Goodbye to 2006

For me, the year 2006 will always be the year we started homeschooling. I had thought and wondered about it since I was a teenager, and -- plop -- one day it just became very obviously the right thing to do. Not the last resort-desperation thing (though I'm sure it seems that way to many) but the best thing for us. It continues to change all of us and how we think about how we choose to spend our time.

Tomorrow, 1/1/07, will be the 1 year anniversary of bringing home our puppy, which certainly changed our household!

And I too feel that I really started to get some solid adult friendships, ones that would outlast my membership in a particular club or participation in a particular activity.

I worked my a** off on a big project as part of the lay leadership of our church, and by God (literally) we pulled it off! Though my depression forced me to resign my position (but let's not dwell on that ongoing misery), I am (almost) weekly reminded of a wonderful experience of leading a team while being led by the Spirit, and creating a vision for our parish for the next several years.

Guess I'll go check on our New Year's Dinner, a gift from SIL and her family from Omaha Steaks (fish, not steak). Yum!
Shaun
www.homeschoolblogger.com/shaunms

Got my master's degree in 2006 and began my Ph.D, and my pregnancy so far has gone well. The sad part of the year was that my grandmother died, but even that had an upside; she had been concerned that she might develop dementia at some point, like her mother and her brother, but she died in her right mind.

Well, let's see. I guess what went right for me is that I've settled into working FT now at a job I really like and that gives me lots of opportunities for fulfillment. It is my second year of FT after many of PT, but I finally feel "settled" into it I guess and have kind of figured out the juggling act at home (thanks to Flybabies!)

Now to work on that circle of friends thing...

Andrea

Well, really and truly, one of the highlights of my 2006 was your coming home from the hospital, Lynn, and I mean that most sincerely. Try to stay away from there, would ya?

The Dark Lord's bar mitzvah, obviously, was huge.

So was the first adult getaway weekend since becoming parents in 1993.

A couple of great family friendly concerts (Amadou & Mariam at the zoo, Fishtank at the Red & Black)

Working through a misunderstanding and having a dear friend back in my life

Getting a diagnosis and beginning treatment for Graves' Disease

Beginning regular early morning walks

Attending the second marriages of two dear friends who split a few years ago and have both settled in with new life partners

Hanging with all the yarn-lovin' girlfriends!

Going into 2006, I had my doubts it would be a good year. We ended 2005 with a huge grass fire that nearly wiped out my whole ranch (but thankfully, and amazingly, spared my home). And we went from October 2005 to June 2006 with less than an inch of rain or snow.

But then we got enough rain to plow. Then enough to plant. Then enough for our crops to grow. And cut. And baled. And SOLD! It's been a good year for the farm. And as for the ranch, we only lost one calf all year (still born, we had to c-section. I wish vets delivered humans, it was just a couple hundred bucks! LOL!). We got a tractor paid off, paid off all the credit cards, and have almost all new fence on our ranch (after 70+ years, the old barb wire fence was going to need replacing soon. The fire wasn't all that bad for that!)

As for my family, they are growing and changing and learning in leaps and bounds. DD9 is TALL--4'10" and finally learned to jump off the diving board. DD7 is really coming along learning guitar. DS4 finally started talking coherently. And DS1 went from a newborn infant to a walking and climbing toddler. In fact, he is the most bittersweet part of the year. The fact that I'm not going to have anymore children (planned ones, anyway. LOL!) has upset me and I'm trying to enjoy everything he does that much more.

We hope 2007 will bring some new things around the farm. Like finally building DH his big shop/barn. And me remodeling some in my house (turning the garage into a music/family room and finally redoing my 1960 kitchen). And of course, the usual trying to stay more organized, pay off more stuff, pray for a good crop, health, cleanliness, etc. I would really like to find the time to focus on my small sewing business venture (baby items) and scrapbooking. Ride my horses (that depends on DH watching the baby). Have a successful garden.

I hope all of you have a safe New Year!! Go Vols! (LOL! Tennessee vs. Penn State tomorrow).

I hope everyone has a wonderful and prosperous 2007!!

Jessica

Wish you all a Happy and Prosperous Year 2007!

Best thing for me in 2006 has been getting my thyroid problem treated, having more energy, and finally getting pregnant after almost a year of trying.

After graduating from Pacific University in '03 with a B.A. in Japanese Studies, I was diagnosed with stage "zero" breast cancer, or Ductal Carcinoma in Situ. Botched surgery, then radiation, then a couple of crappy temp jobs in '04--finally in '05 I was hired as an on-demand employee with a translation company. They hired me full time last February, so we are finally a dual-career household in the true sense of the phrase I guess.

Even though location and schedule keep me from joining the Stitchin' Sedition, I'm glad it's there and especially grateful that you are still with us darlin! The world needs as many smart, creative, funny women as possible. May 2007 bring you renewed strength and good health.

This was a very good exercise, Lynn. I've been thinking abouut it since you posted, trying to come up with what went right in 2006 and I kept coming up with "not much". But I knew that's not really true. I've been in a bit of a funk and this question has forced me to dig really deep and shift some of my baggage around enough for the truth to surface. So what I've acknowledged thus far as what went right in 2006:

DD's attending Montessori school. I'd planned on homeschooling DD, I was very nervous about it, underprepared, but resolved to trying my best anyway until it became very clear to us that she was desperately lonely at home and that she needed the peers and stimulation of a school. It's gone very very well--she loves it, is doing fantastic, we love the teachers, the program, everything.

My temp job went right in most regards though I felt disconnected from my family, friends--basically, my life--while it was going on.

