The end of a decade

It's easy to wax nostalgic on any New Year's Eve but maybe even more so in a year ending in 9. For many of my friends and family 2009 was a Very Bad Year. It brought job loss and serious illness and financial woes.

It also brought new babies, new beginnings, and new opportunities.

In my own family it meant my husband, the Hero, was away from us all but 8 weeks of last year. He's been working in Antarctica doing a job he loves albeit in an environment he doesn't like so much. We've missed him and he's missed us but we've survived the separation. He's called me on a regular basis (mostly to ask for help spelling a word or rewriting a couple of sentences) and I've kept up a steady stream of email (although it never got me any help with the yardwork or the snow shoveling).

For being a Very Bad Year we've been very blessed overall.

I look forward to a much more normal life in the coming year. My hero will be home sometime in February and will stay here for at least 8 months. We'll make up for time lost and spend what time we have together in a deeper appreciation for one another. And I'll probably be ready for a short break about the time he's ready to head back out on his great adventure.

I'm looking forward to the coming year. I already know there'll be some challenges to contend with. I'll overcome them all, though, and do it with flying colors. The blessings that will be ours in 2010 will be so much greater than 2009.

Good-bye old year. Welcome to the year coming.

Day Three and the writing is, um, well....

I'm going to take off the disguise of a responsible adult. Or I was before I cleaned the diningroom and livingroom and did the dishes and cooked dinner for the children. It seems a little late today to NOT be a responsible adult since I've done all the things necessary to keep up the charade.

Only three days of actually writing and cleaning and not spending money and it's not near as satisfying as I had hoped it to be. Of course, it takes quite a few more days before a good habit can be established. And I think I'm adding something, not exchanging one bad habit for a good one.

I don't know. It feels good to have a couple of clean rooms on the same floor. It also feels good to go to a movie and out to dinner and get home late so I don't have to do any chores. Tomorrow is a scheduled goof-off day. I'll do a comparison tomorrow evening while the children, their friends and a couple of cousins are eating me out of house and home.

Oh, shoot. I've already planned yet another day of wearing the disguise.

Since I'm not making resolutions....

Can I wait until the actual New Year to begin all the things I want to make permanent in my life? And if I wait another 4 days will those good habits - which I don't have just yet - have more validation?

Do I really even want to give up Pepsi?

I cleaned a child's room yesterday. My child's room. I've been avoiding it for at least 6 weeks. It just got progressively worse and worse until the floor was so covered in clothing (clean and not-so-clean) and toys (most of which she didn't play with) that I had to go in there. With trash bags and a laundry basket.

Of course, the laundry basket meant I was going to have to *gasp* run the washer and driver for the afternoon. Which I did. AND, I even folded everything as it came out of the dryer. Don't ask me if everything got put away. As of this writing it's still in individual baskets waiting to go into the rooms of the people who wear it all (or don't).

Today is slated to go into the boy's room. I might need a gas mask.

Out with the Old

It's not quite the New Year but it's close enough to get started on the writing. And I have a lot of writing that needs doing.

I tossed out the other blog. It had been 10 1/2 months since my last entry and every single thing I had written was negative. Seriously! Can you even believe it?

No New Year's resolutions being made in this house but I am instituting some good habits around here. Things like a short devotional Bible study with whoever is around in the mornings. A walk with the dog and the kids before lessons start. No Pepsi! Writing every single day for at least 30 minutes even if it's not writing I'd actually publish.

So, here I am. Cleverly Disguised as a Responsible Adult. I have a bracelet a good friend sent me with that etched into it. I think it might become the title of my book.