Brutalism's Year in Review 2013

This year was marked by sadness, loss and pain. Seriously...a lot of it was a total suckfest.

Yet because it is life, there were a lot of great moments, too. And here in Brutopia, the latter are the things on which we dwell.

So, diving right in, here's the Brutalism Year in Review 2013 (THP*):

• Ushered in the new year in the great Smokey Mountains (I still don't like nougat.)
• Skied and snow tubed during a ski weekend with friends
• Read Dr. Seuss books to students on Read Across America day (In a Turkish bath.)
• Had an audition in a hotel room at a hotel near the airport. (Well, that sounds perfectly legitimate.)
• Spent spring break in LA with celebrities and no regrets. (I'm doing it wrong.)
• Finally got some love from the Washington Post Peeps Diorama contest judges (These dioramas will be worth a fortune when I'm dead.)
•  Had a girls’ weekend in hip ‘n trendy Brooklyn (And proved my own hipness 'n trendiness by being shat upon immediately upon arrival.)
• Co-hosted the first annual firefighter auction at the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department (Where my comedy stylings were compared to comedic genius Waldorf.)
• Learned to hula, sampled olive oil and visited a gin distillery with the Dilettantes. (We managed just six activities this year...speaking of suckfests...)
• Had work trips to Charlotte, Orlando and LA
• Ran a lot of races individually and as a family -- some 5Ks (including one where my kiddo placed 3^rd in her age group); a half marathon; and a first marathon for my husband. (This explains why our house smells like Ben Gay...I hope.)
• Went to my first gay wedding. (Where I hobnobbed with John King and Joe Biden.)
• Took a memoir writing class and wrote a piece about my sister and I being threatened by a broken bottle-wielding psychopath. (Soon to be a major motion picture.)
• Stalked met Molly Ringwald
• Took a trip to Cleveland, OH and Pittsburgh, PA to surprise my Mom on her birthday. (Instead, she surprised us by going commando.)
• Spent weekends in Cambridge, MD; Richmond, VA; and Williamsburg, VA
• Went to Bastille Day, Oktoberfest, and Murder Mystery parties (Oui! Ja! I have an alibi!)
• Prancercized (An exercise that keeps you on your camel toes.)
• Ziplined:

And looked very fashionable while doing so. 

• Showed off my stellar parenting skills at back to school night. (Moms groups? Still elusive.) 
• Watched my kid do gymnastics, a product launch class, a new summer camp where she knew no one going in and made a ton of friends, and make beautiful stuff in her art class. (She won a first place ribbon in her school art show again -- maybe one day she will graduate to the family medium of Peeps.) 
• Spent Avery’s 8^th birthday (and most of our retirement savings) at DisneyWorld
• Got a little sentimental around the holidays which prompted several schmaltzy posts on FB that most people incorrectly (though understandably) attributed to wine.

Here's to a very bright 2014,
Brutalism 

*THP - The Happy Parts