I’m still here. I’ve learned a lot in the past year. But I’ll just hit five highlights:

1. Eleven lines are coming for us all. But in my world, they’ve brought their tent, smore-making supplies, solar panels and camped out directly between my eyebrows. I’ve contemplated Botox, sure. But then I think to myself, “Hmmm… that would be the same cost as a new garden bed.” Garden beds are probably always going to win. Instead I got bangs like Goldie Hawn. Goldie knows about hair.

2. My children grew a lot. I didn’t authorize this speed-growing, but I wasn’t consulted. Jane goes to dances and sings in a choir now. What happened? She was just licking subway poles and wearing tutus. Now she almost looks me in the eye when we stand side by side. Gabriel decided this was going to be the year he talked, much to all of our relief and excitement. It turns out he’s been storing up a lot to say about anything with wheels, any food he doesn’t care for, or when I take the wrong turn on a walk and he holds his arm out like an old fashioned turn signal and says, “No, mama, we go dat way.”

3. I got married in December. His name is Charley. This house is a happy house. This is where I was meant to be. Every single step I took in the past 20 years led me right here to this house, with these children, married to the kindest man I know. I would do it all over in a heartbeat, even the sad parts, the brutal parts, the heartbreaking parts. All of those parts brought me home.

4. Work taught me a lot of lessons. Like if you don’t walk, your pants stop fitting. It seems like something I should have just KNOWN, but when work requires you to be glued to your computer 60 hours a week, you stop walking. And your pants stop fitting. So now I walk. Seems simple right? I also confiscated the dining room and made it into an office. If I’m going to spend long hours in a room, I want to be inspired. I don’t care what anyone says about electric fireplaces, they are the new-build’s best hygge friend. Also, the wall light is crooked, and now I’m the kind of person who doesn’t care about that.

5. You CAN wallpaper textured walls. Opalhouse Peel and Stick from Target… highly recommend.

So that’s it. Well, not all of it, but the highlights.

I’ll be back.