DH picking up the slack while I was at the temp job went very right. He got DD to and from school, took care of her after school, did dinner/bathtime/bed routine (juggling all this while continuing with his regular workload), AND took her to Worship and Sunday Sunday School on the Sundays I worked, which, if you knew him, would bowl you over. He does not normally attend services with DD and me.

Knitting so many of the Christmas gifts to family this year went well. Mom, Stepdad, Little Brother, Second Oldest Brother, his Wife, the two Nieces, and Mother-in-law all said they really really liked the Felted Ballet Slippers, Scarf, Stocking Cap, Felted Coaster & Trivet Set, Ladies Stocking Cap, Baby Earflap Hat, Woven Cable Headband & Scruncie, and Scarf, respectively. Which is gratifying because a lot of time and effort and planning went into (most) of the gifts.

It was right and good to begin reading the books "How to talk so your kids will listen..." and "Emotional Intelligence". I'm starting to get a handle on what's going on emotionally with DD at this age and how to respond to her in another way that actually works.

My church has gone right for me this year (in terms of "correct" only, it's a liberal/left denomination!). Every week I am more and more thankful for the United Church of Christ and for the people of our congregation who make it what it is...a true spiritual home for me and DD. Even though I sometimes feel that I'm running around too much, it's been good for me to be one of the rotating Sunday School staff and participating in the lay-leadership teams--Spiritual Nurture, Social Action, Christian Education, and the Search Committee for a new pastor. DD loves going and I love our conversations about what she learns there and her follow-up questions. I deeply cherish these talks when I'm sharing my faith with her and I feel so supported by my involvement with our church--I can't articulate it at the moment but it's all tied up together and I'm really happy about it.

And so, to conclude, I'd have to say that YOU went right for me this year, Lynn. Your friendship and this website keep me grounded, in touch with my heart, clearing my head, and in general, saving me from myself. Most of my other friends are a direct result of your Wed. knitting group. I can't tell you how glad I am to have found you. May Heaven's Blessings pour out on you and yours for ever and ever. Thank you. Thank you.

Anhata
www.familynaturally.com
Your Family's General Store, Naturally

2006 looked like it was going to be one of the worst years of my life (and that is truly saying something). Work had not bounced back after my largest client's merger, and I was barely subsisting on borrowed money and small jobs, telling my slumlord that the rent would be there soon, and not having the remotest luck finding any kind of day job to fill the gap (one incredibly promising interview turned out to be unsuccessful two weeks later because I was [seriously] "not bubbly enough" for a job doing legal research and drafting). Just as improvements in the work situation were in sight, I was served with eviction papers (THAT ordeal is described in a separate post "An Eventful Few Months"). Because the courts that handle evictions in my county in Ohio favour landlords to the point of actually openly flouting black-letter law, I was officially evicted on the day after my birthday. I had a week to clear off, so my mother and I frantically checked out every 'TO LET' sign we saw trying to find a new place to live. It didn't look good. To top things off, the day I had to be out of my old place, I also had to have my cat, who had been with me for half my life, put to sleep due to a sudden illness and her advanced age.

I hit repeated lows during this time, faced with the prospect of losing my home, of losing my livelihood (which had more or less absented itself), of financially burdening my already burdened friends and family, and reached new depths of desperation on numerous occasions. Those, however, were accompanied by reminders of what was right in my life. During one such time, I broke down into incoherent sobbing on the phone with my best friend, Karen. Her immediate response was to say 'There are people who care about you', which turned the sobs into a full-blown cry. She let me cry as much as I needed to (a lot), and told me to come over to her place. While waiting at the bus stop, I scratched down a journal entry, in which I noted, amongst other things that:

"This will either be my greatest failure, or my proudest moment."

Soon after my eviction, it proved to be the latter.

I found a new home, in all respects better than the former one. Through some well-played hardball, I also managed to obtain a settlement on the remaining claims from the eviction that was altogether satisfying. The first time that my name has ever been on the pleadings in a case in this country, and I caused my corrupt landlord and his rodent-like attorney, a woman who was as incompetent as a lawyer as she was unpleasant as a biped, to significantly revise their expectations of potential recovery. ("Final offer" my ass)

All of my contacts who had been laid off due to the merger had found other work and were sending work to me. Combined with the people I had met from the post-merger staff of my major client, work picked up beyond what it had been even at the high points of the past couple of years, and I finished the biggest job of my entire life - one that has put me in a position of greater security than anyone in my family has been in my entire lifetime - just this summer.

My relationships with my friends and family have kept getting closer, and my mother's private practise seems to me to be truly on the verge of success.

I welcomed a beautiful kitten into my new home this June. While he is quite deranged at times, and has left quite a few marks all over my body from trying to jump onto my lap when my legs were uncovered, I have watched him grow into a very affectionate little guy. When he was still pocket-sized, he used to flatten his ear against my sternum to listen to my heartbeat. Now, he comes to sit on my lap whenever he hears my voice. And through all of that, he still occasionally finds time to urinate on the futon that I intend to get rid of anyway, now that I can afford a proper sofa.

2006 was the first time that I have been unable to make it to the polls. I live in Ohio, so I don't think it's coincidence that my heavily Democratic precinct has its polling place in the middle of nowhere, where not even the buses go. I searched for it for several hours on foot with no luck. And yet, the results, for the first time since I've been voting, were not wholly catastrophic.

All in all, 2006 has certainly ended much better than 2005 did. Unlike in December 2005, I am going into the new year not with a feeling of imminent doom, but with some actual hope for the future. I'm not going to call it just yet, but I have a feeling that 2007 will be quite nice.