Last year, I wrote a piece with reflections on 2012 along my 2013 New Year’s resolutions. I vowed to reflect on them in the coming year and to continue the tradition each following year. Well, it’s that time again, and I did not improve my French, I stayed in shape until May (after that I got pathetically lethargic) and I did not finish most of the stories I wanted to (although I wrote many other ones). I did travel to a couple of new places, but other than that, I pretty much sucked at keeping my resolutions. I think most of us do, which is why I’ve decided not to make any this year. Although it seemed like a good tradition to post them last year, I now believe it’s a terrible idea. Either I won’t keep them and I’ll feel like I failed somehow, or I will keep them and feel smug while everyone else realizes they failed in keeping theirs. Neither of these seems very positive or attractive, so I’ll just leave the rest of this post for reflections say that in 2014, I want to keep growing in my work and relationships and lead a healthy, happy life, which is really less of a resolution and more of a lifestyle.

Resolution failures aside, 2013 was an interesting year. Career-wise, I settled into post-grad life and started working for myself. I now work full time as a writer, a job I love and hope to continue. I freelance at the moment, but I’m keeping myself open to any opportunities that come my way.

My personal life saw a lot of changes as well. My living situation changed drastically, in a good way. I won’t write much more about it because the other person involved is quite private, but I’m sure you can guess what happened. Although it was tricky to reorganize the space I’ve been living in for the past four years and I was forced to purge all the stuff I didn’t need all in one go, I settled in again quickly and I’m very happy.

In sadder news, in September, my kitty Petzi passed away. He died of old age. His body just started shutting down and I had to put him down, because as the vet put it, “he didn’t want to live anymore.” He was 19 years old, so he lived a full and happy life. I didn’t have him his whole life; we became roommates of sorts when I moved into his old apartment at the end of 2005 (he belonged to my roommate). When she left to travel, I became his caretaker and he went with me when I moved out into my own place. He was a wonderful companion who loved to cuddle and purred all the time and I still miss him sometimes. Letting him go was one of the saddest moments of my life so far. Here are a few pictures of him, for the sake of remembering him:

(He was old and had to get washed sometimes. He did not like it)

(He loved to cuddle)

(He also loved to take over everything I did)

(He had to wear the cone of shame once after he had an allergic reaction to his thyroid medicine)

A couple of months after that, we decided to get a new kitty. His name is Albert and he is now 7 years old. His previous owner didn’t have time for him anymore, so he came to live with us. He’s pretty hilarious; he loves exploring, playing, and getting into mischief. Here are a few of his finer moments so far:

(He looks sleepy and peaceful here. Do not be fooled!)

(He loves to crawl under blankets)

(Once a friend came over and he randomly decided to try on his shoes)

(Cat in the box)

(Kitty vs. knitting)

All in all, 2013 had its ups and downs, but it was far from boring. I hope to keep moving forward this year.