LAST DAY OF 2010......

One of my favorite pictures - from the beautiful moss on the roof to the various greens of trees and grasses and then you look closer and see how this was once some one's pride and joy and life goes on....... It makes you wish you had known who lived here, what their everyday life was like, were there children and were they all happy? I love looking at houses when I'm traveling - all sizes, shapes, colors and wonder about what stories these houses could tell about the people who live or lived in them. I love how the earth was created to reclaim what once belonged to it by absorbing it back into nature again. There was a small pasture on the road I live on when we moved here and after they sold their house and land, it wasn't but a few years before you would have never known there had been a pasture there. We also used to be surrounded by trees - especially behind us where you could walk forever before you hit a road or house. There were no street lights and at night it was very dark and quiet. I miss that. That brings us to the word "progress". I guess that word means different things to different people. I do know what some people consider progress isn't always good for everyone. It has been a year with many ups and downs. The hardest part was how the downs were so major and came one after another - almost piggy backing each other starting with Ann's cancer taking control again. At times it felt like I was going to lose my breath - but - I didn't. I did have to finally admit the fact that I've been depressed for quite some time now and it has affected me on many levels. Since I have so many people in my life who are very important to me - the things that affect them - affect me also. Yep - that wonderful quality called empathy. I tend to have it to a much larger degree than needed and lately I've tried very hard to control how intense it affects me when others are affected. It started around April 20th when my niece let me know Ann's CT scan had shown something on her lung. It was so hard to let her go but she wanted to do things her way and succeeded. She was a very strong woman and I miss her very much. She wasn't able to attend our family reunion since this one a few years ago but I was able to set up Skype for her to talk to everyone this past June. She knew how long she had before any of us and allowed us to be in denial because we needed to be. Then Leah got laid off from her job in June which selfishly for me - was a good thing; making it possible for her to go with me to PA to be with Ann before she died and was still okay. Sadly for them - she still hasn't found anything but is still looking. Everything pretty much started going downhill from then on. Just not up to listing all the ones we lost this year and how hard it was to let each and every one of them go or how we are still waiting on tenderhooks for the few we know will go any day and how hard it will be to let them go also. I am definitely in that one day at a time place - one day, one hour, one minute, one second. The only thing that helps is when my babies come home. I so enjoyed having all of my family in this tiny little cluttered house this past weekend and tonight has been great. Of course we have had Page2 all week and I'm sure she will be so glad to go home and be free of her boring grandparents. I have been under the weather (what's new) with some kind of sinus something something. We listened to the meeting last night and today read a WT article together. We have worked hard to get as many of the little items Page1 left for each day done and have been surprised that we have come so close to doing everything. BigD picked GG up earlier and her oldest daughter and one of my best childhood friends followed soon after to take her home later. Leah and Kurt came in pretty close to when supper was ready and what a supper it was. BigD made more of his delicious bleu cheese dressing made with the Danish Bleu Cheese he gets at Costco. It was tres' yummy as before. With the delicious steak was his famous potatoes and mushrooms as well as the great salad. Leah brought a butterscotch cake with creamed cheese icing for dessert. This woman has got to STOP! It was so moist and delicious. Since Debora had to pick her hubby up, we fixed GG a plate go to but it was so nice to hang out for awhile like old times. She plans to retire the end of March so maybe we will be able to spend some more time together. She loved the washer/dryer and new fridge. We do too. Kurt had to show off his new shirt from a friend who owns this business. Leah's brother just went to work with him and Kurt is thrilled he finally got one of these. I don't think anything more needs to be said. I had to share the new necklace (and there were earrings to match) that Leah was wearing. It turns out Page2's guitar instructor makes jewelry also. I liked how light-weight they were. Princess Miya Chula Yum-Yum was quite happy to see Kurt and Leah without her brother Hiro because it means she will get ALL the attention for the next few days. Yeah - she is definitely a princess. We are going to try our best to stay awake until midnight to see if our neighbor does the fireworks he normally does. He has been battling cancer for years and the last I heard, he wasn't doing so well. Hopefully he is better and we can enjoy them this year. My Aunt Eunice called tonight to see how we all were and told me she called my brother-in-law Christmas Day because that is they day she normally called my sister Ann. She told me he seemed to be happy she called so I called Naokie and he confirmed that his Dad was very happy to have gotten the call from her. They were on their way to a party but he told me he had already gotten in touch with Page about them maybe coming down in April. I am so happy to hear that might happen and plan to get the whole family together for them.
I'll close with some cards we got for our 45th anniversary. I started this a little earlier today and am now signing off - it will be 2011 the next time I make an entry so good night dear friends and Good-bye 2010. Hello 2011 - please be kinder to me than 2010.