Bye bye bad year

2011 really did suck for us - it started on Christmas Day last year with everyone getting the stomach bug.

And here I am, 20 lbs heavier than I was this day last year. Yep, the scale said 209.6 this morning. That is a 24 lb gain from my lowest point on February 25th. The weight gain was definitely brought on my these bad things from the year:
Dan getting laid off….stressful, but in the long run the best thing every
Dan’s surgery….with people we know facing cancers and other life threatening illnesses, it was nothing but extremely stressful for me as I had 3 babies to take care of for 8 weeks and our dreams for the summer disappeared

Stress of mammogram….this really was my major stressor this year - I was extremely anxious all year because of it. I've got to figure out how to live with it because as I well know, any year they could find something, but I can't let it paralyze me like it did. Just the thought of being sick or dieing and leaving my children motherless is more than I can bear.
Lack of exercise….I tried exercising in January, I tried exercising right before Dan's accident. But I did successfully complete C25K, just not with the time I wanted, and I didn't do any other cardio or strength training like I wanted

Not as good with our money as we should have been…but we saved for dan’s school and provided well for our children

The disappointment of maybe not being able to move in 2012 - We should have rung in 2012 with our major house repairs done, ready to go rent a storage unit and put our house on the market in March. Besides Dan's employment status, this is our big unknown (as of now) for 2012. Who knows where we will be ringing in 2013.

A really, really long winter…last winter, with snow cover from December 1 - March 25, really sucked the life out of a lot of people and really left me gun-shy when it came to this winter. The Halloween storm freaked me out thinking we might see snow from October 31 on, but it had been unseasonably warm this fall. Even if we got a blizzard a week in January like we did last year, I think I would be oky with it.
3 ½ weeks of bronchitis ….but I got back to running and did my first 5K

Besides C25K, I did really nothing for myself – I didn’t make any traction with any of my hobbies, and now I am well a year behind in scrapbooking. This was another thing that really sucked this year. That and I was used to having 10 hours a week to myself in my house and I don't think I have had 10 hours, probably not even 5, since March. I need that me time, I need my alone time. Without it I am not a happy person and the PMSing even makes it worse.

But on to the good.....