Out with the old; In with the New! YAY!

Oh cool! A New Year's Day entry!  =)  No great fete with Blogger's write-now-publish-later-feature! *wink*

I don't think there is ever a time when people have eagerly looked forward to shed an old year.  Whew! So many close calls and I know of some people who were right in the eye of the Wall Street maelstrom. But not everything was horrible about 2008. Always preferring to see the glass as half full, I look back to 2008 with much gratitude to:

• The four months I got to spend with Nicole when she came to visit NY.  We lazed at the park, tested restaurants, shopped, laughed at SNL political skits with Palin, cooked and watched a lot of movies! 
• Met some important people who will somehow stay a while to comfort me in my alone-ness and listen to my rantings.
• A new work assignment, albeit temporary that teaches me a lot of new skills, has allowed me to meet a lot of great new people. 
• A bunch of great friends who have been around for a long time and who have become my family away from the love of my own family.
• And most of all, the great health of my parents who find joy and laughter in everything that they come across in life - the people who taught me how to see the world in its half full perspective.

And then of course, there were the inevitable negatives that brought temporary sadness or some permanent loss.  Bullet points that would not find itself on an a blog entry but would create a vacuum in my heart and my life.

But we all move on - as life is the journey that doesn't stop for anyone.  I'm grateful and hopeful for 2009 and there is so much to look forward to: a new US president who seems more able and capable than his predecessor, a trip to Europe being planned for the summer and the company of a new love who will journey with my in my many adventures planned for the next few months.  

Happy New Year to all!