Noteworthy Blog Posts from 2011.....

Last year or the year before, I started a tradition of posting the links to my favorite blog posts from the year, one each month. Some of them were chosen because I thought they represented my best sarcasm, because they were especially humorous (at least to me), or they were deeply thought-provoking. Sometimes I couldn't even tell you WHY they were my favorites; they just were.

Continuing that tradition this year, I've already struggled to find a good entry from .... January. That doesn't bode well for the rest of the year.

I've also discovered that I have repeated myself in blog entries. (It's not like I EVER do that in REAL LIFE or anything.) I mean, I've written the same stories more than a year apart, and the sad part is that I HAVE NO RECOLLECTION OF HAVING WRITTEN THEM THE FIRST TIME! Is it time for me to hang up my blogging? Or stick to books I've read? Or a "What I Did Today" format? I don't want to become stale and boring. Er.

Anyway, here are the blog entries I found noteworthy from the last year. I'll also give a brief explanation of why I found each one worthy of re-posting, and you can decide for yourself whether or not you want to revisit it.

January - This post was about a friend from high school whose father disinherited her from his will because he didn't agree with her lifestyle. It tugged at my heart strings because I have a few dear, dear friends (and a dear, dear cousin) who live a different lifestyle from my own. I made a donation in her father's memory to the account she had set up, then I wrote her a personal note and posted on her FB page. I got nothing back from her. No thank you, no email, no acknowledgement of any kind. Now I'm of the opinion that you should do things with a generous heart and NOT for the thanks/acknowledgement/gratitude you THINK you might be due, but I still felt slighted that she didn't respond at all.

February - This was one of my many "random thoughts" posts, but these were almost all related to a particular day of cycling. I like writing in that format because I don't have to worry about structure or connectedness or all those other things related to writing.

March - This post was one of my favorites just because it featured several pictures of Sweet Girl back when she was both. Sweet. And a girl. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. (I'm teasing, Sweet Girl. Just making sure you're still reading.)

April - I still laugh about this one and occasionally tell the story to complete strangers, about the time when I texted Hubby a question about a purchase that showed up on his debit card and he was still at the store. I am constantly amazed by the feats of modern technology.

May - I wrote this letter to myself about expectations at the end of the school year and not to be surprised that students who have been slackers for the whole semester will continue to be slackers right up to the end. I re-posted it tonight to serve as a reminder to myself that as my remaining days dwindle in number, they will NOT become easier.

June - This blog title is an expression of Hubby's, and this blog post is a reminder to myself not to get all worked up and bothered by something (in other words, not to act like my mother) until I know all the facts. Every time I start to fly off the handle (well, ALMOST every time), I try to remind myself not to jump to convulsions.

July - This blog post came from a spontaneous game Hubby and I started playing while we were sitting on the beach. I love memories like this, about things that are so simple and that would be so meaningless to other people, but are special to us. Or maybe I'm just being stupidly sentimental because it's New Year's Eve and tomorrow is Hubby's birthday.

August - This was one of my attempts at humor, writing both about the silliness of Twitter and what silliness I would write if I didn't think it was too silly to use Twitter in the first place.

September - I wrote this post comparing my job to the game of Whack-a-Mole, and I thought it was nothing short of a BRILLIANT analogy. As the new semester starts next week, I'll have to make a mental note to keep a log of some memorable whack-a-mole moments.

October - I still think it's funny that I thought my digital clock was showing an error message. This blog post also serves as a reminder to me that it's okay to laugh at myself every day now and then.

November - This blog post was about a stranger buying our dinner at a steakhouse. The generosity and spontaneity still boggle my mind.

December - I almost can't stand to ride with Hubby in his new car, because he thinks if it GOES fast, then he should DRIVE fast. The only thing worse is when I drive it and fall into some of the same behaviors.

Happy New Year to all my readers and followers. I love each and every one of you, and I cherish your loyalty and your comments. May 2012 bring you peace, prosperity, love, and happiness.

End of the Year Review....

I shamelessly stole this blog format from a blogger called Cynical Dad who I'm pretty sure has no clue of my existence. If you are a regular reader of my blog (thank you!), you don't have to read them again. They're not necessarily my best writing, the most profound, the most touching, or the most humorous. They're just ones I liked. My blog, my rules.

It was a toss-up between recapping my favorite blog topic for each month and posting my favorite photographs of 2009. Then I discovered that I didn't take many photos in 2009.

