Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy almost 2010!

I'm so eager for 2010 to get here, but that's not to say that I'm especially eager to say goodbye to 2009.
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The last few years, I've been relieved nearly to the point of tears to say goodbye to the existing year by the time New Year's Eve rolled around.

This year has been trying on my family. We've lost my grandfather, our very loved dog, and our good friend, Mona. We've had our share of sad times.

But in every other way, this has been a pretty amazing year -- at least for me.

I started 2009 with a very, very long list of resolutions. There were two that I added to the list thinking they were furthest from reality. One has happened and the other is within months of happening.
Life can twist in the blink of an eye.
I'm a newspaper editor now. One of my resolutions was to 'take steps toward becoming an editor.'
I write, edit, and take photos for the newspaper in the town where my grandfather lived his entire life and where my mother was raised. I got this job in May. The first Friday I had this job, my grandfather went into the hospital. But it was such a blessing because if I still had my old job, I would have been way too far away from him when he needed me most. My new office is close enough to his house for me to get there fast enough to be by his side when he died. This job has given me so many personal blessings -- including the opportunity to LOVE my job again -- and it gave me this amazing chance to spend every minute with my grandfather that I needed to spend with him as he went from hospital, to nursing home to his home, and to heaven.
The job has given me something else that I didn't expect. It's emancipated me from an unrealistic plan I've had of moving close to the City of Pittsburgh.
Over the last decade I've turned down various offers (be it dates or jobs) because they weren't close enough to the city and my goal was to keep moving toward that city. Getting a job that is closer to where I live now has freed me from that. I can finally be at peace with where I actually live. I joined a gym here. After 10 years, I'm actually putting down some roots near my home.
I'm house shopping near Greensburg. My other 'least likely to happen" resolution was to move out of where I live right now. I'm very close to becoming a homeowner.
The other goals that I thought would be no big deal to complete have ultimately fallen by the wayside as the two biggies took center stage in my life.
(To be completely honest, this summer I spent 50% of my time at work and 50% with my pap, so there wasn't much time for anything else)
Most of my 09 resolutions will become my '10 resolutions by default. I'm going to post (most of) them here tomorrow and will try to update my progress throughout the year.
One of my resolutions will be to read the books I own. This year, my plan was to read all of the books I own before purchasing any new books. I had a firm finish-by date in mind because all three of my favorite authors had books coming out this fall/winter (the most recent came out yesterday). But I totally fell off of that wagon in October. I broke down and bought two books...then I found out about another book a good author came out with...and I bought that too. And I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy the new Julie Garwood tomorrow a.m.
But, after that, I will recommit myself to reading the books I own...I own so many books and they are sitting around this bedroom just calling out to me.
I'm going to sign off for now and enjoy every last minute of 2009...