I still can't quite believe that this year is ending in just a few short days. How quickly it has gone and yet how slowly some of the days seemed to drag - how does that happen?
I don't have much to put on a 'best of' list, but there are a few good things I'd like to recall. In no particular order, some of what I enjoyed most about this year:
* Celebrating ten years with the beebles. Wish I could roll back the clock on their ages, but I'm so thankful for every day we have together.
* Getting through the halfway point in the program at school. I've still a longish way to go, but I'm on the downside. I will graduate some day. Wokka wokka!
* My Name Is Earl. What a delightful show! Not that I needed an excuse to race home from school on Tuesdays this fall, but it was a pleasant reward when I did skedaddle on out of class.
* Paying off debts. What a blessing it has been to get out of consumer debt. Yay!
* Reading with Maddy Rose. Seeing my oldest niecelet turn into a bona fide reader has been extremely fun. She's growing into such a lovely person and watching her confidence grow in line with her abilities is inspiring. I love my wee Vlad.
* Watching the UW bolleybolley team win the national championship. Talk about rawkin' awesome! Congrats to the ladies and their coaches!
* Vacationing with Chris and the chits. May Chelan be able to retain its small town character in the light of the invasion of the outsiders. I had fun hanging with the family over the long weekend.
* Hanging out with my Bean. Gracielia is a wonderful kid who has left that little girl look behind over the year. She's tall, in first grade, learning to read, and has the cutest, slight gap in her permanent teeth.
* Seeing Les in April. Hands down a highlight!
* Being in the St. Paul community when Phyllis passed away. Few experiences are so amazing as the Orthodox funeral and burial.
* The Daily Show. There is a reason L and I have appropriated Jon Stewart as our latest pretend shared boyfriend, and that is his ongoing ability to find humor in the dark situation that is our current war. That and his imitations of W - I lerv his cackle!
* The books. I don't think I'll hit 100, but I'm in the mid-80's at least. Having next week off will allow me to likely get to 90. A bit short but even with taking two months off during Lent, I still made durn good progress. It's more than Beavis has read in his entire lifetime, so I can still be one up on somebody at least.
All in all, a very full year. The end of some relationships, the change of others. Some good, some bad. I've made good choices and horrid ones as well - all in all, I'm coming out much better than I was a year ago. God is faithful to catch me and keep me, even when I run the other way. He keeps bringing me back to the Church despite my rebellious attempts to forge my own way in the world. I'm grateful and humbled, though as always not quite enough. He's allowed me to be hurt and to grow, to see others with a more generous and less judgmental eye, to begin to really love my parents and family, to be grateful for my life as it is, to have fewer anxieties about how I'm 'supposed' to turn out. God is good, God is faithful, God is worthy of all praise. May my days ahead, those left in this year and those beyond, be filled with honor for Him.
