Reflection

2009 in Review

December 31, 2009

So how did 2009 stack up from Lar’s point of view – and from Mar’s point of view.

Lar’s was just status quo. I can not say there is any great change from this year over last year.

Mar had a lifestyle change. She wasn’t in school. She wasn’t hampered by bad knees. She had no children at home. It all opened up new vistas for her.

Here are highlights

Provident living

As a family we are doing okay. We still have food storage that will last us, if not in gourmet style, but at least give us food. I am still well employed in an economy where a lot of people are not. Our savings took a couple of hits with the purchase of a new car and the remodeling of a bathroom, but we are still comfortable with what we have. We are truly blessed in this area.

Work

Mar isn’t working. She did get her LPN license, but doesn’t have to work, so she hasn’t. My job is stable. Not much changes this year.

I have traveled a lot this year. It works our to 25.9% of the year’s nights were spent away from home. To be fair, that includes vacation nights. I have traveled to Minneapolis, MN – San Jose, CA – Lisle, IL – San Diego, CA – Marlborough, MA – Ottawa, ON, Canada – Bingen/Hood River, WA/OR – Tucson, AZ – Chicago, IL – Warren, PN – Irvine, CA – Phoenix, AZ. All of those were for work. Six of those sites were new for me. Margaret went on three of those trips with me.

Health

I am beginning to feel the strain brought on by living longer (a nice way of saying “getting old”.) My eyes are not what they once were. My back continues to give me problems. And this year I have had my first taste of arthritis in my shoulder. It sometimes makes it hard to just put on a shirt. But health wise, I’m not too bad. I did run in 2 5K races this year – and came in first in my age group in one of them (no hills – an easy course). Mar has enjoyed being more ambulatory. She can get up and go. She also has put herself on a good exercise program and is in better shape than she has been for many a year.

On the down side, I have gained back 8 pounds. It is just a lack of dedication to the new lifestyle over the past 5 months – yes five months. So even though 8 pounds doesn’t seem like much, it is really only an 8 month trend. I have also seen a lack of motivation to exercise over that time. I guess I had better kick myself in the pants and get going again.

Mental

I have read. This year I read 25 books. Some of them were meaningful. Some of them simply filled the dead time n airports. Eight of those books were on the 501 must read book list. I think my favorite of the year was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.

Spiritual

Mar and I have both had the same callings in church all year – Mar as Young Women’s Secretary and me as Ward Clerk. We are both getting better at what we do. I gave one talk in Sacrament Meeting on getting to church on time. Mar gave one talk on her experiences on the Trek. We did serve as grandma and grandpa for our family on the Trek for the YM/YW. We participated in a couple of service projects. We try hard to do our duty – and a little bit more.

Life Style

The biggest changes here were for Margaret. She has been able to travel. Quite frankly it is because she has the time and we have the means – and she had some really good luck. She went to Utah for a while with her mom. She went to Southern California to visit Andrea and help while her two oldest children were in the school play “Grease”. Then she went to San Diego on a trip with me. Then she went on a trip to Maui with her sister, Brenda. We did the Trek in Wyoming and we spent a week at Melanie’s helping to remodel her kitchen. She took a trip with me to the Portland, Oregon area – then stayed on for a baby birth. She bought a new car the drove down to see her sister Anne in Northern, CA and then drove over to Utah and back home. Finally, she went with me on a business trip to Irvine, CA.

Mostly, our lifestyle change is because of our health change. We are eating better. We are exercising. And with Mar’s knees better, she is just more mobile.

And so we end out the year a little bit better than we started. Well, Mar is a bit better. I am pretty much the same. I do have a little concern. Right now I am leaving this year with no momentum in my life. I just am. I need to try and grow more. Rats – that sounds like a resolution coming on.