That's a Wrap!

As the old year comes to a close, we always have high hopes for the year ahead. I don't know how much cause there is for optimism in 2010; there are a lot of unresolved issues facing all of us. Yet, at least as far as my little family is concerned, I think we have reason to hope that 2010 will be a better year than 2009.

This past year was a tough one for us. We barely managed to make the transition from our old house to our new house, and the new one is still under construction. I spent the last three quarters of the year trying to make up for the prior three quarters of unemployment.

I'm not saying that it's all going to suddenly be easy for us, but we're turning a corner. The house needs a lot of work, but we're in it and it's a workable living space, and so now anything we do will just make it better. Our overhead is lower (the heating bill is lower--even using electric heat!--and we have no mortgage payments), so we can begin to catch up with old bills and put some money aside. Thomas is back at work, not full time yet but working on it.

And I think we're ready to make some changes. We don't feel as much under the gun as we did in 2009, and so we can realistically begin to explore other options.

On the less-expansive front, we have some specific fun plans for 2010. I'm in a play at the Village Players this Spring, and planning to audition for every show they're doing in the coming year. We have plans to come back out to California at the end of the summer (I know, the hottest part of the year, but we have our reasons). And although some of the work on the house is going to be challenging, even annoying, we are looking forward to being able to finish and decorate the house as suits us, instead of with an eye toward selling it, something we had to take into account for nearly five years at the old house.

Of course, it will all be chronicled here at TheBrooksBunch.com. I hope your new year looks as promising.