after all the waiting and wondering, God gives me a view like this to come home to.
sitting at my window desk in the 2nd floor home office of our recent rental.
watching the ripples and reflections.
procrastinating on much-needed progress notes for my clients.
needing to make dinner.
reading The Story of Edgar Sawtelle: A Novel, when i should be unpacking.
getting 'settled.' my favorite word.
wondering how i should update my abandoned blog.
has too much time past already?
spent last week visiting family in nelson, british columbia, canada.
been in LOVE with this little town since childhood.
rises straight from the 'lake' up the mountain side with quaint little houses and hippie shops.
[it's where they filmed Snow Falling on Cedars, or so I am told.]
traveled there off & on over the years, but lived there six whole months in 7th grade.
accompanied my mom so she could visit her mom
visited my sweet grandmother in her nursing home several times a day.
spent the time doing jigsaw puzzles, talking, and sitting on the patio.
knew the time with her was precious.
stayed with my aunt&family, who love to cook exotic cuisine and serve it outdoors in the garden.
spent girly time with my adult cousins & aunts.
photographed the cute baby.
recreated a favorite blueberry granola recipe from the kootney co-op with my cousin B.
took some parting shots of wildflowers while we waited for the border to open up so we could fly home.
thinking about posting constantly, but never actually posting.
been enjoying a much needed break after [finally!] graduating from grad school back in may.
finished the school year at my high school counseling job in june & had the summer off.
laying low, recovering, organizing, reading, exercising, ruminating, and trusting.
otherwise known as The Summer I Got My Groove Back.
and it's almost over...
going back to my high school counseling job (mid august) in a week & a half.
waiting for our shortsale and foreclosure messes to make progress so we can start renting soon.
we got "served" on the one we are living in today.
unpacking from a recent visit to family in BC, Canada.
looking forward to extra special niece & nephew time as they are visiting from mozambique, africa
starting tomorrow for a few weeks.
planning to post & comment more often. i promise.
above is my little dresser corner in our mini-apt at my parents.
it consists of: a piece of bird nest art we picked up in newnan, ga on our cabin camping trip, two mini owls my cousin made me, a sentimental elephant etsy print [from L] which i framed myself [with a little help from some dark gray spray paint], some silver-painted pinecones from my walks, an antique japanese tray from my late uncle, & a plain glass vase from my wedding decor.
an actual chilly, january week in florida coming up. brrr.
my last(!!!) internship class starts tomorrow night [tuesday]. yay for the end being in sight. boo for homework.
a super yay for the agency i have been doing my internship with *finally* working out the details of an arrangement to compensate me for the extra work i will be doing this semester [since i was left high&dry by the fulltime counselor who quit in early november]. such a wonderful answer to my prayers.
now, if only i can begin to convince myself that i am a morning person?
today is the last day of my two week winter break & tomorrow i have to start getting up at 5:15 again. try running group *therapy* with high school kids at 7:15 in the morning. not an easy task. i'm dreading life a little because (1) my sleep schedule is all mixed up from watching late night movies with B & sleeping in and that early wake-up will be BRUTAL, (2) i had hoped to get a little more organized and more crossed off my personal to-do list when i was on break than i actually did, and (3) because I just feel...eh.
my new years goals are a lot like they usually are...to take better care of myself: spiritually, physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, & relationally (is that even a word?). a big part of this, for me, is reconsidering and reestablishing my priorities and working on my less-than-desired time management skills.
i'm hoping 2009 brings me a successfully completed counseling internship, the end of homework projects & theory papers, an actual graduation (hello, May 2009!), and hopefully (oh please, oh please, oh please!), a *real* counseling job (and health insurance) during this not-so-hot economy for social service jobs.
i hope B & I are able to pay off more debt, unload real estate liabilities, and actually move back into our own place again - no matter where! i hope 2009 brings lots of fresh starts!
my biggest gift this year, was B's *inviting* me to get a little tree [4 ft.] for our little apartment at my parents. here it is...complete with Starbucks themed ornaments, mini snowflakes, & mini balls! since our big tree & sentimental ornaments have been sequestered in storage several years now, it definitely made my holiday season a little brighter!
old traditions followed: baking Christmas goodies, including ginger molasses cookies [old faithful!], black russian cake with kahlua [yum!], & gingerbread chocolate chip bars [new recipe & not again!], putting out our awesome Indonesian nativity scene, holiday gatherings with friends & co-workers, the annual ornament exchange party with the girls, thinking of our sweet relatives & friends with holiday birthdays, missing family members scattered around the world, candlelight Christmas eve service at church with the reading of the Christmas Story & [fake] snowflakes falling, Christmas Eve pizza dinner [B's family's tradition], filling stockings as our *main* gift to each other [B & I], munching on homemade maple-coffee-cinnamon rolls & chocolate-glazed Dunkin donuts on Christmas morning, mom's traditional Christmas turkey dinner, & focusing on the excitement of nieces & nephews, both near & far!
new traditions started: deciding on a new seasonal Starbucks treat [salted caramel hot chocolate with espresso] watching classic Christmas movies together [B & I] during the holiday countdown [White Christmas, Miracle on 34th St., It's a Wonderful Life, Charlie Brown Christmas, Love Actually {okay, maybe not all classics!}], adopting several needier families as the main recipients of our family's gifts, B smoking a delish ham in his new smoker, &, sadly, memorializing & remembering my dear Uncle D, who passed away from skin cancer a year ago Christmas Day.
i'm looking forward to Christmas, 2009!
a little wonderful nephew [j] turned ONE a few days before Christmas.
here he is devouring his coconut cupcake from his [fave!] auntie.
my last ditch efforts toward an e-card. next year...let's hope there will be a *real* card...
