In less than 6 hours the year will end. My friends in Europe Have already welcomed the new year by now, so all my social network feeds are bursting with messages of hope, love and eternal happiness. To commemorate this joyous ocassion, here’s a list of the 12 things I got from 2011. 12 lessons, facts, dreams, you name it. It was a good year, but it was a tough one.

1. It is possible to go through a wide spectrum of emotion in less than a minute. It’s called motherhood, not schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder. Although I can definitely imagine they could be easily confused.

2. I love baking and my signature carrot cupcakes rock! There is something soothing about baking and a fantastic sense of achievement in decorating my creations. I’m probably not good enough to make a career out of it, but certainly good enough you’ll want to come over to my house for a party!

3. Keepin’ up with the Kardashians is like a horrible car wreck: it is terrible, but one can’t help to want to watch. Luckily, I had better things to do in 2011, and didn’t care much about those idiots. I expect 2012 will be less annoying on that end.

4. Staying within the periphery in the supermarket equals healthy diet. The middle is evil, albeit delicious, so should be visited with less frequency.

5. My son is gorgeous, people say, as well how much he looks at me. Therefore, I must be gorgeous, too. It’s easy to lose sight of one’s worth and beauty in this day and age. My self-esteem is never been the strongest, but to deny my beauty as an individual (both inner and outer – why the hell not say that) would be pretty insulting to my child.

6. I finally get why people “of a certain age” wish for health first, then money and love. I had a pretty hectic year fighting assorted viruses brought home by my kid from daycare, my hip instabilty after the pregnancy… This having kids business is quite a serious one!

7. And while on the topic of health, a lot of ailment have as much to do with what’s in your head as well as external forces. In my multiple doctor visits of 2011, I don’t know how many times I heard “triggered by stress, anxiety, or depression. So keep you mental health sane and your body will reciprocate.

8. It is a beautiful relationship that between a girl and her iPad. Enough said!

9. Friends are important and some friendships can withstand the test of time, distance, and even “out-of-touch”ness. I love to meet with wonderful people I have not spoken to or hung out with in a very, very long time like I did recently, and still click like we did.

10. And so are the friends that stay close like my friend Martha, my son’s self-titled “crazy aunt”. We have a relationship akin to my 14 year-old self stuck on the phone with my friends. But instead we use Skype. Love you girl!

11. It was a year of professional fulfillment, a bunch of it from the book of “what not to do”. I have learned from my own mistakes. Itwas a great year to understand certain notions about business and their veracity. I learned new skills, practiced existing ones, and discover the areas where I’m truly awesome.

12. And just like friends are important, my family is my rock. And this is both the one I came from and the one I formed in the past couple of years. This year was a special year in my relationship with my mom, with whom I’ve not always being in the best of terms, but who was my champion when I needed it the most. And then there is my husband. Best man in the world, no offense to other men out there!

Happy New Year!