All week long I’ve seen bloggers recapping their year with some of their favorite posts. This sounded like a good idea, so I thought I would do it. And then I sat down and thought about where to start. January seemed like the obvious place. I lived a lifetime in January of 2010. 2010 has been a hard year. Brutally emotional, exhausting, fulfilling, and stressful. When I pulled up my January posts, I winced at the first few . . . silly posts about the stress I was feeling about running my first half-marathon. I had no idea that in a week, there would be an earthquake in Port-Au-Prince, and that in two weeks, I would be a mom of four. It’s sort of like looking at a picture of your glowing, expectant self, where you have nothing but anticipation about the baby. And then you look back at the photo a few months after the baby is born, and marvel at how little you knew your life was going to be rocked. And of course, you wouldn’t change it for a thing. But still, you long for the innocent expectation you once had. Anyways, starting in January, here are some of my significant posts from the last year. (Edited to add: looks like I’m in over my head here, and will be two-parter. Either I am too wordy, or there was too much action this year for one post. I’m gonna say both might be true).
January
the present of presence – I started out the year with a commitment to be more present with my kids. Ahem. I’ll go ahead and re-commit to that one. 
common creole phrases – In anticipation of my visit to Haiti, I pondered what it would be like to finally bring Kembe home, and speak some important phrases into his life. the panic button – I freak out over running a half-marathon because I have a negative core belief that I am not athletic it is really really cold. 
shaken – After the half-marathon, a quick trip to Haiti, and an earthquake. twitchy – I spend several days trying to figure out how to get home, desperate to see my family and worried about what will happen with our adoption. 
operation "get him home" – I arrive home from Haiti with a mission. lovely day – Kembe comes home from Haiti on humanitarian parole. 
degaje – I realize we don’t know what the hell we are doing aftershocks I realize I might be a wee bit affected by that whole earthquake business
February
bigotry, blindness, & basketball – I write about some prejudice the boys encounter at a preschool basketball camp. UNICEFED – a manifesto on the mismanagement of UNICEF and their care of orphans 
highs and lows – the good, the bad, and the ugly things I don’t need to hear from strangers at Target – self-explanatory. Also, after a month of driving in two cars to go places as a family, we buy a minivan. 
March
this is how we do it – dancing as a coping skill
the paradox of choice – contemplating life in Haiti contrasted to the US, and how I need to simplify
honeymoon, interrupted – Kembe gets comfortable
survivor guilt – I struggle with the reasons why I survived with others didn’t
helper – Kembe’s quirky personality
weaned. – I end my nursing relationship with my last baby with much ambivalence.
April
this one is one – karis turns one and learns how to walk.
social networking: sucking time, saving lives, and the gray in-between – some retrospective thoughts on the earthquake and the role of social media (this post was a 2010 Blogher Voice of the Year Finalist.)
she’s a little runaway – India scares the crap out of me over a barbie dollhouse
easter – our first easter as a family
May
cleaning out the office – I decide to leave my private practice, officially, with much emotion
faking it – on pretending to have it together after an adoption
mother’s day – looking back on four years of mother’s day (with 0-4 kids)
the first rule about block club . . . fun with cardboard and zombies
June
the view from here – I get invited to be a guest on The View
what I wanted to say – this was the most-read post on my blog last year gun control – some feelings about letting Jafta play with guns 
Well, that’s half of 2010. Since one of my New Year’s Resolutions is to go to bed at a reasonable hour, looks like the last half of the year will have to wait. Spoiler alert: MORE NATURAL DISASTERS TO COME!
