New calendar, new year

I stopped off at Barnes & Noble yesterday to pick up a 2013 wall calendar, knowing that they would be marked 50% off.  I didn't expect much of a selection, but I was pleasantly surprised that there was more to chose from besides "Only Corgis!" or "Barns of America".  I considered a Marc Chagall calendar, but settled on one that was similar to the one I chose for 2012 - "California the Beautiful".  The gorgeous photos are great motivation to get out and see some of these amazing places before the Navy has us pack up and move somewhere else in 24 months.  We didn't get to see much of California last year, but maybe this year we will find some time to take some weekend trips.

Confession for my B&N friends: I may have organized some of the calendars.  Not all of them, but maybe a few.  Ok, a few more than a few.

Once I got home with my shiny, new calendar, I grabbed the old one off the wall and sat down to transpose birthdays and anniversaries from the old to the new.  I couldn't help but reflect on the year that was.  January - Zac was gone for training, I went to Hawaii to visit friends.  February - we closed on the house, moved in, and promptly decided to hire a contractor to remodel the kitchen.  March - we got estimates on the kitchen, I upgraded my tattoo, my aunt & uncle came to visit, my brother-in-law's family came to visit.  April - my parent's visited, Zac's sister visited.  May - Zac was gone for training, the kitchen was in a state of disarray as it was being remodeled, friends moved in while they looked for a house.  June - friends continued to live with us, Zac's parents visited, more training for Zac, kitchen finished and operational.  July - friends move out, we traveled to Minnesota for a visit.  August, September and October were mercifully without guests or traveling.  November - I went back to Minnesota, the beginning of the holiday crunch.  December - ah, December, and all the chaos that it usually entails, including a road trip back to Nebraska.

Of course it's not the big ticket items that take up most of our time or energy.  Scattered and strewn throughout each month are trips to the veterinarian, Compass classes, ombudsman meetings and trainings, get-togethers with friends, retirement ceremonies, commissioning ceremonies, command events, and, for the second solid year, fertility appointment after fertility appointment.  Every month has, at a bare minimum, markings for my cycle.  For a handful of months the days are also cluttered with my handwriting for dosages, instructions, ultrasounds, blood work.  2012 wasn't a terrible year, not at all, but it was a disappointing year.  We were really hoping that we would be going in to 2013 as trio instead of a duo, but apparently Fate is working with a different timetable.  (It would really be terrific if she would drop us a memo to let us know whether it's on her agenda at all . . .)

As cluttered and chaotic as my 2012 calendar is, my 2013 calendar is still empty, save a couple of appointments that have already started to pop up in January.  As I flip through the vacant months, looking at the awesome photos of California's natural beauty, I wonder what this year will bring.  What triumphs and heartaches await me?  Will 2013 fly by like 2012 did?  And when I sit down next year what will have filled all of those intervening days?  I sometimes wish Barnes & Noble sold calendars that Fate already filled in.