For the last two years, I have done year-end recaps. I like traditions, so here you go.

January – It took me 11 days into the new year before I got my mind right.

February – St. Valentine’s Day Catholic Cliff Notes taught my readers so much. And by so much, I mean nothing at all.

March – My little boy got to meet his favorite big star when Ree came to town.

April – I came out of the vegan closet then I went to the Erma Bombeck Writer’s Workshop in Dayton and left with cheeks that were cramped and sore from laughing so much. We also said goodbye to our sweet dog, Blue and my husband fixed the microwave.

May – I responded to the numerous people who ask me for blogging advice. It’s cute how they think I know what I’m doing! And, I can’t forget the milestone my son hit.

June – I traveled to Seattle for BlogHer Food and I looked back at the days when my kids loved each other.

July – Things were exposed. I’ll leave it at that.

August – I got addicted to a new app and took a trip to NYC for BlogHer ’12.

September – We found out what my son would say if his dad died.

October – I rambled, and I reflected.

November – I attempted to blog every day, but failed. We lost my cousin and that was really the only thing that mattered.

December – I ended the year like I started it, by getting my mind right.

Bring it, 2013. I’m ready for you.

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Well, you have to admit – when I fail, I fail big.

I forgot about blogging somewhere between preparing for Thanksgiving dinner (which included my brining a turkey and making homemade pumpkin pie…take THAT, Martha!), four days of single-parenthood while my husband was visiting with my brother-in-law, putting up the Christmas decorations, the Ohio-State Michigan game and four nights worth of overnight guests (and I know they’re reading this, so I feel I should say that I LOVE having them here…really…*waves* *blows kisses*…I enjoy their company and it forces me to clean, so bonus) (except I didn’t get to enjoy their company because all I did was clean, so bonus negated).

There’s always next year, right?

Plus, I kind of have an addictive personality and I have been desperately trying to focus my addiction on exercise and nutrition. *gnaws kale* With the exception of a LOT of beer over the past few days, I didn’t go overboard. If you count the beer, then I went overboard and nearly drowned. The good thing is that I had enough empties to build a raft. I blame football.

Although I let my blogging slide, I still made it to the gym twice over the weekend. Excuse me while I puff up my chest. Now, excuse me while I stop puffing up my chest because it hurts my pecs too much.

And, it’s nice to have the Christmas decorating finished. We put everything up the day after Thanksgiving and it all comes down the day after Christmas. My daughter’s birthday is at the end of December, and because she gets completely cheated out of birthday presents each year, it’s the least we can do to make sure there isn’t a lit tree trying to steal her birthday cake’s thunder.

So yeah, I failed at NaBloPoMo, but I win at decorating, sore muscles and beer drinking.

Which, clearly, makes me a winner.

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As you may recall, my husband and I make our own wine. Well, he mostly makes it and I mostly drink it. I can’t act like I do much of the work.

The problem with wine making is that it takes time. You want a glass of sweet blackberry in June? Tough. You’re going to have to wait until fall.

This means in order to fill in the gaps, we also buy a lot of wine. We both like sweet whites, and I throw in a red now and then to keep things interesting. Once or twice a year, we attend wine tastings to expand our palates and find new wines we might not have tried otherwise.

Our palates like to stay informed. Just sayin’.

This is why I jumped at the chance to sample Chateau Ste. Michelle Indian Wells Cabernet and Chateau Ste. Michelle Columbia Valley Riesling, both from the Columbia Valley wine region. BlogHer gave me money to buy two bottles. I bought four. My palate? It approves.

I bought four bottles, because I was trying to figure out what I would define as my “chateau” which was part of the assignment. It was for research!

Believe it or not, it took me awhile to decide. Sure, a beach in Hawaii would be ideal, but it’s not realistic. If I’m going to have a chateau, I want to be able to get to it once in a while. Nothing makes wine taste better than sipping it in a relaxing place.

