Reflections from 2009

It is hard to believe that this is it. Today is the last day of the year. Where does the time go? (To quote John Donne from "Song": Tell me where all past years are.)

Overall, it has been a very good year. Much less drama that 2008, and for that, I am grateful. ;) John and I spent as much time as possible at the lake. We still don't have our mansion (hahaha) but we love our little trailer. We may never have the cabin we want up there, but we'll take what we have. I would like to have something so that we can actually go and spend time during the winter months, though. The trailer just isn't equipped to be comfortable when it's 32 degrees outside. (We do have heat and indoor plumbing. hahaha)

Phillip, Katy, and Sam are still in Birmingham. Sam has gone from a baby to a little boy! He is running everywhere, and he is such a little ham. He sure knows how to work that charm. Phillip's team lost only two games in the regular season, and they went pretty far in the playoffs. He was excited for them, but both he and Katy were glad when the season was over so he could be a husband and daddy again. Being a coach can be tough on families. Katy is a wonderful mommy, but from August to whenever the season ends, she gets to do it all on her own, and that can be hard! They still have their sweet pups, Sadie and Lola. Lola just had surgery to remove stones from her bladder, but the patient is doing well. :)

Jessi and Lance are living in LaFayette, but they are looking for something in Auburn. The drive from LaFayette to Montgomery is getting to her, so they'd like something that would cut her drive in half. :) They added Chipper to their family. He is a white lab, and he is SO sweet! I knew they were getting him from somebody in Alex City, so I asked who. Come to find out, John and I work together. :) I keep him updated on Chipper. He's hoping to breed Chip with another of this labs. That would make me a great-grandmother! LOL They lost sweet Lulu this year. She got out and was hit by a car. The idiot didn't even bother to stop, either. And it wasn't like you couldn't tell that Lulu wasn't somebody's baby. Not long after Lulu crossed Rainbow Bridge, they added Sophie, a Jack Russell terrier. TOO CUTE! She and Ali are very close in size (right now) so they are good playmates. And Scruffy Pup is still the sweet little man. He and Bama have the same personality when it comes to the younger pups: LEAVE ME ALONE.

My dad gave us a scare a couple of months ago. This is the man who has basically never been SICK, but in the last year and a half, he has had several hospital stays. Hopefully, they've gotten everything straightened out and he's good to go for another 25 or 30 years. Or more.

Mom is still busy as ever--Ladies' Bible Study, hospital volunteer, this committee, that committee. Whew! I get tired just thinking about all she does! I never know when to call her or whether I should call the home number or her cell number. I'm glad she and Dad stayed busy after retirement, though. That helps to keep them young.

John's mom's Alzheimer's is steadily progressing. She has started becoming belligerent and argumentative. When we were there for the family Christmas, she got started on something and no matter what Connie or I said, she would not change the topic. And of course, Connie and I were W.R.O.N.G. This is bad to say, I know, but I have started dreading the weekends that we are in Hartselle because they are SO stressful. Honestly, I don't know how Connie, Danny, and Tim handle it being right there. She will call them repeatedly --as many as 25 or 30 times--with the same questions. They don't answer every time, but to have your phone ring ten times in five minutes gets old in a hurry. She only does that to us if she knows we are on our way to Hartselle, or if she and Aunt Kat have talked and we need to get something from Aunt Kat. (Two of my friends [sisters] from work have BOTH parents suffering from Alzheimer's. The home health nurse told them to pray they died from cancer instead of getting Alzheimer's. A cancer patient may feel differently, but if I were given a choice, I think I'd take cancer any day over Alzheimer's.)

Hmmm...let's see what else. Oh, football! HOW could I forget my beloved Crimson Tide??? For the second year in a row since the 70s, the Tide has gone undefeated in the regular season. They were again the SEC West representatives for the SEC Championship Game, and this year, we beat Florida. And it was GREAT to be at the Dome and see Mr. Tebow's crying face on the screen. (I am NOT a Tebow hater, but over the last four years, I have gotten VERY tired of hearing of nothing from the talking heads in the world of sports talk of nothing but how wonderful and great he is. There are many, many other players out there how have done wonderful things, but they just aren't as high profile or maybe they don't come from such a financially well-off family.) So anyway, next Thursday, the Crimson Tide and the Texas Longhorns will meet at the Rose Bowl for the Citi BCS National Championship Game. (Aren't the names of the bowl games ridiculous now???) The Tide and 'Horns have played eight times before, with the 'Horns winning seven and the teams playing to a tie in one. I think this might be the year that the Tide proves successful. :) This season has gone right from the beginning. Sure, there were some scares along the way (Tennessee) but they played as a TEAM and they figured out how to win as a TEAM. Because of that, there have been several individual awards, six First Team All-Americans (the highest number previously was five from Oklahoma two times), and Bama's first Heisman Trophy winner in Mark Ingram. This team has what it takes to win on January 7th.

I know I'm probably leaving something vitally important out, but if I realize that I did, I'll post about it later. If I didn't have so much to do, I'll just sit here until I thought of it, but dishes and laundry need to be done, and there are research papers that won't grade themselves (much to my dismay.) And I think we might be going to Hartselle, but I'm not sure. John won't give me a straight answer. When he first mentioned going, I said he needed to let Danny and Linda know since this is their weekend to stay with Billie. He said we'd probably stay at Ron and Cindy's, but when I said something yesterday about going, he asked me what I thought. I told him it really didn't matter, but I'd like to know so I'd know how to plan the next few days. Still no answer. MEN! LOL

I hope that you have a wonderful New Year's Eve, a restful New Year's Day, and a perfect 2010!