MMXI

2011. 

I can't believe you're finally here.  And what the heck took you so long? 

2010 was a yucky year and I'll say it, I AM GLAD TO SEE YOU GO AWAY. 

2010, you made me say goodbye to two very special people in my life, my grandmother and my father-in-law.  2010, you made me watch my husband weep for the first time (unless you count the tears he had when I was walking down the aisle towards him at our wedding, and to this day I don't know if those were happy tears or not, but for the sake of my sometimes tenuous self-esteem, let's pretend they were).  And 2010, you made me grow gray hairs on the top of my head, a hard pill to swallow when you are paying Drew gobs of money to give you the tresses of a twenty-five-year-old.

Oh 2010, you had your moments, I'll give you that.  The Rangers went to the World Series.  My brother's healthy, beautiful twins were born.  I ran a half-marathon PR.  One of my best friends battled breast cancer and won.  I ran into Troy Aikman having my eyebrows waxed.  Clemson beat North Texas.  But let's be honest, I'm looking forward to a new year.  A year without sickness.  A year without anxiety.  No sadness.  A year without drama -- wait, is that possible with an overabundance of estrogen in our house?  Okay then, gimme drama, just none of the other stuff.


Welcome, 2011.

Also known as the last year I'll ever be in my thirties.  (BIG SIGH.....) 

Which means now I have a big ole bucket list I need to accomplish in the next 10 months. 

When I was in my mid-twenties I made a list of the things I wanted to accomplish before turning thirty.  I had about three dozen things on it I wanted to do, but the highlights went something like this:
-Run a marathon
-Buy a house
-Get a dog
-Become a published author
-Get a Master's Degree
-Take flying lessons
-Meet the love of my life
-Read the Bible cover-to-cover
-Climb Mount Everest

Yes, seriously.  Those were my lofty goals at twenty-five.  Not asking too much.  Nawww.  But you know what?  Of all those things, I actually accomplished all but one of them. 

Would you like to guess which one?

As I've grown older and have (hopefully) matured in my perception of reality vs delusion, my goals have shifted and become a little less quantifiable.  I can't check things like, Be a supportive wife, or Raise my children in the likeness of God, or Submit to Christ's will for my life off a list, but they have definitely taken precedence over things like climbing a 29000-foot mountain.

All this to say that, aside from the ambitions listed above, my resolutions for 2011 range from the vain (try and be in the best shape of my life by my fortieth birthday) to the mundane (have two garage sales, one in the spring and one in fall), and everything in between (visit my ailing grandmother, floss more regularly, begin a Doctorate program). 

Oh and Mom and Dad, you'll be happy to know I've changed mountains.  I think climbing 20320-foot Denali is much more realistic than Everest. 

Agreed?

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