OUT with the old and IN with the new!

Happy New Year!
I have been a really bad blogger this year so I thought I would do a recap of what our year was like. Tomorrow I will post The Year in Pictures...

Twas a long yet quick year, as they often seem to be each year older that we get. This year is one I am happy to say goodbye to although I am grateful for the good things that were brought to us.

2009 began for us with a massive NY Day windstorm that blew down many of the big ponderosa's in our neighborhood and yard. The neighbors behind us needed to patch a giant hole in their garage roof as a result, the neighbors across the street got lucky by the skin of their teeth. It was nervewracking.
The rest of winter 2009 had John stuck in snow removal h-e-double hockeysticks. An unappreciative job that had rediculous expectations for snow removal , demanding very long sleepless nights and days and to always be on call. This is never good for anyone's health, mental or physical. It also limited what we could do because we never knew when that dreaded call would come.
I was however able to spend a few lovely days in Florida solo, with the in-laws, in February thanks to a work conference adjacent to the Villages. It was nice to dig out the flipflops and feel sunshine for a few days. I also saw my first real deal alligator, not in a zoo, swimming in the lake that my conference was held on. I love to see nature in its real state of living!
Unfortunately, though I caught a nasty virus traveling home that not only had me very sick on my birthday but landed me in the hospital a few days later as the virus attacked my lungs and took away my ability to breathe. Not fun. Especially without health insurance. It took several months for me to regain my full strength and energy. Now we still have the bills to remind us.
Then John was laid off from returning to his job in the spring. And after he sold his soul to them for the winter! The good thing here is that it was a blessing in disguise and it didn't take long for someone else to scoop him up. This change of environment and release of negativity was a top highlight of 2009.
I was also awarded the Big Sister of the Month award in March which means a whole lot to me. I love being a Big Sister, I love my Little Sister dearly and I just want to be the best big sister that I can.
Spring 2009 brought the 5th anniversary of losing my father. Wow, 5 years, seems like it was only a blink of an eye ago that I received that unforgettable phonecall. I did however get to have a delicious Amato's italian sandwich with him while I tended to his grave this past April. This also means I got to have some quality time in Maine with Mom, Charlie and the kiddos. A good thing.

Just before summer really kicked off we added to our family by rescuing a beautiful one year old blue heeler-border collie named Wiley. Wiley has been one of the best things to come out of 2009 as we have grown to love him to pieces and he has shown us what a smart, loving and obedient dog he is.
Summer was good I think, busy for both of us, especially since my job began to seriously financially struggle due to the economy and all its destruction. The stress of having the future of an organzation on your shoulders is one I could really do with out. I can not report that things have gotten too much better as of now. So I work harder and try harder and hope that my team can help me see it through.
Since summer slipped away, we finally had our first camping getaway in the middle of September. It was a great getaway and very overdue. We explored southern Oregon and went to the Oregon Caves which was a pretty cool experience. Live music was also invovled with the weekend which is always a highlight for me, espcially when it is my favorite band, Gov't Mule. They even played our wedding song and we danced together under the stars. A special moment of 2009.
Fall came in and out quite quickly. We had our first snowfall the first weekend of October and as I sit here today and write this there is a massive blizzard going on outside. Several inches have landed just in the past couple hours. Geez. I would rather have a New Year snow storm though than a New Year wind storm again!
We extended our family one more time at the end of October when a little black cat found her way to my office one night and I took her in and we tried to find her owners. After about a week we made contact with the people registered to her mircrochip and then they never showed to pick her up when they were supposed to and they never called me back. By this time we had taken to her a bit and well, now she has grown our family 6-pack to 7.
Mom came for a visit in November, and we had our first Thanksgiving dinner together in 10 years. We baked and baked and baked and ate and ate and ate. It was awesome!
Then at the beginning of December some really cold temperatures came upon us and we had our first real negative temperature experience. One of the nights it got down to -20 degrees. Brrr. We had ice on the inside of our windows. Yikes. The pipes froze for a week in my office. At least they didn't burst.
This winter has been much more pleasant for John as he has not been in snow removal h-e-double hockeysticks this year. He is unemployed, but he has a snowboarding season pass and no work stress, and that makes him a happy man. He even got to share some holiday cheer with the community while selling Christmas trees for a couple weeks as an odd job.

A homeless man recently took residence in the national forest that we have for a backyard and well, it has been cold, and we have been thinking about him and his 2 dogs. We tossed around bringing him a blanket or something but well we never did. Then on Christmas Eve it was very clear to us that he was still living out there so we decided that we could do something for him and that we should stop talking about it and do it.
Ya know, John is out of work, we are living paycheck to paycheck but we still have things that we can give so we ransacked the house and put together 2 big bags of anything that we could think of that could be of help. When we were done we had a pile of everything from warm clothes, new socks, cereal, soup, travel size items, soap, new toothvrush, dog food and treats, a sewing kit and a deck of cards, a brand new rainsuit, rope and a tarp, propane, camping pads, on and on and on....we felt so accomplished and lucky that we could do so. We delivered it to him on Christmas day, and although he was not at his tent site, we left everything neatly tucked near it and covered it with the tarp. We saw that someone else had brought a small box of items too and this really made us feel happy that we were not the only ones capable of doing good.
Now as this blizzard keeps pouring down on this eve of the new year, I wonder how he and the pooches are managing out there and am grateful for all that I have and the loved ones that fill my life. "I cried because I had no shoes, until I met a man with no feet" The roof over our heads, the cars we drive, the cords of wood neatly piled outside,our family and friends and the food in our cupboards are not to be taken for granted.
My new year pledge for 2010 is to make it the best year ever. To put that Law of Attraction to work and to send only positive vibes into the cosmos so that in return that is only what comes back.
Good things are going to happen this coming year, I know it.
I send those same positive vibes out to each and every one of you that we are blessed to know and have in our lives. May you all have the best year ever!

Life- the best way to predict it, is to create it.