So Long 2009-Come on in 2010

Not sure what photos I'll use in this post since I still am unable to download new ones:( But I will take only a few moments to say farewell to 2009. It was a year. Not a great one. Almost not even average. But I will always love this year since it brought our 3rd little gem. And she is delightful. Crawling now and showing some of her own personality. And I thank Heaven that they are all healthy, that the worst 09 brought us was a case of croup and a few bouts of Pink Eye.

But in other ways this year was hard. With things I will not blog about, sad hard things that happened around us. Where we were called on to be the support for others' hard times. It is not the same as having the hard things happen to us directly, but it is challenging to have those around you in pain, physical or emotional. So for that part of 09 I can say,(in a whisper voice so the kids don't hear and repeat)-suck it!

I want these hard times of our friends and family to be gone. To be wiped clean. I want 2010 to come in like the first Spring wind, when you can tell the Winter chill is gone, when you can't stop going outside because everything around you knows what's coming and they are all so excited, from the birds, to the bulbs. Everything fairly radiates with the energy of Spring. That's what I want from 2010.

Does that sound too demanding? Too much pressure for a mere year? Ahh, but it is a double-digits celebration this year. From 9 to 10. So it is ok to have high expectations.

There are some goals I did not meet.

I have not volunteered at any Nursing Homes. Sad b/c there is one right down the street.
I cringe when I write this, but I STILL have not made a formal Will.
I did not once make it back on the ballroom floor.

But I think we did maintain a spirit of Thankfulness in our household. The economy slowed our work down considerably, but of any year when we could have appreciated more time at home and less at work, it would have been this year. #3, delightful as she is, makes everything harder to do. Not so much her personally, just the actual amount of children. It complicates things. In a good way, but complicates it none-the-less.
And this year we became homeowners. And with the bad economy, we still were able to reduce our debt(as long as you don't count the mortgage).

So for 2010- I will have a Will drawn up.
I will continue to have a Spirit of Thankfulness.
I will eat 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day(rather hard to do if you've ever tried to count and keep track).
I will give more, more of my time and more of my resources.
I will try to connect sincerely with those around me, resisting the urge to make everything about me.
I will try very hard to dance.
I will be at least a little more organized than last year(that can't be too hard to do since last year wasn't exactly orderly in this house).
I will try 2 new recipes out of the Food Network magazine every month.
I will clean more.
I will find a Dr. I like.

I better stop there. It's starting to get long and that can sometimes mean unrealistic. There are other things I'd like to focus on. And maybe I'll write about them later. Maybe I will make January a month of self reflection and future planning.