Prompt: Everything’s OK. What was the best moment that could serve as proof that everything is going to be alright? And how will you incorporate that discovery into the year ahead?
from December 24th
Proof that everything is going to be alright?
I feel that I lead a charmed life. Life comes pretty easy for me, and I have been lucky to have loving family/friends and good health.
That’s my proof that everything is going to be alright. It already has been! What better proof is there?
Prompt: New name. Let’s meet again, for the first time. If you could introduce yourself to strangers by another name for just one day, what would it be and why?
from december 23rd
(Okay—disclaimer: I was out of town for the past week, and the only internet access I had was my phone. So I’m WAY behind on my reverb10 prompts, but my plan is to still finish.)
New name? You know, it took me a long time to get used to the name Hannah. I used to think it was a dingy name, used for old maids or overweight middle-aged women. I wanted to be a Jennifer, a Melissa, or a Stacey. I thought my name was too serious, and I wanted to be more flighty, more fun, more light. But then a funny thing happened as a grew up—I grew to love my name. I loved its uniqueness and the fact that hardly anyone I knew was named Hannah. I loved that it was a palindrome and was spelled the same backwards and forwards.
Then a funny thing happened: people started named THEIR children Hannah. Now there’s tons of Hannah’s (15 and younger mainly), there’s Hannah Montana, and it feels like a fun, light, flighty name. But I was there first!
I don’t need another name. That’s what I’m trying to say 
What a long couple of days! I had a nice Christmas in Long Island, followed by a blizzard, two feet of snow, canceled flights, and finally…driving with friends through the night for 18 hours to get home…all while dealing with a bad cold. Wow, I’m tired!
I hope you all had a good Christmas 
I’ll tell you more about mine later—I have some pictures too.
HBBC: December 22: 60 minute various cardio (run, bike, elliptical): 4 points, 7 f/v: 1 point: total: 5 points. December 23: Four hours of shopping: 2 points, 7 f/v: 1 point, total: 3 points, December 24: 60 minute cardio/weight workout: 4 points Week of December 18-24 total: 37.
December 25: 7 f/v: 1 point, December 26: 0 points, December 27: 7 f/v: 1 point, December 28: 0 points, December 29: 1 mile walk: 1 point, workout with mike: 4 points, 7 f/v: 1 point, total: 6 points, December 30: 4 mile run: 4 points, workout with mike: 4 points, 7 f/v: 1 point, total: 9 points, December 31: 7 f/v: 1 point, total 1 point. Total for Dec. 25-31: 18 points
Feeling a wee bit maudlin this evening…
I’m not visiting my family over Christmas at all. This is the first time ever that I haven’t seen my family over Christmas at all.
I grew up in South Carolina, and my Dad’s family lived in western Ohio, and my Mom’s family in eastern Pennsylvania. We would set out for one or the other the day after school let out (usually PA first), spend a few days, drive to the other, spend a few days, drive home. In between we’d eat lunch at my great-aunt Wilma’s house near the border of Ohio and PA. She would always make us hot ham sandwiches, oyster crackers with ranch seasoning, and whatever cookies were on hand, which were often not very good.
Pennsylvania: Memories of weirdly bad cookies, playing with cousins, the apartment in the basement, lots of Amish people, church, ice, snow, “Trade hands sight unseen”, riding in the huge front seat of the car with Grandpa driving, Christmas lights, taking forever to get to the exit from the Interstate, singing in the car on the way there. Ham loaf, Grandma trying to get us to clean our plates, Mom trying to stop us from cleaning our plates, eating in the cold sunroom, playing in the backyard, that steep steep driveway, Grandma watching cable tv, the two chairs in the family room, Grandma saying “ay, ay, AY, ay, ay” and sleeping on the floor. Matching outfits, sledding, playing piano duets, scrapple, Mom wearing knee-high boots to church, Grandma trying to send sandwiches along on the trip, Grandpa’s pointy ended glasses and saying it was “Christmas Eve Eve” (that’s today, btw—and for some reason that is the memory that sticks most in my head…I believe by the following Christmas he had had his stroke).
It’s hard to believe how long it has been since I have been to my family in that area. After my grandparents passed away I really haven’t been back. I miss them…I wish I could have known them longer.
