So long, 2010...

There are a few hours left until New Years here on the East Coast.  I am lounging on my couch in the living room, my feet extended on our brown sectional.  My husband is sitting on the arm chair to my left, zoned out in front of the television watching... some sport or another.  Wesley is in his exersaucer, desperately trying to stuff all of his fingers in his mouth while mumbling some jibberish that I can tell makes perfect sense to him.  My mother is in town, and she is on a mission to make Swedish Turkey Meatballs.  She read the recipe in a Rachel Ray cookbook a few days ago and has finally filled the kitchen with just enough ingredients and quiet to give it a shot.  Isaiah is in bed sleeping off a virus.  He counted all eleven glow in the dark stars on his wall before he fell asleep and reminded me that stars have five sides... so we know they aren't impostors.  I am... staring at my laptop screen.

I was contemplating writing my final entry of 2010 about all the things I want in 2011.  At times, this year felt so full of loss and misfortune I feel like 2011 has to be filled with an abundance of blessings.  However, as I mentally ready-ed (is that a word?) myself to write my list, I started to be filled with sadness about the possibility that not all of it would come to fruition or that life, as fragile as it is, may be cut short and leave me stumbling to pick up the pieces again.  I chastised myself for seeing the glass half empty but decided to write a different kind of list.  And as a punishment... penance, if you will, (I was raised Catholic), I decided to take a moment to think of all the things that happened in 2010 that I was thankful for.  I challenged myself to match each bit of misfortune with at least one blessing... no matter how small.  Here are my top eight:

I am thankful for...
8.  My job, not matter how ambiguously I feel about it at any given moment. I am a lawyer and I worked hard to be one.  The people I have met have been wonderful and I can't think of any job that would have been as accommodating of ALL the time I took off to mourn my brother, grandfather and see Wesley transition into this world.  It also pays me... which is nice.
7. The roof over my head.  It isn't my single family house with a bug-free yard for the boys to play in but... it's ours and its big enough.
6.  My stupid car.  This one is hard but necessary because if my car was a person... I am pretty sure I'd beat it up.  It's a giant 2006 SUV... big enough to fit my 6ft plus family and I paid over a thousand buck this year for brakes, wheels and other incidentals... but it doesn't smell like smoke... my husbands truck smells like smoke... and most days its clean and... err... the trunk is big and it gets us up and down the east coast safely.
5.  Crockpot.  I know I just got it lol - but it has really changed our lives.  Choosing the ingredients and recipes for new meals for my family has inspired me to be more healthy and conscious about what I feed my family and what I put in my body.  I realized how quickly your body can betray you and I want to be as healthy as I can.  And that brings me to...
4.  Health.  My own and those around me.  I continue to breath, my heart continues to beat... I can hear, see, taste, smell, feel - my feet lead me where I need to go, my arms can embrace the ones I love, my thoughts still lead me to make careful choices.  I am so thankful for my health.
3. Love.  I am so thankful for the continued love in my life from my husband, to my children, to my parents, to my brother to my friends.  If I could bottle up the way my husband looks at me when he says I love you... and not the "I'm going to the store and I'll be right back"- I love you but the I just want you to know, right now, at the moment... I love you.... If I could capture and box up the way Wesley's face curls into that little toothless smile and his feet do a quick happy dance when he sees me after a long day apart... If I could laminate the sight of Isaiah running towards me yelling "My Mommy" when I pick him up from daycare... I'd live lifetimes of love and joy in this one little life.
2.  Faith.  I believe in GOD.  I believe in a power higher than me.  I believe that life is a spiritual journey.  I believe that my spirit will live beyond this life.  I may not have a religion... yet... but I know this much is true.
1. Wesley.  The number one thing that happened during 2010 was my beautiful son, Wesley.  I love him from the sparse little hairs on his head, to the chubb rolls on his bitty legs, to his cute little golden toes.  He is constant inspiration and manifestation of love.  My little booger... 

What will you say you were most thankful for in 2010?

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!

And the beat goes on...

My, how time is a' flying.  I am going on three weeks back at work and 2010 is almost over.  Other than work, I really have just been coasting along - over thinking and taking advantage of moments of solitude.  Last Friday, I saw Prince in concert in New York!! I went with my brother, his wife and my husband.  If I haven't mentioned it here, Prince is my favorite artist of all time.  I danced and sang to all his songs and didn't sit down all night.  The night was sort of bittersweet because I was very much aware that Tommy would have been there if he was with us.  However, the seat beside us remained empty the entire concert and when I closed my eyes, I could feel his energy dancing and singing with us.  In other news - I purchased a crock pot at the urging of my co-worker and developed an unnatural obsession with it.  I have discovered a whole underground world of crockpot blogs including this one which is fastly becoming my favorite.  Something about slow cooking in the winter that has all my boys thinking I am the best wife and mother evaaa.   I made Turkey Chili and Cornbread last week and my husband called and texted me multiple times from work the next day just to tell me how amazing I was.  I am feeling pretty domestic and have decided to create a grandiose Christmas Brunch tradition on Saturday.  I envision a dining room table full of yummy goodness while we open our presents.  I love Christmas!

 

In even bigger news, Wesley will be five months old next week! To commemorate, we put together the exersaucer.  It started off rocky...

But now its his new best friend.

Wesley is now smiling all the time, laughing at our family's silliness, and holding his head up.  He is very talkative - particularly at the end of the day and is becoming quite a skilled thumb sucker.  He is also smacking the crap out of his toys and grabbing all available noses and lips.  Isaiah is intensely opposed to the grabbing. Well - that's all folks! Enjoy the pics!

Happy Holidays!!!

oh, and Happy Retirement, Grandma!!!