Random Reflections

I'm too unorganized to do a formal "2011 in Review" post or a "What's Ahead in 2012" one, so here are an assortment of random thoughts on both years:

2011

• I'm glad it's over.
• Whenever I think of our big road trip in June, I'm still amazed at how well the girls got along for all those hours in the car.  I really am proud of how they've both grown up lately and how much better their relationship is these days (v. the days of "Thing One hates Thing Two").
• Sabbaticals are DA BOMB!
• Parenting a teenager is hard...and mine is still only 13!
• What Would Madame Defarge Knit?  Wow.  It's kind of weird to think that I'm a "real" designer now. I got the ultimate compliment on Jane's Ubiquitous Shawl: one woman knit it in white lace yarn as a wedding shawl for her daughter.  Awwwwww...
• I'm not as OK with aging as I always thought I'd be.
• My life isn't perfect (whose is?), but I have a great life.
• With Valentine and anniversary get-aways, two trips to Truckee, trips to Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Florida, and a camping trip, clearly we'd rather spend our money on travel than on remodelling the kitchen.
• We really do have amazing family and friends.
• For the record, I completed > 80 knitting projects of assorted sizes and knit up 12 miles of yarn (Only yarn from projects actually completed in 2011 counts toward this.  Mileage only gets counted when the project is done, and stuff that gets completely frogged never gets counted.)
• I stink at being an Iron Crafter.
• I set a goal to read 25 books in 2011, and I read 31.

2012

• This will be the year of Defarge Deux, Defarge Does Shakespeare, and, possibly, Defarge Does Chaucer, plus, hopefully, some onesie/twosie *.PDF file pattern publications.  Guess I'm "for real" now.
• I had my first (live!  eep!) podcast interview this week, and it was on Yarn Thing, which has > 15,000 downloads every week.  OHMYGOSH!
• Once again, I have a goal of knitting at least 12 miles of yarn this year.
• Thing One will start HIGH SCHOOL this fall.  OHMYGOSHIDON'TKNOWIFWE'REREADYFORTHIS.
• We are in our last few months at the elementary school because Thing Two will be moving on to middle school.  Just as I'm having a harder time with my aging than I expected, I'm having a hard time with Thing Two getting older. She keeps telling me "Stop staring!" because she finds me gazing at her, thinking about how she's getting older, imagining how she'll look as a teen, remembering fondly her days as a little kid.
• A couple of years ago, my theme for the year was "The Year of Being Positive".  For various reasons, I have decided that this year, my theme is "My Year of Gratitude".
• I am determined that, somehow, this year my dear friend Heather and I will get to meet in person!
• Knitters are a breed apart.
• We really do have amazing family and friends.

Eh, that's enough for now...