"Hapy" New Year

Happy New Year? More like Hapy new year, given the inundation of rain across the country and the expectation of way more to come with this year's monster El Niño gathering strength in the Pacific. 

What a different opening to the New Year compared to last year. Rather than a crazy time of packing and moving and cleaning and painting and general upheaval and change, we were able to enjoy a quiet holiday vacation. (Well, except for the noroviruses that seemed to continually plague us.)

As the new year opens, Liam is five and Connor is two, so things are still kind of crazy for me as a mom, but it gets a little better each month as Connor gets older. Meanwhile I'm still getting used to the way Liam now informs me he doesn't need my help now and then. He is also very bossy sometimes and reflects my own tone of voice back at me more than I care to hear. (Kids are a constant reminder of how one needs to self-improve. Constantly.) Connor isn't in preschool yet, but Liam is halfway through transitional kindergarten. (He turned five too late in the fall to make it into kindergarten.)

This year marks my third with Art Muse LA. The tours have been fun--everything from WW1 to Peruvian mummies. There's not much I can't research a prep a two hour lecture on for a tour. I also continue as the digital assets manager, an ideal role since I can do it remotely. And there's a new non-profit arts organization that's expressed interest in hiring me in a similar capacity. They are still getting themselves organized, but I hope it comes through. They quoted me a premium rate for my services. Here's hoping! In two or three years when Connor is older I'll have some more work flexibility, but until then I've found working for Art Muse LA to be an excellent chance to work and still be there for the boys day-to-day. Photography has also become an interest and something of a side job--from time to time I'm hired to take family pictures for friends and acquaintances.

Eric, of course, is always applying for jobs. In fact, he is interviewing today. Between his numerous job applications and involvement in an elite professional development program at the university, I hope 2016 is our sweet '16--the year we finally get our break and he gets a higher paying job. Some jobs he applies for are academic, but others are in the mix as well, such as the job with the academic senate he's interviewing for today. With his position as an academic counselor for transfer and first generation college students at UCLA, he's gotten experience that opens him up to other types of jobs, broadening the field of jobs he applies for. The job market is rough, to say the least, even outside of academia. I'd love it if he found something outside of LA, but that may be too much to ask right now.

Regarding my journal writing, I didn't manage as many entries as I'd like last year, but I did better than the previous two years. As Connor gets older and Liam grows more independent, I'm steadily growing back into habits and activities that fell by the wayside during those years of pregnancy and mothering an infant and toddler. With the 21st century wonder of Audible, I certainly read more books I have in years last year. The past couple of years I managed to read only one or two books, but last year I read twelve! My 2015 reading list was as follows:

2015 Reads

John Adams - David McCullough

1776 - David McCullough

Sex at Dawn - Christopher Ryan

The Martian - Andy Weir

The Ballad of Tom Dooley - Sharyn McCrumb

Outlander - Diana Galbadon

Depraved Heart - Patricia Cornwell

Dragonfly in Amber - Diana Gabaldon

The Halloween Tree - Ray Bradbury

Dust and Shadow - Lyndsay Faye

Star of the East - Tasha Alexander

Nora Bonesteel's Christmas Past - Sharyn McCrumb