Another new year is here, and I certainly hope it is better in some respects than the last one. I never want one of my children to have to suffer through a divorce like Steve did. I am having a lot of trouble waiting for the universe to punish that woman for destroying the family the way she did. I hope I live long enough to know that she regrets not getting the help she should have gotten.
However, there were good things, too. First of all, we were all healthy all year. I took ballet classes 4 days a week and found a friend there. She is 72 and has been dancing for years, does both tap and ballet, but plans to come back in her next life as a prima ballerina. She swears we'll be together then. It was a joy to see the grandchildren grow and change so much. Michael changed from the little boy who couldn't stop talking to a considerate, thoughtful, sensitive and kind young man of 10. Willie grew his hair down past his shoulders, added about 8 inches to his height, and became that most feared of all humans - a teenager. Alex learned to read and is rapidly getting his permanent teeth which always changes their faces from babyish to childish. The little girls are still angels, just bigger. Faye will start to school in July and Ella will have trouble adjusting to being without her sister. The very best part of Christmas was picking out gifts for each other from the catalog. For Ella, Faye ordered Walter, the Farting Dog. And, sure enough, it's Ella's favorite gift. And I got an iPod for my birthday!
After being in Arizona for 6 years, we were invited to a party on New Year's Eve at my ballet dancer friend's house. Cherie and Ken hosted a small get-together for about a dozen people and Ron said that it was much more enjoyable than he expected. I hope we'll see more of them.
Nancy and Mike treated us to two nights at a cabin in Overgaard for my birthday. It was beautiful and we all relaxed and enjoyed the mountains. The girls learned to "Watch for Elk" and how to shake snow off the trees. We got about 6-8 inches of snow the second night, so the girls got to make snow angels and have snowball fights. Got a few great shots which I'll post on my Yahoo photos.
The summer road trip was interrupted by the agonizing calls from Steve and his sisters about Stefani and what she was doing. I felt that I should catch a plane from Seattle and rush home, but what could I do besides cry and curse with them? And during that time, Jackie's son Elliot decided to try to commit suicide, so she was beside herself as well and calling at all hours (she couldn't possibly keep track of the time difference) of the day and night. Are cell phones really a step forward? Do we really want to be that accessible? What if they couldn't have talked to me? Life would certainly have gone on. But in spite of all that, we loved Mt. Rainier, the Oregon coast, and Santa Monica.
This year we're going to Florida in January to visit Bill and Verda and the sibs. Then in April we're going to Amsterdam for 10 days. We'll be spending part of July and August in Colorado, I hope instead of our usual road trip.
Wonder what else 2007 holds for us?
No comments:
Post a Comment