2018: A Retrospective

This year was pretty phenomenal.

I believe I have settled into my "bonus mom" role well. I have no problem being the bad guy or sending a little teary-eyed lady to their filthy room to fix that disastrous situation. I have nearly perfected the guilt trip vocabulary that only parents and respected adults have been taught to wield. You know the one. "If you don't want to practice your math facts and you'd like to fail your test and lose privileges, that's fine with me. It's your decision." Good, right?

I have spent time doing what I want to do when I want to do it. I have refused to attend social gatherings in which I'd have to fake smile. If it's not going to fill me with joy or give me energy, I'm not interested.

So many things bring me joy these days that I don't need to fake it.

Some things that brought me joy this year:

• Watching Mara reading on her own
• Bringing Mona home to join our family
• Dallas wearing the earrings that I bought her, knowing that she's wearing them because she loves me
• The girls giving my family hugs at holidays, and my friends and family loving them
• Going on the first of hopefully many cruises with Harley (in this case, to Cozumel, Mexico - Chichen Itza)
• 12 Months of Fun adventures (FunCity, brunch at Julien's, Mac & Cheese Fest, the zoo, decorate for Christmas as a family, and more)
• Santa coming to our house and being presented with a Hi-C orange lavaburst juice box, cookies, and cheese and crackers
• Reading 22 books and being surprised by my favorites
• Introducing the girls to my brother's girls
• Decorating the house for holidays and made-up events like CheeseFest
• Taking on extra responsibilities at work and accepting my role as a leader and influencer
• Harley surprising me by cooking me swordfish for dinner even though he hates it
• Trying new restaurants out and becoming a supporter of delivery sites like GrubHub and DoorDash
• Celebrating Thanksmas with the OGs
• Celebrating my 20th high school reunion with the panthers of Cat High
• Watching the "I bumped my nose" video on loop for weeks
• Driving around in a purple car over the summer
• Urban bumper cars in downtown Providence at PVD Fest
• Realizing I'm the only one singing every word at the private Goo Goo Dolls concert at a conference in San Diego
• Receiving thoughtful Miss Trish Day gifts a day after Mother's Day 
• Visiting my old stomping grounds in Framingham
• Meeting Rory for the first time
• (In hindsight) Dallas and Mara drawing pen moustaches on their faces minutes before we went to a school event
• And so many more

Thanks to all that joined in the fun this past year. Here's to many more. Cheers to a happy and healthy 2019!