A year in review
As I sit here on the eve of Christmas Eve, I decided to reflect over this past year, 2008.
As usual, it has gone by far, far too quickly. This will bring me to my first point. I posted somewhere during this past year that hubby is always giving me a hard time because I’m always “wishing my life away”. I have to admit, I am guilty of that, though my response at the time was “No, I’m only wishing the weekdays away.” I’ve since come to the realization that life goes by way, way, way to fast and even wishing the weekdays away is not a good thing and I have vowed to stop this. I haven’t mastered it just yet, especially those days in the office when everyone is driving me toward a loony farm, but I’m trying.
Lots and lots of good things have happened to us in this year and for that I am unabashedly grateful. First and foremost, I am so very grateful that hubby and I remain gainfully employed. There was a chance that his job might have been going away (his company was bought out) but now it sounds like it will remain, at least through 2009. Check back a year from now to see how that plays out!
Of course, I am thankful for the family and friends that play such an important role in my life. I feel the older I get, the mushier I’m getting and the more important these people are becoming to me. We lost our dear friend George this past year and my thoughts and prayers are with his family to keep them strong through the holiday season, which must be so painful by the too soon and unexpected loss of their loved one.
I am also thankful for the “friends” I have made through this wonderful world that we call the internet. I haven’t yet sorted out how one can feel the joy and the pain of people you’ve never met but it happens. So thank you. You know who you are.
Anyone who knows me is saying “Your cats? What about your cats? I can’t believe you didn’t mention them first!” Okay, okay, that must be that mushie thing I referenced earlier, where I actually listed the PEOPLE in my life before my “babies”! My boys bring a happiness into my life that is probably difficult for some to understand but those guys make me smile every day and bring me more joy than I could truly find the words to explain. Okay, I’ll get over that and move on…
We have now been in our new home over a year and have experienced every season now. I am still as in love with this house as I was the day we moved in. I must admit that the amount of snow that we get took me a bit by surprise (almost two feet this weekend, thank you very much). While “dashing through the snow” to get to my MILs this weekend to clear her out, I commented about this to the hubby who turned and looked at me and said “But would you trade it to live somewhere else?” And I immediately responded “Not for a second!”
One of the reasons that I so love my new neighborhood is the sense of “belonging”. Six months ago, a neighbor (who had moved in at the same time we did) was killed in a tragic car accident, leaving his wife with two small boys. Jessica and I have become friends since then, and it makes me so sad that she lost her husband because I can tell that her and my husband would have become friends, too. She is a sweet, sweet person and that was only made more evident this past weekend. Overnight Friday, we had a good foot of snow dumped on us (the first of two storms). When we saw her out shoveling, I went to let her know that Brian would come over with the snowblower to clear her paths. Her response? “Oh, you guys have enough to do but is the elderly lady in the brown house next to you alone? ’cause I can come over and help shovel her out.” That, my friends, is a person with a heart. A very big heart. I am a lucky person to have come to know her.
A friend of mine sent me the following email just this morning and I want to share it here:
Base Principles That will Serve You well.
Be understanding to your perceived enemies.
Be loyal to your friends.
Be strong enough to face the world each day.
Be weak enough to know you cannot do everything alone.
Be generous to those who need your help.
Be frugal with that you need yourself.
Be wise enough to know that you do not know everything.
Be foolish enough to believe in miracles.
Be willing to share your joys.
Be willing to share the sorrows of others.
Be a leader when you see a path others have missed.
Be a follower when you are shrouded by the mists of uncertainty.
Be first to congratulate an opponent who succeeds.
Be last to criticize a colleague who fails.
Be sure where your next step will fall, so that you will not tumble.
Be sure of your final destination, in case you are going the wrong way.
Love to those who love you.
Be loving to those who do not love you; they may change.
Above all,
Be yourself. Just Be Yourself.
Its something I’m going to come back and reflect upon over the coming year. It should set me on a path that will clear my way to have as many wonderful things to reflect on at this time, 2009.
At this, I’ll leave you all with wishes of a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday Season and a Happy and Prosperous New Year! Be good and be safe!
Both comments and pings are currently closed.