Dear 2012 -
I have high hopes for you. 2011 was good to me, good to us, for the most part. It was a year filled with friends and family, travel and memories, food and laughter, health and wellness, interesting work and new opportunities. But there's always room for improvement. That's where you come in, 2012.
Your predecessor brought us fewer occasions to spend with loved ones than we would have liked. It is incumbent upon you to bring several more opportunities to visit Michigan, see old friends, meet and get to know the new ones they're bringing into the world and spend time with our parents and brothers and sisters. I'd also love to find myself at the end of your term riffling through pictures of travels elsewhere to be with those we love. Halifax, Boston, Toledo, Denver, Chicago, I'm not picky, just bring our hearts to those they love.
Just as important as bringing us to those we love, bring them back to us. Fill our table with the sounds of their laughter. Allow me to cook and cook and cook and fill every dish with the joy it gives me to share them. Let our dear ones return home or tuck themselves into our fluffy guest beds, full, content and with the same warmth from being in our house that we get by having them here. (Hear that people? Come visit! We'll feed you!)
I'm also demanding that you provide ample opportunities for B and I to exercise our travel personalities. Over the years, we've found that on vacation, especially just the two of us, we're different people. We laugh easier, smile more and banter faster and with ever-increasing wit. 2011 took us for a short Vegas vacation and a mini-trip to Chicago. 2012, to do right by me, bring longer travel somewhere farther flung. London? The Caribbean? Spain? I could content myself with any of these places, let's just choose and start planning.
Next, give my feet wings. In March, I run my first half marathon. I'm doing it for my health, for the satisfaction of knowing that I can accomplish something truly difficult with the right mindset and dedication. I'm doing it for the opportunity to spend some real, no kidding quality time with my little brother before he's all grown up. And finally, I'm doing it for my Dad. Because 2012, you're going to be WAY better to my Dad than your predecessor. This is not a request, it's a demand. The only way the word cancer will be uttered during your term will be as a memory of what he beat in 2011 and what he will continue to dominate.
Finally, while I was on the road in 2011 less than the previous year, I still slept 51 nights away from home for work. I averaged 50+ hours in the office per week (an average that was drastically impacted by a quiet November and December) and another 20+ hours per week from the warmth and comfort of my couch, but working nonetheless. I said "no" to more social engagements than I can count thanks to the constant, stressful grind that is my job. So 2012, here's what I want from you - a dramatic drop in work-related travel. How about 30 nights? That seems like a good, realistic goal. See what you can do. While you're at it, see what you can do to help B make it in the door 12 hours or less after he leaves every day. Help us spend more than one hour a night in the same room while still conscious. I'd love to request a way to diminish my average weekly hours, but I'm also realistic. With new demands and changes and opportunities on the horizon, I understand the need to keep up the crazy hours, but let's try to keep them up from the metro DC area.
I hope my expectations are clear, 2012. Get to work!
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