Starting a new year

Starting a New Year

So here we are at the start of a new year.

Looking back on the past 10 years...
Two of my kids survived their teen years and all that comes with them; first jobs, high school graduation, first dates, learning to drive, etc.  Maybe Andy and I are the survivors on this one.
They've wrestled through shaken faith and come out strong.

All the kids went from little to not so little, and their interests changed over time.  Kids will surprise you in their pursuits, but looking back you can sometimes see that the trajectory was always there.

Our friends become mothers-in-laws and fathers-in-laws, and they became grandparents.  We saw marriages end and friends face widowhood.  We celebrated our friends as they hit big decade birthdays.

Our silver anniversary came and went.

We enjoyed some great vacations. Saw NYC for the first and thus far only time. Rested and refreshed on beautiful beaches. Tubed on the Little Pigeon River. Hiked a few trails.

During the course of the last ten years, we lost. Both my parents are now secure beyond the veil. My grandma by the lake and a brother in law too.  Other ties have been severed.  New ones have been formed.

I got myself addicted to "This is Us." lol
IKEA may have won a bit of my heart in the last ten years too.


The years piled up quickly, and I found myself sitting in an office this summer looking over the numbers for my projected retirement. Just a couple of months before the year ended, I started the final required year of employment for full retirement - not that I plan to retire in a year.

Andy went from days to nights to days and worked with a few departments and ended the year in a new position.

We both gained pounds, wrinkles and gray hairs.

My van made it through all the years though it looks pretty beat up.  Our roof was replaced, and the rest of the house, well it's tired and worn.  Some places just need paint.  Others need to be stripped bare to the bones and then restored with new flooring and/or drywall.  Pipes still leak.

We filled our house with family to ring in the new year.  I hope everyone had fun.  Andy and I pondered the night when it was all said and done and didn't feel confident that it was a good party, but we got a kick out of the nieces and nephews. Ira and Regan were here sans parents.  They may have had too much sugar to celebrate. I don't think I took a single picture.

Since starting the new year, I've lost. The sapphire from the ring Andy gave me probably 15 years ago that I've worn daily since. 10,000 pictures or so that were stored on our old computer. It gave up the day I tried to back them up to an external hard drive.  It wasn't the backing up that killed the computer.  I never even got the hard drive plugged in.  I simply opened the picture file, and it died.  I can't even let myself consider what images may not be backed up elsewhere because of failed memory cards and flash drives.

Even still, I started the year hopeful.  Two of my kids are on track to receive bachelor's degrees in a few months.  I am trying the Everyday app to work on building good habits one day at a time.  Once again I have started the year making a thankful list day by day.  So bring on the Roaring Twenties - may they roar with blessings, hope, joy, and laughter- lots of laughter.