Goodbye 2008

I'm sitting here reading other people's blogs and thinking of how I haven't posted to my own in a while. Christmas has come and gone with all it's busy-ness of shopping and wrapping and secretly preparing for one day. I'd like to say that the spirit hasn't left me but I can look around from my comfy vantage point here on the love seat and see nothing that even remotely looks holiday-ish. Yesterday I took down the tree and dragged the boxes up into the attic. I did leave the 'skinny' tree up in the dining room with its white lights and homemade paper ornaments and garland; and I'm thinking of how cute it will look in a month with red hearts hanging from it for another holiday.

Now it sounds like I was all Scrooge-like for Christmas and that was not the case at all. I enjoyed most of it and although not putting up the lighted houses might be considered sacreligious here, I looked at it as 'scaling back' and only doing what I wanted, not what was expected of me.

Christmas Day was great. The girls seemed genuinely satisfied with their gifts. And although Randy and I had said we weren't buying for each other (we are remodeling the basement and we usually buy ourselves little things we want when we're out anyway), he surprised me with a little Tiffany-blue bag containing a bracelet. He also won a radio contest for a full dinner prepared by the chefs at the Mohegan Sun so we could relax all day and not worry about cooking! Yeay! We had family and friends over and had a nice, relaxing day.

Now I sit here a couple days before 2009 begins and I'm wondering what this year will bring. 2008 was not all roses and sunshine, but looking back I can now see the rainbows through the raindrops. I am stronger because of the challenges I faced, but I do feel a little ungrateful for saying that I wish we hadn't had to face them at all. Our 'challenges' could have definitely been tragedies instead, and for that I am very grateful.

Before I get all introspective and sappy I will just end this by saying that 2008 has been a long year, especially with that extra day in February and an extra second coming at midnight on the 31st! haha Goodbye 2008, may we all have a happy and healthy 2009.