Daily Archives: July 29, 2013

Today’s directive from The Daily Post: Write up a mid-year “State of My Year” post.

How can seven months of 2013 be in the books already? My parents always told me that the older I got, the faster time would fly. I didn’t understand the physics of that as a child, and I still don’t to this day, but they were right.

I’d have to say at this point in the year, my overall feeling is one of accomplishment and contentment. I have no regrets about things I should have done, there have been no huge disasters to contend with, there are no nagging worries keeping me awake at night.

• I’m halfway to my goal of getting back to the weight on my driver’s license.
• I’ve posted an entry on this blog–occasionally more than one–every single day in 2013.
• I enrolled in, attended, and passed the three classes I had put on my to-do list for the year (I have one official transcript, one carved spoon, and one Oxford sweatshirt to prove it).
• I perused, clipped, and recycled a monstrous two-year backlog of magazines.
• I purged my file cabinet.
• I refinished a small chest of drawers.
• I travelled to Iceland, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Wales, in addition to two weekend getaways and countless day trips within England.
• I played host to my mom and my friend from Japan during their respective visits, planning outings to give them a good taste of British life.
• I crocheted an afghan.
• I’ve read half a dozen books (not a lot by most people’s standards, but a record for me in the past 20 years or so).
• I jumped through all the hoops to renew my teaching license.
• I created two procedural manuals to leave behind for my replacements in the frame shop.
• I’ve used up most of the food in my pantry and freezer pre-move–ten more days to use up a steak, three pork chops, two tilapia filets, a batch of taquitos, and some chicken tenderloins.

Life is good, and I expect the downhill side of 2013 to be just as rewarding as the first half has been. The hubby and I’ll soon be back in our old stomping grounds–back in our old house, hanging out with our old friends, swimming (me) and playing racquetball (him) at our old gym. I’m two weeks away from being back within a three-hour drive of 80% of my immediate family, and within a day’s drive of the in-laws. Some amazing new job is waiting for me in the States, and all I have to do is find it. The to-do list is still massive, but I’ve picked up some serious momentum in the last seven months, and see no reason (aside from the fact that most of the projects are packed and in transit for the next two months) that I can’t tick several more boxes before the ball drops in Times Square. 2013 is on its way to being the most satisfying, fulfilling year in the past decade!