Happy (almost) New Year! Or more importantly, happy end of 2016! (More on that in a minute.)
As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we had a wonderful Christmas followed by a fantastic early third birthday celebration for Essley with our family on Monday. Today we were supposed to go to a fancy hotel downtown where we'd be posted up for a few days while Robbie works the band's three night New Year run (they haven't played here in Chicago for NYE in years and we have been very excited). We were also supposed to have another casual birthday gathering for Essley with some of her band/crew kid friends at the venue tomorrow. But yesterday, on Essley's actual birthday, we ended up in the ER with her for a 106 degree fever. It turns out she has a terrible case of the flu (which I gave to her and am just getting over), and when she was released, the doctors told us no activity for her for several days. So our fancy hotel stay and her birthday party with friends have been canceled. She does seems to feel a little better today, and while Emmett now has a fever and is showing signs, seems to (fingers crossed) have a lesser version. There is nothing worse for me than seeing my kids sick, so I'm just hoping this will pass quickly. My birthday is January 1st, and New Year's Eve was supposed to be my first kids-free night in two years, so I'm hoping things improve quickly for selfish reason as well. Oh, and I got pulled over last night too, because I forgot to turn my headlights on. That sums things up pretty well, actually.
For my last post of the year, I usually go into a semi-dramatic musing on how strange it is for the year to be over, and I usually talk about how wonderful the year was for me. This year, my friends, was not that year. I like to stay positive. It works for me. But after Emmett was born on January 9th, 2016 just went to shit. Perhaps when David Bowie died the day after Emmett's birth (a few hours later, actually), we should have all been warned, huh? There just aren't a lot of people who feel like this was our greatest - or even a somewhat decent - year, and I'm on their team. On top of the obvious for me (Emmett's illness), my stepfather has been fighting stage 4 cancer. I don't talk about it here because it's a private situation and this isn't the proper place for it, but it hasn't been an easy time for my family. Collectively, we lost all sorts of incredible and influential famous people this year. A man who admittedly terrifies me was elected to president of the United States. And the world just seems to be falling apart, filled with violence and brutality and hatred.
It's been a difficult, depressing year. But I believe in hope. I genuinely believe that positive collective thought, good vibes, prayers, and hope saved Emmett. And I believe they could save the human race too.
That said, here's to you 2017. You've got a lot of pressure on you, and it's not going to be easy. But there are millions and millions of people who have faith in you and who can't wait for your arrival. I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to cry some serious tears of joy when that clock strikes midnight on Saturday night.
Whatever your plans, I hope you enjoy your New Years celebrations. I'll be back next year (on January 4th, which is technically only a few days away, but it's fun to say "see you next year," right?) with a bunch of cool new content. Thank you for being such incredible readers and social media followers. I'm so grateful for all of you. See you in 2017!
Top image from our holiday card collection, available here.
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random thoughts/life
You know, my feelings about 2016 have been very similar to yours, albeit some of them for totally different reasons - and some of them absolutely the same ones. But someone said something to be the other day that really stuck; the world hasn't changed, the way we received information has. Terrible things have always happened, terrifying men have always held office, but until now we haven't been bombarded with the realities everyday, everywhere we look, in the way we are now. In the case of some of what I've dealt with, it made me realize that without the internet, a lot of what I've suffered this year, I likely would have totally missed. It's cold comfort, but at the same time, perhaps this gives us a bit more hope for 2017. Wishing you and your family all the best for the new year, Melissa!
ReplyDeletexox,
Cee
That is a great point, Cee. In my personal case, I could very much see this being true aside from my son's illness (and our president elect). Even if all of the other "bad things" hadn't transpired, I think it will still be the worst year I can remember because of that alone. Lots of great things have happened too, of course. All we can do is stay positive and make the best of our current realtors, be kind, and help one another. xo
DeleteHappy new year!
ReplyDeleteI hope you get to spend your birthday the way the good lord intended you to: In a killer dress and eyeliner, backstage with Champagne in your gullet. Love you! Happy birthday.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry about your stepdad. Keeping your family in my prayers.
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