Dear 2010,
Thanks, it’s been fun. I really loved spending the better part of the year at home with my new baby. It’s been great having more time for family and getting to take part in more extra-curricular activities.
Tom and I have enjoyed being parents together, and I think we are doing a good job. This year marked a nice point where our family has really become comfortable together; our kids are true siblings now (you know that love/hate relationship?).
There have been a few changes this year too. Tom has a new job working in town... no commute! He’s enjoying the work and the challenges it brings. Did I mention no commute? Yeah, I’m going to be jealous once I head back to the working world.
We both got new cars, well actually, I got a new minivan... so 2010 is the year I became OLD. I’m okay with it though.
There has been some great news this year, babies born, friends married, milestone birthdays celebrated and there has been some sad news, sickness, job losses and death. I guess the same can be said for every year.
So, I guess this is good-bye. I’m glad we got to know one another, but I look forward to meeting 2011.
This year, I’m going against my beliefs, and I am going to make a resolution. I’m resolving to lose weight and to be healthier.
I have never once actually stuck to a resolution, so I am hoping that 2011 is a year of change.
So, welcome 2011. I have high hopes for you.
Regards,
Maureen
Thank-you to all of my readers and may 2011 bring you happiness and good health.
A while ago, Sharon wrote this blog about the Be Kind Revolution, which inspired me to write this blog about being kind and giving back. I want to come clean, I only finished 7 of the 12 things I set out to do, but that is not why I’m writing this blog.
No, this blog is about being awkward... while trying to be kind.
You see, I got all caught up in this being kind thing and every time I left the house, I tried to do something kind. So, one day, as I was going through the Tim Horton’s drive thru, I thought it would be kind to pay for the person behind me.
I didn’t look to see who was behind me, I didn’t ask what they had ordered, I just said I would pay for their order. It was a whopping $1.67, but that wasn’t what it was about, it was about giving someone (a total stranger) something to smile about.
So, I payed, and I pulled forward thinking I would just drive away and they would have no idea who had bought their coffee. Nope, I pulled forward and somehow got stuck in a bizarre parking lot traffic jam. Then, the truck behind me pulled up.
I couldn’t help myself, I looked in the mirror to see whose coffee I had bought. It was a young guy in a pick up truck. I suppose he was looking to see who bought his coffee because that was when our eyes met, and I smiled... and that was when things got REALLY awkward. That moment was also the moment that I realized that the young man in the truck behind me had taken my Be Kind gesture as more of an older lady buying a younger man a drink gesture, and I know the two words that were running through his head at that moment and they were: Cou-Grrrrrrrrr.
The cars in front of me where not moving and it was getting more and more difficult to avoid looking in the mirror and I thought I might just die right there in my minivan, and then there was a small opening in the traffic and I squeezed my minivan into a spot the size of a mini cooper and got the heck out of there.
So be kind... not awkward.
I’ve been talking to the kids a lot about people who are less fortunate than us, and helping those who can’t help themselves. Sometimes though, as a mother, I wonder if the things I say are actually being received on the other end. Well, this Christmas that question was answered.
Christmas morning, as we were opening our stockings, Eleanor said “I bet those families who we donated to are really happy to have food and presents this morning.”
Then, later that afternoon, as I was driving Rebecca to her dad’s, she asked me to turn down the music. I thought it was too loud, so I turned it down and asked if that was better.
“No” she said “I need to tell you something.” I turned off the music and listened.
“If I didn’t have a mommy like you, I would want a mommy like you” She told me “You are the most important person to me.”
You have no idea how much those words meant to me... or maybe you do?
It doesn’t end there though.
Same car ride, only a few minutes later, I asked Rebecca what she thought her dad would get her for Christmas. Her answer blew me away.
“Probably something I really want, but Christmas is not only about about presents, it’s about spending time with your family.”
There really are Christmas Miracles.
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