The End of the Decade

I hope everybody enjoyed their holiday,whether you celebrated Christmas,Hannukah,or Kwanza. We had a great Christmas,with good cheer and spirit.

Our living room is finished,and it looks beautiful. My sister and mother were full of compliments,and also loved our Christmas tree. My sister told me I should take a picture and submit it to Better Homes and Gardens! She loved the simplicity of it.

Right now we are waiting to hear back from Walter Reed regarding Rick's med board. The military deemed his PTSD,Cogentive Disorder ( combo of PTSD,TBI),knees,and the nerve in his right leg as preventing him from doing what he used to do in the military. Fort Drum emailed us the final Narrative Summary and we read it,and agreed with what they said,so Rick signed it and sent it back to Fort Drum. They have sent it Walter Reed Hospital,and it will get reviewed by doctors there who will make the determination of how much of a percentage Rick will get for disability. So the end is finally in sight.It's a bit unsettling,to have waited so long and gone through what we had to go through,to know have it come down to a matter of weeks and in the hands of a few doctors. Very strange feeling.

Now that Christmas is over,I am finally stress free.I am looking forward to this coming decade.This last one has not been a great one for us,and I will be very glad to see it end. However, I am very optimistic for the next one,excited in fact. I am going to make myself a binder,in which I will keep track of thoughts,plans,etc. My "Manifesto,"for lack of a better term. I will have in the front what I wish to accomplish for this upcoming year ( Rick too) regarding our health,home,garden,homesteading,organization,and things we would like to do for fun. Like I told My Dear Friend Michelle,this coming year is a clean slate,and it is up to me what to write upon it! What we both would like to do is lose some weight. I need to get healthy again,and stop eating my frustrations and sadness. That is probably my main goal for the year.I also need to come to terms with the changes in Rick and not feel bad about "what was" and finally accept and work with "what is." You would think going on 5 years since he was wounded that I would have everything all worked out,but I don't. It still hurts me to see him this way,and I still get angry and sometime resentful. Not nice,but true. This year I am going to iron these things out. That is not to say I won't have my down days,because we all do,but I will not spend so much time dwelling on what our life used to be,because that life no longer exists.However,that is not to say that this life can't be just as good.....it will just be different. That's all.

So...good bye to this past decade,and good riddance!!!! Onward and upward to 2010 and the beginning of a good year. I can feel it and am ready for it!!!!