Skip to main content

Not really a year in review (with my memory, I'd forget too much)

For some people, 2012 was really awful. For others, 2012 brought many blessings. For me, 2012 was pretty good and mostly uneventful; there is not any one particular things that stands out for me.

I had a short-term job for almost three months. But, much like my last steady/regular job, it seems like almost a lifetime ago. I also did some freelance work for the company where I used to work, and at times, I kind of felt as if I still worked there. And of course there was subbing. I won't even venture a guess as to what 2013 has in store for me job-wise. I am, however, pretty worried about my impending 2012 tax bill. Our run of getting a nice chunk of change back and putting it toward home improvement is over, at least for this year. I just hope we (I) don't owe too much money...

I ran, swam, and did Zumba, but did not set the world on fire in any of those areas. Of course, I ran in the Race for Pace 5k and earned a third place medal (albeit several weeks after the fact), so that was something. Mostly I am just glad I am able to stay in shape and remain healthy. Let's not talk about the last few weeks, however.

This year was kind of crappy for Pittsburgh sports, which is atypical. The Steelers pretty much kicked their fans in the gut during their first (and last) playoff game at the beginning of the year. But at least the 2011 Steelers made the playoffs. This year's version ended its season in December. The last time the Steelers played their final game in December was in 2006. It is weird to go into a new year knowing there is no more Steeler football. It is even weirder and sadder to me that this year also marks the first year since I was in high school that I have not gone to at least one home Steelers game. My family has had season tickets for 20-some years now, and I have managed to always make one game (many years I was at the majority of them). For whatever reason, it just did not happen this year.

I won't go into the Pirates epic collapse; I can at least look on the bright side that they had a winning record for quite a few weeks. And I don't even want to think about hockey. The Pens, much like the Steelers, failed in their first playoff series, and to think that that series in April (!) was the last time the Pens have played is pretty heart-breaking. Unfortunately, I cannot get my hopes up that the 2012-2013 season will ever come to be.

Family-wise, things are pretty good, but could be better. I still struggle as a parent, knowing I am not consistent with my child. Thanks to a 3DS from Nonnie and an iPod Touch from Grammy, I will at least have meaningful things I can take away from the kid (and I already have). Fortunately, J has become more independent, but she (and we) still need to work more on that. And I don't even want to talk about the whining.

I wish I could have included a vacation in my year-end look-back, but that was not meant to be. Fortunately, we got over that pretty quickly. Maybe 2013 will include some getaway. 

This year also saw some heartbreak for the Penn State family. I definitely do NOT want to rehash any of that, other than to say I do miss JoePa sometimes and I am not ashamed to be a PSU grad. Oh, and Bill O'Brien did a great job this year, but there is a good chance he will jump ship sooner rather than later, which I can understand, but won't like.

People in this world still concern me, between the violence and intolerance, not to mention (except I am going to) the rampart materialism. But the optimist in me has hope that things can get better. I am a glass full kind of gal.

Here's hoping that 2013 is a good one for you and me. Good bye, 2012! Can you please leave the fiscal cliff there?!

Comments

bluzdude said…
Best of luck this year, Facie. Hope you get that vacation.

Now let's see some hockey in 2013!
Facie said…
Thanks, Bluz. I am pretty sure we will see some hockey in 2013; I just hope we don't have to wait until October. We should know soon.

Popular posts from this blog

What a year 2021 has been (Day 7)

I have almost no words for what happened yesterday at the Capitol. Protesting is one thing (though I truly think it is and has been time to move on). But to storm the Capitol? A friend on Facebook said, quite simply, " Almost 20 years ago a group of people on an airplane sacrificed themselves to protect the Capitol. How far we have fallen!" Indeed. And, yes, it IS storming the Capitol. I have seen numerous videos of people knocking down barricades/fences, pushing police officers, and breaking windows and climbing through them. That is beyond protesting. And even if a protestor did not do those things, if they followed those seditionists past those barricades and into the building, they are just as guilty. I did not support the violent protests this summer that resulted in damages to businesses and public property (I was in full support of the actual protests). But I also acknowledged as a white person, I cannot truly put myself in the position of a black person who is angry a

Melancholy and Gratitude

 A few days ago, I decided to do gratitude posts on FB. I was good the first two days. Day 3 I got a little snarky as I posted about "doing the right thing" in regards to Covid. The Covid cases in Allegheny County have been on the rise. For a while, we had daily counts between 50 and 100. After July 4, we saw a spike for a few weeks, and then cases were back below 100. Unfortunately, other than one "low" day this week, where "only" 288 cases were reported, we have had between 500 and 620 daily cases. Fortunately, only a few people have died this week. But of course, any death is too many. I started to keep track of cases, deaths, and hospitalizations on 6/12/20. On that day, since 3/12, Allegheny County had had 2,034 cases, 352 people had been hospitalized, and 172 people had died. On 11/19/20, the county has seen a total of 22,042 cases, 1,724 people have been hospitalized, and 465 people have died from Covid since 3/12. In just over 8 months, we have had

Hug your loved ones!

I hate to say that I am still working through my grief. I mean, in some ways I can imagine I will always be grieving. But I feel pretty confident it will get easier, and I will cry less and less. But, yeah, I guess I am still working through it. Yesterday, a thought occurred to me: I had not hugged my dad since the end of February, and that will now be the last time I ever did. I did not see him for almost three months because of COVID, and then at the end of May, he started his series of hospital visits with skilled nursing stints in between. I was always afraid to hug him then. What if I gave him COVID? And yet when my dad had really bad ICU delirium during a few different hospital stays, I fed him. If I could do that, why not hug him? So I cried a bit last night thinking about that. I am not necessarily a big hugger; I used to hate it, and then probably before Jordan was born, I got back to doing it again. Before COVID, I hugged my friends goodbye (and sometimes hello). I always wou