Out With the Old; In With the New

December 31, 2011 by Let's CUT the Crap! 16 Comments

I don’t want to come off as too sappy although I suppose I’m going to anyway. This last year, although it’s passed much too quickly, has been good to me.  These are some of the things I am grateful for.

My granddaughters keep me young. I laugh more, smile often and am surprised easily. The four-year-old especially warms the cockles of my heart. When I’m cooking dinner she asks. “What are we having that’s delicious tonight, Babcia?” I go to bed and wake up grinning with thoughts of either of their latest antics.

It has been a three-year learning curve since I moved into the same house as my daughter and her family. This year has been the best one as we grow to respect each other’s space and resources. My daughter continues to come down to borrow this or that but less often because I’ve learned to say, “Whoa, I’m not a built-in convenience store, sweetie. Plan better next time.” Of course she never returns things either. Is that written somewhere as a given? It must be.

I’ve been retired five years last month and am finally doing the things I’ve been putting off all my life—things for ME. This past year I have learned to say, “Sorry, I’m busy . I’m going golfing / out to dinner / the theatre, etc.,” without a second thought and without guilt anymore. Old softie has changed her shell. Who says a leopard can’t change her spots?

I’m lucky another year has passed peacefully. Atmospheric conditions in my smudge on the map have been kind unlike other parts of the world: tsunamis, earthquakes, oil spills. My family and friends have come through this year in good health as have I. There have been no serious blips and I’m more than pleased.

Along the way, I’ve started golfing. It’s a start. I’m not kidding but I’m tickled that I’ve moved out of my comfort zone and tried something new. Never in a million years would I have guessed I‘d be on a golf course willingly. No, I haven’t lost my mind, even though I thought I might have.

I’ve made some wonderful friends in the past twelve months. Lucky for me, I’ve also crossed paths with  friends from the ancient past again, taken on projects I never thought I’d have the guts to finally face down and have generally become more adventurous. For ME, that is. I don’t plan on jumping out of any airplanes or going bungee jumping anytime soon. I’m not crazy. But that’s ME (again).

In a nutshell, I have been seriously happy and content. Hopefully this doesn’t make it harder to pull my head out of the fridge in 2012.

I make no resolutions. Ever! I lie. I tried once but all that did was stress me out because the devil had a sweeter voice and I had to make choices. The wrong ones and kept arguing. With myself. Nope. That’s not for me.

Instead I plan to get better organized, work hard when I need to, goof off when I want to, read voraciously so I don’t get bitchy (cause I do if I don’t) and stop to smell the roses along the way. No matter what.

Last, but not least: I shall try to blog more regularly and possibly twice a week in the new year.