2008 - What a Year

I have been meaning to post this for a while, but life got in the way.

2008 was a really hard year for us but we made it through.

Even though it was tough, there are many things to be grateful for:

• I read 47 books:

Dream When You're Feeling Blue by Elizabeth Berg
The Devil Came on Horseback: Bearing Witness to the Genocide in Darfur by Brian Steidle and Gretchen Wallace Steidle
Begonia for Miss Applebaum by Paul Zindel
Life Estates by Shelby Hearon
Baby Proof by Emily Giffin
Something Blue by Emily Giffin
Night by Elie Wiesel
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Something Borrowed by Emily Giffin
Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler
Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer
Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
New Moon by Stephenie Meyer
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
Rules by Cynthia Lord
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski
Just Do It: How One Couple Turned Off the TV and Turned On Their Sex Lives for 101 Days (No Excuses) by Douglas Brown
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace...One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer
Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's by John Elder Robison
The Mosquito Coast by Paul Theroux
In Her Shoes by Jennifer Weiner
Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison
Daniel Isn't Talking by Marti Leimbach
Icy Sparks by Gwyn Hyman Rubio
Sellevision by Augusten Burroughs
Promise Not To Tell by Jennifer McMahon
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Neffenegger
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Sam's Letters to Jennifer by James Patterson
PS, I Love You by Cecelia Ahern
Running with Scissors: A Memoir by Augusten Burroughs
H by Elizabeth Shepard
The Wedding by Nicholas Sparks
The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta
Love In Another Town by Barbara Taylor Bradford
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini
I refuse to release the name of this book publicly...it really was that bad!
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Plum Wine by Angela Davis-Gardner
Good Grief by Lolly Winston

There were many good and a few not so good. Some of my favorites from this year include The Twilight Series (of course), The Kite Runner, A Thousand Splendid Suns, Three Cups of Tea, The Devil Came on Horseback and Daniel Isn't Talking. You can click on any of the titles above and see their descriptions at Amazon.com.

• We had an amazing trip to camp.


• We got to spend a day with Nicki, Rich and Xander.


• I got to fulfill a childhood dream of seeing NKOTB in concert with some wonderful people!


• The boys had a wonderful school play and Z even had a speaking roll.
  

• We had no major medical emergencies (aside from A's seizure in February that required a trip to the ER).
• I am not pregnant and was not pregnant through the entire year of 2008!
• My father's wife Sue (Nana Sue) overcame breast cancer.
• I hiked with an amazing team to raise money for breast cancer research and awareness. Our team was able to raise nearly $700.
• I became part of an amazing group of women who started Embracing Autism. We hosted our first annual autism awareness day.
• I am going to become an aunt (again) to a beautiful baby girl.
• Alex and Andrea got married with her father present at the ceremony (we are looking forward to another ceremony in June that we will be able to be present at).
• Z turned 8 and entered the 3rd grade - this will be his last year at the "little" elementary school.
• A turned 6 and is enjoying his second year in kindergarten.
• Kirby and I went through a separation, and while that wasn't fun, we were able to realize how much we love each other, our boys and commit to working on our relationship again.
• I was able to spend a few nights with some great friends that I don't get to see too often.
• I was able to take a role in the primary race for president. And I am now able to say that I shook hands with the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES and that I am a small part of the reason he was elected!
• The boys were able to meet their niece and both she and Allyson continue to do well.
• We had some wonderful family time fishing, hiking, playing, etc.
• We had a great trip to The Franklin Park Zoo.
• The NHPTV Auction had another great year and I had a great time volunteering.
• We got to spend some wonderful times with James and Nicole and their family.
• Nicole gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Jennie right before Thanksgiving.
• We spent a day in Boston exploring.
• We went to a Fisher Cats game with the family.
• Z became a Cub Scout.
• My business made it through another year - even though the economy really stank up the place!

I know there are a million more things...check out my Thursday's Thankful Thirteen postings from the past year. We have so much to be thankful for.

I am not big on resolutions. I find that they are a great way for me to fail, so I tend not to make them.

There are, however, a few things I would like to accomplish this year:

• Read 52 books
• Hike at least 3 mountains with the boys including Mount Willard.
• Enjoy a full week at camp.
• Take a trip on the Conway Scenic Railroad.
• Go to the ocean at least once.
• Get to Vermont!!
• Take the boys to The Basin.

I hope you all had a wonderful 2008 and that you are able to have an even better 2009!