Mandatory Retrospective: 2013

Holy crap, what a year.

I mean, What. A. Year.  (in the parlance of the age)

But really, it was a biggie.  So many ups and downs, and so many things that have been long-awaited finally arrived. Some arrived with a BOOM, some trickled in, some snuck in mostly unnoticed.

For me, I finished school for Massage Therapy.  It was a year-long program that was really freaking intense, and I finished in August with a 4.0.  I've never had a 4.0 before, and it was a novel and somewhat unsettling experience.  I was motivated by fear of failure; I was afraid that if I gave myself an inch, I'd fail by a mile.  Any time I found myself not completely understanding a concept, I would be online, researching through the Mayo Clinic's website or getting onto Harvard School of Medicine's databases until I knew everything I could. In retrospect, I may have gone a trifle overboard, but after training to be a classical flutist and doing auditions, the only preparation I know how to do is the massively overachieving kind.

Just before I finished massage school, I took my state certification exam and well, I over-prepared again and blasted about 200 points over the "pass" level.  I'm actually pretty proud of that one.  Immediately upon passing, I applied for my state license, which I got as soon as I finally graduated and sent in my certificate.

I had picked up a couple small jobs at salons, but they were not yielding many clients, so within a week of getting my license in hand, I had arranged three interviews with chiropractors.  I got offered the first one and I accepted, so I had a really great job (for me, anyway) two weeks out of school.

I'm still teaching flute privately Tuesdays and Thursdays (afternoons and evenings) and all day Fridays, and working at the chiro all day Mondays and Wednesdays, Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and Saturday mornings. Yes, it's busy.  Very, very busy, but it'll settle out sometime.

My husband (he who shall not be blogged about) got a tremendous honor this year and a long-awaited achievement. I'm very proud and relieved.

My kids started a new school which we have yet to decide if it was a good or poor decision.  It looked great 'on paper' but we're having some settling-in pains.

So all in all, a big year for our little clan.  I am hoping that this next year, without all the pressure and pent-up worry and anticipation, things have a chance to bloom fully and lush.