In an unusual move, I’m publishing this year-end entry with more than a week remaining in the year. Partly, this is because I don’t know whether I will find the time in the next few days to publish it, and partly it’s because I’m convinced all major 2018 events have already occurred. I anticipate the next few days to include little out of the ordinary. If I am incorrect on this assumption, I will certainly update this entry.

 

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The two biggest events in our family’s lives for 2018 were (1) Benjamin starting school and (2) me painting the house. Other milestones of note include our new dining room table and our 8-year “house-iversary”

 

Painting The House

During the course of 2018, not only did I paint the house’s exterior, but I painted all the remaining interior spaces that retained the builder’s color, including the largest room in the house — and I’m finishing the office during Xmas break. Not only did this give me plenty of exercise and a sense of accomplishment, but I think our house is a brighter, better-looking, and even more useful place to live.

 

The Boy Goes To School

I remember that he cried in 2016 when his big sister went to school, because he wanted to go too. Since then, he counted down years, months, and eventually days until he could join her. He handled the changes with aplomb. It’s been a bit bumpy — he has been out for multiple illnesses, for example — but he loves school, loves his teacher, loves his classmates, and loves learning.

And it left me home alone most days for the first time in eight years.

He still wants to be a superhero, or possibly a Power Ranger, when he grows up, and I am using these ambitions to help direct his behavior — reminding him that “superheroes don’t kick their sisters”, for example. He is aware that Batman knows how to read and write, so he wants to learn these talents too (and is making noticeable progress). He often explains his unkind behavior by saying his brain is “bad”; I spend a lot of time convincing him that his brain is just fine — it only needs to be trained to do the right thing.

He finished his career in gymnastics by switching to dance — following in the footsteps of his older sister. He is the only boy in his beginner dance class, which I think he enjoys. If nothing else it means he will likely take center stage at the recital next summer.

 

 

The Girl

Rebecca changed, subtly but quickly, into a very much more grown up girl. I almost didn’t notice it while I dealt with her brother’s shenanigans, but now she reads and comprehends things that many children seem to delay until middle school. She deploys puns and other wordplay, uses and recognizes sarcasm, and mounts blistering logic attacks when the situation calls for it.

She is a delight to be around most days, and is carrying straight As in second grade as I write this. She has friends from kindergarten through fifth grade, and even a couple of local middle school kids remember her from her toddler days and still greet her affectionately.

She also pays a great deal of attention to what Mommy and Daddy are saying and doing, especially if we lower our voices or otherwise appear to be attempting privacy. Sometimes she will sneak up behind me and read the news over my shoulder; later she will ask me about a particular story or want to know what some big word means. I have given up trying to sugarcoat the world for her, knowing her intellect can handle quite a bit.

She still says she wants to be a teacher when she grows up, and I think that’s an amazing task she has set for herself. Even assuming she will likely change her mind someday, all evidence points to her succeeding in whatever she sets her mind to.

 

 

Our Family

Though nothing crucial changed about our family this year, I think we grew into more of a team, something I’ve been intentionally cultivating. We had an amazing Spring Break, attended our first airshow as a family, notched our fourth annual Galveston vacation, picked up trash in our neighborhood together, read a hundred or more books together, hosted birthday parties and Thanksgiving dinner, attended the Killeen Christmas Parade for the first time (which our daughter was part of), and tried our best to be better people.

We added Rosa’s Cafe and Raising Cane’s to our rotation of restaurants; both serve tasty food that isn’t too unhealthy — at least that’s what I tell myself.

There was a subtle but noticeable shift in the power balance too, when Benjamin started school. Instead of my wife and I being mostly in charge of the family’s schedule, now the public school system is mostly in charge — especially the transportation department. Consistently short on personnel, the buses switch routes and drivers regularly. One week, we saw a different bus driver every day, often with different numbers — without warning. Expected times of arrival and departure shifted without notice. Some time in late November, we got a new driver who is startlingly punctual, but we haven’t yet relaxed our tension from the previous drivers. So we try to smooth out the evenings and weekends, giving the children consistency and dependability of play times, meal times, outings, and play dates with friends.

After my wife developed friendships with two women at work, she smoothly folded those into family friendships, and we have met up on multiple occasions with these women, their husbands, and their children (each family has a daughter close in age to Benjamin), for playdates, dinners, and other meetups. This was something my wife had missed for several years — having grown-up friends. Though I rarely cast about looking for friends, I too have enjoyed these get-togethers and look forward to more.

 

Visits

We visited my wife’s cousin (and his family) in Pflugerville a few times, and they came to our house once. We (twice?) drove to see my brother and his family in Watauga, and they visited us here in November. We hope to see them again, this time at their new house in Flower Mound, just before 2018 closes out.

