Happy New Year & to new beginnings

Christmas 2008 will be remembered for a few reasons.

1. It is our first Christmas without Bob. He is in Valhalla riding on a Harley (something he always wanted) and is painfree (unlike last Christmas which was for me, far more difficult than this year)




2. 40+ inches of snow, and it keeps falling. And I keep shoveling. I knew there was a reason that I spent 9 winters in Winnipeg: to train for this!




3. ChrisNess & I had a very special Christmas, made all the more so with the arrival of Erica, hubby DJ and daughters Rebecca (7) and Isabella (6) from Winnipeg.




4. My little cabin was a flurry of activity and had people sleeping in the loft (ChrisNess), and in the 2 bedrooms (E & DJ in my room, and I slept in the guest room) and in the closet (R &I). Now don't go calling the child protection people. The closet is big enough for a queen size airbed. We called the closet a 'tent' and the girls slept in sleeping bags and had special flashlights for their adventure.



5. My sister & hubby vanished to Mexico mid November. They bought a HUGE RV at a garage sale (no kidding). It takes 3 city blocks to change lanes. I think it's around 800 square feet when the 3 pullouts are pulled out. Anyway, they weren't here to host Christmas dinner, which means there was NO Christmas baking....Their 3 grown daughters celebrated with their own family and friends. It was weird not seeing them.


6. I took 2 weeks off work (without pay) to recharge my batteries. It feels good. I have been housebound mostly due to bad roads and the time it takes to shovel the Jeep out from under the wall of snow. I've been relaxing by the fire, reading novels, listening to Christmas music, hauling wood in from the shed, splitting kindling, shoveling snow, walking Chile in the daylight (what a treat!) and puttering. Oh, and shoveling...again.


7. I've also found my writing muse again. I'll be blogging with regularity...