On Thanksgiving Day, the decorating and gift-wrapping were done. On December 11, I celebrated an early Christmas across the street with my family. On December 19, the Hemmingers left for Christmas with Shawn's family in Minnesota. On December 21, I got sick with the flu, which morphed into bronchitis. Today, January 2, I'm still sick.
But I have great news to share: Dana is expecting! Her due date is my 60th birthday. Something tells me that additional babysitting is on my horizon . . . It has been such a blessing this past year to be a part of my grandchildren's lives. Benjamin, now 5 1/2, enjoys his second year of four-year-old pre-school and has lost his first two baby teeth. His smile and hugs light up my life. Joelle, who turns two in February, started out by calling me "Diva" just once, and now has settled on "Gandma." She is going to be quite the talker.
In addition to full-time teaching (special ed. language arts), Shawn helps pastor New Expression Church and is working on graduate credits to get his permanent teaching certification. Dana stays busy with home and children--and she self-published her first book this year, Reflections from Holland: A New Mother's Journey with Down Syndrome.
Joseph moved here from Colorado Springs at the end of June and lives with me. He continues work on a B.S. degree in I.T. with a software emphasis.
I've self-published two books this year (Three Corners Has My Cat: Caregiving in Alzheimer's Time and Random Reflections; 2008-2013) and have settled into life in Bartlesville. Oh, yes, I still miss Whidbey Island, but this has been a very good first year in Oklahoma. At Good Shepherd Presbyterian Church, I serve on session, assist with worship, sing in choir, play my flute, and write for our newsletter. I'm on the pulpit supply list for Eastern Oklahoma Presbytery, and have started speaking for Stonecroft Ministries again. Various opportunities to play my flute in concerts have popped up, and I am looking forward to playing with the Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra in the January 17 concert, filling in for another flutist.
In April and again in July, I spent two weeks on the island, enjoying family and friends and church and the magnificence of nature. In May, I attended the Oklahoma Writer's Federation writing conference in Oklahoma City. Later that month, I enjoyed a visit from a good friend from Grinnell College days. And in November, I took the train to Austin to spend a weekend with longtime friends from my high school days.
All that makes it sound like I'm perpetually busy, but really, I am not. My idea of a full day is to have something scheduled for part of it (go to Bible study . . . visit a friend . . . attend a rehearsal . . . volunteer at The Journey Home hospice). I am irretrievably spoiled by the slower pace of retirement and looking forward to my seventh year in the slow lane!
Blessings to each and every one of you in 2015,
Janis
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