2010 – It’s been quite a year! So many blessings. But so many changes! I have to say I’m quite exhausted. As I look at this run-down I’m no longer mystified why.
January – G asked me to marry him. Right there in the church after worship on Epiphany Sunday. Also that month we visited SrK&J down in Mazatlan and learned the joy of falling asleep to the sound of the surf.
February – What the heck happened in February? Even the posts were sparse that month. Suffice it to say it was probably filled with too much.
March – My last day of work at MC came at the end of March. The entire corporate office was laid off as CorporateParent moved the corporate function out East where their headquarters are.
April – We hosted my nephew Nigel and his girlfriend Mallory for Easter dinner. My sister and mom were no-shows and so most of leg of lamb went home with Nigel and Mallory as leftovers.
May – DS1 turned 19 and returned home from his freshman year at Iowa State. He was only home for a couple of weeks though as he left to work at Holden Village for the summer. There was something else that month… what was it? OH YES! We got married on the 22nd! We spent a lovely few days up on the North Shore of Lake Superior, staying at Naniboujou Lodge just past Grand Marais and exploring the sights from the Canadian border all the way back to Duluth.
June – the end of DS2’s sophomore year, he played baseball during the summer. I picked up a couple of short term instructional design contracts and learned that the church would need a 4th – 6th grade choir director in the fall. I also completed her first race – the Gerry Bjorklund Half Marathon in Duluth. Of course, she hasn’t been able to walk since then, but hey! She got the t-shirt and a medal!
July – I took G and DS2 to Holden Village to visit DS1. This was G’s first trip up there and he was mightily impressed; and he now understands why “going up for the weekend” really isn’t a good option. We spent a few days in Seattle, attending a ball game and going to the Boeing museum along with enjoying the food and sights. Gary even went to a sushi restaurant and found enough to eat that he didn’t need to stop at McDonald’s afterward! At the end of the trip we learned that my aunt died and so G and I traveled to Stoughton to be with family for the funeral.
August – DS2 got to go back to Holden with his dad on a congregational trip and spend a week out there. DS1 came back with them but didn’t stay long in Minneapolis, as he needed to get back down to Ames to start his sophomore year. I took G to his first Minnesota State Fair and was on the radio as the Minneapolis Farmers’ Market #1 Fan.
September – I started another corporate job. I am an instructional designer and developer for a large wallstreet firm and yes, I feel like I’ve sold out completely to the devil because of it. I also started directing the kids’ choir at church. G turned 60 (!!) and despite my best intentions we heralded the big day with a smallish celebration. I spent a week in Baltimore for the assembly of the religious community to which I belong.
October – I finished my 49th trip around the sun and G attended the traditional Raking of the Leaves at a family friend’s cabin in Wisconsin.
November – G and I traveled to Slinger, WI for a late birthday/early Thanksgiving celebration at his brother’s and SIL lovely house. His other brother, SIL and niece drove up from Chicago and the party was rounded out with LaGrange family friends. What a fun time! We got to visit with G’s mom a little more the next morning when we took her to church. At the end of the month we had a wonderfully low-key Thanksgiving celebration with all the boys and DIL. I successfully avoided my family by sending my boys out to my sisters and feigning a migraine. Not proud of lying but very proud of staying out of it.
December – Christmas celebrations included worship on Christmas eve where my choirs sang and I also played my accordion to accompany one of them. We saw G’s kids for lunch on Christmas Eve and his DS1 came over for Christmas dinner. So far I have even more successfully avoided the drama inherent in my side of the family- we haven’t even gotten phone calls from them!
All in all it has been a year filled with blessings of family, friends, travel and adventures of staying home. We’re on the home stretch of combining the households. We’ve filled two dumpsters and given a truckload of stuff to charity. And that’s just at G’s house! 2011 will mean dumpster filling in NE Minneapolis. Health is holding out for both of us and the boys (and DIL) are doing well. We pray it is the same for you.
For the blessings and joys of this past year we give thanks to God. For the trials and losses we experienced, we ask God’s continued strength. For those who died, we ask God’s continued embrace.