I don't usually make New Year's resolutions, but I am resolving to take more photographs in 2010. If I take many, many photographs, some of them are bound to be decent.

I also resolve to ride my bicycle more miles than the 619 I rode in 2009. I had a goal of riding 2009 miles in 2009, and I missed it by a BUNCH. I rode 1063 in 2008, 1813 in 2007, and 2006 was the year I had set a goal to ride 2000 miles that year and ended up with 1998..... Two stinkin' miles short! It was cold, rainy, and drizzly on New Year's Eve that year, and I was going to ride my bike up to the middle school and back (2 miles round trip), but Hubby pointed out the low visibility and talked me out of it. I decided having him plan my funeral on his birthday would be sort of a downer, so I accepted the fact that I ALMOST reached my goal.

I'm going to have to draft Katydid, Rozmo, and VT to help me reach my goal of 2010 miles in 2010. Come on, y'all!

Here are my favorite posts from 2009.

January:

A very strange coincidence that fascinated me.

February:

The dangers of creating cycling routes using computer software.

March:

A picture of me and all my cousins on the front porch of our grandparents' house. Since this blog post was written, the mystery of whether or not my brother was flipping the bird has been solved.

April:

A post about one of my most precious former students. She still gets in touch with me every now and then, and I still love her.

May:

A heartwarming story about another former student. This time it wasn't really about her, but about the kindness of strangers.

June:

An unsolved mystery letter I found in my mom's things along with pictures and other memorabilia. I wish I had the energy to solve this particular mystery.

July:

A hilarious story about my former sister-in-law. I go back and read it every now and then when I need a good laugh.

August:

This one about my clean desk. I repeat it here because we are halfway through the school year, and my desk has remained clean ALL YEAR.

September:

The letter I wrote to members of the 6:30 spinning class at the "Y" letting them know how I feel about their staring in the door toward the end of our line dancing class.

October:

Signs of the apocalypse from the casino.

November:

A post full of joy after a wonderful bike ride with two out of three of my favorite cycling buddies. VT wasn't able to come that day.

December:

A proud post about an award that my Sweet Girl got.



Happy New Year to everyone who reads my blog, and to every single person you love. Mwah!

Not a Responsible Baby-Sitter.....

Something someone said at school today reminded me of this story. Katydid may not remember it, and it's pretty risky for me to remind her. It's not too late for her to kill me.

I was babysitting her son on New Year's Eve. That means he was seven months and two days old, and I was all of sixteen. I considered myself responsible and mature and dependable. Hah!

My friends Jason and.......I think his name was Ron....... came over to Katydid's house to see me, since I couldn't go out and celebrate New Year's with them. Only their car slid off into the ditch at the end of Katydid's looooooooooooooooooooooooong driveway. They tried to get it out of the ditch but they couldn't, and somewhere in the middle of all of this they took off their shoes and walked up the driveway to get me. They had rolled their pants up to their knees, and their legs were COVERED in mud. It was freezing cold outside.

I had to take them somewhere, although it's a little fuzzy as to where I was supposed to take them. Somewhere to get another car, I suppose. I don't think they were drunk; neither of them could drive worth a hoot on a GOOD day.

So I bundle my nephew up in his little snowsuit, put his car seat in the back seat of my car, and haul these two guys somewhere in the middle of the night on New Year's Eve. He looked like a miniature Michelin man in that snowsuit. Bundled up, all strapped in, and the only things he could move were his eyes. He didn't cry or anything. And luckily he couldn't talk yet, or I'm sure he would have asked me, "What the hell are you THINKING, taking me out in the middle of the night?"

I took Jason and maybe-Ron wherever they needed to go and headed back to Katydid's house. I was a mile away when..........she intercepted me at the gas station about a mile from her house. Damn! So close! She had seen my car and, rightfully so, stopped to see what the hell was going on. Personally, I would have killed me. I would have dragged me out of that car and beat me unmercifully. I would have cried and cursed and said in our mother's best voice, "HOW could you be so STEWPID?" (Because our mother can say that word with more venom than any curse word. I think she'd rather us be criminals than "stewpid.")

Katydid, however, was very calm and rational. She simply rolled down her window and said to me, "I'm sure there is a very good explanation for this, and I'll wait until we get to my house to hear it."

Sixteen years old. Driving around in the middle of the night. On New Year's Eve. With a baby. Good Lord.