Calendars and 2016 Musings

One of the last things I do at the end of the year is go calendar shopping. Or, depending on how late I'm running or how much of a discount I'm itching to get, sometimes it's one of the first things I do in a new year. I'm flexible. Regardless, it's calendar season at my house. That time of year when you crawl over hordes of people crammed into the smallest area a bookstore could think to put up the display or, for the adventurous types, when you avoid eye contact with the sometimes shifty-looking employees of the pop-up calendar & toy store at the local mall.

He doesn't know why you can buy a board game and matching calendar either.

For the person of a thousand and one interests *cough* like me, calendar shopping can be a little much. Is this the year I get landscapes of any one of the countries I adore? Something funny instead? OMG-look-at-all-the-cute-puppies!!! Something literary and witty? BUNNIES! Dark and spooky? Choice overload. The last few years I've opted for zen and/or positive quotes with equally soothing (or whatever) simple images. I'm not sure they did much for me, so maybe it's time to go a little madcap and silly.

And speaking of the year coming to a close...

I don't necessarily think 2016 has been the worst year. But for many people I know, it's certainly been a dark and difficult year. We've had a tribulation or two here as well. And the seemingly endless culling of so many public figures took a toll on hope and spirits everywhere. It started with a roundhouse kick to the head and ended that way, too. From David Bowie & Alan Rickman all the way through to George Michael, Carrie Fisher & Debbie Reynolds. I stopped being able to articulate what some of these people meant to me, what their careers or their activism inspired and encouraged, before the second quarter of the year. With this (hopefully last round) starting at Christmas, I was quite ill and too sick to register the full impact of their passings.

With all that in mind, I present what 2016 was for me personally.

2016 is the year:

• I got annual passes to the mouse's house. Childhood dream unlocked.
• My cousin came to visit and I made my grandpa's sauce recipe.
• My friends and I explored new activities and places. 
• My dog died.
• My husband was officially diagnosed with autism.
• I avoided being hospitalized by sheer stubbornness.
• I became a trusted confidant in my oldest nibling's life. 
• I learned something new about how to treat my PCOS that almost 20 years of doctors never mentioned before. 
• I went to a funeral for a friend for the first time.
• I finally got my ass back to the doctor after putting it off for too long. 
• I learned how to unclog a garbage disposal on my own.
• I learned how to make salisbury steaks, soups, couscous & more.
• I caught up on classic literature I missed in high school & college. 
• I began refreshing my foreign language skills & inspired my dad to do the same.
• I survived. Every thing I stressed over, every moment I wasn't sure I could handle, every time I thought I might break in the year, I made it through. I've laughed and cried with family and friends. I had food in my pantry and on my table. A roof over my head, hurricane or shine. I have memories of those who are no longer here. For every worry or moment of uncertainty, there is hope.

Happy New Year to you & yours!