2010 Has Left The Station, Arriving On Track 1: 2011

2010 has gone and with it comes a lovely, mild weathered 1st day of 2011-a new year, a new decade and a doorway to a great many things.

2010 was a year many were happy to see dissapate as the ball dropped and the seconds were counted down. We could go over the bullet points of what went wrong this year-however I would like to elect instead to point out the good parts of the year:

• My daughter hit the Honor Roll with an average of 3.8 per semester
• I was fortunate enough to have Pet Insurance so instead of my kitty Holly Sox dying in February from an intestine tunneling in on her, she survived the operation, got the proper care and has thrived-she also reminds me daily how grateful she is Mark and I cared enough to save her life
• I realized how my cat Monster has near human qualities by his reaction to his beloved Holly coming home0-instead of hissing and freaking out, he tended to her in a doting way
• My daughter also got a chance to play with Mark Wood and the Transsiberian Orchestra live on February 6th
• On February 10th I got engaged to the man who made me believe in love again
• My son has started to open up to his therapist, face his past demons, face his issues with his father and start the healing process for all the hurt from our past
• Gabby has made good, solid friends and cultivates her friendships well
• I attended the Star Wars Celebration V with my children and Rory's BFF-Kyrsten and despite being trapped in an airport overnight on the trip there-it went pretty smooth and my son and I were both filmed for a documentary
• My older two were returned to me full time, and have begun school in Norwalk (that started in September)
• I discovered that the hardships I experienced in the past, had a purpose-which lessened their pain
• I began the process to get retribution for Eric
• I realized how strong the relationship I have with my children is
• despite only being given 6 months to live after being diagnosed with Cancer, my future Father-In-Law, Lou, is still here and I have had the distinct pleasure of really getting to know him well
• I lost my job, but in the process, I regained my life
• my son overcame his asthma and no longer needs his medication for it
• 2010 had a ton of negative moments, but rather than focus on them, I am choosing to focus instead on the positives. This makes sense as all negative can do is weigh one down. I am sure I missed some moments above, as there were that many-but that is the beauty of it-obviously if there were too many moments to remember-maybe 2010 wasn't so awful after all.
  
  Now we move to 2011
• Eric's memory will be untarnished
• the kids will move past the bad and have a life again
• we will welcome a nephew in March/April
• I will be married again-having an actual wedding this time and I know I will have the opportunity to grow old with Mark
• In marrying Mark I will get 3 brothers-never actually having brothers aside from my honorary one (Mike D.) this will be awesome!
• I will get a new job and this one may open the door to some great chances
  

More to come as it unfolds. Life is beautiful, so let's move forward and enjoy it.