Reflections on 2012

Another year gone. A full year of retirement for Steve, adjusting to having him around more and loving the help with daily chores and gardening. He makes the bed more than I do now! It was mostly my job for all those years. He still doesn’t cook much. Ha. He has also been nabbed for the Elder team at church again after an absence of a number of years and darned if they didn’t elect him Church Chairman too. We had a fabulous road trip in January involving National Parks and the California coast and the southernmost route from San Diego to Tucson. We marveled at the classic cactus silhouettes and the sunsets in Arizona  and at the white sands and mountain splendors of New Mexico. We may someday what to spend more wintertime in those parts. We got to make trips to Kansas to see little C in February, April for the big #1 birthday and in November. It is such a delight to see both of our grandchildren growing up and learning to talk. We also got to spend a whole ten days in tropical Florida with my wonderful parents at their beautiful villa. Nothing like the vivid green foliage and fragrant smells there to ward off the winter blues. In April E#2 presented her thesis to obtain her masters in architecture and we all converged in Lincoln in May to attend her graduation celebrations with two babies in tow. We saw her walk across the stage in triumph as the culmination of six years of hard work. All the various departments graduate students graduated in the auditorium and later in the old theater just the architecture students had their own ceremony. The moms and babies saw about one minute of that one but got to cheer heartily for her.  The rest of the time they played out in the stairwell out of earshot of the academic crowd.  It took all of us to get E#2 moved out of her basement apartment and transported to Colorado where she spent several months perfecting her portfolio and applying for jobs along the front range all to no avail as she ended up with a job offer to go to North Carolina. It was great having her close by for a few months and she bonded with her nephew while babysitting for him two days a week as compensation for her room and board. We had a hot and dry summer with notable wildfires in Colorado and Wyoming. It turns out 2012 was the hottest on record! The spring crops did OK but the corn and fall crops suffered terribly. S. kept our yard looking like a park and repainted the patio furniture and grill. He is a wonderful gardener. The Kansas kids joined us for part of Frontier Days and Miss C. wore her red Cal-girl boots. She was pretty brave going on the big slides and the big Ferris wheel. We all gathered in Colorado for another fun #1 birthday for our grandson and the two cousins had a wonderful time playing out in the backyard. The great grandparents made a surprise appearance and a fun time was had by all. The two little ones make us all laugh with their antics and that has been such a blessing. Adults often take life much too seriously and the toddlers show us how to have fun again. We laugh till we cry sometimes at the funny things they do and now say. Steve and I tried several new to us hiking trails this year and will be trying more next season as we have discovered a helpful just trails website. We are slowing down a bit due to achy joints and so is our old dog but we are still willing to go and find new trails to explore. In September I flew to Charlotte with our daughter to help her find an apartment and to see where she was headed for a new life. Although it is too far away, it is a beautiful area and a great opportunity for her. I would have never imagined her being a southerner! Her father hasn’t seen the new digs yet so a trip is in order for 2013. A part time job fell into Steve’s lap this fall and he is now a manager of a radio station! It involves checking mail and seeing that bills are paid about once a week and he gets to see the crew at the radio station where he worked before selling cable TV advertising. They pay him well while the courts work out details of a bankruptcy. So he bought himself a new Nikon with more megapixels. I still do my quilting and walking with my friend and have meet-ups with former co-workers. Those things all ground me. The holidays involve wonderful times with our adult children that we are so proud of and the delightful little ones when we can have them. I just savor these days and want them to slow down. The New Year ended in Denver with a viewing at the Imax theater of the Hobbit movie with E#2 followed by dinner and a sleepover at an airport motel before her early morning departure on New Year’s Day. Having the two little ones and their parents for Christmas was such a delight. Seeing them interact and play alongside each other is incredible. The process of human growth and development is pretty amazing.  They went round and round the main level with their matching shopping carts but it was more like demolition derby or playing chase than anything else. Everyone exchanged viruses while we congregated unfortunately but that’s life. I am deeply grateful for all the blessings we have been given and the grace which is new everyday from our savior Jesus Christ. I learned at a new study today the principle that life slows down when we take the time to savor the gifts that we have been given. I hope to do that better in 2013.