Year in Review

Most people take the New Year as an opportunity to capitalize on those goals they need to set for the next year, the bad habits they’re going to finally break, and the dreaded resolutions.  Instead I’m going to take a minute to look back on 2012, this photo represents a collage of moments from the past year that stick out in my mind.

 

First, 2012 marks the year that I officially graduated from college, while it will likely stick in my mind long beyond this year-it marked a changing of the guard for Jason and I.  Once I completed school, Jason picked up shortly thereafter, and has also somewhat taken on the role of Mister Mom while I went back to the working world.  I will clarify though, not only is Jason a fulltime student, but he also works part-time.  I wasn’t sure how this transition would play out, as Jason describes it:  Teri is very organized at work, but very disorganized at home; and I am just the opposite.  The statement couldn’t be more true, Jason likes a certain level of organization with shoes and jackets, toys, etc.; he will do dishes by hand, he has a stronger relationship with the vacuum than I do; but he couldn’t keep a schedule to save his life.  I’m not a messy person, but my outlook on a clean house is much different now that I have work, and kids extra-curricular activities to tend to as well.  It brings new meaning to compromise within our marriage, but one that we seem to be adjusting pretty well to thanks to calendar sharing via email, and a chore chart with items for each family member.   Our lives are crazy, but a good kind of crazy in that we share the burden of normal ‘life’ things, and most of the time neither of us feels too overwhelmed-and if we do, we work together or confide in each other.  You know, we’ve kind of grown up from the parents/people we were a few years ago. 

2012 also changed my outlook on life in general, it made me realize the impact that others around me have made on my life, negative and positive.  This clip really sums it up for me.  I have a greater understanding of who I am, who I want to be, and what others see me to be.  I have a saying on my desk at work that I reflect on daily, and when I was a stay at home mom it sat on the kitchen sink (what I would have considered my office at the time):  trust god that you are exactly where you are meant to be.  Many people could look at this and get some sort of meaning, for me it means-continue to be the best person you can be with the tools God has given you, regardless of your circumstances.  

Lastly, this year I finally took some time to ‘fix’ what I would consider to be a lifelong nuisance, that nuisance being my right ear.  The issues that lead to my surgery this past year are a result of a childhood filled of ear infections, and a young adulthood where I probably didn't tend to the infections the way I should have.  I've had a lot of people ask me about the surgery, so in layman’s terms I had a small tumor which consisted of dead skin and ear ‘excess’ removed from my ear, the need to remove the tumor is because there is keratin within the skin cells that comprise the tumor which break down the bones surrounding the area.  This puts my middle ear bones, and mastoid at risk.  Luckily it is a slowly progressing disease, so the cholesteatoma was what they consider ‘superficial’ in that it was just into my middle ear area and hadn't affected any of my bones.  Once in there the doctor removed the tumor, and grinded down my mastoid bone to clean the area surrounding the tumor.  He then reconstructed my ear drum, placing a cartilage graft taken from my ear canal, in the area where the tumor was removed, and a skin graft from behind my ear and place it over my entire ear drum to thicken the drum.  Years of infections had left the drum thinned out, and it basically ‘floated’ to the point where I could feel it when I breathed.  I am about 5-6 weeks post-op and feeling pretty good, I have some minor irritation with the incision which spans from the top to the bottom, just behind my ear.  The inside of my ear feels so much better, before the surgery I had constant pressure, ringing of the ear, always feeling the need to pop my ear, and when I had a cold I could have probably been rendered borderline hearing impaired.  While my hearing hasn't technically changed, I think with the pressure and ringing being gone it seems that much better.  In hindsight, I kick myself for waiting so long to fix this; I've dealt with it for 20+ years, so I look forward to many years of having two ‘normal’ ears.  There is a chance of recurrence of the cholesteatoma; however, I’ll cross that bring when and if I ever have to get to that point. 

What did your 2012 reveal to you?  Mine revealed all of the amazing moments above, complete with the beautiful smiles of my children, milestone moments, and time spent with family and friends.  I'm wishing each and every one of you a wonderful holiday season to reflect on what 2012 meant to you, embrace 2013 and the enlightening experiences it will bring to your life.