We talk about plans for the upcoming year around now. Some people have already started booking January or February "breaks". Breaks from the really cold and possibly really snowy. It's still a nice temperature for winter where we live. It's bound to end soon! But in an average year, we all need to escape the cold and/or snow in some way. If you can't physically leave the cold and/or snow, you try to mentally leave it any way you can think of!
It seems like fewer people have New Years resolutions then there used to be. We all want to loose weight. It's a futile time to try. Humans are mammals. Mammals handle winter through migration, forging for food and/or hibernation. If you look at our base reflexes when it gets very cold, it's clear we are designed to hibernate. Hibernation preparation starts with eating a lot of food. Think about our timing for THAT instinct to kick in! It's not just the taste that makes Thanksgiving through Christmas eating hard to cut off! But the New Year is more then that.
It's a clean slate. We reflect on the previous year. Then we have hope for the upcoming year. In our case, I sure hope 2016 is a lot better then 2015! We had a rough start to 2015 to begin with. Josh was still unemployed. But on January 18th he fell on ice and broke his hip! We had a lot of other issues from 2014 we were still dealing with. This was the last thing we needed. We spent so much of the year focusing on the negative, I want to end it on a good note. So I'm listing positive things:
Josh:
1. His current main job doesn't pay much, but it's a good stepping stone to move forward.
2. He likes his job.
3. He had been going through a rough patch personally. Now, he's come out of it and is back to being himself!
Zach:
1. Moved up two reading levels in school since September!
2. Gifted in Math (not actually surprised, we have a lot of Engineers in the family)
3. Still regularly impresses people by being himself.
4. Learned how to tie his own shoes
5. Got addicted to the Weird School CHAPTER books!
6. Earned more independence with friends.
7. Earned more cooking responsibilities
8. Learned to swim
9. Had a picture on display on the county Art Exhibit at a local mall
 |
| Breading the Chicken for Breaded Chicken. He knows how to properly handle chicken |
 |
| His painting for the Art Exhibit |
 |
| He wanted to be "Graham the Civil Engineer" from Transformers Rescue Bots but didn't have the green so he went with "Construction Worker" for his Kindergarten "What I want to be" end on the year show |
Fran:
1. Learned to Knit
2. Learned to Crochet
3. Relearned to Crochet correctly!
4. Knitted and Crocheted a few things (below are a few things I made. All done correctly!)
5. Embroidered a table runner
6. Enjoyed volunteering at the school.
 |
| Most of it is done in Double Crochet. The center white square is the first thing I have ever knitted. It's a lapghan I made for Josh's twin. |
 |
| When looking for projects that will get used, I decided most of them will be blankets. There are more blankets to come. Hopefully, three will be finished in 2016. Possibly 4. This is for Zach. He sleeps with it every night. I am using these colors and a gold in a separate blanket for myself. That's how he chose these colors. I have enough spares where I might be able to make one of these for myself. If I do, I'll crochet in a double crochet stitch instead of the single crochet I used for Zach. That's how we'll be able to tell these apart. The one for me in this green, this blue and the gold has a ripple. That's a future post. |
 |
| I've made a lot of hats. Crocheted a little wrong but they still work. This is the first hat I ever knit. It's with heavier yarn for the bone-chill days. |
 |
| The headband I made for Zach's teacher as a Christmas gift. I asked her if she wanted a hat or a headband and what color she would like it in before making it. This is knitted but I am crocheting his reading tutor a drink cozy for the last class this spring. |
We are hoping Josh has some career progress in 2016. I have some ongoing projects I hope to finish in 2016. Zach hopes to continue to move up reading levels and wants to learn how to ride his bike in 2016. His goals, not mine. As usual, we are keeping our goals realistic.
The thing I am most grateful for in 2015 is restoring my faith. We aren't happy with Josh's current situation. He's the Assistant Manager in a grocery store cheese department. But there are two departments with Manager openings and he has a good background for those jobs. He's expressed interest. There is hope.
I'm always trying to figure out why God plans certain things for us and what will come out of them. We had been going through a rough patch in our marriage. Josh's work hours allow us to spend a lot more time alone together then when he works during the day and is home for dinner. That has helped us repair our issues and return to a wonderful place in our marriage. Now that our marriage is healed, the purpose of these work hours has ended. He is needed home at dinner now.
The grocery store has a rule. Department managers can't close unless they are the manager on duty. That's why he closes almost every night. Getting one of those Manager jobs means he's home for dinner again. Our biggest struggle is with his paycheck. That would help with those issues too! But, God knows all of that.
In October, I started to have trust in God's plan again. It has helped. I will continue to do that. I hate not knowing the entirety of His plan for Josh's career. But, I trust that it will be what's best for us at that time. Josh is eligible for the union in two weeks. I'm curious about if he will be unionized or promoted. Usually, we plan and God laughs. This time, I'm not planning. Josh is job searching. But, he's not planning either. We have the wheel, but God is the GPS.
No comments:
Post a Comment