Jan
8
Leaving (for) Las Vegas
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People have strong opinions about Las Vegas, have you noticed that? I guess it’s kind of like Disneyland, some people love it and want to go there all the time, and some people would rather have a piping-hot biscuits-n-gravy enema.
I’m firmly in the pro camp when it comes to Vegas. It was an enormously exciting destination during my twenties, and then there was this amazing year when JB and I picked up and moved there. We’d only been together about six months, and neither one of us had ventured very far from our hometowns in Oregon, so the whole thing felt thrilling and a little terrifying and utterly exotic and I loved every minute of it.
We rented a cute house in the suburbs — I can still remember the address: Aspen Knoll Drive, Henderson — and spent our weekends bouncing around the Strip and hiking in Utah. We got engaged there, at midnight on Y2K. We didn’t stay long before job situations shifted and we packed everything back up in a U-Haul (in sweltering August weather, which I do not recommend) and relocated to Seattle, but it was a wonderful adventure.
(I like how the standout moments from our recruitment trip involved the gloriously cheesy Race for Atlantis ride and a titty bar.)
JB and I haven’t been back as a couple since we moved, but we’ll be there all next week on a combined work trip (JB has a trade show) and vacation. I know better than to think that visiting Las Vegas now will be anything like it used to be, but I can’t wait to see it again. If only for kid-free hotel room, which sounds like a nearly unimaginable luxury right this minute.
Also, I’m taking suggestions, if you want to share your favorite Vegas show or restaurant. I’m thinking about getting tickets to “O,” although I can easily imagine us doing nothing much more than wandering around people-watching then blissfully crashing for the night at 9 PM. I guess a few things have changed in the last fourteen years.
Dec
31
New Year’s quiz, 2013
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After filling in the same year-end questionnaire in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011, I skipped it last year. It felt right at the time, and I had every intention of doing so this year as well. But then I changed my mind. I think about how I look back on 2013 and at first my mind kind of hangs on the awfulness of the beginning of my summer, the relapse that left me so ashamed and truly hating myself in a bleak way I’d never quite experienced before. I think, wow, 2013 was kind of rough. But then I think, I have 6 months on my sobriety counter right now. That’s half a year of getting healthier and happier and regaining what what lost.
2013 wasn’t so bad at all, really. It had its ups and downs, like every year. And here I am at the cusp of 2014, feeling strong and so goddamned hopeful. So let’s do this thing.
1. What did you do in 213 that you’d never done before?
The thing that stands out is our family vacation in July. I have so many wonderful memories from that trip.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
Here’s what I wrote last year:
I want more of the same. I want more of this unspectacular, unassuming life. I want more messes, screeching voices, and floors strewn with foot-stabbing Legos. More laughter, eye-rolls, and ridiculous jokes. More wrestling matches, more campfire smoke clinging to dirt-smeared jackets, more foggy mornings spent gazing out at the river from the cabin. More checks sent to me because I may not be curing cancer but goddamn, I get paid to write, and how awesome is that? This is all good enough. This is all I could ask for.
This all happened. Every bit of it.
For 2014, I hope to continue the fitness program that’s been so incredibly good for me in recent months. I hope to diversify my work a bit. I hope to stay healthy. I hope to show my family how much I love them on a daily basis.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Many casual friends and acquaintances, but no one particularly close.
4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thank goodness.
5. What countries did you visit?
None. I think the only real traveling I did was a brief trip to New York in March.
6. What would you like to have in 2014 that you lacked in 2013?
More life balance, I guess. I don’t know how possible that is right now, with me freelancing and the kids home so often. Maybe when both boys are in school full time next fall … but really, this one comes down to me.
7. What dates from 2013 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
June, because it was my lowest point and thus a springboard.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Pulling out of that tailspin and fully committing to sobriety. While I know better than to feel complacent, I do feel immense amounts of gratitude. I also re-embraced healthy eating and exercise, which I had been allowing to fall by the wayside, and I’m increasingly happy with the person I see in the mirror (and not just because she’s by-god rocking her old skinny jeans).
9. What was your biggest failure?
See #7, and the backsliding moments that led up to that day.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
No.
11. What was the best thing you bought?
Counseling sessions. A personal trainer. A Hitachi Magic Wand. (What?)
12. Where did most of your money go?
The mortgage, savings, college accounts, Honeycrisp apples.
13. What did you get really excited about?
I was super geeked about our summer road trip. I couldn’t WAIT to see Gravity. (Expectations: met!) I’m pretty excited about the fact that JB and I are spending a no-kids week in Vegas in January.
14. What song will always remind you of 2013?
There’s this Matisyahu song called “Live Like a Warrior” that’s a little cheesy but also awesome and I love the lyrics:
Some things you should let go, they’re only gonna pull you down,
Just like weight on your shoulder they are only gonna make you drown
We all swing high, we all swing low,
We all got secrets people don’t know
We all got dreams we can’t let go,
We want to brave, don’t be afraid
15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
– happier or sadder? Happier.
– thinner or fatter? Thinner, for sure.
– richer or poorer? Financially better off — although maybe not at this exact post-Christmas post-December-heating bill moment in time.
16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I wish I’d stepped outside my comfort zone more often.
17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Losing my temper with the kids.
18. How did you spend Christmas?
Here in Eugene, at our house on Christmas morning and my brother-in-law’s for dinner. It was lovely.
19. What was your favorite TV program?
Same answer as in years past, but with extra emphasis because of it being the final season and all: Breaking Bad. I also obsessed over The Walking Dead, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, and we’re currently re-enjoying Battlestar Galactica from the beginning.
20. What were your favorite books of the year?
The Fault in Our Stars, We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Silent Wife, Tiny Beautiful Things.
21. What was your favorite music from this year?
I only bought singles in 2013, it seems. Maybe OVERWERK’s “Daybreak,” because I’ve played it so many times in my workout mixes.
22. What were your favorite films of the year?
Why can’t I think of ANY movies I’ve seen this year? Uhhhh. Uh uh uh. Safety Not Guaranteed, Django Unchained, Mud, Captain Phillips, Gravity, Iron Man 3, Catching Fire … I feel like I’m forgetting a lot.
23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I was 39, and I literally cannot remember what we did. Something low-key but nice, I’m sure.
Here were the other birthdays are actually far more important to me than my own: Dylan, who turned 5, John, who turned 40, and Riley, who turned 8:
24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A good girlfriend. Hell, a bad girlfriend.
25. What kept you sane?
Making my health a priority. Feeling a (false?) sense of being connected to other people via social media. My husband, who really and truly just gets more amazing every year.
27. Share a valuable life lesson you learned in 2013.
It’s all about being present. Talking about the painful shit helps. Time heals, as does sweat. Good makeup brushes make all the difference. Always, always, always empty the dishwasher before going to bed.
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