happy new year! greetings 2013!

ugh...  i can't believe how long it's been since i posted to my lonely neglected blog....  but really...  how many times have i written these words in the (almost 10yrs old) life of this blog???  lol...  :) 

onwards!  i guess...  :)

looking back on 2012, i realize now it was a "rebuilding" year.  last january, i challenged myself:

"...to be a better me, friend, mother, wife, etc...to continue to challenge my creative process by sewing more (and altering less - i find i've been altering more clothes (not recycling, restyling or upcycling) for friends & friends of friends. i hope to cut back on that...), crafting more, writing more and drawing more.... being more consistent about these challenges, stopping the procrastination & ignoring the fear of failure...."

sadly, i didn't sew, craft or draw more in 2012.... and i will try not to define that as failure... hopefully, i ended up challenging/channelling my creative process in different ways...

looking back, in jan & february i did an "ok" amount of sewing, dancing and blogging. 

in march, i celebrated my 40th year on earth with a weekend trip to san francisco to celebrate with some of my dearest and closest friends and to dance my boo-tray off.  it was unforgettable...  so blessed!  it was very difficult to leave and  i was a blubbering mess at the airport...  incredibly bittersweet...  probably why i didn't even blog about it...  i should probably write a post-post-post dance weekend birthday recap....  :) 

paloma celebrated her 9th birthday with a trip to the local Claire's to shop and get her ears pierced.  FINALLY! (filipino ancestors be satisfied!)  then, we headed to American Girl Place for some more retail therapy and so Piper (the doll) could get her ears pierced too and get some glasses to match paloma's...  After a stop at the Lego and Disney stores, we had lunch at her favorite restaurant, California Pizza Kitchen.

in april, i did more sewing...  and even more dancing....  and slowly came to the realization that i had "somehow"  (ha. snort.) injured my back.  keep in mind, i have always had back problems since i fell down some icy, concrete stairs in college.  so, when there's a problem with my back, i'm acutely aware...  i was advised to stop dancing for a couple of...  wait for it....  MONTHS.  the silver lining - i found a lovely chiropractor who was a wonderful companion on the road to recovery...  while i recovered, i read a fair amount ( i read 14 books in 2012!  3 shy of my personal challenge of 17 though... ) and caught up on a LOT of tv - Supernatural, Dr Who, Sherlock and Downtown Abbey mostly....  and then, the paloma's school choral group got to sing the national anthem at a Sox game!!!

and then, i got a job in may!  i KNOW!? totally out of left field...  with my apparel background, i didn't think i would ever get another similar job in a related field, here in chicago...  i currently work for Otabo assisting designers with their initial inquiries & updating them on the development and manufacture of their footwear  collections...  it's been a very educational, inspirational and exciting 7 months.  the transition from sahm to wa&ohm continues to be more challenging than i thought it would be...  and we're taking it one day at a time...  :)

in may and june, we welcomed two babies into our family!  my stepbrother and his wife brought baby olivia in the world on mother's day.  My little (?) sister and her husband celebrated the birth of  baby rafael in late june...  Canada, you lucky country...  ;) 

porkchop graduated from kindergarten in may and paloma completed 3rd grade with good grades and an A award (a wonderful award citing her improvements over the year).  we were and are very VERY proud...  and relieved...  shortly thereafter began another long summer of whining and complaining...  thankfully, it still occurred a whole foot or two beneath my ears...  *sigh*

in july, i started dancing again - AND THERE WAS MUCH REJOICING!!!!  i also took some archery lessons...  who's going to have a valuable skill come the zombie apocalypse??  THIS GIRL!!!  *fistbump*  i'm fighting the urge to buy a no frills (is there such a thing?) bow/arrows & set up  a target in my backyard....   >:)

we welcomed a new kitten to our family in august.  we had a little health scare with bailey, our 17yo elder kitty.  after a visit to the ER, they determined that she had some kind of brain tumor and probably wouldn't be with us much longer...  they gave her a month...  so, we thought to soften the emotional blow on the kids (us, really) we might get a kitten.  so,  after a couple of trips to the ASPCA, we found and adopted rascal.  he has lived up to his name many times over...  what a handul!!!  :)  and bailey?  4 months later, she's doing fine.  she had a checkup recently and everything...

i tried and failed at another blog challenge in august as well....  i may try to resurrect that challenge though, it was a really good one based on lindy hop.  and i really need some inspiration to rekindle that dancing fire...  not so recent events and people in the chicago dance community soured me on dancing...  but i can't dwell on it anymore, it's absolutely killing any kind of love i have for dancing... 

september came and went.... thankfully.  :')

in october, the thin man and i celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary!  WOOT!!  YAY US!!!

and then, i was totally lame and didn't even post pictures of porkchop and paloma's AMAZEBALLS costumes as dr. who (tennant) and a weeping angel...  another post i must recap... 

november and december have been quiet and reflective for the most part.  the thin man celebrated his birthday with his new love - his iphone 5.  i swear - he and siri got a thang going on....  O_o  the porkchop also celebrated his 7th birthday with 6 of his closest buds...  they ate pizza and played video games while screaming...  i assume it was the closest thing to a fraternity house i will ever experience...  a few days later, i could hear again....  christmas and new years were spent quietly at home with my family this year...   a charming change from the bustle of travelling we usually have at this time of year...

all in all, we had some very good and very bad times in 2012.  for some of my closest friends and family, it has been the worst year, riddled with terrible, terrible events....  with only friendship and support to offer, it has left me feeling so helpless and unhelpful for them....  we'll just persevere to be present and constant and patient...

well, i sincerely hope that 2012 was good to you and that 2013 proves to be full of good surprises and prosperity and love, lots and lots of sunny and comforting love...  because we all deserve copious and abundant amounts of that...