As I sit here on this gray December morning ,
in the days between the Solstice and Christmas,
I become more nostalgic than ever .
Which I know seems impossible, but yet is true.
Last night my brother had a post on FB about getting older,
(his birthday is Christmas Day)
and about how he never thought he would make it this far .
( and at times neither did I )
And then this morning Sarah had a FB post
about a random memory that Addie shared with them
about life on the farm.
As I said ,
these days in December always make me reflect,
and those two posts REALLY made me reflect.
On the past , on the changes my family has gone through this year,
and most of all the preciousness ( is that even I word ? ) of family and those you love.
If you know me or are a regular reading my posts ,
you know this year we sold the farm.
( Well, technically , my son did , but we were all in agreement )
It was a place that held a lot of memories for all of us.
My children were all born there and all of their graduation parties were held there.
But times change.
And as I have said many times , a home is where you are ,
where those you love are and where you surround yourself with what you love,
and what is important to you.
The farm was just a place .
Yes , a very important place , full of childhood memories,
that still make us laugh or shake our heads ,
which ever the case may be.
I am so grateful that Addie , even as young as she is ,
has some memories of a place , that was an important part of her Daddy's life.
Our last photo shoot at the farm.
The rock wall was always my favorite .
I believe life is all about choices.
Good or bad.
Some tend to make more bad ones than good one .
But if we are lucky ,
we will learn and grow
and become a better person because of them.
My sibs.
Shelly will probably kill me for using a picture with her in it ,
oh well , she has wanted to kill me many times over the years :)
My brother has made a lot of bad choices.
But has emerged on the other side a much better human being.
And I am more proud than I can say.
His capacity to love knows no bounds.
His wife ( who is a saint ) , his children , step- children and his precious grand daughter.
Plus the "others" he calls family.
He is rough around the edges, ( ok maybe all the way around )
Offends more often than not.
But he is who he is .
And who he is now , is prefect to me .
I closed my business and sold the building it was in.
I am NOT nostalgic for that .
However , I am for the wonderful people I met while owning it.
Some became some of my most cherished friends.
And I am blessed to still have them in my life.
Because of selling the business,
I was able to embark on a new adventure.
Making Home.
I sold furniture that I had repurposed
and other junk I found at occasional sales I held here in the Trailerhood.
What fun.
I've loved old stuff since my parents took me to my first flea market
when I was about 7 .
And through the sales and FB ,
I have connected with so many others that like the same kind of junk as I do !
But the new year will bring changes there too.
On January 13th ,
I become the new leaser ( word ? ) of Booth 103 at the Brass Armidillo.
I am so excited and nervous at the same time.
The Brass Armidillo is in DesMoines ,
which is a two hour drive from me .
Fingers crossed that I did not bite off more than I can chew.
As nostalgic as I am today about memories of my children's childhood,
I am just as excited about the new children joining our clan.
My sister was blessed with two grandsons in the last month.
What fun to have babies at Christmas again.
Baby Evan joined our family on November 7 th.
Addie just loves him !
Tucker Thomas arrives on December 3rd.
2012 became officially " The Year of the Baby " in our family !
Addie loves the babies.
And thank goodness she does .
In March she will be a Big Sister !
Good Lord !
This post has turned into a virtual Christmas letter !
Oh well...
My tea is gone , my birdies need feeding so I will stop.
For today .
I hope that as all of you reflect on your year ,
you have as many wonderful, nostalgic memories and new blessing to reflect on as I do.
As we learned very recently,
Each day is a gift .
And you never know when change will be forced on you.
I am still going to try to get a post up with the Trailerhood decked out for Christmas.
No promises though :)
Wishing you a blessed Holiday season and New Year
From the Trailerhood.
