New Year's Gratitude

Well, those "few days" went by a lot faster than I had counted on, and I never got that Christmas entry posted. C'est la vie, I guess. Somehow, I seemed busier over winter break than I had been during the semester. Considering we replaced a toilet, painted the upstairs and downstairs hallways and stairwells, decorated and undecorated for Christmas, and dealt with the onslaught of toys from Santa, I refuse to be too hard on myself for neglecting my blog for a few weeks.

But I'm back, and I have a million topics I would love to address in thorough, analytical detail. Unfortunately, I refuse to begin my 2009 entries with negative discussions, and since just about all the news these days is depressing and demoralizing (with the notable exception of Barrack Obama's impending inauguration), it will all have to wait until after I get some positive comments posted.

We are now just over two weeks into 2009, and so far I'm doing pretty good with my resolutions. Home improvement projects (both planned and unplanned) are getting done at an acceptable pace; I've made some steady progress replacing unhealthy food selections with choices that offer more nutritional value; and I just finished the most comprehensive and ambitious household budget I have ever designed. Now the hard part with staying within its confines! As a set of priorities, it might not win any awards, but these are the areas where I see room for the most improvement in my life right now.

More importantly than just fulfilling its traditional role, my resolutions list reminds me to be grateful for the items I didn't have include. I'm fortunate enough to spend most of my days in the company of my husband and son and weekends with my parents and sisters, so I didn't need to resolve to spend more time with family. I love my job, am fulfilled by it, am adequately (though not generously) compensated, and have no need to seek better employment in 2009. I have no need to move into a newer/bigger/better house in a newer/bigger/better neighborhood (though I'm always on the lookout for old homes near Mill Creek Park!). I feel that I am at least somewhat contributing to the betterment of society via the subjects I address in each of my classes. And I take time for me in the evenings and am lucky enough to have willing babysitters so Andy and I can go on the occasional date or even just play some racquetball at the rec center.

My resolutions for 2009 serve as reminders that in this economy with a 7 percent unemployment rate, negligible and risky financial security, foreclosures abounding, and more bad news cropping up by the day, I am fortunate. So many people are beginning this year without jobs they've held for decades, without retirement funds they'd worked their whole lives for, and without the houses they had made into homes. While I recognize there are areas of my life that require (perhaps significant) improvement, I can take much more comfort than others in the fact that my foundation is strong. My deepest hope is that a year from now, I can say the same.