Happy New Year!

New beginnings and all that stuff.

This morning I took the ornaments off of the Christmas tree (under Pam's VERY watchful eyes) and put the tree back in its box. As I was taking off the ornaments and setting them on the sofa for Pam to put away in their little boxes or whatever, I had a chance to reflect on the different ornaments that we've collected over our years together. Pam has made a lot of them, some soft stuffed kinds, some painted balls, some whimsical, so rather "traditional". She's one crafty little woman - I love her for that. We have ornaments that kids have made and have their names on them. We have the kind that we bought at art festivals and people painted our names on them. We have one with just me and Pam; one with us and our dog Cookie, then the kids start coming and they get bigger and bigger. I seriously doubt we'll be able to find an ornament with 7 kids on it, but we'll try. It'll be huge! LOL

Everybody should have a tree in their home with all the memories hanging from them. I'm not much into theme Christmas trees but a memory theme doesn't sound so bad.

We'll, I'm starting my obligatory diet - again. Over the years, I've probably lost a cumulative ton and gained it back. I'm going to start running as soon as I get over this cold (hey, I'm not procrastinating, really!). I want to run in our local marathon this coming November. I promised myself that I'd run one before I was 50. Times running out - fast. I ran a half marathon once and I didn't die, so I figured I could do this. I wish I had a running partner for the weekend long runs. It's hard to find a partner who's at a similar skill level as yourself.

We're still praying for a miracle that someone will "accidentally" send our dossier through to the courts way ahead of schedule. Pam keeps asking me to set up the kids' rooms to accomodate the new ones, but I don't want to do that because it will make the waiting that much harder. I'll do it as soon as we get a court date.

Well, I hope that everyone sets a goal of doing something new, daring, and exciting this year. Step out of your comfort zones, go beyond the norm, do more than what is expected. If you really want to make a splash - make a huge sacrifice for someone or some cause that will not be able to give back or even say thank you. Go beyond you, and make it about someone else.

God Bless!