Friday, January 16, 2009

Beginning of the year, beginning to dig out...

Most people at the start of the new year make resolutions. They want to finish more projects around the house, lose weight, be a better person and so on. My very first feeling at the beginning of this year was relief. I am glad that 2008 is over. It was not a horrible year, but not a great year. Though some great things did happen. Ethan proposed which I rank right up there with one of the best days of my life (along with the birth of my kids and several other cool occassions). Some people would not think a proposal was so cool as to rank that high but then they don't know Ethan. Ethan has understated class. If you look at him you would think he was just a guy. Sort of scruffy and kind of cranky. But secretly he is very classy. He is old school traditonal about a lot of things. Hard to tell from the piercings and tattoos. He actually had my engagement ring for over a month before he proposed. He shopped for weeks to find not only one we could afford, but one that would look good with any wedding band I chose and that I would love. And then he kept it a secret from everyone except one friend and planned it out well. But not ostentatiously, that is not his style and I would have freaked out. We went to dinner (it was our 9 year anniversary) and he proposed in the parking lot. Now that doesn't sound very classy but the restaurant was in a historical train station and we were standing next to the old fashioned steam engine. And of coarse there was not a giant audience watching me cry (I am a girl, I cry easily). So it was a good day.
But a lot of really annoying things happened in 2008. There were horse show issues, though none of them really awful, money issues on top of money issues, but everyone is dealing with them these days. Christmas left me in a near panic. I pared my shopping list down to the bare minimum and didn't buy tons for anyone and it was still expensive. I didn't think we were going to be able to swing it. It all turned out well in the end and Christmas was great all around. No drama anywhere which is rare. I guess when you look at it that way the year was really quite good.
Then the beginning of the year with the bitter cold, the kids home from vacation and inside because it is too cold to play outside and it's not fun to play with ice (and we had so much ice). Then they went back to school and I got a nasty cold that felt like the flu. After not getting much work done during school vacation to be knocked out for another week was really making me crazy. So now I was behind on dolls, prepping, housework...and the piles got bigger every day. I was finally starting to catch up and I would get emails from friends (not always polite) about why was I not responding (wait more than a day before you freak out at me please...) and phone calls from friends that needed to talk because they were having a bad day. I understand, bad days happen, I'll help....
But finally, finally I am getting back on track. The weight of the stress is lifting and I can breathe more easily. The fact that my cold is almost gone is helping with that too I am sure. But things are getting back on track and back to a balance. I think I am caught up on dolls again, though if I slack off I will get behind, the prepping is happening though I am sure it would be better if I could do it faster. There must be some tricks that I don't know yet, must practice some more... and the house looks better. The holiday mess is put away, the rooms are back in as much order as they can be put in. The kitchen doesn't scare me. I can breathe. So I figured it was time to blog.
So my thoughts for the new year. I don't make resolutions because they are too easily broken. Though I do have some nice hopes for the year. I hope that I can continue to do well making dolls and that people will enjoy playing with them. Everyone needs dolls after all. I hope that the year is filled with horse shows and not marred by the problems that kept cropping up last year. I hope that I have a beautiful wedding and Travis doesn't run away (or at least not too far) it would also be nice if it didn't rain that day. I hope the economy gets back to an even keel and that gas prices don't get higher again. That is a hope for everyone really. I also hope our new president is up to the challenges we have right now in the world and that he listens to advice from the knowledgable people around him.
A big hope that is always ongoing for me is that my son Travis will progress further. He is autistic and though not severe, he is behind in things. He is 8 and not potty trained (he is doing better though). He doesn't talk much or at least not much with purpose. I want to ask him how his day at school was and have him give me a real answer. That would make my year. I think soon Travis might get him own blog. But not today. I know this is coming late seeing as we are halfway through January but I do hope everyone has a wonderful year. For my part I will try to get as many dolls made as I can so everyone can play with dolls. And I will do as much as I can to support the model horse shows. Times are tough but everyone needs to play. Have a great year!

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