Reflections on 2008

Every year for a very long time I've kept an appointment book and at the end of the year I like to browse through it and recall the happenings of the year. So here goes a synopsis of what happened in 2008...

• There was the getting up at 5:30 a.m. each Sunday morning to get Joe to the chapel for his Bishopric's Meeting. (5:30 a.m. sounds so late now).
• There was taking Mom to many of her doctor's appointments and getting her hair cut.
• There was the NUMEROUS appointments for job interviews since I'd been unemployed since October the year before.
• There was the Book Club get togethers at Dianne Coates' home where we talked about everything except for books we'd read. It was mainly a get together to eat and socialize.
• Joe took training to be a substitute teacher and became one working primarily in the lower grade schools and loving it. He always had some interesting story to tell when he got home.
• Then there was the important job interview with COI Foodservice and my subsequent hire as the Human Resources Assistant. What a fantastic job! What a fantastic boss lady!
• There was the trip to Macon and Atlanta to take Dad to see the eye specialist. What a wonderful experience that was for me. It was the first time I'd had real alone time with Dad in many, many years. This will be filed away as one of my special memories.
• President Hinckley's funeral. What a beautiful tribute to a man I had had the opportunity of meeting.
• DEREK WAS BORN!!! I remember Joe and I waiting up and worrying in the early morning until we heard the news.
• I had lunch with Jerry, Shirley and Amy. The only one missing from the original Childcare office was Missy whose leukemia had become active again. She died about six weeks later and we all attended the funeral together. (I wrote about Missy in an earlier posting).
• There were my last childcare trainings ever in Colquitt and Dougherty counties.
• In April we flew to Utah and took Mom along with us to see Derek be blessed by his father. And, the day before, I was sealed to my sweetie for time and all eternity in the Mt. Timpanogas Temple. This was the last trip that Mom will probably ever take.
• There was my mammograms, my haircuts, my doctor appointments.
• There was the family reunion in May and Aunt Rachel's chicken and dumplings.
• There was another hospital stay for Joe. It was his kidneys this time. A weight gain of 40 lbs. and the doctor saying he was going to have to go on dialysis. That never happened, but he did have the catheter implanted in his stomach per the doctor. That finally got removed this month after finding out his kidney function had actually improved.
• Joe and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary.
• There was the second job lost in September and trying to find another job.
• Another trip to Utah to visit the kids and a side trip to Wyoming and job interviews.
• There was the visit of the Moving Wall. What a great experience for my entire family.
• Another two weeks spent in Wyoming, by myself, job searching and house hunting.
• The return home to pack up the house and make the move to our new home in Casper.
• Started my new job at Navarro Research and Engineering at the Rocky Mountain Oilfield Testing Center.
• First Christmas not at home.
• Joe and I spent New Year's Eve with Corey, Nikki and Derek. What a great way to start the new year.

So, it was a great year full of changes, opportunities to spend time with friends, times of sadness with the passing of dear friends, travel, celebrations and I wouldn't trade the experiences. After all, everything we experience makes us who we are and I feel very blessed to be me.