Felt blah about doing a goodbye 2012, hello 2013 post, so 8 days into the new year, I'll just say, it was a tough year. And we made it. I can only speak for myself but I think it's safe to say no one in this household quite reached a point of serenity - but we'll take the moments of peace, the fits of laughter, the quiet afternoons.

Kind of excited about these new Shaklee vitamins I just started. My MIL and SIL are both fans. Aside from the fact that a gal who's not winning the mid-30s staredown really should be taking a quality multivitamin, I am paying (through the nose) for these because I've done some research and heard they're good for scalp and hair health. Good old vanity. It's no secret that no matter how deeply I love my hair, it doesn't love me back - since college it's been jumping ship and there always seems to be more of it clogging the drain than on my head. I'm weary of finding angles and comb-overs that minimize the baldy spots, weary of hairstylists' pursed lips and pauses and "Oh, it's not ... so bad"s ... Almost had a breakdown last month when I saw a photo taken at my brother's birthday dinner and realized it's so much worse than I thought. Heartless camera! Ruthless genes! But then, you know? I realized ... what are you gonna do? It's just hair. I'd like to say maybe I have achieved some level of serenity after all, but if that were true I wouldn't be paying $80/mo. for vitamins that I can only hope will make a modicum of a difference to my hairline.

Haven't made this really public yet but we registered for the marathon - not because we are so gung-ho to tear up our bodies again, or even because we are motivated to Do Something Great This Year but because 1) in this lifetime, I have to replace my 8+ hr time with something, well, shorter - and 2) it was so git-danged cheap. $1 per mile = $26.20, not a huge loss if something goes wrong or if we just don't feel like getting up that morning.

No newspaper column this time (see, I learned something from my last experience, even if it wasn't how to be a good runner). No promises/threats/self-bribery to keep ourselves in check. When we feel like running, we'll run, and if we're in the right shape this December 8, we'll sprint out of the chute and hobble to the finish line together.

I don't miss running but I miss the sense of community that running offers, and this in itself might be enough to bring us back.

We'll see.

In the meantime, I made all sorts of cliche New Year's resolutions (and am actually sticking to them - the key is to start before Jan 1) - like, get rid of crap we don't use, take in the recycling, increase legumes in our diet, get creative at work, start a vitamin regimen, save money. Overall, pretty happy - again, not quite serene, but happy to be where we are, where I am ... and propelled by an underlying energy to keep moving, keep doing ... which is something that I lacked for much of 2012. I feel less encumbered, and I know I have less stuff in general (fewer material possessions, fewer issues, fewer grudges) than before, which might be helpful in this new ability to move, create, teach, learn more freely.

Good show, as my dad would say. Goooood show.