2012 Year End Issue

Wow. What a year it has been. There were some definite highs and lows and a few things that were quite unexpected. So here we go......

2012: The Best and Worst

Best Theatric Movie: Looper

Best Old Movie Seen for the First Time: Legends of the Fall

Most Unexpected Pleasure: Watching my son bond with his baby sister

Most Irritating Online Moment: Watching ex friends bond with ex's new wife

Best Books of the Year: The Company You Keep, Double Bind, Jimmy Hendrix Turns 80

Biggest Book Disappoint of the Year After Much Anticipation: Winter of the World

Biggest Time Waste of the Year: tie between reading 50 Shades of Gray in one weekend and the intermittent episodes of The Office I've managed to catch

Best Too Short Season of a Great Series: Mad Men

Scariest Moment of the Year: going to hospital with new husband

Biggest Relief of the Year: coming home from hospital with new husband

Happiest Times of the Year: at home with husband and son

Highlight of the Year: wedding to my new husband

Most Unexpected Financial Surprise: unexplained $250 windfall in checking account

Most Long-Time Coming Work Moment: getting a raise and bump to 40 hour week

Most Annoying People and Places: my office, my ex, my neighbors who don't wave

Most Neighborly Moment: tie between writing letter to lady neighbors and making friends with Buddy the Dog

Trends I Absolutely Don't Get: infatuation with zombies, 50 Shades, Mayan apocalypse

Best Holiday: tie between 4th of July in Chimney Rock and Halloween with my sister

2nd Worst Medical Worry: mother's cancer diagnosis

Best Healthy Decision: giving up meat (sorta) in April

Best Album Find: Beatles double album

Best Election Results: Obama reelected

Worst Election Results: same sex marriage disrespected in NC

Best Concert: Maiden!

Best Place to Photograph Laughing Son: Schiele Nature Trail

Best Place to Snuggle: red couch

Best Place to be Proposed to: red couch

Reclaiming Your Childhood: Priceless

This story might take a minute to tell. Bear with me. When my sister and I were little girls, my mother took us to a large baptist church in town. Even as a child, I never remember feeling welcome there. But I do remember the lovely older couple that kept my Sunday School class. They gave us saltines and kool-aid, and I remember thinking they would be nice grandparents to have. At Christmastime, the Sunday School class was set to have a random gift exchange. Every child was supposed to bring a gift that could be exchanged with any other child.....no specific gift designations. I received the gift of an Avon 7 bead necklace which was very popular at the time. I loved it so much and was thrilled to have it! I was somewhere between 5 and 7 at the time. (Back in the 1970's and 80's, Avon was a cosmetic company that was also known for it's inexpensive jewelry. I couldn't find a price on what this necklace would have cost back then, but apparently there is ...

My Week with Rumor

My dog Rumor was an experiment. A trial offer. And all parties knew that going in. Except for maybe Rumor. Rumor was an outdoor country dog. His given name was Ruger (named after a firearm if you don't know, I didn't) which made sense for a dog raised in hunting country. He was a stray that came to live with a loving family at about the age of 1. He lived outdoors, slept in a garage crate at night, frolicked with an older dog pack and had a lovely life. We think he was about 4 years old. He had been neutered, had vet care and was by no means a "rescue". His dad offered Ruger to me on a give-it-a-try basis. He knew I wanted a dog. He told me Ruger would be sweet to me and also be my protector. He was right on both counts. He told me if it didn't work out, I could bring Ruger back to him and his wife. I could tell they were a little sad when they dropped him off. It made me glad to see that Ruger came from such ...

NYE for $200, Alex

Can we all just agree that New Year's Eve is the worst of the string of winter holidays? I would even go so far as saying it's THE WORST of all the holidays. I loved when Stanford Blatch defined a party as feeling very "forced festive". To me, most NYE parties feel that way. The idea that this is a big year-end blow-out and we'd all damn well better make it awesome! The reason I hate NYE is because it combines two of things I most hate about celebrations: cold weather and crowds. Plus it's during a time of year when everyone has already spent all their money. AND you usually have to the leave the house. ADDITIONALLY, you have to stay up late. It's a big F.U. from me on all this. I would dare say that some of my happiest New Year's memories have been spent at home in my pajamas with either my child, an S.O. or happily alone. I remember one unforgettable year of moving into a 3rd floor apartment on NYE. I rememb...

Becky's Greatest Hits Vol. II

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