As I glanced over to the very last page of my Mary Engelbreit calendar on the kitchen wall while I was washing dishes, I thought to myself: “ Self”. “Next year will be different.”

This one’s been okay…I’ve learned a lot about life and love and keepin’ the faith. It’s been a valley year, that’s for sure and we all have ‘em. I love to reflect ( in man-speak that’s “you think too much” ) and 2004 has been a joy and a pain all at once like most of the rest of life.

My friends Jen and Deb are aiming for new jobs with more challenge whilst my Babygirl aims for any job that pays. Renee and AJ both got divorced and I rode that roller-coaster with them. We held onto each other as if we were Titanic survivors, and in many ways we were. Every human who’s treading uncharted territory needs a friend to throw out the lifeline when they’re sinking so she can finish her business no matter what that is.

My baby brother moved far away from the family and made me ponder the same. My middle brother made a huge business investment in his “plan ahead” style of beatin’ the rat race and getting the hell outta his role as company man.

Friends have died and had life changing events.. Big John had ?-tuple by-pass surgery and lived to tell it. George is in surgery as I blog clinging to life and, no doubt, rearranging his priorities in a morphine haze. Karla became a motherless child and a grandmother all in the same month. Thankfully, I became neither this time around. Lacey has a brand new baby girl and Charlie is about to pop wide open!

I remember back to New Year’s Eve of 1999 and Y2K. Those of us with enough years on us to be wise were concerned enough to exercise caution as the Millenium approached, and not just by havin’ our Y2K-ready stickers on the PCs. The hysteria was so huge that I wouldn’t allow my then 15 yr old to be out roaming around like “everybody else”. Around 4am the next morning, her friend’s mom called me to tell me that there had been a wreck and thank God she hadn’t been in that car for she would’ve been a goner. Instead, she was safely pissed off at Mom at another friend’s house. Sometimes you just have to listen to your gut and endure the discomfort of the moment.

Good male company and great times found me when I least expected it and gave me reason to smile real big. I learned to laugh again, and to hope. I began to feel alive and to reach for more than I thought I could ever hope for. In short, I found that keeping the faith is the only way to live because tomorrow’s another day…….next month is another month….next year is another year……next decade is another decade…..and next millennium…..well. You know. There’s a rule about that stuff. It’s the ten year rule.

That’s a whole ‘nother story. ^j^