Goodbye 2010, and good riddance! 2010 was quite the year. As if the year hadn't been long enough, with Mom and Dad both being diagnosed with cancer and having multiple surgeries, with friends and myself losing jobs, with friends moving away, with the several-month "reign of terror" at the Lincoln Home this past spring, and . . . well, the list could go on. So it has been a long year, but it couldn't just end quietly--instead it had to milk every last minute of itself! It would seem that a little mini two-day vacation to Zion National Park for Mom and Dad in between Christmas and New Year's would be an innocent enough activity, but then Dad ended up in the hospital in St. George! Their two-day vacation turned into a five-day ordeal--sorry Mom and Dad! But thankfully things are going better now and they are safely back home in Orem for the New Year.
Then, yesterday, after weeks of winter temperatures, it reaches 62 degrees here in central Illinois, and we have tornadoes--in the middle of winter! The closest tornado to us hit the town of Petersburg--just west of where we used to live in Athens. Here is a picture of the damage to homes near Lake Petersburg where a couple of our friends live. Their home was damaged, but thankfully it is still habitable. What a way to end the year!
So, when I woke up to sunshine and frigid temperatures this morning, I was grateful--grateful for the cold weather, which means no tornadoes. And grateful that even though a lot of crappy stuff happened in 2010, we and our family and friends all made it through the year in one piece. We're very blessed to have the medical technology that allows cancer to be removed and babies to be born healthy. Babies--cute babies (and elves in training) Ben and Leo--are reasons enough to be happy about 2010. But
hopefully since 2010 went "out like a lion," 2011 will come in (and go out) like a lamb!
Then, yesterday, after weeks of winter temperatures, it reaches 62 degrees here in central Illinois, and we have tornadoes--in the middle of winter! The closest tornado to us hit the town of Petersburg--just west of where we used to live in Athens. Here is a picture of the damage to homes near Lake Petersburg where a couple of our friends live. Their home was damaged, but thankfully it is still habitable. What a way to end the year!
So, when I woke up to sunshine and frigid temperatures this morning, I was grateful--grateful for the cold weather, which means no tornadoes. And grateful that even though a lot of crappy stuff happened in 2010, we and our family and friends all made it through the year in one piece. We're very blessed to have the medical technology that allows cancer to be removed and babies to be born healthy. Babies--cute babies (and elves in training) Ben and Leo--are reasons enough to be happy about 2010. But hopefully since 2010 went "out like a lion," 2011 will come in (and go out) like a lamb!