2014 in review... because I'm out of ideas, basically

Ah, another year has gone by. And you know, it's actually been a pretty good one. I like to take stock when things come to a close. Perspective! And now I know how the stories all end.

Yay endings!

Let's wrap this year up, shall we?

Look at this artistic photo I took of our Christmas Tree!

In January, I continued with my Project 333 and minimalist mania, and The Care Package Project commenced. Not too shabby of a start.

February brought me waging a losing battle in a quest for a free lunch, a CPP failure and landslides. February sucked, now that I think about it.

In March, I let relationships go and experimented with saying yes. My grandpa's kidneys failed and he almost died. But he didn't. And update: He's still here. Every time I talk with him (like last night), it's a gift.

April! I wrote 13 straight days of posts for my mother's birthday, but then she was in Longview a lot dealing with the aforementioned kidney failure and all that entailed, so I'm not sure she even got to read any of them. Who cares, Grandpa is alive! Oh, yeah, and I gave up processed food for Lent and got shat upon by a bird. What the hell, April?

And then, in May, I won a huge gift basket that put my minimalist leanings to the test. Not really. I just gave a bunch of stuff away, which was fun. Update: We still have gift certificates to use. Oh, and we got to spend a day with family that we hadn't thought possible just a couple months before.

June kind of put us through the wringer a bit, what with Johanna's jerky stomach and the dude that went batshit crazy on me for misspelling a word in an article. But hey! It also brought us the church rummage sale, aka The Yearly Event In Which We Unload All Our Crap. So that was a win, at least.

July is always a favorite of mine because it's my birthday. Even though I'm old and shriveled now, I can't help but get excited when July rolls around. I didn't really post about it (because it was too good to be true), but this month began my new extended hours in the newsroom. Update: I even have more hours to write now, which again, seems too good to be true, and yet, here we are. I'm ridiculously happy.

Cranky Steve retired at the beginning of the month, and I was positive we'd never see him again, but Update Again: He stops by all the time. He's much happier, I think--he seems much more relaxed now. I'm glad.

And! We took our Very Washington Vacation (posts here, here, here and here). It was awesome. Even Port Angeles, which I hated every minute of, because now I have a new town to complain about. That's always fun.

Which brings us to August. More Washington State exploration (with my parents this time), a dash of saving the entire world, and a dollop of rage against the machine. I don't know. It was fine.

September! Back to school, lots of backseat driving with Abby, and not being able to hide the fact that my hair now is really, really gray. Update: It's even grayer now. We're SO CLOSE to no more dyed ends. That will be a good day. Update Too: Sometimes when I remember what 42 looks like, I rethink the wisdom of this plan. Let's all just be grateful that Eric seems to think I'm pretty anyway. Or is smart enough to fake it.

It's unfortunate I'm getting tired of writing this when we still have three months to cover. I did not think this through.

October is the tenth month, but "oct" means eight. We can all contemplate that one for a minute. In the Walker household, we did the usual fall stuff, I guess, but yadda yadda yadda, here's some pictures of Skilly enjoying the beautiful Pacific Northwest weather.

November! So close to being done! Eric and I are a power couple, in case you missed that newsflash. I should probably not be allowed unsupervised in the grocery store. Mom, Abby and I do good deeds.  The end.

Aaaaand December. Whew, are you still even with me at this point? I'm beginning to feel narcissistic with all this linking et al. Ah, well. I bogged down the internet with my Bonus Tuesdays. We had a minimalist Christmas, which was awesome, and a whole bunch of holiday related anxiety, which was not awesome, but those are posts for another time. Looking back on this month, since it's still so fresh in my mind, I just feel relief that it's over. My precious baby might have been born in December, but this is not necessarily a month I relish.

You know... it's interesting looking through old posts, for me, at least. Years are short, but days are long. I have no idea who said that first, but they were right.

More Updates: Lots of books books books, I am still in love with Project 333 and minimalism and... I don't know. We're together. That's the war right there.

See you in 2015.

Bonus Tuesday: Embracing mediocrity

Trisha's Note: Because I enjoy writing but am also easily sidetracked, I have a lot of unfinished posts just wallowing around in sad incompletion on my Blogger dash. I've decided to finish them because A) I like a challenge and 2) I don't want to party like it's 1999. Or 2014. I just want to stay home.

So that's what Bonus Tuesday is all about: a bonus post, written who knows when and about who knows what, that may or may not really deserve the light of day. (You're totally sold on the concept, aren't you?) I started working on this post early October, apparently. I just couldn't figure out how to get the words right. I still haven't, but hey, Bonus Tuesday waits for no one.

