LESSONS FROM LIFE...PAST

I like what my friend Kat said in her post today...it's the

END OF A SEASON...
END OF A MONTH...
END OF A YEAR...
END OF A DECADE...

and, so it is. How would you characterize your 'days of auld lang syne'? ('times gone by').
Was it good, was it bad? Was it constructive? Destructive? Did it make you proud or make you sad? Would you want to live it again?

I remember the start of this decade with all the talk of Y2K. I didn't buy into all that...much. But, I did stock up on batteries...and fill up several containers of water. Just in case!

We've added 4 new members to our family...Suzanne, Will, Ben (by marriage)...and John Thomas (by birth). We've lost two members, my Mom in 2009...and Don's Mom in 2004. And, how wonderful it is for us to know that they are both residing in their mansions in Heaven!

Tonja and Don, Tara and Will, Lori and Ben, Suzanne and Adam, Alex, Ian all moved into new places to live.

Adam, Will, Ian, Suzanne, Tara, Lori,Ben, and Tommy started new jobs. I retired from 20 years of teaching. Lori and Ian both graduated from college with Masters Degrees.

We learned hard lessons, we eased over bumps in the road, we kept going when we didn't think we could. We fell in love, had babies, and celebrated anniversaries!
We learned life lessons, learned more about the way other people act, and learned more about why we do the things we do. And, we laughed, we wept, we smiled, we sobbed, we wanted to live the moment forever, we wanted to die. But, through it all...we survived.

We took it in, and rolled it around in our brains, put it in its proper place, took what we needed, and let the rest fall away. Yes, we survived...and we grew...and we became older and wiser. We came to know that some of those things we thought were SOOOO important...really aren't. We learned that it really IS the little things that matter...we learned that it really IS the 'moments' we remember, we realized that every day really IS a gift!

Oh, how much wiser we are! And, oh, how much we still need to learn!
Here's to the new month, the new year, the new decade! BRING IT ON !!!!


******************************


FYI....ONCE IN A BLUE MOON

Rare New Year's Eve 'blue moon' to ring in 2010
By The Associated Press
December 30, 2009, 4:00AM
According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. Once in a blue moon there is one on New Year's Eve.

Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't expect it to be blue — the name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial neighbor.

The New Year's Eve blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa.

A full moon occurred on Dec. 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown.

"If you're in Times Square, you'll see the full moon right above you. It's going to be that brilliant."

A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month — a blue moon — occurs every 2.5 years. The last time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year's Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won't come again until 2028.