A Year in the Life--2008

I saw this in several blogs over the past couple of days, and what a wonderful idea I thought! It's actually quite fascinating to go back and read through your own blog and what transpired during the year. A lot, I had already forgotten about. But then, I am losing my mind, remember?

January turned out wonderfully after having a shaky start. While it all began beautifully at Riverside--no better place to ring in the new year, who can forget almost losing my brother Johnny to sepsis. All of you kept my spirits high during this difficult situation, and I hope you know how thankful I am. Above is Mary Jane's kitty (my SIL) celebrating my brother getting better. And who can forget all the presidential debates? How fun was that?

In February, we celebrated mom's 84th birthday. That's always a joyous occasion. Later than month, we received the wonderful news that the teenager was accepted into the University of
Tennessee. Big doings, indeed.

March gave us an extremely early Easter, which meant an early spring break at Riverside. The hub and I celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary on a snowy night which made it quite lovely and memorable.

April was marked by the hub's 50th birthday which we celebrated in San Diego with his brother and lovely family. We were even able to sneak a few days in at the Hotel del Coronado.
What a treat that was. Later in the month, as nature started to awaken, we rescued the little baby robin the teenager found. The kid and I rushed it to a nature center way on the other side of Nashville. Does the heart good.

May brought us much joy in watching the teenager graduate from high school and the kid graduate from Middle School. The kid also made us proud by his decision to be confirmed

in the church. We were all then on various trips through Europe. The kid and I jet setted to Paris and the hub later met us there. The teenager chose, instead, to hit Amsterdam. Go figure. One of the highlights of May was meeting up with my bestest friend Amy in Atlanta. This was also the time when mom's dementia began getting progressively worse.

June was spent travelling back from Rennes, France, to the US leaving the kid behind. It was our longest separation, I think. But we rallied upon his return and

headed off to Riverside. The rest of the month was filled with lots of cooking and lots of TLC for mom.

July welcomed the cuz (Jacq, my niece) back to Tennessee. We quickly headed back to Riverside. Upon our return, we found time (barely) to attend UT's orientation for the teenager.

Lazy days spread across the month.

August gave way to our last trip of the season to Riverside with a surprise visit from my brother Jim. It was wonderful having him with me to see the area through new eyes once more. We drove back to Nashville, caravan style, and it was soon

time to drop the teenager off at college. I even managed to repaint the teenager's bathroom and clean it up for the kid to use. The kid began his first year in high school with not so much of a whimper. We did, however, have to make an unexpected trip back down to Riverside with Hurricane Gustav heading straight for the Gulf. We were fortunate and were spared with only minor flooding. The kitchen depositions began which brought my being to an all-time low.

September rolled around and so did the gas shortage here in Tennessee, all blamed on Gustav. And, the hands of time rolled on. I was able to get some fall cleaning in and even got the teenager's room finally cleared out and ready to paint (and plaster).

October brought us more trips south--one to Riverside during fall break and several down to Atlanta to visit my brother John who was there for a long-awaited operation.

Fall decorations started popping up all over the house.

November was guided in with the excitement of new hope for the country. I cannot tell you what relief and happiness this brought to me. Perhaps we can begin to move forward as a nation.

Birthdays came and went--the kid's and mine. We had lovely drives in the country, I had cake classes and the kitchen was back into the "in progress" mode with the countertops being replaced. My brother and his family arrived and I just have to say our time together only gets better with age.

December? Who could have thought it would have disappeared so quickly? It started with a fun cookie class and ended with blessings of health and happiness to us all.

While we always have our ebb and flow, we are thankful to have each other. We have plenty of love that seems to conquer all.

Cheers to a healthy, happy and loving 2009.