Happy New Year

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Here in is my Christmas synopsis for the year 2008.
What have I done with my life this year, you might ask. Well even if you didn’t, I’m going to tell you.
Last January we went to Phoenix to visit Brian’s family. Only stayed 5 nights. That was adequate. Came back to snow – schools were closed for a week. Also started volunteering in a local 6th grade classroom. It was a most rewarding experience. I don’t think the teacher knew exactly what to do with me (hers is a room of not very involved parents and I was not a parent to any of those in the room). I latched onto the two refugee children in the class and worked a bit with math and English. What can you do with only three hours every Friday morning?
Through the spring I kept busy with committees, Red Hat Chapter, Sewing Club yadda, yadda, yadda. Then at the end May I went in and had my bunion removed. That was fun…. No weight bearing on my foot for six weeks. Recovery went well. I couldn’t sit at the sewing machine for any length of time (the foot would swell and throb), so I sat on the couch with my laptop and watched episodes of various PBS sewing programs. And listened to books on tape. And read books. And tried some hand sewing. And was in general lazy. The foot is all healed up now but I could not stand on my feet for more than 45 minutes without the left foot hurting, the arch aching and my whole body screaming at me to sit down. Went back to the doc and he suggested orthotics. While wearing them I am able to walk more but will probably always be aware of the stiffness in the foot.
In October Jerry was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, so we have been learning about diet and exercise with a whole new slant. My allergy to milk and the naturopath’s telling me to stay away from sugar (in its many forms) has been good, so now we just have to watch the carb intake (in all its forms). Getting older is sure a learning experience.
Brian’s wife would like to go back to Italy to visit her family. She thought September of 2009 but with the economy …. With that in mind, I started taking Italian classes because I want to go with her. Quite interesting but it really makes my brain hurt after a two hour session.
December brought Robin and her family to Spokane for the snow. They got it. Spokane had record levels of snow in December (I’m sure you’ve seen the figures). Robin was able to visit with her aunts and cousins, take the kids sledding every day, get introduced to Jerry’s kids and see my apartment. I accuse her kids of praying for all this snow – told her yesterday she could have them stop asking for it now.
And to escape the hassle of Christmas gatherings that don’t go well (that was the idea anyway) we decided in August to head south to Phoenix for Christmas. Well the gatherings happened before Christmas and were rather pleasant. The stay Phoenix was nice but too long (Christmas day through New Years Day). Brian had to work most of the time so was unavailable. He bought a Shipping store and has to man the shop nearly every day. He is struggling to make ends meet. My heart goes out to him. Wish I could afford to live down there (snowbird style) so I could give him a break. Guess you never stop being a parent either.
Didn’t visit with Aaron this year. His wife is in nurses training now so I didn’t want to descend on her and knock her studies out of whack. Maybe in 2009.
The adopted kids are fine. Jhary is doing well in her program and her job. We took her with us to Phoenix, mainly because she hadn’t seen Brian’s kids for some time and was still envisioning them as little kids (they are all grown up now). Uma has had to move into a program with 24 hour care because she is not taking care of her Type 2 Diabetes and needs more supervision. This is making it hard on here because she cannot live with her husband. Job opportunities for her are slim. Traivon now has three children without benefit of marriage (or a job). I feel sorry for the kids. Tyrone is dealing with Bi-polar syndrome so he too is not working. My, I sure picked a group, didn’t I? Well, maybe 2009 will show improvements in their situations.
There is always hope that the New Year will bring better situations for everyone. I am certainly praying for that. As I age I see how things get bad and then they get better. You just have to have the stamina to wait things out.
Hope your kids and grand kids are all faring well and that you all are in good health and are not wanting. Good health to you. Thanks for staying a friend throughout these long years.