It is the final hours of 2017 (as I begin this) and my kids just arrived home. We spent the last few days of 2017 together with family at our beloved Ranch. We had a grand adventure and arrived home late last night. Today has allowed me time to reflect, but only now am I sitting to write some of my thoughts.
The year was filled with adventures. There were concerts, baseball games, vacations, and more. I took CD and my mom to see Alabama. I took Miss Hollywood to her first real concert to see Luke Bryan. My Chico and I saw New Kids on the Block, John Michael Montgomery, and Tim McGraw with Faith Hill.
The kids and I had a new adventure. We stayed in a lovely cottage in Point Reyes. It's now on our list of places we would like to return. We, of course, attended a few Giants games and in doing so, we had a chance to try a couple of new things. One, we use CalTrain. In fact, we loved it so much, we used it a second time. We also used BART and MUNI to attend a game as well. I got to one game with my brother even, and I attended my first A's game with friends.
It was an amazing year.
There were some downs with some of the ups, though. The Alamo Fire burned dangerously close to our family Ranch house. Thankfully, the firefighters protected and successfully saved the house and the growth around the average is already trying to come back. I presented at Spring CUE for the first time and at Fall CUE for a second time. It was thrilling. I got elected to my local affiliate CUE board, too. Then I received word that my presentation proposal was not accepted for Spring 2018. I was more disappointed than I expected. Good news, though, CD and I are co-presenting together twice to start off the year.
Looking back, 2017 was a year of celebration and embracing the now. I see 2018 as a year of change with a shift happening. I hope all positive. The toast to the new year has now occurred for us. We played Tripoley, did a couple of poppers, and clinked glasses. So, here it is. 2018.
The kids are tucked into bed. Tomorrow, we will get up and go through Jar of Awesome Events, 2017. We will remember the adventures. We will celebrate the celebrations. And, then, I will do something new. I will give them a list of possible 2018 adventures and let them choose their top five favorites. Then, we will plan some adventures for the year.
Just after the ball dropped in New York (in real time), Miss Hollywood started a science project growing crystals. You take warm water, add in a crystal mixture, and stir to desolve it. Then you pour it into a small dish, add two rocks, and empty the remaining crystal powder onto the rocks. Then, crystals grow. As I helped her with this, I thought it was such a fabulous analogy for the new year. Let's take the rocks of 2017 and grow them into beautiful 2018 crystals. We are nothing more than diamonds in the rough. Let's smooth things out and make them beautiful. Let's embrace who we are and grow into who we want to be. We can always do better, be better, create better. Let us choose peace, love, and kindness above all else. Let us be what we need ourselves to be so we can guide our children into who they need to be. Let us be educators for the world. Let us embrace and and embark on adventure.
Last year, I celebrated turning 40. This year, I will celebrate 41. Far less monumental numerically but no less important. We are not promised tomorrow, we only have today. I have health and wellness goals for 2018. For me, for my family. Not a diet, not a "join a gym," but true and complete health and wellness. I also want to continue to
BE LIVE BELIEVE.
Therefore, I declare 2018 my diamond in the rough year and I'm going to grow into something even more beautiful than I already am. Best part is that I have two fabulous sidekicks.
Let's go make some beautiful 2018 crystals!
Happy New Year!
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