I have many more recent memories of Ohio, since I lived just 2 1/2 hours away for many years. However, I also have some memories as a child:
Ohio: Eating so many homemade cookies I threw up, playing in the snow with my cousins, PONG, ping-pong in the garage, the kitties, ice skating on the pond, singing a cappella at church, sleeping in the parlor, fancy dinners, date pudding, mince pie, the cuckoo clock, playing games, snow, wanting to play outside when it was actually 20 below zero and not understanding why, white bread toast, orange juice, “let me get my socks on!”, sitting around just visiting…I actually seem to have less specific memories of Ohio—I think it’s because we did more varied things in PA since it was more of a city-type of place, and more of the same thing repeatedly (i.e. playing with cousins) in Ohio. But I loved visiting both so much!
I will always have those memories 
HBBC: December 22: 60 minute various cardio (run, bike, elliptical): 4 points, 7 f/v: 1 point: total: 5 points. December 23: ?. December 24: ? . Week of December 18-24 total: ?.
Prompt: Travel. How did you travel in 2010? How and/or where would you like to travel next year?
This is an interesting question. Not, where did you travel, but how did you travel?
Well.
I traveled by car mainly—around town for daily work and errands, to Ohio for work in the spring, to Chicago for a friend’s wedding in April, to South Carolina to visit family over the summer.
I traveled by plane to Tampa for vacation in August. I traveled by cruise ship to the Caribbean.
I traveled by jet ski while I was on Grand Cayman Island. I traveled by parasail over the waters of Cozumel, Mexico. I traveled by a tender boat to and from the cruise ship. I traveled by bus in Belize to visit the ruins of Xunantunich.
I traveled by shuttle van from the parking lot to jury duty.
I traveled by golf cart at the Missouri Botanical Gardens to get to a wedding that had been moved due to rain.
I traveled by my own two legs through a variety of races, including a half-marathon.
How and/or where would you like to travel next year?
I’d love to take a cruise to Alaska. That would involve car, plane, ship, and possibly train.
If I don’t go to Alaska, I’d like to travel somewhere else that I have to fly to…
Maybe a trip to Chicago or Colorado to visit friends over the summer–
I will be traveling to Phoenix by plane, and then running a race…
Maybe I should get a bike to ride around town, but I worry about safety. It would be nice to take bike rides in Forest Park though!
I’ll see if I can think of more ideas while I’m traveling today…
Prompt: Future self. Imagine yourself five years from now. What advice would you give your current self for the year ahead? (Bonus: Write a note to yourself 10 years ago. What would you tell your younger self?)
About five or six years ago, I was sitting at a restaurant with a small group of friends, and one of my friends asked if we had “five year plans,” as in, where did we want to be in five years. I did not. Sure, I had ideas of what I might want to be doing, but I’m more of a “go with the flow” person when it comes to life. Maybe that puts me “behind schedule” (aka, not married, no kids, still working freelance), but at least I haven’t been disappointed by failing to reach my goals, right? As a musician, you just can’t always choose what you want out of life—there is just too much luck involved. I wonder if my friends are now where they wanted to be then? I would rather not know…
SHOULD I institute a five-year plan? There’s just a few things I’d like to change for sure—I don’t want to be renting or paying my student loans anymore. I’d still like to get married and have a kid, and probably should do that within five years. I’ll still be playing violin and teaching, and I’ll have a different car than the one I drive now. I’ll, sadly, probably have a different cat as well. My clothes will probably be different, according to the fashion. I’ll still be working out regularly, running, and eating well. I’ll still be wearing jeans, and my hair will be some shade of brown. I’ll probably still own a large amount of black clothing—or at least I want to.
Things I can’t imagine because there are just too many variables: where I will be living (honestly, I don’t care as long as I’m with Chris 
), what sort of house/condo we’ll own, whether the new cat would be fat as well, what sort of car I’d be driving, etc. Friend-wise, well if I’m still in this city I’ll have lots of good friends, probably many of the same ones I have now, if we’ve moved I’ll have new friends and keep in touch with some of the old.
What advice would I give my current self for the year ahead? Relax. Enjoy. It’s out of your control anyway.
(Bonus: Write a note to yourself 10 years ago. What would you tell your younger self?
I would remind myself to read the Harry Potter books many times, to enjoy the Lord of the Rings movies, to treasure my friends while I can because we will all be moving, that it’s okay to leave the Charlotte Symphony because happiness is more important…and to relax. Enjoy. It’ll turn out okay. Oh, and don’t panic and accept every possible teaching position!)