The New Year has come and gone, and I’m trying to settle into my usual routine as the world around me settles into its. This means finding time for piano practice and blogging and exercising and working and cooking and crocheting and sleeping. It’s what I do the fifty weeks of the year that lead to the December holiday season, when routine goes out the window. Oh, and I forgot counting calories.
But since my New Year’s houseguests left today, it’s time to slowly return to normalcy. {See above paragraph.) Yet, as I accept the reality of separating laundry and putting away the good China, my mind recalls things I learned in 2008.
First, friends are a constant source of information and education. Being an only child, I’ve learned to depend on special friends for those insights I imagine sisters could impart. So, my friend Carol, thank you to passing on the wisdom to cook in advance. I recall a recent conversation where I said I did all the cooking for a dinner or party on the day of the event. You said you did it all in advance and froze it and that this approach made life easier on party day. Just know that I followed your advice for Christmas and New Year’s and you are absolutely right.
Noreen, a year or so ago you gave me a wonderfully simple sauce (Is this the right word?) to spread over fruit. I had hoped to use it while you and George were here for New Year’s but we never got around to it. Even so, I made the sauce this afternoon, spread it on the fresh fruit I’d purchased, and waited until Earl discovered it. He isn’t particularly a fruit lover, but your ‘sauce’ changes everything.
Judi, you are always so genuine in your excitement when one of your friends does well, has a financial windfall, gets to take a fantastic trip, or has a grandchild. It doesn’t matter that you still work, don’t travel that much, and frequently are enlisted to care for your grandchildren even when you’re not feeling well. You are so selfless that you’re my role model. Not just in 2008, but since I’ve known you.
And Peg. We’ve only been friends for a decade, but I have had some much fun with you that I look forward to the next decade and the next. What I like most isn’t our political affiliations; it’s our ability to dissect them and have wonderful, intellectual discussions. Even when we don’t agree, which isn’t too often.
What else have I learned in 2008? Well, cash is king. The company I work for is more than solvent, so I still have a job when many don’t. It’s important to waken each day with a positive attitude, even when the sky is grey. Working out at my age is important. We can dial down our thermostat, wear sweaters, and save on our heating bill which was $433 for December. Basically, what I’ve learned is that we — and by that I mean both Earl’s and my extended families — are truly blessed. It’s a wonderful way to approach 2009.
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