adios, 2012.

If I told you that I ushered out 2012 with a bang, then my first post of 2013 would begin with a lie.  I spent New Year’s Eve with my sister and my aunt, eating dinner, drinking vodka slush, and watching Butter.  [It’s a satirical movie about butter carving competitions in Iowa.  I found it hilarious.]  I was in bed by 11.  Party on, Wayne.

But really, it was okay.  It had been a long week at home.  I began the week exhausted from three days of church services and exhaustion of all kinds [emotional, social, physical] continued with the service for Grandpa Sid on Saturday.  Between the visitation preceding and the service, it was estimated we greeted nearly 400 people.  No wonder this introvert was tired.  Throw in odd sleeping hours and eating, well, not well, and the whole week is almost a blur.  

I’m home in Austin, settling in for the night to prepare for a funeral that is tomorrow morning.  I felt before I could write that sermon, I must write to you.  It’s been sporadic of late, and I feel I owe you some sort of 2012 wrap up.  All the other bloggers are doing it.

2012 favorites:

1. Vacation on the north shore and sea kayaking.

2. Auditioning for MasterChef.  

3. Vacation with Kate to the woods.

4. Day camp.

5. National Youth Gathering in New Orleans.

6. I love composting and how it decreases my garbage. 

7. Perfecting iced coffee, raw oatmeal, and plain microwave popcorn.

8. Local family parties. [Oscar and lefse to name a few.]

9. Volunteering at school.

10. Many new babies!  [Below: the most recent Banana baby I met while home!]

Certainly, it’s both a trivial and logical list.  

Certainly, there is much more that belongs on the list.  

Certainly, one can’t sum up a year in a single post.  

Any goals for 2013? you ask.  I’m refraining from setting actual goals or resolutions.  Sure, I want to exercise more, sleep more, try more new recipes, go on adventures to new places, create freely, and tackle those books on my ever-growing to-read list.  But instead of setting anything tangible to any of those, I think it can be summed up otherwise.  I look to 2013 with this –