If I had a nice bathtub, that would be a good sanctuary, but our tub is little and when I put my head back I see the paint peeling off the ceiling. My bed and a really good book are nice too, though there are always clothes lying around and dust on my nightstand.

That’s why there is nothing I enjoy more than sitting on my patio with friends and enjoying a glass of wine. It’s outside; dirt is to be expected, toys are meant to be strewn, kids are free to roughhouse and yell at each other. I don’t even mind if the dog poops!

Me + A Glass Of Wine + Friends and Family + My Patio – My To Do List = My Chateau Where is yours?

Share what makes up YOUR Chateau in the comments, for example: Me + A glass of wine + _______ – _______ = My Chateau, and you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $100 Visa gift card!

Also visit the Chateau Ste. Michelle Facebook app where you can make a visual which represents your Chateau.

Rules:

No duplicate comments.

You may receive (2) total entries by selecting from the following entry methods:

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“b) Tweet (public message) about this promotion; including exactly the

following unique term in your tweet message: “”#SweepstakesEntry””; and leave the URL to that tweet in a comment on this post”

c) Blog about this promotion, including a disclosure that you are receiving a sweepstakes entry in exchange for writing the blog post, and leave the URL to that post in a comment on this post

d) For those with no Twitter or blog, read the official rules to learn about an alternate form of entry.

This giveaway is open to US Residents (except residents of California, Colorado, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Utah )age 21 or older. Winners will be selected via random draw, and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

The Official Rules are available here.

This sweepstakes runs from 9/5/12 – 9/30/12

Be sure to visit the sponsor’s brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ reviews and find more chances to win!

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I had this great big post planned because I have been gone so long (I’m pretty sure my advertisers think my colonoscopy killed me). I typed it out at the airport in New York yesterday and thought it sounded awesome, but when I looked at it again today, it was just a giant rambling mess.

There is too much, just TOO MUCH, to say and when I try to put it all together it looks like verbal vomit on my computer screen. So, instead, I will share the very few pictures I took, and a few that I stole from my friends without asking. Without further ado, here is my last week in pictures.

I visited the 9/11 Memorial. It’s beautiful and well-designed. I ran my fingers over random names and had goosebumps the entire time.

I hung out with friends.

photo courtesy of Dresden from creatingmotherhood.com. Food courtesy of Ree from The Pioneer Woman.

photo courtesy of Angie from awholelotofnothing.net

In some photos, I appeared more greasy than others. NYC in August, holla!

photo courtesy of melisa of suburbanscrawl.com. photobomb courtesy of Jenn from mommyneedscoffee.com

And, for geeks like me, the fun and games continued in the panel rooms where I spoke at a day-long workshop on how blogging can change your life and then at a session on how to leverage Twitter and Facebook. The Twitter and Facebook panel was standing-room only and was a highlight of my short, but amazing, social media career thus far. I took a picture from the front of the room before we got started.

And, my friend Angie, snapped this picture from the audience.

That’s me on the right. This was insane fun for me. Geeks, unite!

I fulfilled my AV dreams. This is where I sat during keynotes by Martha Stewart and Katie Couric as I fed questions to the interviewers. It’s a long way from the cable access show that I worked on in high school.

Yes, I just wrote about how awesome it was to sit with the tech crew. At least I own my level of geekdom.

An impromptu dinner with the hilarious Jessica Bernturned into a quick tour of the Upper West Side and I got to see The Dakota and Lincoln Center and eat a vegan burrito in a hole-in-the-wall, which made it all the more delicious.

The gate John Lennon walked through just before he was shot.

I went to mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, I walked along the plaza outside of 30 Rock, strolled past the entrance of the Museum of Modern Art, and I bought an I <3 NY shirt from a street vendor. I peered into Gray’s Papaya and Carnegie Deli, but couldn’t resist the food at the Famous Halal Guys’ cart on the corner of 6th Avenue and 53rd Street.

The best falafel. Period.

I did SO much, but I didn’t scratch the surface of what NYC has to offer; yet my heart and mind are full.

And, more than anything, my feet hurt really, really bad.

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