Goodbye 2009

For the last few days the newspaper has had end of the year articles on 2009 and how many people are happy to see it go. The economy, Afghanistan and Iraq, H1N1, unemployment…. good riddance. But was it really that bad? More specifically, for my family?

The past year has been a tough one for Jason at work as his employer laid off a number of people, and Jason personally had to let a number of his employees go, people he both liked and respected. Those times were difficult and you thank God your family will still have a job the next week. Jason and I have been there, and it isn’t easy. On the day we were going to tell my parents I was pregnant with their ninth grandchild, and we had decided I would become a full-time stay at home mom, Jason lost his job. It’s scary, but with faith, family and hope, new opportunities come along. I pray that the people Jason had to lay off this year have found something new and rewarding in their lives.

One thing many people take for granted is their health, and back in March we got a reminder that each day is a gift when Jason’s dad suffered a heart attack. Nine months later, Grandpa has joined a gym and is on track to not visit the cardiac ward again. My own Dad was diagnosed with prostate cancer the day before Christmas Eve last year. Radiation behind him, current treatment includes hormone shots resulting in hot flashes and other problems, but to quote my good friend Kelly’s dad who is a prostate cancer survivor, “Better than being dead.” Indeed. Here at home we have battled H1N1 and strep throat, sore backs, achey feet and failing eye sight. Better than being dead. Amen.

For our family here at #5, we started 2009 coming off of a major flood and power outage. Our goal in the New Year was to banish our basement of the horrible mold we discovered after the storm, and while not in our plan for home renovations, we now have a beautiful basement family room, complete with an installed generator to continually power our sump pumps. The flip side of that is that our long-term plans to renovate our den and sun room are again pushed out yet again, but for now, my kids are happily playing and watching TV downstairs. Somehow it all works out, and I will live with sagging dark paneling and dirty carpets in the den a little while longer.

Even with all these negatives, there was oh so much joy in our lives this year. On the top of the list for me was celebrating Jason’s grandmother’s 90th birthday with every single member of her family while on our beach vacation in New Jersey. The icing on the cake was that it was also Alanya’s 7th birthday, and she will always have that memory of a very special party. Grandma continues to enjoy each day and her family and I hope this coming August I can cheer once again as she swims in the Atlantic surf.

In 2009 Noah started his years of angst as a Middle Schooler, and promptly brought home a Student of the Month award as well as a spot on the Student Council, Wrestling Team and all-A Honor Roll. Benny continued being Benny, holding a top spot for his age-level on the cross country running team, excelling at piano, and being the sweet, emotional little boy that he has always been. His two favorite words now are "Hippie" and "Hobo", I don't know why. Alanya moved into second grade and finally became a reader, much to my delight. She marched to her own drummer, challenging me by cutting her hair, refusing to wear clothes I bought her and overall being as stubborn as I am. We couldn’t be more blessed.

Jason and I shared a four day respite alone together in Seattle in late March for a family wedding, and celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary in July. He makes me laugh, and I am constantly reminded of all the reasons why we fit together. I am so proud of him and what he does for our family, and I still get a flutter of excitement when I hear the garage door open every night when he comes home.

So there you have it. 2009. I guess it wasn’t so bad after all, just a gentle reminder to not take one moment for granted. Each one is a gift.

Happy New Year and blessings of peace to the world.

Happy Holidays!

Wishing all of our family and friends a wonderful holiday and a safe and healthy New Year! Thank you for the love, support and friendship.

My renaissance man

At 5:55 this evening, Noah was one of the last to wrestle at his match. He got through all three minutes which is a great match for someone who stepped on a wrestling mat for the first time a few weeks ago. Right now, not getting pinned in the first minute is the goal. After he finished, we raced off so he could shower, change, eat and get to church by 6:30 to sing in the Christmas Music program with Ben and the rest of the children's choir. Quite the renaissance man for an 11 year old. Enjoy the videos of his triumphs.

The eye of the storm

Last night we lit the last Hanukkah candles, and as Jason and Alanya sat waiting and watching for the last one to puff out, it made me sad to think we had to wait another year to do it again. I guess that's what holidays are about. If we did it every week, it wouldn't be special. There was something different about this year's Hanukkah though as our family raced through our daily schedule of activities it was a bit more of a challenge to carve out the time for a family dinner to light the candles. We do our best to eat together every night and it is a rare night when Jason can't leave work in time for dinner, even if it means working from home once the kids go to bed. I remember some nights that I had to light the menorah alone with the kids, and say the prayers while the kids mumbled along in some form of Hebrew. Those nights were a little odd and surreal for me, trying to keep traditions going, even when it wasn't my tradition. But that's the point... now it is.



Last night Noah had a wrestling match in another town and I knew having dinner ready for 5 starving people when we got home around seven was going to be a challenge. I was tempted to go out to eat, but alas, you can't bring your candles to a restaurant. So instead, we did the next best thing as you can see in the picture. Chinese Food.

We did have a true Hanukkah celebration with my sister and parents on the second night complete with dreidel, gelt, and Jason's latkes. That night we started what I hope will be a new Hanukkah tradition for our family - homemade sufganiyot, or jelly donuts. Jason outdid himself, and they were delightful.

Later today I'll get Alanya set up with the waxy menorahs to clean them with a toothpick, and I will continue wrapping gifts. No rest for the weary. This is a marathon for our family and this weekend is simply the eye of the storm. We won't slow down again for another week. The kids are having a ball, Jason and I are nearing exhaustion, and now I know why we only do this once a year.

What to do?

What do you get the child who's Christmas wish list says...

• four day trip to Disney World
• origami paper

Hmmmm.... ?