I know I haven't blogged in a while. Facebook got all my attention as it is a way to communicate with my family in Germany and find friends whom I had lost in cyberspace.
However, the year 2009 was a special year for me and deserves a proper reflection. So here we are:
2009 - definitely a good year for me personally but also a very difficult one with lots of obstacles:
1) Love - I got married to Clay, my soulmate. We had the time of our life in Las Vegas when we tied the knot in the drive-thru of the Little White Wedding Chapel.
2) Health - During my yearly check-up, my primary care physician discovered a swelling at my thyroid and sent me to the specialists for a biopsy. There they found a tumor but couldn't tell whether it was benign or cancer. I had to have the tumor and part of my thyroid removed in a surgery in August. 2 weeks later the tumor got cleared as benign. I was lucky and will not take good health for granted anymore.
3) Family - Sarah moved out on bad terms as we did not want her boyfriend around in the house. I could not see my grandbaby anymore - the boyfriend wanted us out of the picture until I received a help call of my daughter in the middle of the night and we rushed to her. My little granddaughter had been beaten up horribly by her friend while she was at work. She got him arrested. I will never forget the picture of the bruised toddler. As horrible as this experience was, it brought my daughter closer to me as she realized that it is part of the responsibility to protect your kid from strangers you don't know even if you have fallen in love with them. It also brought me closer to my highter power. The moment I started giving up the fight to regain control over the situation, the picture turned. It solved itself without my help. Sarah stayed in her new home, a step into independence, and I got my grandbaby back to babysit and play with when she is at work. Sarah and I get along much better now.
4) Finance - Clay's unemployment for almost the entire year hurt our finances incredibly. He is back in a job and we learned that the best protection against wrecking havoc financially is to include savings for a rainy day into your budget and not to use credit cards. We learned from this year and established our budget and what we can spend without using credit. Our long-term goal: Having the house paid off in ten years.
5) Career - The California state budget is almost not existent. I probably have enough seniority to survive.
6) Vacation - Clay and I went on a city weekend trip staying at Hotel Tomo in San Francisco's Japantown in late spring before my surgery to prepare for the things to deal with. After the surgery, we went to Lake Tahoe for a few days to enjoy being alive and for my 50th birthday in October we went to Las Vegas to get married, determined to live and enjoy life together from now on. The trips we made this year belong to the best ones in my life.
All in all, 2009 was a year to learn from and a year of personal changes. It was an important year and I don't want to miss it. It was the year I turned 50 on my wedding day - a milestone which taught me that everything is possible any time and at any age you are willing to dream a dream.
From 2010 I expect it to be a year of moderation and reorganisation. It will be a year we, the newlyweds, will have to face a tight budget. It will also be a year of professional changes for both of us - either in our current jobs or in new ones. It hopefully will be a year of love, partnership, and the kind of fun you only have when you are broke and can't afford all the shit that takes family time away from you and your loved ones. It will be a challenging year, this 2010, and I am ready to tackle it - one way or the other.
My wish for 2010: Health, peace, and that my son comes visit me in California. I haven't seen him in three years and miss him.
I wish all my friends and family a wonderful 2010!
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