Year in Review: 2014

Each year in late December or early January I write a "year in review" post to recap the highs (and sometimes lows) of our lives that year. This year, not only did I miss that post...but well, I've been silent since early November. So even though we are rounding out the third month of 2015, I'd love to take this opportunity to look back over 2014 (and maybe fill in some of the updates I neglected to share).

• Travel: We got a decent amount of travel in. The biggest trip(s) being Mexico, of course, which was lovely in June because both my parents and all my siblings were able to come. We were also able to go camping (at Knoebels) and to DC (twice), Pittsburgh (a gazillion times), the beach (twice), and to Chicago to visit some friends I met through blogging.

• Last year before Kindergarten: The kids and I have been savoring this last year of flexibility in our schedule and all day togetherness before Leo begins Kindergarten in the fall.

• Reading: Not only has Leo begun to love (and even prefer) longer form chapter books to picture books, he has also begun reading words and some basic phonics books. He gets frustrated and impatient when it doesn't come easily, and I remind him that he doesn't have to do it if it's not enjoyable - but he insists he loves it. And he is always beaming with pride afterwards.

• Amusement: We hit three amusement parks last year: Diggerland, Sesame Place and Knoebel's. 

• Dad Stopped Chemo: My dad decided to stop treatment for his pancreatic cancer over the summer. He often said he felt he had lived a good life, but regretted not getting to retire to Mexico with mom as they had planned.  So,  that stemmed the Mexico trip that we all took together. It was amazing because we hadn't all been able to be in Mexico at the same time in years.

• Steph moved to LA: My sister, Stephanie, moved to California. Her fiancee (oh right! And she got engaged!!) is doing his residency out there. We miss them, but with Skype and FaceTime we are surviving.

• Zoe turned two, Leo turned four.

• Swimming: Well, kinda swimming. The kids got to spend more time in pools than ever before and have gotten fairly comfortable in the water. Between Mexico and the YMCA they have really evolved in their water comfort. At first they would both cling to me for dear life and whimper; now they can float around in their life jackets and kick their way across the pool.  I need to get them in swimming lessons now that they aren't terrified to get into the water.

• Lyme: Zoe was diagnosed with Lyme after a limp that wouldn't go away spurred us to take her to the ER. She was treated with a long and strong dose of antibiotics and we haven't seen any symptoms since. 

• First Movie: We took the kids to see Frozen, their first movie in the Theater. Initially Leo was the biggest fan, but over time his love of the film has waned, while Zoe's love of it has only grown. For christmas she got Elsa and Anna dresses and wore them NONSTOP for about two months.

• Alejandro: My dear cousin, Alejandro, passed away unexpectedly in December. It was a shock and a tragedy. Thankfully, jb encouraged me to jump on a plane to Mexico so I could be there with family. I hesitated because I'd never left the kids overnight before and Zoe was (and is) still nursing. I'm so glad I went. I ended up staying for five days, along with my mother. We buried him, spend time with family, began to go through his apartment. It was difficult, but I think I would have always regretted it if I didn't go.

• Writing workshop: I participated in a writing workshop for women of color at the Kelly Writer's House. It was good for me for several reasons: 1. It was time to focus on myself and be among adults. 2. It was a WOC space, and I didn't realize how seldom I'm among women of color and how much I missed it. 3. It made me think about my writing in a different way and what I would like to do beyond this blog/diary. 4. I got to read some great and varied writing and meet some pretty amazing women.

2014 was a good year despite some difficult things. I'm grateful for all of it, even the hard things, but I'm also glad to but much of it behind me and try to look forward. 

Past years in Review: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.