I know it’s probably odd  to do a year in review post when I haven’t done much blogging in the first place. I guess that will mean I have a lot to share here… maybe?

This year started off with a major surgery, which definitely set the tone and pace for the first part of the year. I knew the recovery would be difficult, but holy heck, it took me longer to bounce back than I thought it would. When I was cleared to start running again, it felt like I was starting over at zero. In all actuality, I probably was starting over at zero after five inches of my abdomen was opened and closed recently. Right now, the five-inch scar doesn’t look nearly as bad as it did at the beginning of the year. I rarely even notice it’s there anymore.

My running this year could be accurately described in one word: slow. I signed up for my second marathon, which I completed in early November. Between my work schedule and the weather, my heart wasn’t really engaged in training for this marathon compared to the previous year when I ran Columbus. My second marathon saw me adding 30 minutes to my previous marathon. While I am proud of the fact that I finished in Indianapolis, I know I could have done much better if my heart had been in it. I’m not going to make any excuses. If I wanted to, then I would have found a way.

This year I learned that I have to fall back in love with running before I attempt to do another marathon. For a brief period of time, I thought I was going to sign up for Pittsburgh Marathon 2018. When Best Boyfriend Ever reminded me that work was going to take up most of my time for the first three months of 2018 (something I had told him several times but yet, I needed him to remind me), I made the correct decision to sign up for only the half.

Time to get back to the basics and focus on getting stronger. When strength comes, speed will happen.

The biggest change this year had to do with my job. A recruiter had reached out to me via LinkedIn about an opportunity with PNC, and I jumped so hard at the opportunity I might have given myself whiplash.  I really and truly loved the work I was doing at my previous job, and I could have honestly kept doing that until the cows came home. I loved being an investigator.

What I couldn’t deal with and the number one reason why I left: the hours. Granted, several of my co-workers definitely billed more hours than I probably did, and they are still there.  All that mattered at that job was meeting deadlines, which meant kissing some nights and weekends good-bye. I didn’t want to do that and felt myself burned out more times than I could count.

I’m not opposed to ever working nights and weekends. I know I  am going to have to do that for the first three months of 2018. I will do whatever I have to do to make sure the job gets done. However, unlike at my last job, I know the crazy busy schedule will end and things will calm down for a good period.  I just couldn’t tolerate it being crazy busy every day, every week, every month with no end in sight.

I take pride in my work and skill set. I love figuring things out and coming up with great finds. I always want to do the best I can. But I need my nights and weekends to recharge, relax and get myself ready to tackle the new work week with a fresh set of eyes.  Opportunities to do that at my last job were few and far between.

While I am disappointed that my last job didn’t work out given how much I loved being an investigator,  I don’t regret my decision to leave whatsoever. I would make the same decision over and over again. I am now working at a great company and opportunities here are endless. The most amazing thing is that I am learning a completely new skill set, and I am feeling challenged every day.

Next year, my primary focus will be learning and becoming the absolute best I can be at being an internal auditor. I already know my lunch times will consist of studying for the CAMS and spending some free time taking extra courses in BSA/AML. I cannot wait to deep dive into this world, like I am almost giddy. I never could afford to go back to school to get a master’s degree, so in a way, I am getting the additional education I always wanted.

This year also saw the final nails put in the coffin that was my relationship with the Ex (yeah, that was a weird sentence).  For awhile, the Ex was my free dogsitter when I went out of town, but that’s now over with. I know he loves Boomer and Mal, and he even paid for their vet plans this year, but that’s come to an end. He has his own family now, and he’s probably married as I type this. He was a much better Ex than he was a boyfriend for the last 3 or 4 years of our relationship.

It was one thing when he was single or just dating, but he has a family now. While I would have no intentions or desires to meddle in his personal life or get him back (hahahahahaha omg hahahahaha), I don’t want to have any involvement with married exes. That way leads to drama, and I want no part. I will let him know if something happens to Mal or Boomer in the next year or so, but from now on, the Ex is staying in the past along with all the other relationship ghosts rattling in my closet. I wish none of them ill will (well, maybe the stalker), but that doesn’t mean they need to occupy any part of my life now.

I don’t like making New Year’s Resolutions, so I just make the same one every year: read more books. I actually read more books this year than I have in years! I think that goes to show how uncluttered and relaxing this year has been for me.

My focus for 2018 will be to be the best I can be at my job, advocate even more for metastatic breast cancer, get back to the running basics and remember why I loved running in the first place, and spend as much time with the best boyfriend ever. He makes me happy, and if I make him just a fraction of how incredibly happy he has made me, then 2018 is looking to be a good one for the two of us.

If anyone read this entire book I just wrote, congrats. I’m impressed.