So, this is MY year in review. Not the one Facebook pre-designed for me, but one actually out of my own head and experience. There wont be any pictures, but in looking at the FB year in review, it seems that most of my photos were of glasses of beer anyway, so feel free to insert that image at any point in this narrative. Let me start out by saying Move along now to 2014. It wasnt a bad year all-in-all; in fact there were some mind-bendingly positive incidents this year! But also there were way more than enough soul-suckingly awful moments over the same period. I know that there will be more of those to come, but at least they wont be the same ones... AND, at the very least, the change of the year puts me One More Step toward retirement! Reason to celebrate indeed! January 2014 was the beginning of the second half of one of my worst school years ever. The 2013-14 school year included some of the worst work-related animosities, fights and betrayals Ive experienced in my career. In January 2014 I actually started taking steps to leave my current job. Luckily things didnt move as quickly as Id hoped, and by June my despair had turned to thoughts of revenge (a far healthier position, actually), which kept me where I am. August 2014 began some major improvements in the workplace not only at my school, but also in the district as a whole, which have worked together to make things quite pleasant at this point—so I’m glad that I stayed. It is AMAZING what a few position reassignments can do to change everyone elses satisfaction! I didnt see the end of the 2013-14 school year. Instead, I took the last week of the school year off and Meggan and I drove to Idaho, thinking I might be going home to say goodbye to my mom. But instead, my mom showed us all how TOUGH she is, not only surviving open-heart surgery, but rallying beyond her doctors expectations—and we all got to celebrate her 86th birthday! Before the summer was over I’d been to Idaho twice—one trip with each of my lovely daughters :-) In September 2014 I learned of my own little medical emergency, and in November I had MY OWN surgery! It was an experience like Ive never had before, and bought me a couple of weeks off work. A few days from now Ill be ready to reveal the reason for the surgery and its resolution... The last quarter of 2013 and first of 2014 we enjoyed a full-family again, as Lawral returned to California from Pennsylvania and lived with us while looking for work here. It was WONDERFUL to have the whole family together! Lawral obtained her dream job in March, which prompted the first of several trips to Oakland to help her find an apartment and get her settled in. I hadn’t realized the extent to which I had missed the Bay Area while Lawral was out east! It is so nice for us to all be on the same coast again! There were lots of other events in 2014—trips taken, battles fought, meals eaten, beers photographed… With Lawral coming down for a Christmas vacation last week, the year ended as it had begun—with the whole family under the same roof. So, all-in-all, despite the haters, the conflicts, the scares, the diseases, and the disappointments, our little family held together, overcame, and prospered. So, to 2014 I’ll say again, it’s time to move along… Here’s to a BETTER year coming for us all!
Posted on: Wed, 31 Dec 2014 21:39:16 +0000
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