2018 in Review

31 Dec

Looking back at the calendar to get a sense of what the heck happened in 2018, my overwhelming thought is, “Man! What a busy year!” Mike was out of town a ton, so Michaela and I had lots of time together perfecting our daily routine. But we also did a lot of fun things as a family, just the three of us, including hosting Nibblet, the 2nd grade class guinea pig, during spring break and for a month during the summer, going to a taiko drum performance, and getting Michaela get on the jumbotron at a San Diego Gulls hockey game. We traveled as a family to Oklahoma for a week, and to the Philippines for just under two weeks around Thanksgiving. Mike and Michaela even joined me for an overnight when I was at a work conference!

I feel like this year, I got to spend quality time with friends. We’re at the point in our lives where there’s a lot of 40th birthday celebrating, so there was plenty of that, but also two girls’ trips with college friends this year (one a baby sprinkle and one our usual annual trip).

Michaela and I had many mother-daughter adventures. With Mike being gone, the two of us did a lot of rollerskating, we participated in the 32nd annual Bay Bridge Run/Walk and our third Live Well 5K. We marched in the Women’s March. I chaperoned a weekend campout with her Girl Scout troop. And in the summer, she and I had a girls’ trip to Palm Springs, which was fantastic. I love traveling with her!

We bought a new house in August, which is obviously a highlight, but also the source of a lot of stress! Moving sucks, and our house is still a construction zone. But we have the nicest neighbors, and there are a lot of kids on our new street. They all play together, riding bikes and scooters and jumping on a trampoline that someone has in the front yard. Heck, one family that doesn’t even have kids opens their pool up to the neighborhood kids! Not to mention impromptu dinner parties and sharing drinks and conversation.

Michaela started 3rd grade after a summer of new camps (jump rope camp and Camp Cahito) plus her long-time favorite Zoo Camp. She tried glassblowing! And of course she celebrated her 9th birthday in December.

Family-wise, we lost Grandma Pat in February. Another low point was my mom’s liver cancer diagnosis, but the treatment she had appears to have been successful and she tolerated it very well. That’s a huge relief, although there’s still a lot unknown. We’re at a point where our parents are getting older, which is why it’s nice we’re able to spend time with them. Mike’s mom and stepdad came out in September and stayed with Michaela while Mike took me on a surprise trip to Mexico City to celebrate our 10th anniversary, and Michaela spent her customary week in Denver with Nana and Papa (followed by a weekend trip to Austin to meet her dad for a father-daughter trip).

On the professional front, I ended my tenure on the board of the California School Public Relations Association, was a finalist for the San Diego Business Journal 40 Under 40 awards, and picked u several awards for my work from the San Diego Press Club. And on the personal front, I went to several concerns (Erasure and Morrissey– my 13th time!) and got a personal trainer and worked out with her weekly beginning in June.

I have a lot of things I’d like to accomplish in 2019:

My “40 before 40” list has a lot still to do.

Mike, Michaela, and I have talked about a family resolution that each Sunday night, we’ll make pizza and have a board game night at home.

Michaela asked that I re-up my resolution from 2018: spend less time on my phone.

I also want to continue cooking at home more and eating out less, and get back to doing yoga.

Here’s to a happy new year!

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