to resolve or not to resolve.....that is sort of the question

So, I'm back......kinda. I'm on some kind of emergency back up hard drive that was stuck in my computer and will hold me over until the information gets magically "grabbed" off my other hard drive. Then through some kind of high tech voodoo black magic the two hard drives will be meshed together to give me my life back. I couldn't have even gotten to this point without the extremely generous help of Haute Cakes Mystery Man.......who came to visit the boysquad and I this week.....but more on that another time (when I get permission to post the breakdancing photos :) ).

I can't tell you how much I've missed everyone out here in blogland! Sure I've cleaned all my closets and done some reading and watched Craig Fergeson's monologue for the first time in months and baked and gone to bed (most nights) before 3 am----but it was all like a little forced vacation. I still feel like blogging is as good a use of my time and energies and talents as anything else I could do. As I looked at the Christmas cards I'd received this year, I realized that almost half of them were from blogging friends-turned real-life friends, and I can't express adequately enough my gratitude for what you ladies (and few gentlemen) add to my life. THANK YOU!!!

So here we are to New Year's Eve again. It honestly seems like yesterday that I was writing last year's resolutions. There were only 4. Let's see how I did. They were:

1. Smile More. : hmmmmmm.......I don't know if I accomplished this one or not. I think I smiled about the same amount. But given the circumstances of the last 365 days, the same amount is pretty darn good!

2. Serve More. Again--don't know how well I did with this one. But, I did learn to BE served this year. That was a big one for me. Taking help from others has never been easy, but I have so appreciated the selfless acts of kindness extended to me by family, friends, and mere acquaintances.

3. Reduce Media. Failed horribly at this one! Getting Rockband for Christmas didn't help AT ALL! But we still play board games and read as a family and do a lot of simple hanging out talking and laughing, so we're making time for one another in the midst of all the TV and wii and computer. And all the media excess did net me one crazy crush on Sporticus....so ya know.

4. Lose this 10 pounds. Hey! This one I did!!! I lost it PLUS 20 more. Took Rheumatic Fever to get it off, but it's stayed off for nearly a year now, and I view it as a daily gift that I don't take for granted. I haven't felt more physically like myself in a long time.

****and so there I am. And you know what I've resolved for this year? To not resolve. Yup. I'm just kind of letting life lead me along in 2009. I'll embrace any opportunities that come my way. I'll be industrious most days, and lazy on days when that mood strikes me. It's a different feeling for me to just let go and live in the moment the way I have been forced to this year---to realize that I really don't have a lot of control over my life except the way I choose to react to what is thrown at me. But it's the feeling I know I need to embrace for another year. The time will come for *forward thinking* again.... some day. When I can see a future that makes sense and can deal once more with details--- In the present it's all about making some pretty serious decisions, and my peace comes from taking things one day at a time, so that's what I'm going to keep doing. Wait......is that resolving to do something? Hmmmmm...... :)

Hopefully I'll get my pictures back in the next couple of days and we'll have a hum-dinger of a Friday Fotos to get you caught up. Be ready, too, for a lot of comment lovin' coming y'alls way!

~Thanks for hanging with me.~

May your New Year be blessed in every way possible. May you find joy in simple pleasures. May your hearts be full of laughter. May you act as angels to those around you. May your every day hold a pleasant surprise.....or two.

Happy New Year :)!