A Few of My Favorite Things...

These past few weeks have been spent shopping, baking, eating, painting - and reflecting on the past year.

It hasn't all been easy, to tell you the truth. It has, however, been a year of changes.

January 2006 brought me to the blogosphere. You have Wordnerd and Chachi to thank for that.

February 2006 brought puppies (a beagle/rotweiller mix, no less!) and a visit from my parents. Chachi grew another year older.

March and April were average months: days passed and we all did our own thing. One major change: our church moved to Saturday nights, allowing weekends to feel MUCH longer, and me to feel like a pagan.

May brought Mother's Day - with gifts that only Chachi would buy me. I believe this was the month that I first met Tiff in person.

June and July brought family birthdays - and Father's Day. My imagination is not as grand, and Chachi received a watch and maybe some electronic equipment.

August brought my birthday, and Nooze started school.

September was an adjustment for all of us, as Nooze became "Smarter than the Old People" for a short period of time.

October brought the biggest changes of all: Nooze turned SIX. Four days later, my mother passed away.

November was difficult, as it brought the first major holiday without my mother here. Much time was spent on the phone with my dad, as this month also marked what would have been 44 years with his best friend.
One of my November highlights was to meet Kenju for the first time.

December was also a period of adjustment, as many of our Christmas ornaments were made or given to us by my mom. The crocheted angel on the top of the tree was the toughest; mum made that for me last year.

In spite of - or perhaps BECAUSE of these experiences, I have gained something incredible: YOU.

I received cards, emails, lunches out, phone calls. I now have strong friendships and connections with people that I have yet to meet face to face. Your kindness and understanding are beyond my comprehension. I love you all more than you will ever know.

While I was in Maine for my mom's funeral, I didn't sleep a lot. I spent the week in the house that I grew up in, with a father so grief stricken that he was barely able to function. I slept on the couch, as I was unable to make myself go upstairs and sleep in the bedroom of my youth. See, mum had made it into a guest bedroom, and it housed all of the things that she loved. The closets held HER clothes. It was just too much.

I spent quite a bit of time on line, as my father had dial up. There were times that he simply couldn't handle hearing the phone ring ONE MORE TIME; I went on line to create a busy signal. I also introduced my dad to some of you.

Thanks to your creative abilities, my father went from hysterical tears to hysterical laughter, gasping that SURELY, SURELY y'all were in need of some serious help.

He didn't mean it.

We trolled through your archives into the wee hours of the morn, just for the sake of distraction. There were two entries in particular that were read and re-read, and were shared with extended family.

Thank you, Trinamick. [He also loved the entry about Sister Cripple and the Moving Experience. Ahem.]

Thank you, Tiff. The March 14th entry, known as "Absolutely boring entry #101 - and dancing! With extra bonus game features!" - was the best.

Thank you, all, for everything.

Happy New Year.