Source

I've been writing and rewriting this post for, no kidding, two weeks now*, and I've come to the conclusion that I have to just SAY IT or else this is never going to go live. Maybe the fates are trying to tell me something? Unfortunately, I'm kind of deaf from blasting New Kids on the Block on my walkman circa 1986.

Side note: My mother did warn me this would happen, but I didn't listen. Because the volume was up too high.

Anyway, about the time of my blogging break, a woman came into the office for an interview and she said something that kind of intrigued me, but not in the way she meant it to. I want to preface this by saying that she is an incredibly kind soul, and I appreciate so much what she was trying to do and the faith she has in me.

Here's what went down:

She's a teacher, and she was talking about what had been and what could have been in her own life, and how we should live with no regrets. In between answering my questions, she would ask me questions, and seemed to take to heart what I was saying, particularly about the teachers who saw my writing talent and nurtured that in me. So I'm telling her about good ol' Mrs. Smith in fifth grade, who believed in my stories so much she made copies of a collection I'd written and sent them off to various publishers, and then, since this woman also grew up here and we know mutual people, I added that my friend Mara really is being published.

At this she nods sagely, like she's just put together a puzzle, and asks me when I'm going to publish my story. I want to be the first to come into this office and have you autograph it, she adds.

And I'm like, well... but I was a child, and I'm okay with what I'm doing now. To which she's all, no, don't just be okay! Never settle! 

As I said, I really appreciate her faith in me, like I could just sit down and crank out a novel. She's nice. But instead of making me want to write a novel, it's just made me go round and round with myself on the line between success and settling: There's this idea that we constantly have to be reaching for more, have our sights on the next big thing, in order to be "successful." We're never able to just stop and be grateful for what we already have and what we've already accomplished because that's considered "settling."

But I am grateful. I'm happy, even. What does it says about me that I'm willing to settle? That I don't think I am? Am I taking a stand for minimalism or am I just being a brat? Or worse, lazy?

I don't know, you guys. I just don't.

*Try almost three months at this point.

Project 333 Fall cycle month three round-up

It's hard to believe that another Project 333 cycle is already over. That was fast. I'm not really planning to make any changes to my current wardrobe, even though technically I can on January 1 for the next three months. There's just nothing I really feel the need to mess with at this point. Not that THAT will stop me from writing about it in a few days. Because minimalism! Is fun!

And a girl can always change her mind. ;)

To recap, here's what I started out with... and what I'm ending with. The bottom list is much shorter. When will I get it through my thick skull that the more I cull from my closet, the better it gets? I can never seem to remember that at the start of a new season.

Oct. 1
Pants: Jeans, black, grey, beige
Skirts: Grey, denim, beige, multi-colored t-shirt
Tank tops: Navy, blue multi, orange multi, black/white
Blouses: Grey, black/white, teal, white
Long-sleeve t-shirts: Black, navy, nicer navy
Sweaters: Teal cardigan, grey turtleneck, grey cardigan, black cardigan, navy cardigan, blue pullover, black turtleneck pullover, grey sweatshirt, plum cardigan
Jackets: Denim, beige
Scarves: Red, navy and grey, navy and teal, orange
Shoes: Boots, ankle boots, Danskos, Cobb Hill cuties, future Cobb Hill flats, Converse All-Stars
Outerwear: Coat, gloves and hat

Dec. 29
Pants: Jeans, black, grey, dark beige
Skirts: Grey, denim, beige, multi-colored t-shirt
Tank tops: Black/white
Blouses: Black/white, white
Long-sleeve t-shirts: Black, navy, light blue
Sweaters: Teal cardigan, grey turtleneck, grey cardigan, black cardigan, navy cardigan, blue pullover, grey sweatshirt, plum cardigan, grey stripped pullover, purple zip-up, brick pullover
Scarves: Red, navy and grey, black
Shoes: Boots, ankle boots, Cobb Hill flats
Outerwear: Coat, gloves and hat

This month, I said goodbye to my teal button-down blouse (love the color, hate the button-down part) and retired a few of my scarves (they're more suited for spring and summer). Plus one new scarf ended up being a complete waste of a purchase: it's too big and bulky and makes me feel like a sumo wrestler when I wear it, which is probably why I don't.

And the surprise of the month? How did I never noticed how awesome my white button-down blouse looks underneath my pullover sweaters?! (I guess blouses don't bother me when they're hidden. And neutral.) It's been the workhorse of December.

Abby took my denim jacket out of retirement this month for her own use, and I was happy to be able to loan it to her. It stretched her wardrobe and seemed to work well enough, despite her being a size smaller than I am. I don't think that counts in my total, though, since I wasn't the one wearing it. :)

The end, I guess. See you next season.