Out with the old...

In the waning moments of 2012 (which I am tempted to call "Overtime" after we all successfully survived the extremely exaggerated end-of-days phenomenon last week) I feel compelled to highlight some of the more noteworthy events of my family's year in a Special Wrap-up Post. I can't believe that for as long as I've now been writing this thing such a thought has never occurred to me before...nevertheless it seemed an appropriate point at which to begin the trend, as we've had a few Team WestEnders Firsts in the past 12 months.

For example, Derek was granted unconditional release from his (dental) Life Behind Bars, after orthodontic treatment that lasted almost five long years. He now boasts a mouthful of beautifully straight teeth--which he utilizes to full advantage by flashing his signature wicked grin to accompany his frequent smart-aleck comments. (On a related note, the pre-teen qualities of Withering Sarcasm and Obnoxious Sassiness have increased exponentially as well over the course of his 12th year. Yaaayyy.) Of course, somewhat ironically, Riley strolled (more like "was shoved, kicking and screaming") into Braces World himself, a few months later. To their mother, this makes both of them look sooooo much older and more grown up (sniffle)...

Which leads us to the most radical changes of 2012, taking place in the...ahem...."physical realm", if you will. Yes, this will go down in infamy as the year when my oldest son surpassed me, heightwise. And don't get me wrong, I always knew this day would come. Even when they were tiny babies, I'd already resolved myself--in the waaaayyyy back of my mind--to the fact that eventually I'd be the shortest person in the household for sure. In my head, though, I planned for that to happen when the boys were in, say, HIGH school, forcryingoutloud, not...7th grade. I still outweigh him (barely), but in the past 8 months since his annual checkup Derek has sprouted 4 inches taller and packed on 14 pounds. Considering that as recently as Thanksgiving I held a smidge of an advantage, I'd say it's a safe bet that he's not done with this spurt just yet. Scary enough to think that soon I'll have to tilt my head to look up at him...but also, as the person who is primarily responsible for purchasing, preparing, and plating the food he consumes, all I can add is: Yikessss! At least my "baby", Riley, although he's ahead of Derek's growth curve by several pounds and inches already, remains the perfect height to rest my chin on top of his head...for now...

And speaking of health-related revelations, during this span of calendar pages I learned a few things about myself. Chemically speaking: FE (iron) is GOOD...but too much C6H12O6 (glucose) is BAD. How do I know this? The evidence became quite clear--after several months of twice-daily iron supplements, I suddenly found my running routine to be suspiciously lacking the too familiar slog-through-the-quicksand feeling I'd been experiencing for, oh, a year maybe? And here I had just accepted it, resignedly accepting that I was just getting old and losing a step (or two...or twenty). However, I did lose something else instead: up to a minute off my per/mile time. Huh. Whaddya know? Around the same time I also was informed by my Primary Care Doctor that my long-term blood sugar indicator put me in the unfortunate range of "at risk to develop diabetes later in life". There immediately followed a brief, outraged burst of "what the HECK?" since the only possible factor I have against me is family history. Then the rational brain kicked back in and I took a long, hard look at just how much of the sweet stuff I was eating...in a mindless, habit-kind-of-fashion...oops. So I cut back. And about 13 pounds melted off almost instantly. Yet another "who'da thunk it" moment.

I suppose that's about it for the major news. We didn't move, or anything--although we did visit another country that was new to us all, namely our friendly neighbor to the South, Senor Mexico. (And frankly, given the cold, blustery weather we've been treated to the past several days, I suspect Derek's almost ripe to be swept right onto the old "Mom's relocating to California" bandwagon any minute now...) I'm looking forward to ringing in 2013 with friends and family, excellent party snacks for my growing boys...and maybe even a cookie or two. (Shhh! Festive Food does not count!) Happy New Year!