News from the front: I finally got a new job! I've been busy getting started there and putting the past behind me.
Nearly all of 2012, for me, was spent searching for this new job. I'm lucky my new place chose me, and I'm lucky to live here in Bloomington, Illinois, where there are still choices available and I can decide to look for a new job and eventually find success. I know in this country right now, not many people can say that.
Now I'm looking forward to 2013. I feel like it's going to be a banner year for the Arnolts household. My husband will complete his Master's degree. My son will turn 3 years old and WILL be potty trained. The world will keep on spinning, and hopefully, changing for the better. I've set some goals for myself. Hopefully I can relay my progress to my readers through this page. Please stay tuned!
2012 was mostly a calamity. Part of my radio silence for the last little while was prompted by Sandy Hook. I wanted to come on here and rant endlessly about the failure of every legislator in the US to take gun violence seriously. But I was plagued with grief for the tiny babies who were lost. All I could think was, what if one of those babies was their parents ONLY baby? The Sandy Hook tragedy was overwhelming, unnecessary, and unbearably hard to wrap my mind around. Still, every mention of it makes me weepy.
Luckily, the election turned out just as I knew it would. I say luckily for a whole host of reasons, but in this instance, I say it because I'm hopeful that President Obama, more than any other person, can achieve some meaningful change to gun laws that will protect my husband - a teacher - and my son - a baby and future public school student - and myself - a private citizen with everything to lose. I won't even bother to apply my sentiments to Illinois. This state is so backwards, I hold out no hope and see no point in wasting my breath.
In Washington DC, of course, it's business as usual. Which is to say, no one who has been elected to represent us can make tough decisions unless they receive assurances that the big money is still behind them - which isn't the "us" they were chosen to represent. If the fiscal cliff "negotiations" didn't give each person reason to pause and realize each legislator's true measure, I don't know what will. Without doubt, we will face the same last-minute scrambling when the next law with a deadline comes "creeping" up on us.
It makes me sad that this is the state of our union. But there are many other types and forms of unions that are equally important in my life where my voice can be heard. This is my hope for 2013.
