2011: Woah

I halfway wish I were sitting down to peck out one of those nothing-doing Christmas letters, those reassuring missives in which KatieSophiaJennessica had another fabulous year in Middle School, we installed granite countertops, and the dog passed on.  I like these letters.  They allow me the comfortable illusion that time, though an inevitable murderer, will at least kill you softly, a la '70s pop rock.

But actually, for me this year, sh*t went down.  Oddly, sh*t went down even as I succumbed to the lassitude-edged panic of knowing YOU'RE NOT ACCOMPLISHING ENOUGH and LIFE IS GETTING AWAY.  Which is what makes reviewng all the sh*it that actually went down so WEIRD.  But here goes.

• 2011 was the first full year of my thirties, with all the attendant freaking-out-about-mortality that decade entails. Some serious family stuff came up (more contemplation of mortality).  OH MY GOD WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE AND I JUST WASTED THAT HOUR WATCHING MASTERPIECE MYSTERY. Right.  All of that.  Still going.
• I read this life-changing article.  I'm not prone to life-changing articles.  The number of other life-changing articles I've read in my lifetime is zero.  Yet, it somehow had never occurred to me that having multiple careers could be a legitimate life choice rather than a symptom personal failure & indecision or a waystation on the road to my capital C Calling.  The relief of embracing what I actually do (many careers!  few dollars!) instead of beating myself up for failing to find a Vocation  was...incredible.  Thank you, NYT.
• I started getting paid, on occasion, to write.  And thus I achieved, at last, the holy grail of making piddly amounts of money off of each of my three college majors (up with indecision!)  Also I no longer have any hobbies & am taking suggestions (no knitting or crafts or anything in which I risk attaching parts of myself to other parts).
• I bought a house.  Goodbye, life savings. 
• The house came infested with fleas.  Hello, psychosis.
• With my friends, I won a national chamber music competition, which startled the heck out of everyone involved but was actually enormously gratifying considering I play an instrument no one takes seriously.  Also, everything is now more complicated than it was before.
• I changed speech therapy jobs, marking the first time I've voluntarily left one job and taken another.  I don't regret it.
• I started leading music workshops on a regular basis, which reaffirmed how much I adore teaching and how much I suck at conducting.  (All in all, 2011 was a year for trying stuff I had no business trying, which is I guess what your thirties are for.)
• I started a book club.  This is actually the thing I'm proudest of for the entire year, because, unlike some of the rest of this stuff, it was not an accident, and in addition it involved things I've historically shied away from, like social maneuvering and cleaning house.  I've wanted to be part of a book club for donkeys years, but I was always waiting for book club to pursue me, a la Prince Charming.  Finally this year (see thirties, MORTALITY) I got tired of waiting and, with a little bit of help, made it happen.  Prince Charming still AWOL, though at this point my husband would be pretty pissed if he showed.

Adios, 2011. What a crazy ride.