2007 - The Year in Review

Happy New Year to everyone from those of us here at Thirteen Thoughts (ok - it's just me but Happy New Year anyway). I can honestly say that I've never, ever been happier to have a year come to an end than I was on Monday. 2007 was a very eventful year for me & my family and, unfortunately, one of my worst years on record. Here are some of the year's lowlights and highlights:

The Bad

• Finding out that my dad has cancer - a shock to the whole family and something that we really grieved over for the first few months of the year and are still coming to grips with
• The death of Britney's grandmother - really important figure in her life and, even though she was 98, we were all very sad to see her pass
• Multiple house problems - a flooded dining room, multiple appliances that died and had to be replaced, and water-damaged/warped hardwoods that had to be torn out and replaced
• Drought - in addition to the obvious water shortage issues brought on by the drought, it has also completely killed our yard. We inherited the worst yard in our neighborhood when we bought the house and after 2+ years of work and more than $3K spent to get it repaired and looking good, we're now back to where we started.
• Illnesses - this Christmas will go down as the Christmas from hell as everyone in the family got a taste of the stomach flu. Christmas dinner cancelled, entire families in quarantine - you get the picture.

So, as you can see, this year has been trying to say the least. In looking back, however, there was plenty to be happy about in '07 as well.

The Good

• The birth of a healthy baby girl - January saw the arrival of a beautiful, healthy baby girl and we could not be happier and more thankful. Bailey is smart, sweet, healthy - all the things you hope and pray for when you find out you're expecting. Easily the highlight of the year for our family and one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
• Job successes - I got a promotion in September and was recognized for 2.5 years of hard work and achievement.
• Improved outlook for Dad - when my dad was first diagnosed, the initial prognosis was really poor. After several months of tests and treatment, the outlook has improved quite a bit and we are all thankful and hopeful that there is more improvement ahead.
• More time with family - the events of the year (births & deaths) allowed us to spend more time with our extended families and we are thankful for those times together.
• Near misses - sometimes the best things to happen to you are the things that you narrowly avoid - my niece & nephew walking away from a serious car accident, being at home when our dining room started flooding, Bailey coming around quickly after initially having some serious breathing problems when she was born, etc.

So...there it is - another year come and gone. 2008 will certainly hold new challenges and, hopefully, new successes and reasons to celebrate. Here's hoping that this year is better than last - but if it's not, at least we know that we can withstand quite a bit and still come out OK.

Happy New Year!