Merry Christmas

For the family that has been, the family that is, and the family that will be;
For the friends that are, and for the friends that I have yet to meet;
For those that teach me how to act, and those who teach me how not to act;
For all the blessings I have experienced, and all the strife that has made me strong,

I thank God.

Merry Christmas.

And in Memorium:

Grandpa Martin- for whom I will miss playing Christmas music.

And Grandma Kay- whose voice I could hear clearly in the silent room saying "hot mama- are you going to get a guy at church?" as I put on the knee high black leather boots that perfectly matched my red knit Christmas dress.

It's been a year of adventure in ramblingspeech's life, but also a year of loss. Here's to hoping 2008 holds a great deal more joy than sorrow.

New Year's resolutions may include: figure out what type of speech therapist I want to be when I 'grow up' (ie, stop traveling), visit Alaska, learn how to speak Spanish, take a personal finance class to explore what to do to prepare for house and child (speech therapist I am currently working with chose to have a child by herself- I'm looking into fostering at 35 years and I have a feeling I need to start financially preparing right now), work in California and watch a sunset over the Pacific ocean, work in a nursing home just to see what all the anti-SNIF rhetoric is about, and become a better friend.

Stay tuned on how all that goes.