It's a new year, a new beginning, a new start. Love it, love it, love it. 2008 was filled with babysitting, babysitting and more babysitting. Some weeks a bit too much babysitting, despite how much I absolutely love my grandson's company. 2008 was the frustrating election year because I wasn't crazy about either candidate. Now we all hope the best man won. 2008 was NOT a year of quilting, but was the year of a lot of reading, writing, blogging, pondering and list making. 2008 was the year of winning GiveAways -- I won four! And it was a year of making connections through blogging - Jan, Dixie, Tipper, Tina - new friends, though I wish they lived around the corner and could drop by for coffee now and then. (Oh wait - Tina DOES live around the corner -- let's get together for coffee!) 2008 was the year my husband worked too many hours -- but then again, so was 2006 and 2007. However, at the end of 2008 a tiny light appeared at the end of that tunnel, and hopefully 2009 will see an end to his 80 and 90 hour work weeks. I'd like to have him around for another 20 or 30 years, so this is important to me. Thank you to the new boss who is making this "hope" become a reality. 2009. Who knows what it will bring? I have plans for this to be the year of updating our house. I have plans for this to be the year of sewing and quilting to "cozy up" our home. I have plans to start doing a little pre-school homeschooling with my grandson (who, at the age of 3, is quite desperate to understand what these letters and numbers are all about). I have hopes of a two week vacation, heading out to Colorado to visit my son and daughter in law, and then heading to one of the most spectacular places on earth - Utah. I have hopes of a trip to New Hampshire for a good long visit with family and friends. I also have plans to be a better, more friendly neighbor. (I made a point yesterday of visiting with several neighbors to wish them a Happy New Year. Even my tree-cutting neighbor. I believe that grudge has been buried.) I have hopes of connecting more with my family -- my sisters, Gail and Sarah; my step-mother, Barbara; my niece, Bridget; my sister-in-law Wendy. These people are important to me and I need to do a better job showing them. Same for my BFF's Tricia and Paul (and his wife Jean). I love these people. I want make an effort to spend more time with them, though all of them (ALL of them!) live so far away. I have the eternal hope of being better organized. This will be the year of the Mother of All Yard Sales (in mid-May). Junk, begone! Clutter, out! Function over form! Simplify, simplify, simplify. In light of the upcoming house transformation, I have decided to "repurpose" the room I currently use as my office because it has transformed into the landing zone for all things that do not have a home. I am going to change the room into a small sitting room/library. Paperwork will go to my husband to file (he is MUCH better at it than I am!), and I will get a wireless notebook to replace my clunky desktop PC. Simplify simplify simplify. 2008 was a good year. We have a lot to be thankful for in this family. My son and daughter-in-law have turned their finances around, and both have very positive outlooks for their careers. My daughter is an extraordinary mother to my grandson, has made her health a priority in her life, continues to hold down a job of great responsibility, and continues to be financially independent. Her divorce will be final this month and we will all celebrate having a horrible man out of our lives completely (Thank you to a court system who understands that sometimes a father does not deserve Visitation of any kind!). My grandson thrives (despite his father's malevolent actions). At almost-three, Brayden now holds extensive conversations with me that include things like discussing the fact that his belly button is a circle. He is well-behaved and shows great empathy towards others' feelings. He adds so much joy and laughter to our lives. I am blessed to have him live so close to me. We all have hopes, we all have dreams, and Lord knows, I have lists for 2009. Every day is a new day, a new beginning. We can't change what happened yesterday, but we can learn from it, and move forward. Happy happy New Year.