How was YOUR 2012?

So it has been another year, blah blah blah. How many times have you read that crap? And, of course, the whole "New Year, New You" business that's inevitably a part of it, particularly when marketed to women. What I like to do at the end of the year is count my blessings, and this year is no different. So here it is: Blessings 2012, Shepherd Style. Zach had his last of everything high school: last wrestling season, in which he finally realized his dream of making state. His last band concert, which was a little hard to watch. I can't believe he is so grown up now. He continues to be a dream of a stepchild. He graduated in May, took a full course load at the local college this summer, and aced his first fall semester. He will start January 2013 as a sophomore. He has a lot of changes coming up in his life this summer, but he is a mature and responsible kid, and I am so proud of him. I feel blessed to be in his orbit. Hunter is taking his first college class, Chemistry, and I can't believe how smart he is. He didn't get it from me, for sure. He got the second highest score in the grade in his pre-ACT test. Again, didn't get that from me. He turned 16, which was a stressful couple of weeks in terms of adjusting to the price of gas and finding a driveable vehicle, but he did adjust, thank goodness. He works two jobs in addition to school, and is doing very well at balancing it all. He impressed me during the election season with his informed opinions and desire to learn about the political process. I'm not worried about him. Zane had an amazing year. He has worked through a lot and seems so well-adjusted now. I didn't think it was possible for him to be any funnier, but he is. He has grown a LOT. At the beginning of last year, he was almost my height. Now he is taller than me and Hunter, and just about taller than Zach. I give him another year before he will be taller than Bill. He is doing great in school, as usual, and says he wants to work with me when he turns 16, which is a great compliment. I love hanging out with him. Bill and I had some adjustments to make as we had to bid our old house goodbye and start over. Our new house has ended up being better for everyone, though. Even though it's further from town, it's our little piece of heaven. I'd love to have a better signal and even a kind-of decent internet connection, but you can't have it all. We're closer than ever, despite the obstacles that we have faced with his ex-wife and her inability to be happy. Hopefully in 2013, she will find her happiness. I graduated from Pitt State in May, and after a semester off, decided to go back and start my graduate degree in January. I also started an amazing new job in May at the theater, and have never had a more rewarding job in my life. Everybody should have a job that they are excited to go to. The people I work with are awesome, and I love every single one of them. I kept my health, which is a blessing every day, and although Bill has had a few problems with his back and feet, he's still going strong, too. I have loved having him around more this year. We're talking about doing some traveling when the kids graduate, which will happen quicker than we know. I can't believe they're 18, 16 and 15 now. Time goes too fast, as many of you know. All in all, I think 2013 is looking to be a great year, too. I'm really excited at the changes to come, and ready to take them on with my family by my side. Oh, and I'll probably diet from January 1-2, as always. How was YOUR 2012?

Ch-ch-ch-changes!

Starting next month, I am leaving Heartland and starting a new phase of life at Pitt State.
Part of this probably has to do with the fact that I am getting older, and want to explore as many things as I can before I'm too old to care.
Has anyone else ever felt that way? It's not a mid-life crisis, exactly; actually, I think it has more to do with cancer. I had no real motivation or ambition before cancer. I just drifted, really. But once I had that death scare, I realized that I want to do a lot more things before I die.
I got this position at Pitt State, as a graduate assistant in employer relations, and I think it will be more challenging. I will get to conduct all the mock interviews for the campus and grade them. I get to research stuff I care about. The condition to employment is that I have to stay enrolled in school; no problem, because I miss it there. So I'm taking six hours in grad school and working part time on campus. I'll still keep my theater job because I freaking love it.
I'll get paid a fair amount, but with gas prices factored in, I won't make as much as I did at Heartland.
Something that has fallen by the wayside this month, though, is my book. I wish NaNoWriMo had a December contest, too, so that I could have kept pace with my word count. As it stands, I'm just past 60,000 words, and plot-wise, hovering around the two-thirds to three-fourths mark. I think about all I need to do, with finishing, and then editing, and then marketing, and I get so freakin' tired.
And then I like hanging out with my dang kids too much. They're fun. I miss seeing the oldest, but he did ask me to go with him to enroll for the spring semester. We had so much fun doing that - I think the highlight was when he snuck into the teacher's lounge and stole some cake, then the advisor called us in right after that. He had chocolate all over himself.
But I digress. He's really excited about taking Philosophy, which made me happy. Although he's not around as much, he's doing ok considering all the changes happening in his life. The youngest is always awesome. We get each other, and have our own bond. I am so glad to have them and to have their support. They are the best stepkids in the world (sorry, all you other stepkids, you didn't make the cut).
This is kind of rambly, but I hadn't posted in a while, so to all my readers (ha!), chill out. There were holidays and stuff.
Have a kick-ass New Year (I'll be working, so have fun for both of us) and I'll see ya in 2013!