The Year in Review

I can hardly believe today is the last day of 2008. Looking back, it's been a year of so many accomplishments, which is good. Yet, I am glad it is coming to an end. I'm looking forward to the New Year and what it has to offer.

The first few months of 2008 were pretty fun and exciting and also pretty busy. The kids and I went to our first ever Bruins Game. We went to a Rascal Flats/Kellie Pickler concert. Hockey was in full swing and I was very involved with volunteer work for hockey. Which, when combined with working 30 hours a week and going to school full time, made for some pretty long days. I was on autopilot, plowing through everything I needed to do each day, one priority after another.

The next few months marked the end of hockey and school. The end of every hockey season is always so bittersweet. By April, everyone is soooo ready for it to just end. Yet, it is so sad too because you know that the team and the group of parents that you bonded with over the past 6 months will never be again. Not like it was. But then we quickly moved into lacrosse and hockey was just a memory. The end of school was just plain torcher. I had one paper after another to finish up and I had to work so many late nights/early mornings after the kids went to sleep to get everything done. I had hoped to graduate in May and walk with the class but because I hadn't been sure if I would finish on time, I never applied for graduation, so I wasn't able to graduate. Until August. Which is an accomplishment that should be noted but it was kind of different than graduating in May and walking the walk. I'll be doing that this May and I am sure it will be a very proud moment for me, and the kids, and my parents.

With the end of school and hockey, I finally found the time to start working on the house. The attic needed clearing out and the yard needed tons of work and I needed to figure out the sleeping arrangements. A two bedroom house with three kids just wasn't working. But it had to work so we had to figure out something. I designated one room to be Molly's and it took so much work and so much time but we finally ended up with a room that she loves.

I have never been one to get stressed about money. Finances have always been tight for me but by September, things were really getting scary. I was in danger of losing the house, the truck and my sanity. I took a hard look at everything, weighed out all my options, and then called my contact at the bank to let him know my thoughts. Luckily, this was right before the big financial crisis and even luckier, they worked with me to help me refinance and get me back on track. And now, even though I still don't have enough to make ends meet, at least we have a roof over our heads and transportation. Everything else will fall into place. It always does.

The reason things always fall into place for me, eventually, is because of the people that surround me. I have the best parents and the best group of friends and neighbors that anyone could ever wish for.

So I end 2008 with so many thanks to the neighbors that helped me with the yard when my mower was broke, to the hockey families that have always taken such good care of the kids and I, to my professors who worked with me and my situation, to my best friend of 25 years who answers that phone every time I call with yet another drama and yet more tears, to JAG who gave me so much this year and opened my eyes to what I want in the future, to my friends and parents, and to my kids, who no matter how much they may give me the business are really really good people. Thank you all so much.