 

House, Neighborhood, And City

This year saw our 8th House-iversary, which means I’ve lived here longer than in any other house of my life (and in Feb. 2019, I will have lived here longer than at any other address). Nearly a third of our fence was replaced mid-year after suffering storm damage, our air conditioner was repaired, and (as I mentioned above) I painted a bunch. I collected more than 700 acorns from our lone oak tree this year. I allowed the yard to deteriorate somewhat while I painted inside, but managed to revive it before summer’s end. We bought a new dining room table just before Thanksgiving, and I sincerely hope this will be our “forever” table.

Of massive importance to us: our mortgage principal is now down to 11% of the purchase price of the house. Barring any unforeseen obstacles, it will be paid off by this time next year.

The neighborhood has continued to expand, but it seems more slowly now as it gets close to completion. More than 1,000 homes now stand on what was empty ranch land just over eight years ago. A new high school is planned just to our south and nearby roads are scheduled for widening within the next two years.

The city, Killeen, continues to grow, adding new businesses regularly — including a couple of trampoline / indoor-playground spaces that our children really enjoy. We expect to enjoy a new Dunkin Donuts / Baskin Robbins within the next few months.

 

Personal

Personally, I turned inward a little this year, after reaching out a bit the previous three or four. I spent more time doing things that make me happy: reading nearly 20 books (double my usual average), updating hundreds of old pages on my website, working on fiction and poetry, and listening to music while I do household chores. I took a solo trip to Inks Lake State Park in November, which was peaceful and much-needed.

In November, I once again severely curtailed my use of Facebook, and I’ve been happier for it. I’m also almost never on Twitter or Instagram anymore. Whether this is a sign of my age, continuing maturation process, or simple asocial behavior, I will leave for others to decide. I am always happier when my social interaction is limited but meaningful, rather than ubiquitous but meaningless.

I have particularly enjoyed ongoing conversations with a handful of online-only faraway friends — relationships that have developed over several years on Flickr, my blogs, email, Instagram, and Goodreads. They come from a variety of backgrounds and live in a variety of nations and states, helping me to broaden my perspective and regularly reminding me that the world is different than what I see in Texas.

Tired of dealing with constant frustrating changes to WordPress, eventually capped by debilitating changes in December, I moved my blogs to new URLs (My Life and Verily) so I can (1) have more control over the look/feel of the pages, and (2) easily create/edit blog entries. So far, this has resulted in almost no change whatsoever to the level of interaction on my blogs, which had already severely declined some time earlier. I kept reminding myself that the blogs were for me to begin with, for personal reasons, and that underlying core reason helped me to make the decision. Blogging was supposed to serve a useful purpose for me, not add to the frustration of daily life.

I think all of this can be summed up by: I’m living life on my own terms. I force myself to be less concerned with what other people might think or how they might prefer I conduct myself. (The important exception to this is my wife; I regularly ask her for opinion on one thing or another and use her as a sounding board for new ideas or opinions.)

 

 

Photography

I continued to make photos this year, though I admit my attachment to photography is in flux. I don’t know what the future holds for my picture-making, whether I will fall back in love with it, pull further away, or maintain some sort of uncomfortable middle ground. My path on this question will likely be influenced at least in part by how Flickr’s new owners (SmugMug) change the site. Several awesome things have been promised. It might also depend on how often other people want to see my photos.

It will also depend, I assume, on my ever-shifting energy levels, how many other things I need or want to do, and the lives of my children.

I continue to hold My Photography Philosophy — that the main point of making photos is to provide a window to that moment from a future moment. Someday in th future when I try to use my Time Machine into the past, it will only work if I made the photo today. So I faithfully record memorable moments in my children’s lives — birthday parties, first days of school, things they drew or wrote, impressive Lego structures they made, and so on. This alone, I think, will mean I continue making photos.

 

 

Weather

Weather-wise, the Killeen area saw a slightly cooler year than a few recent peaks, though overall we were still warmer than the long-term average. It was also a nice relief to have regular rainfall spread throughout the year. We did manage to pack into one year the coolest AND hottest temps in decades — 12°F in January and 113°F in July.

This May was the warmest May on record for this area, and June and July were in second-place on the all-time charts. But April, September, and October were the coolest in at least 10 years and four other months were cooler than my nine-year average.

 

Previous “Year In Review” Entries:

2017: Year In Review: 2017
2016: Year In Review: 2016
2015: Year In Review: 2015
2014: Year In Review: 2014
2013: Year In Review: 2013
2012: Year In Review: 2012
2011: Year in Review: 2011
2010: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year
2009: 2009 In Review
2008: Year in Review: 2008
2007: (no entry)
2006: (no entry)
2005: Marline’s Visit, Pt. 5 (scroll down for “Overall 2005”)
2004: (no entry)
2003: 2003: A Non-Nostalgic Remembrance
2002: Of the Year 2002
2001: (no entry)
2000: The Last Year Of The Millennium