I hope everyone brought the New Year in on a positive note; and hope all is well for everyone so far.

As myself, my New Year started off pretty good.  I brought the New Year in praising and thanking the Lord for all he has done for me.  Last year ended on a bad note for me, but this is the year for a change.  With change comes a new me.  It is time for a new me.  The new me is not going to let things that other people do get under my skin.  Too many times in the past I let other people's actions bother me.  I have learned the hard way that I can not explain people's action or the reason why they do the things they do.

The new me is going to have more patience.  Again, because I cannot explain other people's actions, I am going to have more patience with them.  They do not even know why they do what they do; so, I will have more patience in dealing with them instead of trying to slap them into reality.

The new me is going to make more time for myself.  I refuse to let myself get tied down with doing things for other people and make more time for myself.  I must learn how to say no and stop trying to go above and beyond for people who do not appreciate it in the first place.

These are just some of the things that the new me promises to do. I will still have compassion and help other people out, but THERE WILL BE A NEW ME FOR 2010.  This year's motto "New Again in 2010."  I know the new me is going to be a problem for many people but, that is of no concern for me.  The new me has a limit on the amount of attention anyone can get from me.

I am a little disheveled, but I can't let life get me down.

I know one thing for certain and two things for sure, I am so ready for this year to be over.  I think this is the worst end of the year I have had thus far.  It seems like everything just started happening in the past three weeks, one thing after another.  When it rains it pours. Now, I know exactly what that saying means.  I knew before, but I really know now. The devil is really trying to be busy but, I refused to let him win.

With everything that is going on and I am still thankful, blessed to be alive, and in good health.  My family is in good health and I am thankful for that as well.

People and situations always try to seek, kill and destroy.  But my faith is so much stronger than they are and I will not falter in it.  I am going to be thankful even when things are not going good or as I planned. It isn't meant for things to always go according to our plan.  Somethings we just have to go through in order to be strong and move ahead.

I am doing my end of the year rituals like washing all dirty clothes, cleaning the house, cooking Black Eyed Peas, and bringing the New Year in in church.  I am going to go to church praise the Lord and pray for great things in 2010.  It can only get better from here on out.  2010 is definitely the year for positive change.  I just want to let people know that if change means getting rid of some people and things then, it time for change.  We cannot move on if we hold onto our torrid pasts.

Happy New Year everyone and may God continue to bless you.

It must be the time of year - I am feeling very introspective.  Here I am, still looking for a full time job.  I have a wonderful part time job, but there are two things wrong with it: the pay and the hours.  I am working a full day, so that means I miss the Dress for Success Breakfast Club.  I miss the companionship and support I received from the other ladies.  The Professional Women's Group is good too, don't get me wrong, but they only meet once a month and I am new to the group, so I only know one or two who also attend the Breakfast Club.  I wish I had known about Dress for Success years ago; not that I needed the clothes, but I needed the support and mentoring of other women.

When I look back at all the things I did wrong because I didn't know that there was another way... the fact that I was raised just before women's lib came around and I am part of a generation that was taught to downplay my own accomplishments, to defer to the men.  I tell all the young women I come in contact with about taking advantage of opportunities.  At one of the PWG meetings, two women talked about different professions; one was a fire fighter and she told us about a group called NEW (Non-traditional Employment for Women).  I wish I was aware that they existed even twenty years ago. I would have loved a job in construction etc. As I said, I tell all the young woman I know, "There are so many opportunities for young women today, take advantage of them."

When I was groing up, your choice of jobs, if you were a woman, were nurse, teacher, librarian, secretary, or sales clerk.  Women's lib happened while I was in high school and all of a sudden we were supposed to pick something else to do--- we were no longer looking for a JOB, we were looking for a CAREER!!!  Now I had to discover all over again what I wanted to do with my life.  I still don't know what I want to do with my life.  Actually, I always wanted to work at the airport.  I just love being around travel.   While I was working on my Bachelors Degree, I recieved a notice that I was being dropped from my classes because the college had not recieved my "official" transcript (that 's a whole other story). While I was trying to get that straightened out, I recieved a notice that my college was starting an aviation degree program.  I figured this was a sign from God that my prayers were answered and I was going to get my degree in Aviation Admin. I was going to get the job (pardon me, career) I always dreamed of--hah! Because it was a pilot program, the college only offered one course a year for the first few years.  When they finally offered all the courses needed for the degree, I was two courses away from graduating, and if I switched to the Aviation, it would take another 23 credits (about 7 courses) to graduate.  I still want to go back for the degree, but first I NEED A JOB!!!!

Why, oh why do people complain about the weather?  I used to work with a woman who was never happy.  If the day was sunny, it wasn't going to last, or it was bound to rain in a few days, or we've had nothing but lousy weather.  When the weather started to warm up, it was a 'scorcher' (I'm talking about the temperature in the 70's.) When it started to cool down, (to maybe 60) it was 'bitter'.  I would ask her what she was going to do when the weather really got hot/cold.  I marched with a Drum Corps for nearly 40 years and learned to take whatever came.

A friend gave me a Garfield poster; he's dressed as a Drum Major, and there is a cloud raining on him.  She said it reminded her of me at St. Greg's.  We marched at the opening of a local church's fair every year, and every year it rained (did I say RAIN? It thundered and lightninged and the heavens would open up), but it always seemed to stop in time for the kids to go on the rides.  We marched St. Patty's day in the snow many years, if not rain or snow, it was usually cold.  During the summer we marched for the Volunteer Fire Department parades.  Sometimes the weather was pleasant, but more often it was hot and humid.

Anyway, I learned to appreciate whatever came from above.  The Saturday before Christmas, I went with Santa to a few local hospitals to hand out toys to the children. They were predicting snow in our area late on that day so I figured it wouldn't make a difference to us.  WRONG!!  My friend and her husband were telling Santa and I to call the hospitals to let them know we couldn't do it because of the weather.  As Santa and I said to each other, "If we don't do it today, when will we do It?"  Needless to say,  we went out that Saturday and although it started to come down a little before we were finished, it did not cause us any problems.

While we were being stressed by people here over a little snow, the Midwest was being hammered, they had reason to be concerned about the snow.  One of the ladies I work with had a death in her family and she had relatives driving up from the south (bringing the snow with them). They had reason to be concerned about the snow, but believe me, we had nothing to be concerned about. One of my friend's concerns is falling, and I can understand that because I have taken a few falls on the ice, but she and her husband went to Massachusetts when we got home from the hospitals so she didn't need to go out on Sunday.  They go from their apartment down to the garage so they don't have to go outside to get in their car and then they drive where ever they need to and she has a handicapped tag so she can even park near where she is going. I never worry about things I can't influence;  I just take the time to enjoy whatever comes my way.