Welcome 2016!

The first Monday of 2016 just happens to fall on January 4th and that also happens to be my sister's birthday - Happy Birthday Terry!

Through the years we've celebrated the new year in many different ways. We've bought pricey tickets to fancy parties, worn formal clothes and fancy jewelry, and we've celebrated in pajamas with a few dime store hats and party horns. A few years back, we hosted a party for the kids, inviting Mason's friends over to play games, eat snack food, roast smoshpellows to make smore's using leftover Christmas cookies, and drink kid champagne, aka sparkling cider. It's always memorable and we try to have something for everyone. This year Mason had a mini party with his good friend Kyle, they played video games, Monopoly, watched a movie, and ate crap food. They are at an age now that they can be home alone as long as we are not too far away. Kyles folks had plans with friends nearby and Dave and I went to play poker with some of our local friends. We all had a great time and Dave and I were home in time to hoot and holler with Kyle and Mason when the clock struck midnight.

On New Years day, Kyle's mom took the boys skiing so Dave and I took the opportunity to just unplug and slow down. We slept in until after 10 AM, we got up and had breakfast, Dave put on a pot of split pea soup, we watched a movie, went for a walk with Spencer to our local pub and had a beer with friends, and came home to just lounge on the couch watching TV. Mason came home and we all had soup and toasted French bread for dinner and we were all in bed by 9 PM. It was a great way to ring in the new year, doing just what we wanted to do when we wanted to do it.

Now it's back to work and school, Dave is in Arkansas training and I am packing our house to move sometime around the third week in January. I'm looking forward to living in a house that is ours, and a place that has more space for us to coexist without being on top of each other. It's going to hopefully be a fresh start and a healing can really happen with regard to the previous losses regarding "home" and the many complex meanings it holds for each of us.

Happy New Year friends, I wish you love, good health, adventure and success - plug in what each of those things means to you and go for it!