Thankful for 2009

Life happens. You know, good stuff, bad stuff, mundane stuff, exciting stuff. And I’m probably guilty of focusing too much on the bad stuff that happens, and not enough on the good stuff. So here are some of the good things that happened in 2009.

I'm thankful that:

> Jess has pretty much recovered from having both knees replaced. Though the surgery was actually done in December of 2008, he spent the first month of so of 2009 doing lots and lots of therapy.

> Jonathan started work at Domino’s in March 2009, and it's turned out to be a pretty decent job. He knows what days he'll be working from week to week, and approximately what hours. He is working full time, and is at a good store where he usually gets pretty good tips for deliveries.

> My office is rearranged and fixed up with new shelves, and it’s a much better working space.

> That Jess wasn’t hurt when our car was totaled, and we have another decent car to drive now.

> The mess was finally straightened out with my credit card, and I didn’t have to pay any of the fake charges those jerks put on it.

> In October I got a new laptop. It is soooooo nice, and such a joy to use! It's very nice to be able to change locations (the office chair gets to me after a while) and still be able to get some serious computing done.

> I finally got my first commission check. Nothing huge, but a start.

> For all the trips and visits that occurred in 2009:

• Richard, Chrystie & Ellie got to visit in February.
• Randy visited in March.
• Jess went to Florida for some of Ryan's graduation festivities.
• We made a trip to WV back in June, and took Dad over to Cambridge, Ohio, and spent some time at Salt Fork Lodge and park.
• Jess and I went to Canada in July to visit Richard, Chrystie & Ellie.
• We took a week’s vacation at the beach in September! First time in years we've went off on a "vacation vacation". Nice!
• Went to Florida for Thanksgiving and got to visit with Randy and Sanfords and Dave's family. Always fun!

I'm thankful for all the stuff I learned in 2009, and looking forward to learning even more in 2010.

I'm thankful for getting to the Fibromyalgia Clinic, and for other medical help I've got, and hope to see some big improvements in my health during 2010.

We're just mighty blessed around here. We've got a nice little hobby farm, a roof over our head and money to pay the bills, and great family. I'm thankful for email and blogs and Skype to keep in contact with family and friends. I'm pleased for all the good things that have happened to/for all our family in 2009.

I'm thankful for all the things that happened in 2009, and know there's going to be lots to be thankful for happening in 2010!

To paraphrase a little, "Rejoice, and again I say, rejoice!"

The Eve Of A New Year

In a few hours it's going to be 2010. Are you ready? I am! I'm looking for GREAT THINGS to happen in 2010!!


The past year, 2009, has been a year of learning. It has been the beginning of healing. . . I say the beginning, because I have a long way to go yet, but for the first time I actually feel like I have the tools I need and am getting somewhere.

Of course, this all goes back to learning. Learning about different healing modalities. Learning what works. . . and a whole lot of what doesn't.

Learning about working on the internet and writing for the internet. Learning about all kinds of different self-help available. Learning about self-limiting beliefs. Learning about all kinds of interesting things, at least to me.

Learning, learning, learning. And may I never stop learning! Anyone who stops learning is at best static, and at worst, going backwards. We're either in growth or decline. I want to be growing until the day I die.

But the next step is to TAKE ACTION. For me 2008 & 2009 have been intense learning years, and while I have a lot I still need to learn about a lot of things, it's time to combine that with taking action.

And it's time to think on what specific actions I want to work on this year, and what my specific goals should be. Spiritual, personal, health, business - all kinds of things to think about!

Hope you are ready for a new year, and here's hoping 2010 will be the best we've ever had!

A New "Lord of the Dance"?

We don't watch "Britian's Got Talent" obviously. Mostly because it's not on any of our channels, ha, ha. But someone sent this video to Jess who sent it to me, and it made me laugh out loud. So I hunted it up on Youtube, and now you can see it too.

>>> 01-01-10 >>> The trouble with using other people's videos.... all of a sudden all the ones of the first performance I thought were so funny have disabled the embedding on Youtube. So here's another pretty good one, of their final performance:



Watch out Michael Flatley, Stavros Flatley & son may be the new Lords of the Dance!

Pizza Anyone?

I'm working away sorting out pictures, and came across this one of the pizza delivery guy getting ready to go to work. . .

Shhhh... don't tell him I put his picture on here!

Time To Tidy Up

There's not much of 2009 left, and it just hit me this morning, bam! That means I need to get my pictures and other files on my computer tidied up and sorted out so I'll be ready to make new ones for 2010.

That's especially true for my pictures. When I take them off the camera and put them onto the computer, I put each group into a folder. Later I sort the pictures into categories, to make it easier to find the ones I might want later.

Unfortunately, I have a tendency to get WAY behind on the sorting part, so I'm trying to catch up with that.

Then I need to take the new external hard drive out of the box... the one I bought at the same time I got my laptop... and hook it up and back up everything. Then I can set the computer to do automatic back-ups again. My present back-up drive is full, so I haven't been able to do that.

Blog posts and info, business stuff... all kinds of folders need backed up and then new folders made for 2010.

I also ordered a copy of Windows 7 today. Actually, I get it free as part of the deal when I bought my laptop. I don't even have to pay shipping and handling.

Once I get that, I hope to hire one of Jonathan's friends to install it on my laptop, then set up a secure wireless network for me so I can finally swap files between my computers. It would make things ever so much easier!!

I also need to erase the Office 2007 programs I put on my desktop since they're going to go defunct after I open them a few more times, and get the older programs put back on. Too bad. Guess I'll just have to remember how to use both versions.

I also need to find my Photoshop disk and install that program on my laptop. It has as much power as my desktop, so no reason I can't use it to edit photos. In fact, since it has a 15.6 inch edge-to-edge HD+ wide screen, it will probably be even better. I know the colors certainly look more vibrant and crisp on the laptops screen than they do on the CRT monitor with my desktop computer.

AND I also need to hook up a different printer. Right now I don't have a color printer (why doesn't anyone mention if you don't use an inkjet printer on a regular basis the heads will clog up and ruin the printer?). Jess got a new printer, so I'm getting his old one to use. It sucks up ink like a dessicated sponge, but it will be nice to have a color printer handy for snail mail.

I'm going to be lucky if I can get all that finished this week and be ready to rock and roll the first week of the new year.

I may need more to time to tidy up my computers!