2010 has done nothing more than dovetail with 2009. It hasn't been as "testy" as '09, but we've been deluged with more snow. And it's cold. Colder than it's been in previous years.
December 25, 2009, Christmas Day(according to the Roman Catholic Church), found my wife and I snowed in. It was an odd day. But I did get the dogs to pose. Here's our pups. Can't believe how much they've grown. Daisy(left), T'Ohwaii(middle) and Sally(right)...
The next day we managed to drive up to Atchison, KS to visit my folks, along with my daughter and her husband, and one of my sons and his wife. It was an enjoyable day, but this is what it looked like outside. And it was cold. This is the neighbor's house to my folk's...
New Year's Eve I was managing a gig at the Great Wolf Lodge, and it was(you got it!)...cold. We all got together after the gig at I-HOP and found that we'd all had a rotten day to end 2009. But we could still laugh about it.
Yesterday, January 7, 2010, Christmas Day(according to the Greek Orthodox Church), we had been snowed on again the previous day to begin to get...drumroll...more cold weather. I really do need to figure a way to get rich so I could have a beach condo in Hawaii.
But I've also been inventorying my blessings. First, I'm still on this side of the dirt nap, and the title of this post are the first words to a Jewish prayer to begin the day. It's a thankfulness that the King of All Creation has chosen to give life for another day. Puts it in perspective as I again try to sort out why I'm here. "Rabbah Emunatekha!"
Secondly, I'm thankful for my wife, who hasn't killed me, divorced me or deserted me. Thankful for my children. Thankful for my friends.
I'm thankful for my pastor, and worry about him. Without going into detail, he took some heavy "body blows" this past year. Nut shots. And I can tell it's taken a toll on him and his family.
I'm thankful for the kids I worked with this past season at Worlds of Fun. They made a difficult season more easy to digest. I wish they had a better manager. They probably do, too.
What amazed me this past holiday is how much I DIDN'T want. And I found that I plan on making most, if not all, of 2010's presents, and have asked that others do the same for me. One present I did get from my mother was an afghan. What makes it unique is that my great-grandmother had crocheted all the squares for it, and another one, back in the '60's when she would go to stay with my grandmother for part of the winter. My great-grandmother never got around to finishing them into afghans. My grandmother had kept all those squares for years, and after she passed away, my mother took them. This year my mother assembled them into afghans for my brother and I. When I touched it, I could see (in my mind's eye) that little old lady sitting in my grandmother's living room, the television blaring, and her yarn and needle deftly working on those squares with her gnarled, yet masterful hands. It was worth the 40+ year wait to get an afghan for Christmas.
I found this old drawing while cleaning up. My son said he wants it, so I'm framing it for him. It 's a caricature I did one afternoon of Dick Vermeil, back when the Chiefs had a team and weren't, again, the bargain basement of the NFL...
I hope your 2010 brings you much happiness and success!
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