I'm finally getting to this recap almost a third of the way into 2012. I actually did start writing it on New Year's Eve, but my thoughts had since dissolved. Each time I revisited the entry, it got shorter and shorter and now I'm starting from scratch... except for the first line below. That still rings true.
I'm glad 2011 is done, but I already miss it.
Our first full year with a baby is behind us, and it went as fast as everyone said it would. For some reason I expected it to get easier as the year went on, but I was wrong about that. Looking back, the first few weeks and months after Veronica's arrival were a honeymoon. The challenge started later, when I realized my new responsibilities weren't going away any time soon. Raising a child is not a sprint. It's not even a marathon. It's more like running for the rest... of... your... life.
Many of you are parents so you know how much time and energy it takes. Sometimes it feels like there's not enough left over to be a good husband, employee, son, or whatever other role I hold. For a people pleaser like me, that can cause a lot of stress. Veronica went straight to the top of my priority list. And everything and everyone else dropped a notch. That might not have been "right" or necessary, but it's what happened. My dealing with the rest of the world dealing with that fact -- or at least my perception of their dealing -- was the negative side of 2011. Balance is important and, for a while, it felt impossible to find.
One thing is for sure: my love for Veronica has grown every day since she was born, and I loved her a lot from the beginning. She is everything I could want in a daughter and so much more than I could have imagined. Seeing her grow up makes me so happy and so sad at the same time. I miss the little baby she was, yet I am so excited to see the person she is becoming. R and I are so lucky to have each other and to have her.
So what else did we do last year? To be honest it all feels like a big blur. Looking on the Three Peas blog, I see we traveled to Cambria, LA, San Diego, Colorado, and Minnesota (four times as a family and once on my own for work). I'm still working from home for the same company. My hobbies and exercise still make an occasional appearance, although I'm less obsessive about them. I still love Santa Barbara and still miss being in closer proximity to our relatives. Being a part of my own (three-person) family now makes it easier and more difficult being away, which is just another example the contrasting feelings I have about the year.
2012 is off to a good start. I've already met some goals by getting out camping once so far and by taking a public speaking course. Not sure I will have the chance to jump into many creative projects this year, but I'm definitely going to continue the photography efforts and I do want to write more frequently on this blog. I'm thinking about starting a new series of entries in which I look back on some older projects I've done. It will be a way to share/document some of my video work that hasn't been put online yet and also give you some context for it (some of it might be too embarrassing without the context).
So I guess that's it. I hope to write to you again soon-
