looking back

it was a pretty good year, i guess. i'm worn out from it and that's often a good sign, i guess. and i feel alright going into this year...a little behind, but i always feel a little behind i've learned.

some of my favorite moments...most of my favorite moments are moments that are just extremely comfortable and feel good in a way i don't know how to put into words....but it feels good somewhere in my chest and it's a relaxed, warm, full kind of feeling, i guess...

making cinnamon rolls from scratch with my sister. my sister began a new relationship this year. but before she did, it was fun being her "girlfriend" for awhile. she'd call to check on me lots...and we'd talk and laugh and get morbidly intense...fun times. she also drove up to visit a lot and that was great fun, too. i really didn't even know she liked to cook before...especially difficult recipes like cinnamon rolls that require you to make dough and let that rise, then make the inside cinnamon stuff, then make the rolls, then let those rise....she rocked at it. (although i think she touched my pet mice before we started working in the kitchen and forgot to wash her hands...i don't know why i think that, but it's how i remember it) anyway, it was a lot of fun.

when my friend lanatron came and stayed at my house during hurricane ike. she has four kids. i have four kids. it was a lot of people and a lot of work, but really, really comfortable at the same time. and it felt really good to be together at a time that was kind of worrisome...i mean, the hurricane devastated galveston. and her spouse was right in the eye of it, although we knew he was safe. but it felt good to be together, our families, during that time...like that was the way things should be. which is often how my friendship with her feels...like it's just what it should be. it is one of my favorite moments.

riding to fort worth with my spouse. now, we had a whole evening together, and the ceremony we attended was beautiful. but it was a really nice time just driving together, no kids in the car, able to pay attention to each other and the indigo girls on for when the conversation was quiet. it was probably one of our most comfortable, peaceful moments together in a year that's been exhausting as far as marriage goes.

i also really enjoyed making cabbage rolls with my friend julie. we were brave, we were creative, we were inventive, and we were hungry. and we made kick ass cabbage rolls. julie and i do a lot of different things together...i've known her for ten years. but i think cooking cabbage rolls was one of my favorite things i've ever done with her. another of my favorite moments with julie was making a rosary for her mama when her mama passed away this year. her mama was quite a crafter and we went through her many boxes of beads to find the right ones for the rosary...sea shells, cat beads, wooden beads, green glass beads, some big clear ones...it was a neat moment together.

my other favorites are like experiences...i enjoyed teaching philosophy. working together with mamas to put the co-op together. watching the kids climb rocks. bathing my dogs and watching them outside. mowing the grass. hiking with my kids at pariah canyon. sitting alone outside in arizona. walking around brenham with friends. putting my grand niece to sleep in a noisy pho restaurant. getting to know the mamas in my cybertribe...what a year it's been with those women! meeting my friend jeanni and her son at the maker faire in austin...that was awesome. running two half marathons with my sister...and seeing my family at the seventh mile marker in the second one. spending my friend shelley's 50th birthday with her closest friends...oh my god, that was definitely a highlight of the year! getting in touch with my friend lizette. driving my friend patsy to the church on her wedding day....she was so worried i was going to get lost. having my sil thank me for sharing my views, telling me she values them. jen buying the life is good monkey shirt!!! i'm so glad she did that!!! and i have to say, so many of the books i've read this year have been great ones...maybe i'll list them later.

so, those are some of my highlights. i feel like i probably screwed my kids over by not listing a special one with each of them...but i am so blown away by them and so proud of them that it would be impossible to sort out specific ones from the ball of awesomeness that is them.

i've been blessed and i'm grateful.

peace