The end of the year Facebook trend of 2014 is for people to share highlights of the year through some of the photos they’ve posted. After being prompted at least a dozen times to look at mine, I decided the pictures I’d either posted or had been tagged in didn’t represent my year very well, so I chose not to make one. Instead I did a month-by-month review of what I had posted on Facebook in 2014, thinking there would be at least fifteen moments (which I’m estimating is the average number of pictures used in the year-end photo cards) which would summarize my year. Here’s what I found, along with some background information about why each moment made the list:
January 28
“I don't mind saying it: Going back tomorrow to a full day meeting after having three of the last four school days off from the cold, and being somewhat limited in the amount of planning I'm able to do right now leaves me feeling a bit disoriented and apprehensive about the rest of the week.”
There was very little about the winter of 2014 that could be given a positive spin. To begin with, last January was historically, unreasonably cold. And if that wasn’t enough, the teachers’ union in our district was on Work to Rule for several weeks during prolonged contract negotiations. This fueled contentious moments of distraction for many people with different perspectives, and even being on the periphery of such things eventually took its toll on a lot of us.
February 20
“Nature is Lucy. Spring is the football. We're all Charlie Brown.”
The winter dragged on relentlessly. More than once we thought we could see the light at the end of the tunnel, only to be greeted the following morning by a twenty-degree temperature drop and eight fresh inches of snow on the ground. It was disheartening, to say the least.
March 16
“I found out today ‘Following Infinity’ made the cut for another writing contest. A boatload of agents who represent similar works will be looking over the excerpt I submitted in the next few days. This makes having to go back to school tomorrow a bit easier to take.”
The list of finalists in Brenda Drake’s Pitch Madness contest went live just as Spring Break came to an end. We’ll call the inclusion of this moment a bit of foreshadowing.
March 26
“1A. Nice.”
As if I haven’t had cancer intersect with my life enough times already, it showed up twice this year, in a friend of mine and in a family member -- the relieving diagnosis of 1A referring to the latter. I am so very happy to report that as the year closes they have both successfully completed their treatments, with neither person experiencing more than minimal complications or side effects. Thank God for 21st century medicine.
April 15
“I am unreasonably, ridiculously happy to share this news: I have accepted an offer of representation from Carrie Howland, a literary agent with Donadio & Olson, Inc. based in New York City. I have no question that my manuscript and my writing career are in the best of all possible hands. More detailed information to follow soon....”
There isn’t much more to say about this that I haven’t already covered elsewhere. But it is worth mentioning that receiving a vote of confidence like this, from not just any literary agent but from her, led me to discovering a new belief in my writing I hadn’t allowed myself to own before.
May 11
This blog post: Rock and Roll Grandmas
My cousins, my sister, and I had a great time conspiring to put together a Mother’s Day gift of a trip for two little old ladies to a big time Vegas rock show in the summer. I couldn’t be happier that everything came together as perfectly as it did.
June 10
“Today will be, without a doubt, a great day at school. None of our students will be hurt on the field trip, or explode into filthy-mouthed rants, or steal anything, or get suspended, or make their friends cry, or try to argue how it's really okay that they didn't leave their phones in the main office like they're supposed to because they aren't using them. Plus everyone who is supposed to return items checked out from the school will bring them back right away in the morning, and of course those items will be in perfect condition. At least that's what I'm telling myself.”
If I remember right, June 10th, the second to the last day of the school year, was a pretty good day. But I found it interesting while I reviewed my posts from this year to discover how many references to my day job were less than enthusiastic.
July 15
“Whew... tagged by a distracted driver at a stoplight, upcoming appointments with Abra and Enterprise in a couple weeks, and all I can say is good thing for auto insurance. Now just to shake the residual unsettled feelings that follow.”
I felt lucky at the time that my accident, for as much damage as there was to my car, hadn’t been any worse. I really had no idea just how lucky I had been.
August 22
“Last Friday of the summer. I don't know whether to cry or cry.”
It’s never easy to say goodbye to summer break. It was particularly rough this year.
September 25
“A morning walk that began under the stars and ended inside of the sunrise, listening to Peter Gabriel's "Ovo" album and thinking about my characters for an hour. A nice start to the day.”
I had been in a habit of taking early morning walks through my neighborhood this summer and autumn. It was a beautiful way to start the day, and turned out to be a great way to fire up my writing brain. I look forward picking up that routine again after winter runs its course.
October 17
“I haven't given Harry Potter a second thought in years, and now this week I can't stop watching the movies.”
The whole Harry Potter universe has been a reliable escape for me when I needed it. It was great serendipity that a Harry Potter movie marathon came on while I was dogsitting for my parents, and one of the dogs became very sick for a very long week, capped off with two visits to the emergency vet. The movie marathon was the perfect distraction right when I needed it. (And the dogs are both fine now, by the way.)
November 15
“Yeah...Garth who?”
This November Garth Brooks had a stretch of something like ten or eleven consecutive nights of concerts in the Cities, and so many people were posting photos of how they were getting all cowboy’d up on the night they were going to see him, it rivaled the frequency the Ice Bucket Challenge. Now, I have nothing against Garth Brooks. Seems like a nice guy. But I’m not a fan. So when Motley Crue came to St. Paul the same weekend Garth was playing in Minneapolis, I felt it was important to make sure people knew which side of the river I was on that night.
November 28
“So I wake up this morning and see this thing staring at me. No idea what it is or where it came from. I'm a little freaked out.”
The first Cinnamon post, back before I had any idea what the response would be like. In fact, before I even knew his name was Cinnamon.
December 14
“It may have taken six days longer than she had originally planned, but my sister finally made it home from work tonight.”
My sister was driving home from work one night and when her car was blindsided on the highway. She ended up in the hospital for nearly a week, and still has months of recovery ahead of her. Which is awful but also a blessing, since she was millimeters away from things being so much worse. I’ll say it again -- Thank God for 21st century medicine.
December 19
“The last day of school before winter break has always been one of my favorites. By this time in the year I've known my students long enough for them to become truly important to me, so the hyperactive and joyful tone of the day is more like riding a wave than trying to survive one as it crashes against me. The upcoming time away from school also helps me appreciate getting to work with so many talented and dedicated people, many of whom have become my good friends. For all of the stress and frustration that comes with the job, days like today serve as a reminder that things could be so much worse.”
I’ve been teaching for a long time now, so I’ve been around to see many different patterns and trends and philosophies and ideals cycle their way through the profession. As much as things change and as frustrating and discouraging as they can become, it’s always worth remembering that having both a great class and working with people you respect can make a tremendous difference in the best possible way.
And that puts a cap on 2014. As for 2015? Simply put, I can’t think of the last time I’ve had a year ahead of me with so little about it I felt I could predict.
I kind of like that.
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