New Year, New Outlook

I was going to make this post a nice recap of 2009, however, if you read my blog you already know the recap. 2009 was the year of the good, the bad and the ugly for me. On a personal level, it kind of sucked. On a professional level, it was less than eventful. And on a biker level, it was mostly good. I got to meet some great people from the blogs in 2009, which was a lot of fun. Yuma, Williams, Too-Broke; all fun times. April was a shitty month, but I'm not going to dwell on it.

After my mother passed, my sisters and I had her 3-diamond ring split up and each of us took a diamond. Yesterday, I brought my diamond to a jeweler and picked out a beautiful setting. In about two weeks, I will have the ring. To me, this ring is a symbol of my mother's life. She was a bit like a diamond in my mind. She was beautiful, yet very tough when she had to be. She supported my goals, even if she didn't always agree with them.

So, instead of dwelling on the pain of losing her, in this fine new year, I will strive to reach those goals. I will set new goals for myself, and meet or exceed them. 2010 will be a year of successes for me. I will have personal and professional success. I can feel it.

Last night, we went to the store, and as we came out, the moon was on the horizon. It was HUGE. I couldn't get a picture of it, but luckily, the folks at the Arizona Republic got a picture of the previous full moon, and it looks the same.

The full moon got me to thinking about all the possibilities in 2010. I will have my gallbladder removed in the first quarter, Big D will have neck surgery in the first quarter, we think. These are two positives, not negatives. Once these take place, we'll be on the road to recovery and feeling better. Sometime this year, our son Rex, who is stationed in Japan will be coming back stateside with his wife, my grandson and our as yet unborn granddaughter. We don't know where they will be yet, but it doesn't matter, as almost anywhere is closer than Japan! We will finally get to meet our grandson Chris, at age 2. I can't wait! Our other son, Eric, who is stationed in England was originally scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan this March. He called us last week and said his orders were just changed, and instead of Afghanistan, he is going to the Canary Islands! This is wonderful news!! Our daughter Samantha, who is stationed in Virginia is doing just fine. Her son Jayden is growing up to be a big boy. He'll be two in April, and I couldn't be prouder. We will see them sometime this year. Vicki will be 12 this year; yes, it's a downside. 12-year-old girls somehow turn into rabid badger-type creatures, and I'm not looking forward to it. But I'm confident we will get her through the year and into the 7th grade in the fall with little issue.

We have some trips coming up this year, two that we're sure of, and one that is pending. The pending trip is our vacation to a tropical locale. It will happen, but a house must be purchased first. That will also happen this year. Hopefully by June. I'm thinking Thanksgiving in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Yeah, sounds like a plan. Sturgis won't happen this year, but Too-Broke is definitely on. It is tentatively scheduled for 7/23-25, and I can't wait. The other trip is a trip to St. Louis in a few weeks for the Annual BACA National meeting. Definitely looking forward to that!

As you can see, 2010 will be a busy year for us, and I haven't even mentioned BACA (except for the trip) or school, yet. I won't get into it now, but our chapter will have an extremely busy and great 2010. I will continue with school, because it is one of my goals. I will continue to blog, and I'm toying with the idea of starting a photo blog, too. As soon as it's created, I will put a link up for you. Not exactly sure how I'm going to go about it yet, but I'd like to get it running soon.

So, to the bloggers I have met, and to those I have yet to meet, Happy New Year. I hope 2010 finds you all healthy, happy and not as busy as I seem to be. :)

Ride safe!