This post was inspired by Netflix. Come see what we’re watching.

If you had to pick one friend with whom to get stuck on a deserted island, who would you pick? I would be hard-pressed to choose between my very sensible, resourceful, crafty friend and the friend I have who would slap me in the face and tell me to stop freaking out, instruct me to enjoy the sunshine, and help me figure out how to make alcohol out of coconuts.

I am fortunate to have a diverse group of friends on whom I can count. They each speak to the different parts of my personality – though, I’ll be honest, I’ve yet to find one who will hang with me at my gym or meet me on the running trail. That’s okay, though, because I don’t usually have enough air to breathe, let alone talk.

I have family-friends, work-friends, church-friends, online-friends and drinking-friends. I even have dog-friends; not people with dogs, but actual dogs. My two Labs listen to me more than anyone else. Sometimes, I get them drunk and I have drinking-dog-friends. Then we play poker.

Honestly, I couldn’t choose just one person to join me on that island; I’d want to bring them all. One thing’s for sure, it would be one heck of a good time. Unless we had to eat each other. That would kind of stink.

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I’m feeling thankful for my friends lately. Maybe it’s because it’s Thanksgiving week, maybe it’s because I’ve really needed them lately, or maybe it’s because Netflix is bringing us all 10 seasons of “Friends” starting January 1st!

Remember the Thanksgiving episodes of “Friends”? Who didn’t want a group with whom you could play football in Central Park? Who didn’t want a Monica preparing dinner? Who didn’t want Brad Pitt at the table?

If I invited my closest friends to Thanksgiving dinner, it would be a crew that looked a lot like those six, crazy kids. Though we’re in our 40s, not our 20s, and none of my male friends look like Brad Pitt. But, we would laugh a lot. You can be sure of that. My friends have to make me laugh.

My husband would probably want someone with whom he could talk sports and my kids would both want friends who stimulated their minds. My 12-year old son would pick the Kratt Brothers and my daughter would choose Sherlock and John Watson, even though they’re British and probably hold a grudge about the whole Mayflower thing.

Any of us would probably want to hang out with Jennifer Lawrence – you can catch her on Netflix right now as Katniss Everdeen in “Catching Fire”, where she plays a friend who would give her life for you and in “Silver Linings Playbook”. I just watched that again. I think it’s one of my favorite movies, ever. Everyone needs a friend who will put up with our manic side. Just sayin’.

So, our Thanksgiving table would include a girl who’s great with a bow and arrow, two guys who are fantastic with zoo animals, six NYC 20-somethings, and a couple of British guys.

I call the wishbone!

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I didn’t want to do it.

I had New Year’s week off and I promised my kids I wouldn’t turn on my computer. We were going to do fun stuff, I was going to go to the gym every day, we were going to sleep in, catch up on everything that has fallen behind, and start 2014 off with a clean slate. I was going to roll it in with positivity and light.

Pffft.

Instead, on my daughter’s 15th birthday, December 29th, I started to feel not great. I was already not great, but this was especially not great. If you’re keeping track, my vacation started on December 30th.

I won’t go into how I spent four days freezing cold despite layer upon layer of clothes and blankets and constant ingestion of herbal tea. I won’t tell you how I could barely move from room to room without having to sit down and catch my breath, how I still cough so hard I vomit, or that I’m in a whole lot of pain from a combination of bronchitis and pleurisy (with a sinus infection thrown in for good measure). Wait, I guess I just told you.

We’re now six days into this year – so 2014, that’s how we gonna do?

Oh, wait. You had to throw in a polar vortex. It’s like Day After Tomorrow in my front yard and I’ve spent less than TWO hours outside of my house in the last SEVEN days. You’re going to make sure I make it eight, eh? If you were a Sooner and I was wearing boots, I’d dive-bomb you and start kicking. You and I are going to roll. Just not yet because I can’t breathe, but when I can …

What I want is some positivity and light. I want a fresh start and not this hacking cough, no sleep, and kids who can’t even sit on the couch next to their sick mother. I want changes that I can’t make when I’m lying in bed.

I want my 2014 back. One way or another I will get it, and this revenge is going to be so, so sweet.

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Yesterday was my daughter’s 15th birthday. I didn’t write a post for her because I don’t know how many times I can say what an amazing miracle she is, how proud we are, or how much I love watching her grow up without people rolling their eyes and saying, “We know! We know, already!” So instead of typing away on my computer, we went to church, ate Chinese food, went bowling, cut into an ice cream cake, and ran errands. Nothing bonds you with your child on her birthday like searching through clearance Christmas lights at Walmart.

Today, we’re going to do more of the same. I have a few days off and I’m going to spend as much of that time with my kids doing things we don’t get to do very often and some stuff we do all the time, but for which I won’t be distracted. Grocery shopping can actually be an enjoyable experience when you don’t have deadlines looming.

I hope you all had wonderful family moments like bowling and Chinese food over the past few weeks and I wish you beautiful memories in the New Year. Without further ado, here are my favorite posts from 2013.

January – I reflected on parenting and how impossible and beautiful it can be at the same time. Oh, and I can’t forget that dance.

February – February was all about love and marriage. And, trauma.

March – I focused on the correlation between my mind, body and homemade wine.

April – A rough month, filled with a lot of anxiety – as you can probably see from this post.

May – My heart was broken by my son’s former school and we made a life-changing decision for him because of it.

June – I celebrated six years of blogging! And, I wrote a letter to my dad.

July – Rash decisions were made.

August – Mommy-blogging was alive and well!

September – Keepin’ it real, yo’. Just keepin’ it real.

October – I wrote 10 Things for My Daughter in Case I Die and drew a picture for my son.

November – My son took his disability public. Or, at least to the driveway.

December – The Favorite Christmas Songs series was a ton of fun to make, but acting like Kenny Rogers? Bonus.

Cheers and happiness to a fabulous 2014!

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