Ring out the old

2012 was eventful if nothing else.

It began with anger and dissatisfaction. I had just celebrated my 10^th year anniversary on my corporate job but felt underappreciated and used. I was in such despair because yet another year had come and gone without me coming any closer to finding my destiny talk less of fulfilling it. I'd spent yet another year working for nothing but a paycheck. I had done no writing, my blog was dormant, no acting, no reading, no exercise, nothing that had to do with me.

Then in February, Whitney Houston died very unexpectedly the night before the Grammys and the following week as I watched her beautiful and celebrity studded funeral, I got the call that my younger sister had lost her battle with breast cancer. Her first diagnosis had been when she was only 26, and she had been in remission for 10 good years, but unbeknownst to us, her immediate family, the cancer had returned earlier in the previous year and as is so often the case, it came back with a vengeance and with very little mercy. We do not know enough about her treatment to know how well it was handled, but to all intents and purposes, it appeared that when treatment was given, it was too late. Within one year, this active beautiful strong young woman of 36 was gone.

I traveled to Nigeria for the funeral and was in for a very rude awakening. As most funerals do, this one too had more than its fair share of drama. But the fact that it was directed against us, her closest family, made the whole thing hurtful and very surreal. If anyone had told me the story of what happened when I was in Nigeria, I would have thought they were making it up. But I actually experienced it....I was in it....it was real!..and no doubt good fodder for a book or play that I shall write one day.

In the Spring, I decided to start yet another new business. My poor husband is so tired of hearing of all the things I keep trying. If only I would stick with one and actually make it work, he says. This time, I started an Ebay store and an online web store. I was hoping that I could run these with very little time commitment, since time was something I absolutely did not have. But it was silly of me to even think that. There is NOTHING that can be done to even the least level of success, without TIME investment. Yes, I sold a few items, but a $10 profit for the whole year is hardly a business worth bragging about.

Then the year picked up with work, work and more work. My day job literally became my night job and my weekend job. Until in the summer, I literally had a meltdown. I had to call the Colleague Assistance Program. I was hoping for some time off, but instead I was advised to resume my therapy sessions to help me cope. High stress and too little rest was made evident as my blood pressure rose, and I developed Psoriasis on my scalp and on my thigh.

The summer was marked by two weddings, my good friends who were going to have to get married in Connecticut, were able to marry right here in Brooklyn against a beautiful sunset over the Manhattan skyline.

...and then my little sister's wedding in San Antonio,Texas at which I was the Mistress of Ceremonies. This was my first time in Texas and though the wedding went very well and was beautiful, it too was not without its own little hitches.

At work, a two year re-organization finally came to an end in the fall, with me being informed that I had been re-assigned. For the rest of the year I had to straddle two departments as I closed out accounts and worked through the hand over and began my new responsibilities. By the time the year ended, I was about ready to drop.

Then there was super storm Sandy, leaving a trail of disaster in its wake. Even though I was not personally hit, it was a blow to everyone living in the tristate area.

                                               

And as we saw image after image of devastation, it was a welcome sight to see a true miracle on our own block. Kenilworth Baptist Church had a HUGE oak tree fall right on top of it. But the little church sustained only minor cracks in the roof gutters. The impact of the tree hitting the building broke, not the church, but the tree!!! That was a true miracle!

Christmas was only Christmas because the children made it so.

Had I not had to make it fun for them, I would have been happy enough to just take my days off laying down and sleeping into the new year. It must have been the least Christmassy Christmas I have ever experienced. There was no real holiday cheer in my heart and before I could even find it, the holiday was over.

It was a rough year, but over all not a bad one. I can count numerous blessings too.

I am grateful to have had this year and I am grateful it is over.

I am ready, so ready for a new year and a new beginning to many areas of my life.

Starting with WRITING THIS BLOG!!!

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2013

Now let's get started doing something.....