Every year we get a Christmas card from one of DH's old college friends, and every year, it includes the prototypical "holiday letter", the kind that sets my teeth on edge with its description of the happy perfection of their charming lives.
This year, though, there was twist! Instead of a letter, each family member (dad, mom, 3 girls) got a column, and each got to list their "top 10" for the year. The youngest girl's list was kind of charming, including as it did "starting kindergarden" and "learning to read", but I suspect that Mom actually drew up the list because it also included learning Spanish. That's OK, though, my teeth weren't grinding, yet... then middle girl's list included selling more cookies than anyone else in her Girl Scout troop, and I found my jaw tensing. By the time I read that the high school freshman won her soccer championship, Mom's starting grad school, and Dad loved the "Body Works" (sic) show -- actually Gunther von Hagen's Bodyworlds,the ones with the plasticized human cadavers -- enough to include it on his Top 10 list along with the (many!) dinner parties they've attended, I was ready for my splint and a dose of ibuprofen.
In contrast, here's my quite personal and humble Top 10 of 2006:
Going to Houston in February and not needing surgery
Going to Houston in August and not needing surgery
Having the breast lump biopsy come back benign
Getting effective treatment for my TMD (the aforementioned splint, plus physical therapy)
Spending the summer on the Cape
Being substitute storyteller at Border's
Getting my "quick tip" published in Cook's Illustrated
Getting our kittens, Alice and Cooper
After 30 years, finally figuring out how it works (this item intentionally vague)
Having the best family, both near and far.
I must also mention that I'm a co-facilitator of the Phoenix Thyca group, but at the moment that's not Top 10 material, but I'm hoping it will be next year -- and I finally got my certification to be a substitute teacher, but I haven't done anything with it yet. If I could add one more thing, it would probably be that I went on a number of "thrill" rides at Disneyland this time, and I totally loved them all. So now my kids know I'm not a total wimp, at least when it comes to amusement parks.
1 comment:
Yes, but what would your kids' lists look like? :)
I can't do "favorite moments" at all. I am bad at ranking emotional states. I am awfully grateful for staying healthy and for having the intimate closeness of my loved ones. Beyond that -- each day is pretty intense in one way or another.
Happy New Year!
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