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The Biggest Baby Step I Could Take

I write a lot.  Sometimes, I scribble stuff in the back of my notebooks at school while I should be paying attention to the cognitive advancements in a toddler mind.  Occasionally, I write at home when I’m supposed to be folding laundry or doing dishes.  I used to keep a notebook handy in my car, and if I got stuck in a car line at school or waiting for an activity to end, I’d write something.

This is the year that I’m going to leave my comfort zone.  I’ve written something that I plan to send to some publishers and see where it ends up.  I’ve been sitting on it for, gulp, 16 years, and it’s time to dust it off, clean it up, and put it to work.  It’s a children’s book, so I expect a slew of rejection due in part to the overwhelming amount of competition, but with the strength to face the criticism, I’m moving forward.

Who knows?  If this doesn’t kill me, maybe I’ll find time to write that great American novel I told my senior high school year book I would.  In the words of my all time favorite Disney character, “It is time.”

Happy, Healthy, Prosperous – all the things a new year should be!

It has been an amazing 2012 for this family.  After several years of serious health issues, teetering on the brink of death times too numerous to mention, my mom is finally battling back and getting around.  My sister added the most amazing brother-in-law to the family in July.  This is the first year in the last four that I haven’t spent at least some time in the hospital.  My husband is awesome, my children incredible.

The year was not without it’s bitterness.  This year, we lost two powerful women who were important in our lives to breast cancer.  We almost entered the new year without our beautiful Lusi, who suffered serious physical damage in an end of year attack by another dog.  Andy Reid was fired as coach of the Eagles.

But regardless of the pills we’ve swallowed, the promise of the new year is too great to ignore!  We’ve got a Bilbrough wedding to look forward to in the coming months, and friends will be welcoming a new baby that I hope I get to spoil a bit.  Jim has an appointment at the VA that we believe will bring terrific results.  I will be a certified teacher by the end of this new year, and will hopefully find my way back into the workforce.

Eilis is starring in her show at school; Granuaile remains, in her own words, awesome; and Brighid has a very good plan for her own academic and professional future.  Harper and Lusi will both celebrate second birthdays; Granuaile will make her First Holy Communion; and we will ride into the new year in a new car.

I know the new year won’t be without it’s bumps and hurdles.  But you have to taste the bitter to know the sweet, and we’re ready to tackle whatever comes out way.

I shall close this year with these words from Helen Keller –  “Your success and happiness lies in you.  Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties.”

This is my New Year’s Resolution.