17, ups and downs

At some point in my childhood, I decided that 17 was my favorite number. Looking back, I don't know exactly how that came to be, but like many things that seem important in the eyes of a kid, it was imperative that I add a numeral to my list of favorites, alongside a color (blue), a food (Howard Johnson's fried clam strips), a drink (chocolate milk), and an activity (reading). With my birthday falling on the 7th of a month, one would think that would have been a natural selection, but perhaps I thought that too common, too mainstream a choice. Who knows? But 17 was picked, and 17 it stayed.

A favorite pop star's birthday was on the 17th. I graduated high school as valedictorian and went away to college at the age of 17. Other important things that need not be mentioned here are also affiliated with the number, and so it sticks with me, even if having a favorite number isn't quite an adultish trait.

As the calendar approached 2017, I couldn't help but wonder if this year would hold extra special happenings, a little wink from the Universe herself to acknowledge, "Yeah girl, I know you love this number, you wacky lady, you." Turns out, that may be half-true, for the year 2017 looks to bring some monumental experiences, but as with most things in life, it would appear that I must take the good with the bad.

⥤ Though we finalized the purchase of our "forever" home in the final weeks of December last year, we will officially move in this summer, making 2017 delightfully memorable as the beginning of a new chapter for our family.

⥤ We'll have been in our new city for a year come summer, making this the year that we move out of the honeymoon phase of residency. We're familiar with our locale, we have some favorite haunts and activities, and we continue to learn more each week. We've made some great friends and feel like we're home, the two aspects of the impending move that had me scared out of my skin a year ago.

⥤ I began to watch my caloric intake and activity levels back in January, and three months later, I've shed 30 pounds. This is the year that I'm taking control of my health like never before.

⥢ DJT was inaugurated as the president of our country. Please don't let 2017 be the death year on the figurative gravestone of the USA as we know it.

⥢ Yeah, seriously, I'm frightened by politics more and more every day. This year has brought new lows in this arena, and even the political analyst experts are in shock. TIFU has become my new rallying cry.

⥤ This year will see me and Hubby turning 42, which I've heard is the answer to everything. Coincidence? I think not.

⥤ As a naive, love-obsessed teen, I imagined what it would be like to kiss my true love under the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. This spring, I'll get to find out. Cue the excited squeals of a middle-aged woman with her first-ever passport.

⥤ My first baby will turn 17, making him the same age I was when I determined that I was no longer a child. Full circle, man, it's mind-blowing.

What else will 2017 become known for? I hope more positive than negative overall, and selfishly so for my own little world. It's been my favorite number for enough years, it can't let me down now.