3:03 p.m. - 2007-11-15
How was your year?
Thursday, November 15, 2007
This is the most recent Challenge as set forth by The Kween of the Queens..on Xanga.com
"As 2007 comes to a close, how close were your dreams to the reality?"
This challenge is a tough one for me this time. I didn't really think of having any specific goals for this year. Not that I don't always want and need to lose weight and to take better care of myself. That is always something I think about, some years I do something about it and some years I don't..... This year, I didn't follow through with all the plans I had for making my life better.
I can say that I am now happier at this time of the year than I was a year ago. For those of you who have been reading my blog...you will remember that this time last year was really difficult. I lost my dear sister-in-law....she was my husband's only sister. We had driven out to Colorado to be with her for a long weekend and we had a good time, even though it was also a very sad time as we knew we were losing her very soon. What we didn't know the day we left for home was that she would pass by the end of that very week. In fact, she went into the hospital the same day we left her house. So that started a period of weeks when I was so depressed and couldn't seem to get past it.
Under odd coincidence, we had booked a cruise from Galveston, Texas to Mexico several months before. It took place over Thanksgiving. We had purchased tickets for our son and daughter-in-law to go with us. It gave us something to do to help with our grief. My sister-in-law and her husband had also intended to go with us...we went on the cruise with the blessing of her husband and toasted her at our first dinner....
Two years ago, at this time of year, one of my sisters was planning to get a divorce and move to Texas to live near another sister who was already living there. My husband helped to move that sister from Indiana to Texas over the holiday. She has been there 2 years now. She did finally get a job and her own apt. But now, she is seriously trying to find a way to come back to Indiana. She is not happy in Texas. She doesn't make much money and she thinks she should come back here to start over. I don't know how she is going to get back yet or even IF she will really come. There is no guarantee that she will get a job here or be any happier.
In other past Thanksgivings, we have been the host to the families as they got bigger. My parents hosted Thanksgivings for the early years of our marriage and then we took over when it got to be so large that it was too difficult for the parents on both sides of our family to carry on. We also do a family get-together on Christmas Eve. Having two big occasions within a few weeks was getting to be a struggle for us.
Several years ago, one of my brother-in-laws and his wife finally started to host the Thanksgiving occasion. I always enjoyed it because when I worked; it was just very difficult to have everything done by Thanksgiving. Those occasions were very special and enjoyed by everyone who was able to attend.
However, times are changing again. That brother-in-law and his wife have not always come through with the hosting. A couple of times, they actually made plans to go out of town and didn't let the rest of us know right away. As a result; everyone just kind of scrambled and had their own small dinners at their own homes. This year there has been no invitation to anyone for the annual family Thanksgiving....this makes two years in a row.
So, this year, I will have my son, daughter-in-law, step granddaughters and one of my sisters may drive here for a couple of days. She is bringing her boyfriend. Something is happening to the family traditions and I am not liking the way it is going.
Maybe I should be working on reestablishing some family traditions as my goal for 2008. Maybe I will go back to hosting for any family get-togethers to be sure that we all do spend time together. My husband's large family is getting smaller. The nieces and nephews don't seem as interested in spending the holidays with their larger extended families. My own family only has 3 sisters left and they are all out of town.
So, did I reach my goals this year?...NO. Will I reach them next year? I sure hope so.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING.
