Where has the time gone?

It has been a busy month filled with mixed emotions of joy and always shadowed by sadness of the past. This has always been one of my favorite times of the year, and one of deep sadness as well. This year it was wonderful to spend the Christmas holiday with my mother and my younger brother and his wife. It was much more subdued then the Thanksgiving gathering. Good food and wonderful sweet treats were on hand, as well as the love that abounds in this family. My boys were missing this year, no grandkids either and that was hard. What would be the point of putting on my Santa hat without them?


Christmas behind us, along with a couple feet of snow, I am looking forward to toasting in 2011 with friends. The weather has been a deciding factor as to where I will be when I do my toasting. I heard that I-94 has been closed this afternoon and more highways across this state will be closed because of the blizzard conditions. I can't get out of my driveway!! I have been diligently opening a path for Zak to do do his thing outside and it has involved shoveling out from the door each time. I am told we are a hearty folk out here and this will be but a faint memory in May!! I think I lost some of that "hearty" in the years I spent living in other places. I am going to stay inside by the fire on New Years eve and day and ponder the year to come.


Reflecting back over the year 2010:

1. The year started with the buzz at work that we would be facing another reduction in force and all of us were affected by the talks in halls and the rumors that swirl through a corporate campus unchecked. Not until March were our questions answered by headquarters. I was somewhat prepared for what came, but that did not take the sting out of emptying my desk and saying good-by to co-workers, who in so many cases had become friends. That last day at work was so very long and painful. For days I wept, not knowing exactly why! My inner clock is still set to my old work schedule! Some things don't change easily.
2. I had been discussing the possibility of a move with my mother and my siblings for sometime. I would go back home to my roots! Well the layoff from work took my one only reason for not being able to make that move. Some very hard decisions had to be made and I was on my own to make them. Asking for some divine guidance set me on my path back home.
3. A change - shaved my head and took a motorcycle ride!
4. The purging and packing began in earnest. The house on the prairie would not hold all of this furniture and do I really need all of this. (The answer I find is NO)
5. The journey from ER to the prairie in May was wrought with so many mixed emotions! My oldest and my youngest made the trip with me. When we pulled up to the house on the prairie, my sister, my niece and my mother were there to welcome us. The cupboards were stocked and there was a country roast (didn't come from some store chain) in the oven, with the wonderful aroma wafting through the air. The welcome was complete as I watched the beautiful sunset in the west over the prairie grasses.
6. Reality sets in! I moved!! OMG!!! The unpacking never seems to end and finding places for everything was a challenge. First things first, I need my computer set up! I need the internet! It was like learning to walk and talk again! At the end of the day there was the serenity of the prairie and those great walks with my furry kid, Zak!
7. The summer gave way to meeting my neighbors, getting involved in community, spending precious time with my mother and enjoying my new prairie life.
8. Fall came with its message that winter was not far behind. Some chilly nights gave way to a new furnace and the end of the year is upon us!

2011 will be host to reunions, both school and family! I will be happy to keep you posted.

Carpe Diem and most definitely Carpe Vino!

Be safe, be happy and don't forget to pay it forward to those less fortunate than you! Keep it real!