Out with the odd; in with the even

I'd planned to write this great passable end of the year post, but I had a whopper of a nightmare early this morning, in which the space shuttle blew up again...over Texas, I think. I woke up all in a panic thinking it had really happened, and dangit, if it hasn't made me cranky and foul-tempered the whole live-long day.

So, it's likely this post won't even approach passable, but we'll blame it on my tumultuous night, okay? ;)

I'm not sure when I've been so glad to see the tail end of a year as I have this one. Actually, that's not true...I was quite happy to give 2005 a good swift kick in the rear, and if I remember correctly, 2003 couldn't leave fast enough either. And what do the years 2003, 2005, and 2007 have in common, children?!

That's right...they're odd! And if I teach you nothing but this -- odd is bad, even is good. ;-D

But really, if I omit the one big gigantic ball of bad this year, 2007 had its good points --

-- I've had my best year of health in...well, at least a decade. Except for a suspicious arm thing that turned out to be nothing, I've been mostly out of the doctor's office. The hole in my knee, open since late 2003, closed completely this year. I kicked the ol' oxygen habit (except for at night) this year. I lost more weight (until the last couple of weeks, but I'm going to fix that!). I've just felt GOOD in 2007!

-- I got to leave my city -- twice! I hadn't done that since 2000 or 2001. I went to Jackson and then all the way across the state. And why did I go across the state?

-- To see my pretend boyfriend Clay Aiken in concert for the first time ever!!

-- My grandmother's 99 years and seven months life on Earth ended and her eternal reward began. And yes, that was a very good thing, especially for her.

-- After two straight years of my dad having an emergency surgery, he managed to make it through this year without one. *g*

-- And let's see... there was something else good about 2007... Now what WAS it?





What an amazing gift Thomas has been. For a while it seemed we were never going to get him, and I can hardly remember what life was like without him. He's fast asleep in his little bed down the hall right now, so his mommy and daddy can ring in the New Year tonight. :)

Looking at all that, it's hard to see why I'd be so glad to see this year end, but this summer's family heartache was easily the worst thing our family has ever experienced...worse than any death or illness. I don't think any of us will ever be the same. I hope we aren't. I've learned more about grace and forgiveness and God's sufficiency in all things from the events of this summer than I ever have. One of my very favorite quotes is from The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom, words spoken by her sister Betsie during their time in a Nazi concentration camp -- "There is no pit so deep, that He is not deeper still." I'd never compare what we went through this summer to what those courageous women and millions of others experienced, but everyone has their own pit, and as low as my family sunk in our pit, we were never alone.

Coming out of all of that, I can put in the "good" column that, as far as I can tell, the ones most affected by this summer's revelations are doing better than they ever have. My most heartfelt prayer for 2008 is that they continue on that path to healing and renewed trust.

~~~

I already mentioned a couple of my goals for 2008 -- to lose the 4.6 lbs I've gained over the holidays, plus the 8 lbs I still had to go to reach my goal. And I MUST get back to some serious card-making, so hopefully we can have our crafts bazaar in 2008. Heck, just so I'll have enough cards to send next Christmas, since most of my friends didn't get one 'cause I was out of handmade ones and couldn't bring myself to send any other kind.

Also, I want to improve my Wii golf score. heee!

Happy New Year, my friends! May 2008 be great for all of us!

Technorati Tags: 2008, end of the year, 2007, Happy New Year, Clay Aiken, goals, resolutions