Joyfully Yours: 2005

It's the last day of 2005. It's cliche, but I thought I'd recap this past year ...

January is a blur ... I was just 3 months at my job, and still getting to know everyone.
February ... Laurie calls after more than 4 months of not returning my phone calls. Not surprisingly, she asks me to plan her bridal shower, as Shannon, the maid-of-honor, is also not surprisingly, failing in her maid-of-honor duties.
March ... I plan a beautiful bridal shower with 54 guests, handmade the invitations, favors (personalized labels for Hershey's nuggets, white-chocolate covered oreos), the centerpieces (miniature bridal gowns on 12" silver dressmaker models), a towel wedding cake, and a few more things. The shower was a success, and Laurie got a ton of gifts.
April ... I plan a fun bachelorette party, but only 4 people RSVP yes (a sign of times to come?) I get roped into being the Designated Driver, which is not a problem because I don't drink, but try driving a rented Ford Explorer with 22 people in it (the other 16 people are with the Bachelor party). To my extreme embarrassment, we meet the guys at Silk, a Gentlemen's Club, with a basement for the ladies. I spent most of the evening sitting in the Explorer, asking God to forgive me. It was impossible to reconcile my beliefs with what was happening at the party.
May ... the wedding is finally here, and while I had a good time, I was happy it was over. I knew Laurie and I had come to a parting of ways, but I had to stick true to my faith and beliefs.
June ... my son's 9th birthday! I also move from my 3-bedroom apartment into a 2-bedroom upper flat in order to save money.
July ... my 31st birthday!
August ... we belatedly celebrate my son's 9th birthday at a Milwaukee Brewers baseball game. We have awesome tickets 3 rows behind home plate, my son gets a Birthday greeting on the scoreboard between the 3rd and 4th innings, and he scores an autograph at the end of the game. A week later finds us at the 2005 Green Bay Packers Family Night! We have awesome tickets, and my son brings a friend with him for an exciting night! I also get tickets to a pre-season game from my friends Kelly and Mary, and have fun at the game with my friend Elizabeth. I also move from the upper to the lower unit of the same flat. So much for saving money!
September ... the start of a new school year. Coach Paul takes my son to our town's high school football game - the opposing team is from Coach Paul's school. We also go to the Homecoming game, and experience our first small town gathering.
October ... my mom comes to visit and tells me she's going to buy me a house! Halloween was a blast, the kids and I went trick-or-treating with Julie, James, Jamie, Sharon and Ethan. Coach Paul came to take my son for a 2nd round of trick-or-treating. It could be so easy to fall for Coach Paul!
November ... mom's still here. We put an offer on a house, have it accepted, then have to withdraw it after bad findings in the home inspection. Then, while having my hair done at the mall one Saturday afternoon, my mom picks up a For Sale By Owner booklet, and finds a house nearby that sparks her interest. We call the owner, who's home, and in 15 minutes, we're touring the house. 15 minutes later, we make an offer. He calls his wife, and they accept!
December ... my daughter's 5th birthday! We invite her entire preschool class to her party and they all show up. We close on our house on the 9th, and move in on the 17th. We discover tons of ~~junk~~ stuff left behind by the seller, and a plethora of other things that were not disclosed in the condition report. But we make the house our own, and celebrate Christmas in our very own home!

So that's the year in a nutshell. I'm fortunate to not have missed any 2005 resolutions, because I didn't make any. Ha! I do have a few goals for 2006, which you can over there to the right ...

Many wishes to you and yours for a healthy, prosperous, and blessed 2006!