Farewell 2009

The holidays are just about over. Today is New Years Eve, tomorrow New Years Day, and that’s it for the winter. A long, dreary, cold, dark winter to look forward to.

Christmas was lovely. Three days in a row celebrating with various sections of the family. The celebrations culminated with turkey dinner at our house. My first holiday banquet, and I think I pulled it off pretty well. Maybe the start of a new tradition, holidays at our house? Or at least Christmas :-D

I feel so warm and full of cheer this holiday season. So much time spent with family, and we’ve been able to do lots of wonderful things. We saw the Canadian Pacific Railroad Christmas Train when it came through Oneonta. My sister joined us for Josh’s birthday, and we saw the Toys for Tots train, and donated some gifts that we had received multiples of, while she was here. Later this month, we went to the tree lighting ceremony on Main Street, in Oneonta, and enjoyed music, dance performances, horse drawn wagon rides, and luminaries (the tree & Santa were not at all interesting this year). Aunt Charlee’s birthday gathering at Gama’s was so nice, with people from all the external segments of our families there (Uncle Zach’s Mom, Jack’s son & lady friend, and Ama & Papa). We also helped Ama & Papa decorate their tree, and watched in fascination as a train went round & round beneath Papa Jack’s tree. Christmas Eve at Gamma Rose’s was a bustling & cheerful affair. We still need to catch up with Joey & his family, to celebrate belated Christmas with them – hopefully that will happen soon!

So much coming up for the new year:

We need to figure out finances & plans for improvements, repairs & renovations for the house. A new roof is necessary. Redoing the piers beneath the house is necessary (or putting in a basement?). Painting & replacing siding is necessary, as are repairs to the back porch. The original trailer section of the house (front section) needs to be removed. That will lead to building an addition, because we will at least need space for the electrical items and Josh’s bedroom. *sigh*

We need to figure out what kind of future we want for our family: breadwinner, homemaker, divvying chores, goals, deadlines, retirement, more children? More children, I think (a little bit sadly) must wait. While my goals for Josh have been met (sleeping in his own bed, weaned, potty trained, communicating verbally), my personal goals are sadly lacking (getting into better shape physically & emotionally) and our family/financial goals especially make the idea of having another child seem like a BAD one. There is also the fact that having another child will divert some of my attention from Josh. I very much enjoy watching him grow & learn & change, being right here with him, all the time. How would I balance two children & give them both the loving attention they deserve, while not losing myself as well? But at the same time, I desire another baby. I want to be pregnant again, have a newborn, watch an infant grow to a toddler, etc. A playmate for Josh, another loving soul in our family. In one part of my mind, I’d love to have MANY children. But in the practical part, it’s not an option. *sigh again*

We’re going to keep right on defining and working towards our goals. When we get discouraged, we will put that energy back into positive thoughts & actions, and bring ourselves just that much closer.