Happy New Year... REALLY!

Turkey; "Standing on Head, Doing the Splits"

I have a lot to be grateful for this New Years Eve. Even though there is a truck size poop still clogging our toilet & my boy continues to eat jars of peanut butter & whatever else he can get his hands on, he is a marvelous gift; teaching me everyday about patience, compassion, humor & JOY. He just turned 14 & spent his very first nights away from home this past summer at Kiwana's Camp.

At our family Boxing Day celebration a week ago, most commented on how much he has grown & matured this past year. He asked my niece Ellie, "How are you liking college?" I discovered them having a REAL conversation in about this & that & it made my heart soar.

We're also buying a new house through Habitat for Humanity by the grace of volunteers who are willing to help put a roof over the heads. I'm learning, at age 55, how to build a house from the bottom up.

Our boy was in serious trouble this past summer, hospitalized with a sinus infection that almost reached his brain. My dear friend, a writer, just came through chemo which left her fingertips wracked with painful neuropathy as she attempted to type & her life is forever changed. She wore a blond wig over bald head & a slinky gown over missing breast & toasted those at a party for those who helped her through on Solstice Eve.

We're alive. Life is good. Happy New Year! xo