Oh Eight Was Great

I'm stealing this idea from Mama Kat but she won't care. In fact she said I could so I guess that means it's not really stealing. Which is a good thing since I don't do that. God said don't and even though sometimes I don't get it when God says don't, I do get it about this so I don't. Make sense?

There's no particular order to this Top Ten list and I could probably expand it to a Top Twenty list but that would take too long to read so here goes:

1) I'll start with the best even though it happened on the last day of the year. Andrew was born! Grandchild number eight made us all even, four girls/four boys. And he's healthy and has all the necessary parts and they all work!

2) I turned 62. Now I know that most people wouldn't think that would make the top ten list but for me it did. Uncle Sam started paying me to stay home and blog. Isn't that too cool?

3) Which brings me to number three - I discovered blogging and made 973 new friends. At least. Maybe more. I lost count. Ok already, so I didn't count but I bet there are at least that many.

4) I quit artificial nails. Yes, after a twenty five year addiction (ok maybe twenty) I stopped cold turkey. They looked terrible for many months and they don't look great now because they're very short and they keep breaking but they're getting better. And that's time I'm not spending at the nail place, and money I'm saving. Good for me.

5) I quit dying my hair. Yes, after a forty year addiction (and this time I'm not kidding) I stopped cold turkey. It was pretty awful because I colored my hair a dark brown and the roots were white but it is now all white. White. Me. How in the world did I get to be old enough to have white hair?

6) I completed the second year of a four year Bible study and started the third year. My husband and I are doing this together and we go once a week for about 34 weeks each year. We sort of loosely follow the school year. My memory isn't what it once was so I don't remember everything we study but I do remember enough to understand the history that's talked about during the sermons on Sundays and you'd be surprised at how much the sermons are enhanced when you can add that to it.

7) I celebrated my 44th wedding anniversary. Glory Be! I don't even feel like I'm 44 years old so how can I be married 44 years?

8) I had a small health problem in the spring that kept me from going on a mission trip I had planned but the health problem was small and I got to go on a different mission trip in late November that I absolutely loved! I loved it so much that I (and my husband) have volunteered to go back for a long-term (two or three month) position. We haven't been chosen yet but maybe we will in '09. :)

9) I learned some new things in quilting, some new things on the computer, some new things in church, and some new things about myself. Learning new things means I'm continuing to grow and become a better person. Oh and that stuff about myself - I learned that I'm not any more graceful at 62 than I was at 32 but that it doesn't embarrass me any more because I'm much more ok with myself now; and I learned that people who gossip about me (or you) aren't worth worrying about because spreading gossip is kind of like spreading manure on a garden...the one spreading it ends up smelling bad; and I learned that God has plans for things He wants me to do so no matter what my age I still have things to contribute to others and to the world. And I learned that Jesus knows me - this I love.

10) For the second year in a row I got to have five of my high school girlfriends spend the weekend with me. This year we will be attending our 45th high school reunion so for six of us to still be around, still know where the others are, still love each other and still want to spend time together is a miracle! Old friends have a special place in my heart.

Anybody out there want to join me in celebrating '08? Make your own Top Ten List and let me know!