Holidays over - New Year Begun

It is a new year and as always, there is much to be accomplished. I am not one for making New Year resolutions, but I do subscribe to To-Do-Lists and goals that help keep me on track. My list for 2009 includes such goals as: remodeling my master bath, puting in a gas fireplace so that I no longer need to haul wood, sorting through at least a dozen storage boxes in the basement (one a month is completely reasonable), and pulling the ivy off my walnut tree (it will get out of hand easily and can kill a tree).

Richard is feeling somewhat better today. He ate a bowl of cereal and a banana for breakfast and it is staying down. His blood sugar is a bit low and eating will help. We will see how the day progresses. He has no energy at all right now. It is no wonder after all he has been through the last few days.

All our kids have been or are still away from home for at least part of the holidays. Shelley & Eric are in Portland celebrating their 30th (can you beleive that?) anniversary and will soon be headed for the east coast on a business trip. Dianna & Paul are in Skapoose with friends and are due to head home tomarrow. They spend so little time together (Paul is a long-haul truck driver) so it is nice that they could do this. Shelley and Dianna both live locally. Amy & Juergen just got home from visiting his dad in the north of Germany (they live in central Germany) where Juergen enjoyed a reunion with several old friends from his church youth group. Rick came down here from Washington a couple days after moving into a new house and is again home and back to work. Thank you Lord for their safety.

As I look out over the yard this morning, there are already signs of spring. Buds on trees are swollen, bulbs are pushing through the soil, and the grass is very green. Of course this is Oregon. Winters are normally mild and wet. So why wouldn't the grass be green? Still, it is wonderful to look out and see life and the promise of more to come in the midst of gray skys and the down pour of rain. What a gloreous world we live in.