Giant snow balls,muffin tops,COURAGE??

I have been missing in action in blog land since just before we moved. Life was being lived. In an effort to have some record of what's been happening, if for no one but myself, I am going to quickly recap the last two months.

The move from Georgia, to Florida, was uneventful other than the extra two days that it took! Everything arrived in one piece save a pottery bowl, and a few glasses. The unpacking and settling in took longer than I ever imagined.....and that is when the Holidays took over my life like a giant rolling snowball, and I could not stop its rhythm long enough to hang a picture or organise a drawer.

November marked my 47th year.....it's just a number ladies. It can not define me any more than my growing muffin top, or the ever deepening wrinkles on my brow. Lets just agree though that growing old is pretty much yucky.....I don't care what they tell you, don't believe them, it's yucky. Going to the cheesecake factory to "celebrate" with my family was pretty much heaven though, we had a wonderful time over indulging, and said muffin top came in handy to pad me as they rolled me back out to my car afterwords.

Thanksgiving wasn't long after that, and again we over indulged. This time at the home of my sweet niece Ellie Mae (Ellen) and her hubby, and two precious boys. It was fun to reconnect with my family and see all the growing babies. I took nary a photo as I forgot my camera. I was disappointed, but took the opportunity to just be in the moment for a change, instead of documenting it as usual. There was more food than you would need to feed an army, and I ate more than my share! We then had the privilege of caring for two year old Clairebell for the weekend.

One week later we sent Kartwright back to school, and delivered the girls to Hilton Head for an extended play date with their grandparents and flew off to Cancun Mexico to celebrate 25 years of wedded bliss and jump start our next 25 with a bang! The sun was warm, the water was aqua, the sand was white, and the company was my FAVORITE! Again, the food was plentiful, and we partook, plentifully! The Mexican waiters liked to call it a booofet (buffet), always made me smile, and at our favorite restaurant, each night was a different theme. Our goal was relaxation, and Cancun did not disappoint!

We returned to the bustle of Christmas in the states, and it was palpable when we landed in the Miami airport. We had two weeks to get ready for the big day, so the pressure was on. Internet shopping was my new go to plan. So, the girls were retrieved, the college boy returned, my parents joined the fun, and son number one and his beautiful family were able to come for Christmas dinner! Somehow most of the pictures were hung, and errant boxes were banished to the garage and everything came together. Jesus was worshipped, His Birthday was aptly celebrated, and once again.....food, lots of it.

And, now we come to New Years. I LOVE new beginnings, fresh starts, clean slates, try agains.

So, see ya 2011, you were great! We learned a lot, and with each disappointment came a surprise right around the corner. We said good bye to our third son, not forever, but he is grown now, and the hormonal scales  have tipped quite sharply toward estrogen. Our house of boys has become feminised, and Michael stands alone as protector....aka spider killer. We welcomed a new sweet bundle of boyness with the arrival of Grandbaby Ryder in August, and all of us relocated further south, have new work, and fresh beginnings. My one word for the year 'Kind' was used often, and practised even more, but stands still very far from perfected. It will be an on going resolution for our home, and added to the list of one words.

I have been ruminating on my one word for 2012. My problem comes not in thinking of a possibility, but of narrowing down many, to just one, and the narrowing has come to this.

COURAGE

 I have heard much talk about the lack of need for resolutions this season....not needed? Perhaps not, but I think they can prove useful. Resolutions can be a starting point, a rendezvous of ideas that join and help make things happen. Just a tiny jump start to the beginning of something big. Big ideas have to start somewhere, and they also require a measure of courage.

It is a word just for me, very personal, and yet many may be brushed by it's afterglow I suppose. I need it, I must practise it, pray for it, encourage it, nurture it, and possess it, and maybe just maybe my little word can be the start of something big as well!

Have you picked a word yet??