New "things" have been squeezed in the closets and the cabinets, the wrapping paper and boxes have been stuffed in the dumpster and the refrigerator is overloaded with food. I stressed myself out by waiting until the last minute to shop, and by putting off writing a final paper until the week it was due. I didn't go to mass as often as I intended to, didn't attend a single Christmas party and didn't feel at all in the Christmas spirit. On the other hand, I did get the tree up Thanksgiving weekend, I did enjoy seeing my family, I did cook Christmas dinner and I did manage to get everything else I was responsible for done. I suppose, all in all, Christmas for me was a success (my standards are not very high).
And now I am looking into the new year. In the new year, Mom will have been gone 4 years, and our lives have changed so much since our last day with her. I will begin the final leg of the school marathon I started 16 months ago, and graduate in May with my degree. And it only took 25 years! I will have a birthday, and I can usually count on snow around then. Koinonia will be held the last weekend of January, and I will again be a table leader. Nathan will get his driver's license and I will have new worries with that. Mardi Gras will kick off the Lenten season and spring will be around the corner. Jackie and Sara will have their babies (Lexie and Linus) and that will be a joyful and exciting time. My class reunion is in the summer, and I will enjoy seeing old friends, some after 25 years. In July, we will mark our 13th year in this house. We will spend weekends at the lake and I hope to take at least one vacation this year. I also hope things improve at the office - after all, June will make 3 years since work was even remotely enjoyable. Then it will be time for school to start again, and the next thing you know, Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, and then another year will be winding down...
And that, my friends, is just how fast time will go by.
There will be illness, sadness, stress, sorrow, and tears in the coming year. But there will also be love, laughter, joy and good times, too. I don't make resolutions, but I am making an exception this year. I think this quote sums it up nicely:
We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. ~Ellen Goodman
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