The last day of 2008 is here.  And I, for one, am looking forward to moving on out of this year.  Although it has not been the worst year, it has definitely been one of them.

Here at home, things have been pretty good.  J has grown from my little boy into a little man.  He started swimming this year and played soccer and has met new friends.  And Apple, well, she reaches new heights every single day.  She started to walk and is talking a little now, incredible what a year can bring.

The loss of our beloved Cosmo this year, really struck home.  Poor Mickey isn’t the same and still sits by the front window waiting for him to come home.  I went to see Marley and Me with my Sisters and was thrilled to know that they chose Jennifer Aniston to play me in the movie.  Yes, I know I didn’t write the book, but I could have.  Our life with Cosmo right down to the end was so similar that I left the theatre in buckets full of tears.  I didn’t really know that was how the movie was going, but it sure brought back a lot of memories.

It is what has occurred outside our home that has left me feeling blue.  Two of my girlfriends found out they had Breast Cancer.  Both are doing well, but have gone through something I hope to never, ever experience.  My beloved Uncle passed away, leaving us all with many questions and a greater appreciation of the Man he truly was.  One of my girlfriends lost her birth father.  One of Hubby’s best friends seven year relationship broke up in what seemed like overnight.  And I know there is more, sick in-laws for friends and sick family members.  This year just seemed terrible for that.  At one point this past summer, I wasn’t blogging or checking blogs or email often because I was afraid to hear or see what was coming next.  Now that this is past us it is time to move forward.

Moving forward does have one glitch though.  My own Father is having a little heart trouble.  He seems to be doing well right now, but we don’t know yet what the New Year will have in store for him.  He is 71 years young and up until a few weeks ago has been working steady and not a sit in your office typing on the computer type of work. But, physical labour that a house painter does.  He loves his work, he loves seeing the transformation of old paint to new paint.  It has been his life’s work to freshen up a home.   But, the Doctor told him yesterday, he has to stop.  At least until they know exactly why his heart is misfiring or fluttering or whatever exactly it is doing.  It may mean some sort of pacemaker or just a change in diet with a few meds.  At this point though, it looks like he will be able to fully recover.  If only we can keep him from working.

So it is with this image of my favorite beach in the wee hours of the morning, that I reflect back on the year.  Some good, some bad and some in between.  I pray that 2009 is a year of laughter, joy, prosperity and very little of the sadness we have endured from 2008.

I wish you all a wonderful New Year.

This year the Christmas cookies didn’t all get finished. Both in their decorating (I missed icing on one) and from the tins. Once again, I made cookies for Hubby’s staff at work. And well, this may be the last year for that.

Hubby has 46 employees, at his previous job he had 11. Every Christmas for ten years Hubby would buy boxes of Chocolate for the staff, write them all a card and everyone appreciated it. At least, if they didn’t they never said a word. Which of course it what you would expect when your boss does a little something for you.

The first year at his current job, we pulled together boxes of cookies mostly in one night, when we realized the boxes were huge and would hold way more cookies than we had on hand. While Hubby ran to the store for chocolates and stuff, I baked and baked and baked. By midnight they were ready and the staff was shocked. You see, they had never received anything for Christmas before, so it was a surprise. Last year, we were better prepared and the boxes came together rather quickly with little fuss. I even got a call from one of the staff who wanted to say thanks.

This year. We had to get new boxes, and they were a little smaller. They got the same amount of cookies, just not as much filler. Hubby has had a bit of trouble with some staff lately, nothing big, just small stuff, but stuff that made him wonder if he should give out the boxes. But, since I had a freezer full of cookies and had then baked them all off, I kinda wanted to sway him just a little, if for nothing else my waistline didn’t need a thousand cookies hanging around. He decided to go with it. So we packed them up and away they went. He received a couple of thank you’s and a few, ‘Wow, we didn’t think you would do this this year, with all the stuff going on’ but he also received a few not so nice comments. Stuff that only kids in high school would say. Stuff that any grown person would be embarased by if they actually stopped and listened to themselves. So after all that, we aren’t so sure if we will do it next year. And truthfully, it would be no sweat off my back to not have to make an extra thousand cookies at the busiest time of year. We will just have to wait and see, if the girls and boys play nice in the sandbox this year. If not, that will be the end of the cookie box tradition.

*note: none of the brown sugar fudge made it to the boxes (yes, totally my fault) and there were other cookies, I just can’t find the photos of the rest…