2008 Kicked my Trash ......2009 WIll Not!

I'm finally getting around to thinking about the New Year, the Old Year and how I would like them to be different. I wrote this post in my head while folding laundry a few minutes ago and the whole time I kept hearing my friend Catherine say, "Girl, you have got to stop whining! I took my family of 9 thousands and thousands of miles from home only to take up residence in a war zone, where we may or may not have power or water at any given moment AND they don't regularly sell Hershey's chocolate milk mix!" While I know Catherine would never actually say this to me, I think she could very easily think it. I'm really not a whiner...never have been...hope I never become one. Quite simply there were some things of 2008 that I REALLY hope don't repeat themselves in 2009.

SUCH AS:
1- Kev lost his job. This really took a toll on our family and our faith. We're still fighting through it with "hope of a brighter day."

2- We were all sick, sick, sick. Mia had RSV, I got pneumonia, we had ridiculous amounts of tummy issues, Max had his tonsils out, the girls both struggled with ear infections, I fought with strep throat...the list goes on and on. Our families all wanted to have us quarantined.

3- We tried to adjust simultaneously to a new baby, a newly called Bishop dad/husband, a new and bigger house (a blessing and a curse), the accessibility of friends and a revolving back door, two kids in school full time and all the activities that come with that and potty training.

4- Car problems. Enough said.

5- We watched so many people we love struggle with really tough things. Kev does so much better than me at compartmentalizing all the "STUFF" he has floating around in his head and heart, but I struggle. I think and stew and wonder what I can do or say to lift someone else's burden. It's one thing I actually have come to love about myself, but I've got to learn how to "let it go" after I've done all I can do. Because when I don't...I get sick. (Refer to #2)

I could go on, but I'm even depressing myself just writing about the yucky stuff. Let's move onto 2009. It's going to be a great year full of CHANGE and good things. I have made a list of some things I want to do this year so that "life" doesn't get in the way of my life.

Here's my list...in no particular order except #1.

1-SPEND MORE QUALITY TIME WITH THE MAN I LOVE. Sorry hon, the Pinewood Derby does NOT count as a date!

2-CONQUER MY LAUNDRY! I have a plan and a new rolling/hanging rack in my laundry room to assist me along my way. (I'd love ANY tips on the subject.)

3-READ MORE BOOKS. Not including The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids and the Fancy Nancy books, I think I only read 10 new books last year. An all time low record for me AND most of them were only mediocre at best.

4-STUDY UP ON NUTRITION AND KEEP MY FAMILY HEALTHY.

5-LOSE 25 POUNDS OR MORE. I need to finish the Yoga class I started and then couldn't finish because I got pneumonia. It's a vicious cycle.

6-GET PUBLISHED. I've got a couple projects in the works. One is bigger than I initially imagined it would be, but in the end could be very, very good.

7-CELEBRATE OUR 10TH ANNIVERSARY BY TAKING THE HONEYMOON WE SHOULD HAVE TAKEN THE FIRST TIME AROUND. Seriously, Grad School could have waited. If only we both weren't so practical.

8-REDECORATE MY BEDROOM. Right now it's the most depressing place in the whole house. A hodge podge of miscellania buried under all the stuff that somehow the "not me" creature that lives with us always manages to place there.

9-STOP AND LISTEN EVERYDAY.

10-TELL THE PEOPLE I LOVE EXACTLY THAT. Don't think I'm weird or dying if I all of a sudden tell you I love you. Just know that it comes from deep within my heart.

That's my simple list of 10. "Yes I Can!"