End Of Year Analysis~2009

This year is almost gone and it seems like it has just began...plenty of ups and downs...time spins on like a top that's just been released...

This past January Denise broke her knee and we rehabed for a spell following surgery--BTW, K-Mart refused to pay for any of the hospital bills etc. Spring brought both sadness and joy...Meggie our longtime dog died in April and in May we were introduced to Toby, who has been a little bundle of joy...spring also brought a new year's garden, only to be drowned by a wet spring and a 6" deluge in June that left us with our first season without many of the prize tomatoes of past summers. A real disappointment for me since I have this thing with trying to grown huge tomatoes to then give most of them away...but, there's 'always next year!!" ♥

One of my bestest friends went on to be with Jesus this year and I am still catching myself trying to send JoAnn e-mails...I can't bring myself to delete her from my address book so I continue to just go past her when it's time to send another funny or good story...she was such a sweet and inspiring friend and I still miss her a lot.

In August my Dad found out that his cancer had returned, this time in his esophagas. We went to Chapel Hill Hospital and they pretty much told him that there was nothing they could do for him besides try to keep his throat as clear as possible and they were even talking about calling in hospice for him at a pretty early stage...he went to Baptist Hospital in Winston-Salem and they gave him some hope with 28 radiation treatments and 2 different rounds of chemo of 120 hours each, which required week-long stays in the hospital. He still is not able to eat hardly any food but he is still with us and today I went up to see him and he is doing pretty good and his color is coming back to him as well! ☺

My Mom had to have gall bladder surgery in May as well and for a while she was doing pretty good but her health has been declining for several years and she is having a lot of trouble with her leg these days and having a good bit of pain there as well. The surgery helped with some of her issues but she still has bouts with her stomach from time-to-time and it seems like she hasn't gotten a lot of relief from that. But the good news is that they are both still here with us as well as Denise's Mom so we have been Blessed in that area for sure!

My Caridnals won their division by a good bit but they then lost in the first round of the playoffs so they were 3 and out! Jeff Gordon finished 3rd in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and Kyle failed to make the Chase...but he DID win the Nationwide Series Championship so it wasn't a total waste for my drivers. I have recently added a third driver to my 'favorites' corral and that is Ryan Newman, who I met in Mooresville a few weeks ago at the 'Stock For Tots' thing where various drivers were signing (I also met Ray Evernham (among others) who was Jeff's Crew Cheif for a long time during his glory years of the 1990's!!).

The Panthers had a dismal year this year with almost half of the team (??) on the IR so they are currently at 7-8 with one game to go...no hopes of the playoffs this year but Matt Moore has really looked good at QB so big Jake may have some compitition next year altho his future is a bit uncernain right now...

All this stuff IS a part of my year--BTW!!!

Christy and I have taken a few 'Road Safaris' this year in which we took a few (thousand) pictures...and we are planning one tomorrow too!~ We went up to the ParkWay and to Doughton Park which was a great place to walk and take pictures--we first went in September right as the colors began, I hope to go up there in the spring too! Several close, day trips which have included Spencer to see the trains and several parks seeking deer and other wildlife! I got a new Kodak camera for Christmas so I am going to try to take even MORE pics in the future--it's my 'portable cam'!!! LOL!!

My biggest surprise came in August when I won 3rd place in the Our State Magazine Photo Contest. My b&w picture of 'The Depot' up in Dobson, NC which I took in Nov. 2008. I was also interviewed by the Statesville Record & Landmark for a front page articel talking about my picture in Our State! I am already at work trying to figure out which entries to send for the 2010 Photo Contest! Christy & I entered pics in the Iredell County Fair in September and we both won a few ribbons and $$--Denise won 1st Place for her excellent salsa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was sooo proud of her!!!! ☺

Of course, I could have done all this if not for my lay off from Eagle International last Nov. I'm still unemployed but I am hoping to get to go to school and take a EMT Course that starts in Febuary. I go next Monday for my Entrance Exam to see if I can get some financial aid with the class b/c just the class alone costs $175. I haven't taken a test in about...whew.....many years so I hope that I can get my brain to kick in gear one more time!!!

I saw Ricky a few times in recent months altho not lately but at least we are in contact...Betsy, Genie & Kim, not-so-much.

God has been good and He always is!!! We have been going back to Fellowship Baptist Church in recent months, altho I still do PowerPoint at Grace once or twice a month, so I'm not too sure what will happen with either of those 2 opportunities but we have met some new friends at Fellowship and renewed old friendships there so we will see what our Father has in store for us in 2010!

Is that 'TwoThousand Ten' or 'Twenty-Ten'??? ☺

I'll be writing.....♥

What Do I Know???

I was out raking leaves a little bit ago and thinking about how differently I look at this meanial task this year. Maybe it's because of my love of photography and thinking back to all the pictures that I've taken this year of leaves and how much I have enjoyed the fall season! The colors have been wonderful and until just recently, they have lasted for a good while! Actually, just a few days ago we were admiring a young maple tree in the woods behind the house and the spectacular yellow color that it still held!

I have lived thru a very interesting year...with plenty of ups and downs thrown in there too! It started in January with Denise tripping and faloling aas we were going in to K-Mart and breaking her kneecap. Also in January, BS-Obama took over and in his almost 11 months in office has done a tremendous job at trying to ruin this country and put us into a position in which we will never recover! Never in my most horrible nightmares have I ever dreamed that a Muslim, who among other things is a two-faced liar would become leader of the free world. I know it is all a part of God's Master Plan, one in which we as mortals are just clueless as to His methods but not the OUTCOME! Barack's arrogance and indifference is what really puts me over the edge...but, I'm not here to write about his arrogant self, I am writing about my own adventure in 2009...

In May my Mom had her gall bladder removed and for a while she did really well with it and for the past few months it seems like she is again bothered by sporadic sickness. In August we found out that my Dad has had a reoccurance of his cancer, this time in his esophagas. The first prognosis was terminal so he got a second opinion at Baptist Hospital and for the past couple of months he has undergone treatment there, both radiation and chemo. He is presently at Baptist after having his feeding tube slip somehow and rip a hole in his stomach. In about 6 weeks, they will do some more tests to see if the radiation and chemo have been successful in slowing down or killing this tumor. I have helped drive him and my Step Mom back and forth and I have been very Blessed to have this opportunity to help them during this difficult time in their lives.

In the process of this, I have had the opportunity to begin a relationship with my brother Rick, who is 3 years older than I am. I am hoping that this will develop into a lasting friendship at least! It has been weird knowing that I have a brother that I hardly know but maybe this door will open into a growing relationship with him!

I am looking at maybe taking an EMT Basic course beginning in February to perhaps open a door of opportunity to work at NuCare. I have discovered in the past year that I am going to have to reinvent myself to make me attractive to a prospective employer and I'm afraid that the furniture industry is a dying machine. Hopefully I will be able to absorb all the information that will come my way if that is the direction that God is leading me into...and if it is, I will be successful! ☺

When I think back on this year I can't help but wonder what God is up to as far as where He would have Denise and I to go to church. I have had two people to come on board to help me with PowerPoint at Grace Covenant, so that has opened a door for me to go with Denise to Fellowship, where she has been playing piano since about April of this year. We have some good friends at each church and it has been impossible for me to choose where to go. It's a bit unfair to be torn between the two, as Denise and I have no hard feelings whatsoever at Grace but God opened this door for her to go to Fellowship and in the process my Mom has started to go back there as well.

But do you know what I've discovered during this whole time??? What do I know????????? ♥♥