2013....Time to Change Up The Chalkboard Wall

Happy To See It In The Rear View

Well, here we are. 2013.  I can't say that either of us here at the Bates Estate are sad to see 2012 go. While we had some really happy moments (like my 25th college reunion, our niece's wedding & Dublin visitors three times over), a lot 2012 was simply the pits. I may or may not have put up a good front here on the Muse.......I did share some of the worst of the worst with you like losing my Godfather Bo, losing our dear Sister-friend Cin, losing our cousin Gail and friend Mike, watching our friend Bernie move far away, friends and family getting whopped by Hurricane Sandy, friends losing loved ones and facing challenges of their own...there was just a lot of stuff we all could have done without. Top it off with Gar's job of 26 years being no more, and you'll get the picture. Of course there is more, but suffice it to say 2012 was a very challenging year and we were beyond ready to ring out the old and ring in the new. Not to be a downer, I am generally a half full type of girl and I am really excited about the possibilities that 2013 holds. I'm not just excited, I am ready, willing and able to welcome them with open arms.  After all, the valleys in life, are what makes the views from the peaks take your breath away.

To mark the occasion of a new year, I took a wet rag to our chalkboard wall and changed things up. I wanted to do it for Christmas, but never got around to it. Like a lot of things on the proverbial list. It fell by the wayside. It was looking pretty gnarly at this point, complete with kid grafitti.

In a matter of minutes it when from that, to this. A blank slate. Just like 2013.  All I left was what my Dublin nieces had put on the wall and only because I was threatened with bodily harm (I won't mention any names........Alison Bates...sorry, that just slipped out) if I removed it.

New Year's Eve seemed like the perfect time to set chalk to wall.  As I was cleaning the house for our later festivities,  I thought to myself.......2013 will be our year. We will rise from the ashes of 2012 and march headlong into 2013.....the year 'we make good things happen'. 

Ah.......new beginnings.........rising from the ashes like a Phoenix from the fire.  

Now for the unveiling..........drum roll please.....

Do you pick a word for the year? I know some people do. This year, I'm picking two. SIMPLIFY and RISE are my words for the year the year. 

I'll be doing lots of thinking and planning over the next week or so in order to make the 'simplification and rising a reality'. Revisiting my manifesto for a new year, (boy did I failed miserably at a lot of the things I wanted to do-- that said, I did pretty good at others- so I guess I'll leave it at that for now), I'll tweak, reevaluate where I'm at, where I want to goo and how I plan on getting there.

For now, a simple reminder.

Happy New Year to all of you, many of whom I know have also faced life changing challenges over the last year.  Of course, there were also many who perhaps had the best year of their lives.  So here's to all of us, the New Year and writing a new chapter in the story of our lives. 

Thanks SO much for being here. It means the world to me.

Ciao for now. See you on the flip side.