As the year closes I could be sitting here writing down my list of New Year's Resolutions. Keeping my car clean, losing weight, not drinking so much Diet Pepsi.... But really...we all know those New Year's Resolutions are out the window faster than a bee caught in your car. So, instead, I'm reflecting on all the things I'm thankful for in the past year. I was able to buy a house in March and move Keenan and I in so we have a place to call our own and a house for him to grow up and make memories in. Keenan is a smart, healthy, sweet, wonderful boy who makes me laugh and grit my teeth every single day. I'm thankful for his health, for his safety, for his sweet disposition, for the wacky things he does that make me giggle and for the sweetest sound ever...when he says mommy. I'm so glad that he and his maamaw have such a great relationship and that his dad and I can raise him without animosity or anger. The best gift we can give him now is two loving parents that can be adults and get along with one another. I'm thankful that Matt is almost halfway through his second deployment to Iraq and is still alive and healthy. I'm extra thankful for MySpace because even when he can't call or write he can pop on for a moment so it will show the last day he logged in and I can know that he was ok at that time on that day. I'm thankful that this last year did not present my family or I with any tragedies. I'm thankful that I've reconnected with people I've lost track of over the years and am going to try hard not to lose track of them again. I'm SOOOO thankful that we aren't going to have another right wing, barely literate, fat cat oil monger Republican in office for the next four years. It's nice to know that our country is able to elect someone like Barack Obama to be our next President because it means someone like my son can have the opportunity to be President someday too. Slowly but surely the times are changing. Finally, in this economy, I'm thankful I work where I do and have the seniority I do. It's nice to have some sense of security in these rocky financial times.
As for the rest of it all, I've come to realize that if you waste time worrying about the little things you're going to drive yourself nuts. And for some of us, that's a much shorter trip than for others. So, if my car is messy and it grosses you out...don't ride in it. If my house is messy and grosses you out...don't visit it. My life will not be defined by how clean I kept my floors and if there were dishes in my sink. If I can read a book to my boy, play cook in his kitchen or clean up the house and do laundry...well, we all know which will win everytime. And, if you have to think about which one that is, then it's time to reexamine your priorities.
So go forth into the new year not admonishing yourself for all the things you didn't do so well last year and all the things you want to make better because they somehow weren't good enough, but by reflecting on the really great things you've done and that have happened and being thankful that you've survived it all to ring in 2009! I know that's how I'll be spending my time right after I tuck my little peanut into bed!
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
