New Year's Eve

was one hell of a year, from start to finish.  It started with the near death of my mother, saw the birth of two grandbabies, the purchase of a new home, the arrival of a new son (and business partner) to the Ridge and the departure of another back to Georgia.  We have been through so many ups and downs this year....had a few scares along the way, and a lot of joy.  No matter how you sum it up, this year has been eventful. 

But now it's time for it to go.  It's time to do a new thing, to ring in a new year full of new events, new blessings, new adventures.  This is the year we will get the shop completed, the year we'll cut a new driveway up to our dream home, the year we start remodeling.  If luck is on our side, it may even be the year we finally get to move out of our tiny camper and into roomier digs, even if they are under construction. 

It will be the year I finally get healthy....and stay that way.  I really want to get back to running in a big way this year, and to start competing in some local races before the year is out.  To meet...and conquer...my nemesis, the Eastman Road Race would truly make my year complete.

Although our plans for spending this week with our oldest grandsons fell through, we are looking forward to spending a great deal more time with them this year, and hopefully with some of the others, as well.  It may see the return of our youngest daughter to the Ridge, and with her, will come our other two grandsons, the youngest whom we haven't yet met. I already miss my precious youngest granddaughter, Dawn, who has moved back south with her mom and dad, and am really hoping to spend some time with her big sister, Harmony this summer, if we can work it out.  And their middle sister, Rose, I haven't had a chance to spend much time with at all...yet.  All in good time, I suppose.

I still have my fingers crossed that our eldest daughter will relocate this way, too....but she's in school now, full time, and still helping my mom a lot, so that may not happen any time soon.

And although I am still blessedly employed making money that is unheard of in this area, it is a tenuous employment, at best, contingent on continued funding.  When the funding dries up, so does my job...which means I'm still looking hard for a job I can be happy in, closer to home, for the long run....or at least, until the business gets established enough that I need to make IT my full-time job.  As much as I'd love to see that happen in the next 12 months, I think it's more likely that we won't see that until the year after.

Will I be able to keep up my blogging this year, as I have in years past? I sure do hope so....it's a very therapeutic outlet for me, and one I enjoy immensely. Somehow, in the past year or so, I've slipped out of the habit, and I really hope to work on that in the new year.

There's a change in the air...I feel it, I see it, I can taste it.  I know it's coming...and I can't wait to see what this new year has in store for us.  So it is with great relish that I say goodbye to this year, with thanks for all the lessons I've learned....good and bad....along with all the blessings we've received, and say hello, and welcome to