Year of the Dragon

So, seven weeks since I last blogged. Here's why:

1. Work got busy, really busy and I love that.

2. Holidays. College son came home for three weeks, all other family made it safely in for the festivities. We had a lot of fun.

3. 2012 started.

The last point might look a bit odd, but then again it is an even year. Not my fav. It started with my dad falling on New Year's Day, followed by an MRI on the 4th, followed shortly by emergency surgery. All this happened while I was sick and unable to visit him cause of an infection. Then the cat suffered a major stroke and had to be put down. Luckily my oldest was still home and able to do the running around for me, but he did have to go back to school!

Thus while the end of 2011 was a fun, busy blast that kept me from blogging, the start of 2012 was a major turnaround that has tied up every free moment available. The last three weeks have been nuts.

So, why blog today? Today is the start of the Chinese New Year. My youngest is a dragon. This should be a good year. And I'm hoping that this New Year celebration will start something better in my house, cause the Gregorian calendar event was a minor disaster :)

Happy December

Time to accept that the resolutions for the year are probably not happening and that is time to simply get ready for another new start in January. All in all, 2011 went pretty well and this month feels like it is going to be a good one too.

Reflections on 2011 (I know I'm early, but I think I need to do this so I can get back to focusing on other stuff!)

• My oldest got into college, got decent money from said college and now attends that college. Was hard to let him go but I think it was the right choice. Still cannot believe I am old enough to have a child in college.
  
• My middle is a sophomore in high school and thinking about college. I'm excited to go through that process with her and having fun watching her be busy in school. For a kid who says she prefers to stay out of the public eye, she is now working two jobs and managing the school play (assistant stage manager) while staying an A student. Not quite "A's" across the board, but not bad overall.
  
• My youngest has totally started to grow up on me... not only are we almost eye to eye, but he's playing the games I love to play, he's busy with stuff I like to watch and he makes me laugh all the time.
  
• Work has been great... lots of projects, lots of new people to meet. Moving into a cubicle was an adjustment (and still adjusting) but overall the move was far more positive than negative. And no more headaches. I never realized how changing light affected me. Being in a controlled environment really has improved my overall health and functionality.
• My husband has a new job, has started a new masters degree and has started several projects around the house. I'll have to get into those projects now if they are ever going to get finished, but overall the year was a good one. We managed to make all the changes with the kids and fix several issues around the house that are making it much nicer to live here.
  
• My family survived the year. My mom and uncle are still here... wasn't sure last Thanksgiving that would be the case. I don't think we'll have both at the table next year, but that will be an issue for 2012... I think 2011 will see us all together for Christmas.
• I'm not sure I really finished any of my goals for the year... but everything moved in the right direction. We did get the oldest into a good school, we are still paying all the bills on time, we did fix up the house and we did have fun this year (two more ballparks off the list!). I didn't get to 50,000 words in NaNoWriMo but I did start a story... and did get almost to 15,000 words before life intervened and I couldn't take the time to write anymore. I will finish it though... I have enough of the ideas on paper that it seems more cohesive than any previous attempt.
• Holidays are on track... at this point I have a complete list and it is almost done. I have the cards started and cookies planned. Tree will be in a week or so. I am now wondering what I forget to do :)

Any thoughts for next year?

Sadness

I am just sad about all the news that is coming out of Penn State.

I don't know the details and I don't want to know the details. What I have heard makes me sick. I hope that somehow the boys who were harmed have managed to get help and break the cycle of abuse. I am sure that they will be found and the media will keep feeding on this story. But I am not sure that tearing down people and rioting and putting good people in danger is going to help improve this situation. I think that those boys/men need to be supported and helped and they deserve no blame for what happened and continues to happen.

The verse from Romans (12:21) keeps popping into my head today "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

There are really good people at Penn State – good employees (I've met some), good alumni, good parents and good students. Their story has to be told. They should not feel tarnished by this. The only people who are tarnished are the ones who knew and did nothing. But today, the good people feel the shame and the sting of the abuse. It is because they are good that they suffer.

I really hope that sanity comes back to Penn State. That the University figures out how to teach through this moment. That joy can return to Happy Valley. That the people who need help get it and those who did evil accept their responsibility. And that everyone learns how to be a force for good in this world.