Year in Review

My poor orphaned blog! It's pretty sad that I still have Thanksgiving decorations. The thing is, I only have so much creative energy, and if it's diverted elsewhere..... alas for my poor blog.

I have been very busy though.

I've learned so much this year.

For one thing, I learned how to make raised doughnuts. One evening, I had a hankering for them, and that's pretty much all I did- for about 3 weeks! Lewis had to beg, "Enough with the doughnuts!" I had to perfect them. HAD to. It was all I could think about- how I could've let them raise longer, or greased the pan instead of flour. I learned that nutmeg really IS an essential ingredient, and rum flavoring works better than vanilla in the glaze. I smelled like frying grease for a really long time.

I learned that I really can leave the continental US without my husband. I'm that grown up. It really was a confidence boost to face customs, a mix-up in Amsterdam, a cancelled ticket in Dublin and help my very nervous sister through it.

Know what else I learned I could do? I can pump the gas pedal exactly 15 times before I start my husband's old pickup- then turn the key without touching the pedal and start the blessed thing. Then I can drive myself to the dump, BACK UP the truck without hitting the concrete pillars, slip on some work gloves, tiptoe through the trash in my ballet flats, and unload the sucker. I can. All by myself.

I can face a roomful of irate teachers alone.

I can handle the guilt of an entire summer spent with a backyard full of fruit and not one single jar of it canned.

I can laugh my head off when I slide sideways up to the intersection my husband warned me was icy, especially when two cops drive by just in time for me to right myself before they see.

I can look up at my oldest son. He's had to wait a long time for that. He's taller than most of his friends and they have been taller than their moms for ages.

I can look at a forgotten school lunch and not feel guilty for leaving it there.

I can (almost) embrace those extra 6 pounds.

I can really appreciate how fleeting the age of 4 really is.

I have learned to trust my husband when he says you either need to pull a permit before you start a remodeling job, or keep permits out of it entirely. Pulling a permit to assuage your conscience after the fact is not a plan. Really.

Thanks for the memories, 2009!