The Tears and Cheers of 2009

This was going to be the year that sucked. I knew last December that I faced a major surgery in 2009. I knew there would be some rehab. I knew I'd have some limitations. It turned out I really had no idea at all what I was in for.

I said goodbye to both of my old cats this Spring, and part of me is still crying. I think having them put down was the hardest thing I've ever done.

But months later, we adopted a couple of tiny scruffy kittens who filled our hearts with new love and gave the whole family something sweet to bond with.

Look how beautiful they are now!

My surgery took place in March, and I was completely laid up. Just getting up to make a sandwich was impossible, and I had to let everyone else run the household while I was stuck on my torture machine for weeks.


But lo and behold, my family rose to the occasion. Thank heavens my husband was willing to cook, even if he did blow up my stove just before Thanksgiving. And when I graduated from crutches to a cane and got redecorating delusions, my twins were right there to do the heavy lifting.

We couldn't take real vacations, since I couldn't walk, but we managed to have a lot of wonderful family time close to home.

I couldn't get to my sewing machine much this year, but I worked around that and ended up getting a lot of creative projects done, including my epic embroidered quilt "Hocuspocusville."

Drama Girl played a man in Fiddler on the Roof and perfected her skills at the bottle dance,

While Jungle Boy took his first professional bows with a ballet company in The Nutcracker.

Obviously we don't typecast around here.

Wasabi Girl continued on her path to becoming a great chef.

And our elf returned to supervise another Christmas season.

So while this has been a challenging, painful year, it has also been a completely wonderful year and I am grateful for my fabulous family and our collective sense of humor. I'm also grateful for every single comment that someone took the time to post on my blog. Your good thoughts and encouragement have meant the world to me.

2010 is going to be even better. Happy New Year to you and yours; I wish for you more literature and less laundry in the months ahead!