyze anything and everything going on in the world around us! Two peas in a pod!
July 5 was my last chemo treatment. That is a good thing! No explanation needed on that one!
Towards the end of July, Omar and I went to Playa del Carmen for a little R&R. When 2012 began, we set a few goals for ourselves and going on an adults-only, all-inclusive vacation was on the top of the list! We had already booked our vacation before my diagnosis and were told by my doctors to cancel the trip just in case. We weren't even planning on rescheduling the trip this year, but on July 3, I decided to hell with it, we are going! So before I went in for my last chemo, I had already traded our time-share for Secrets Silversands Resort (awesome resort!) and booked our flights! We had an amazing time! We had the best room in the resort! It was a swim-out ocean view...and it was soo cool!
Then in November, through a year of saving and the generosity of others, Omar and I were able to purchase our second home. This means we are also landlords since we didn't sell our townhome! We now live down in Elk Grove. It's about 16 miles south of Sacramento. I get to take LightRail to work, which I love! Hellooooo, people watching is awesome on LightRail! And it is about 25 minutes closer for Omar to his teaching job in Antioch. We love the house. It has a huge back yard that we haven't really been able to enjoy yet since it has been raining a lot. It has hard wood floors which when you reach the top of the stairs, they squeak and remind me of my grandparents house!
We will be celebrating at our house this evening with friends and toasting East Coast's new year arrival so that the children can be a part of the festivities - cookie decorating and sparkling grape juice! I hope that you all have a safe New Year's Eve and a new year that is filled with laughter, love and good health!
So, let's raise a glass to 2012 and bid it farewell!
