New Year

2010!!!!

Well, how do ya like that. A whole new decade. In a blink.
2009 was a big year. In some ways, a tough year. Riddled with Hard Decisions and pediatric medical appointments and a budget so strict it will probably go on to teach Catholic school. But it was, after all, my first year of Motherhood. My first full year of Little One. A whole entire year of little baby-powder scented snuggles up under my chin. Hard to give that anything but a thumbs up, Peanuts, ya' know? And what a difference a year makes.
This time last year, we were all still were-wolfing about in the wee hours, listening to howling and peering at the moon. We were pondering the appearance of mysterious itchy bumps on Little One's skin, we were wondering whether we'd be packing our bags, in a year.
And here we are. Blissfully sleeping 12 hours through the night, gratefully looking towards a few more years in DC, and watching our Little One, healthy and happy, walking and talking. Yep, 2009 turned out OK.

Plus I learned a lot of things, in '09. Want to learn too? I'll share some with you. (lucky you). I learned that:

Things cannot always be perfect. And yet, in their own way, they are.

If there are dishes left on the counter after dinner, no one perishes in the night.

There is soy in everything. Everything!

I can function on waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay less sleep than I thought.

I will never look the same way I did before I grew a human being in my abdomen.

But the new body can run as far, be as strong, wear stilettos and contain the same person the old one did.

Some things Matter. Waaaaaaaay less than I thought they did.

Movies and commercials frequently warrant tears. Who knew?!

Some of the best conversations involve spit and facial contortions, and no actual words.

Dancing in PJ's in the kitchen can feel more glamorous than dressing up and going to a VIP club.

My husband is even more amazing than I knew. And that watching someone dispose of fecal matter can, oddly, make you love them even more.

Some things in the world Matter, waaaaaaaaaaay more than I thought they did.

A heart can actually break from happiness.

I am capable of infinite patience. (This revelation was particularly astounding).

Loving my own baby as much as I do, doesn't diminish how much I have loved so many other people's babies who I keep in my heart. If fact, it makes me think of them and love them with a little more sting because I know what I'm missing.

I would get along pretty well if there were a freak accident and I became an amputee.

The value of good girlfriends is not even possible to measure. And that an unlimited talk-and-text cell phone plan is a survival necessity.

Before 2009, I had no idea what fear was.

If my baby is concerned, I can be a very scary person. I have claws like that X-Men dude.

It is possible to build something up in your mind and hopes and dreams until you think you could never ever live without it....until you do and don't even miss it.

It is possible to build something up in your mind and your hopes and dreams until it is totally unrealistic that anything could ever meet such fantastical fairy-tale expectations....until they are met, surpassed, and left behind in the dust.

Having someone else's boogers in my hair is surprisingly un-concerning.

There are some things you can just not freeze.

I learned what my priorities are.

I learned that things that go missing from Expectations, didn't really belong there in the first place.

I learned what I want to be when I grow up.

And that, holy swear-word, I am already there.

Happy 2010.