Pages

Monday, December 9, 2013

Think Kit Day 9- Surprise! Or...not...

The Think Kit topic today was What completely surprised you this year? Was it good...or not so good? Tell us a story!  This should not be this hard. I've wracked my brain, talked to people, looked back through my journals, old blog posts, journals, emails, letters... and this was a year with really no surprises. Oh, I'm sure I had small moments of "WOW! What a shocker!" but they must be so insignificant that I can't come up with anything--- or certainly not anything suitable for this blog! (Unlike millions of other people, I've come to the conclusion in the last year that everything that happens to a person should not be Facebooked, Tweeted, blogged, instagramed, etc. Privacy is good. Discretion is better.)

So thanks to Smallbox "Life Line" writing prompts, I'm going to write on the topic: 
Make a "Top 10" for 2013! Choose your favorite moments, records, movies, sporting events, or any other item and compile a list. Make sure there's a #1!

So here are my top ten moments of this year. Numbers 10-3 are in no particular order of importance, just more how I thought of them,  but the #1 and #2 are really my NUMBER ONE and TWO Fav moments of the year- it was a toss up which would take the top spot! So, without further adieu:

10- Spending Spring Break in Indy, as a sort of "tourist in my home state" or a "stay-cation" of sorts. A friend let me come and stay there for the week and it was good: shopping, dining out, reading, relaxing, seeing the city, vintage clothes shopping... just a nice relaxing week of doing nothing.

9- All the classes I took at Indy Trade School and by extension all the great people I've met. I love all the letter writing socials, the fabric post card making, the Smashbook classes- all wonderful! And it's a great way to meet some fab people- the ladies who run Trade School AND other "class mates"!

8- Mac turned 20 this year! Wow! Where has the time gone? That was a good day- great kid and his nice friends, good good, fun, relaxation all at a party at my place. It was in April and one of the beautiful days, warm and clear. We grilled out and just had time together to celebrate Mac... it was a perfect day!

7- The Girl Group at work. For some reason, there are four of us at work who have suddenly clicked and we've become "the" group of adults at work. I think the fact that we're all relatively young (by comparison to the rest of our school staff), we're all English teachers by trade, we're all liberal and we're all tired of education BS and red tape. We bonded over some school politics and ever since we have lunch together, send each other group emails during the day. We're each other's cheerleaders, ears, shoulders to cry on, secret keepers....we've even started meeting outside of school or a dinner here or a movie there... girlfriends are good.

6- My Other Girlfriends are amazing. I'm so blessed to be able to spend time with them this year! I have the family I was given by blood and then the family I was able to choose. This year I was able to dine out, hang out, shop with, see movies with, and even travel with all my GF's- a great bunch of women!



5- One of the best parts of my year is hanging out with my dad. I might sound like a nerd that at age 42 I like hanging out with my dad but I do. We like to shop or do crafty stuff, or chat about everything while we take mini road trips for Starbucks. We help each other out so most of the time hanging out with my dad is a highlight!

4- This was the year of the concert for me. I was lucky to see Will Hoge twice as well as Maroon 5 and Kelly Clarkson. AWESOME! Will Hoge is a new artist I was introduced to this year and am certainly glad for that- he has a sorta country/ rock/ southern rockabilly sound that for some reason I find appealing! (and I am such not a country music person but something about his voice is great!) I saw these performers in 2013 but I like to say my "year of the concert" was really Aug. 2012 to July 2013 because I was also lucky enough to see Time McGraw and Kenny Chesney in 8/ 12 and Train in 12/12- also FABULOUS!


3- Giles the Greyt Greyhound has made my 2013 tops. I adopted him in Dec. 2012 so this has been our first year together, adjusting to being a pet parent. And Giles adjusting to me.... having a Grey has been rewarding and let's face it- it's turned me into a big ol' mushball. I love this beast to pieces. He's adorable and perfect- I GOT THE BEST ONE! I *heart* my dog!

2- Michael Buble Concert was the best concert I've ever been to in my life. As I said, this was the year of the concert for me and while I immensely enjoyed the other shows I saw, I have to say seeing Michael Buble was more than just "going to a concert." This was an EVENT, in capital letters. AN OMG event! I bought my ticket as a gift to me, from me. I have never paid that much for a concert ticket in my life and I swear I was having panic attacks over doing something like that with my money when cash is so scarce. But it was worth EVERY PENNY!!! He was amazing. A great performer, funny and beyond talented. He was great. I will see him again. And again. And again. LOVE LOVE LOVE Michael Buble LIVE in concert.


And my number one top moment of 2013...



1- MY Florida Vacation!!! I blogged about it several times earlier this year: here, here, here, and here.   Oh... and here, here, and here. Those are mostly my vacation in photos but the long and the short of it is: Photographer's parents own a Florida condo on the ocean side and she invited me to spend a week there with her. I did. We drove down (ROADTRIP!) and I spent a week on the beach. I walked, read, slept, dreamed, eat, drank, swam, and relaxed, It was wonderful and amazing. I wish I could go back. NOW! It felt like a week of a life time... a week on a beach, for free, with a great friend. Just perfect.


So, that's my recap of my 2013 moments so far. It's been nice writing this post to think back to find the highlights of my 2013. This hasn't been my best year ever so it was good to think of the moments that made me smile!

Maggie


No comments: