Looking back, looking ahead

The last moments of 20o6 are ticking off, seemingly faster and faster today.

What an intense year this has been. Highs, lows, and everything in between. Our pregnancy, getting married, the birth of Brandon, getting a new car, reinventing ourselves throughout the year with everything from new pots and pans to a new fishtank, learning how to become parents, getting through Brandon's first (and hopefully biggest) hurdle with flying colours, to great memories with our families and friends. Then there were the times that you chaulk up to experience, the times the car broke down, how I counted down the last few days at work and wondered how I would make it through, learning how to breastfeed and persevering through the challenges, loss of a family member early in the year, creative financing and worrying about money, painting and then having to put everything back together again, getting a new kitchen floor, a new computer... damn, it seems like we spent a shitload of money this year! I look around though, and it was worth it. Besides, who can take it with them?

Last night was great - we had a houseful of dear friends and hung around talked and told stories. It was great to just shake off the last vestiges of the last few weeks and hang. Gilly is in town, and as I have said so many times this year especially, there is nothing like when you get to chill with your g'friends and just chat. It doesn't have to be about anything in particular, just to be together.

That is something else I have relearned this year. The value of girlfiends. For wisdom regarding childbirth and child rearing, for tidbits about life, for a shoulder to cry and laugh on, another complement to our life together. Even though the greater proportion of my dearest girlfriends don't live on the coast, I value our contact through email and the phone and when we get to gether in person, it is just magic.

It has been a good year for Ken and I - I wouldn't say that marriage has changed us, but what time is doing is making us more of partners. Besides all the lovey-dovey gushie stuff, I know he has my back and I have his, and now having a child together, as crazy as it is that we have a child, it feels like we have always been a unit and the next adventures seem a little cooler because we have this new set of eyes that we can see things through.

Between waxing poetic I am also waxing a bit sentimental too.

Even so, it doesn't feel lke it should be New Years. That tonight is the "big night"(I always preferred St. Paddy's Day) and tomorrow is the 1st, a brand new year and who knows what lies ahead for us. When the chips are down, we have weathered the rocky bits and pulled out farther ahead.

Here is a mighty toast from us to all y'all. May there be a good wind at your back, and a smile on your face.