The Year in Review

Well, it's hard to believe that 2009 is almost gone - 7 more hours! It's equally hard to believe that the first decade of 2000 is gone. A lot has happened, and it's just mind boggling how fast it's gone by. I hope that the next decade doesn't go as fast, not because I'll be 10 years older - pushing 50 but because that means my kids will be on their way to living away from me. Jack will almost be 19 years old, and Caroline will be 16! So instead of looking ahead and worrying about something I cannot change, I thought I'd look back at 2009 and remember the good times:

January
* Jack turned 8 years old. He also got out of the reading group that he'd been in because he wasn't a good reader. He was halfway through 2nd grade with his wonderful teacher.
*Jason and I went to California to meet Jason's bone marrow donor --Jeff and his parents. That was a VERY emotional experience, and a great one.

February - not much - I just turned 37.

April -
*The night before Easter pics, Caroline decided to try and "color" her hair with the dye that came with the Bratz doll she'd just gotten (thanks mom!). I walk into the bathroom, because at this point she's been quiet, and there she is massaging blue hair dye into her hair. It took 7 washes to get most of the dye out, and even then the blue was still visible. So in her Easter pics you can see a blue tint. Oh well, at least we'll remember it.

*Jack and I went on our first camping trip and boy was it fun. It was windy, but fun. This got the camping bug going and we are working our way into the camping thing.

June -
*We head to Corpus Christi for our first official family vacation. Although Jason can't get out in the sun for long we still have fun. Jack got into the ocean until he learned there were jelly fish, and then would only go in if I was used as the human shield/lookout. They had fun building sand castles and watching them wash away. We also visited the USS Lexington and Jack LOVED it, so did Caroline.

July-
* I got to go to Canada! So, now I've been to every country on the North American continent (if you consider Central America to be somewhere in between). Kirsten and I were going to go to Seattle, but a court case of hers got pushed up and we had to go at a different time. So, we chose to go to Toronto. Boy was it BEAUTIFUL! It was fun to be in comfortable weather, 70's. I did enjoy the recurring commercial - "There are two seasons in Toronto - Winter and July." and the other one, "It's not far" which translated into no more than 3 miles.

August-
*School started, and so did Jason's issues with GVH.
*Caroline started kindergarten and Jack had issues with his teacher. Things have evened out in Jack's department but that's only because we're working with him at home.

*October -
*Jason went camping with us at the end of October and it was FUN. We learned a couple of things that will be helpful the next time we go, but we're definitely going again.

*December -
*My school kids did well on the district's benchmark.
*Jack was the leading popcorn seller in his den, therefore getting me a pie in the face.
*We all made it to the Winter Break. Jason's foot issues got worse, but that's being worked on. His cataracts are fixed and he's seeing better than he has in years.
*We were concerned about Jack's weight - he seemed to be getting bigger outward rather than upward. He started eating better and getting more exercise, but it seems like our concerns were more serious than they needed to be. He started growing upward recently. He complained this morning his knees hurt, and he's been EXTREMELY clumsy.
*When I was out at a meeting, Caroline cut her hair. That meant we had to go for an emergency hair appointment with my wonderful hairdresser, Kristen. Looking back at the year who knows, maybe Caroline will be a hairdresser.
*I got strep again, for the 3rd time this year. If I get it again before next New Year's I'll have to have my tonsils out. About 3 years ago there we had strep go around the sixth grade all year long. Since then, I've had it about 2 times a year this year broke the record. So it's possible I have a strain that's in a tonsil (or both) so I'm on the Bad Boy of antibiotics -Levaquin- and if that doesn't work then out go the tonsils.
*Thanks to Paula Deen I now can make one of my husband's favorite desserts ---Bread Pudding. I made it tonight and I have to say it's a success. So now I can make my husband's two favorite desserts (thanks to Shanna and Paula Deen) - Creme Brule and Bread Pudding. Whoohooo!
*Jason's cancer doctor told him on Monday that with all the GVH that he's experiencing he'd say the cancer's gone. For his doctor (aka Dr. Ambiguity) to say that, is something. His reasoning is that with the GVH if there was any cancer it'd be lunch, literally. Apparently GVH destroys cancer cells, didn't know that. Still, if Jason can make it one more year without relapsing it's safe to say the Leukemia is gone. If he makes it to 5, he's definitely gone.
*I've lost 20 lbs. So my thyroid is under control. YEA!!!!

So there it is. My year in review. Not exciting for some, but enough for me. Happy New Year everygody.