2008 the bad and the good

I'll readily admit that 2008 was a pretty lousy year. Beyond the national and international economy stuff which admittedly is pretty big and important, my personal life was particularly challenging in 2008. Two really awful things happened. First, my husband's brother, who we all knew wasn't quite right in the head, completely lost it and physically assaulted me Memorial Day weekend. I spent the entire summer recovering from my injuries and undergoing Physical Therapy.

Then in early June, our basement flooded. It really could not have happened at a worse time as I was in no condition to deal with it. How do you pull down drywall, when it's too hard to pull on your own socks? It could have been worse though. Our house did not wash away like some did in Lake Delton. We decided to have a sump pump installed to prevent future floods. I have to wonder just who thought it was a good idea to build a house in southern Wisconsin without a sump pump? This area floods and not infrequently. Having a sump pump installed after the fact is expensive, but it seemed to be worth it. We also hired a construction company to come in and gut the basement. There was mold everywhere and mushrooms growing on the walls. Ick!

So that was the worst of 2008 for me. I am thankful that it was not worse. Although our house flooded, we still have a house. We both still have our jobs as well. Certainly not everybody fared so well in 2008.

All of the negative aside, there were some good things that happened in 2008:

• Barak Obama won the presidential election!!!
• We had a great vacation in November to Las Vegas and the Mojave Desert.
• My parents are in good health.
• My husband and I are both in relatively good health.
  
• Our cat Doc recovered from his enucleation surgery and is doing quite well.
• Sid and Falcoon, our other cats, are happy and healthy.
• I reconnected with an old friend who I sorely missed and got to spend her 30th birthday with her this summer.
• My grandfather had his 90th birthday party in January.
• I had a great time at the Chicago and Milwaukee cat shows hanging out with my sister and other cat folks.
• My sister hosted an awesome Thanksgiving party.
• We hosted an awesome Halloween party (power tools + pumpkins = lots of fun).
• I learned how to knit socks, and I also knit my first sweater.
• I enjoyed working with my church's prayer shawl ministry to knit and crochet shawls for people in our community needing comfort.

Let's just hope that for all the good of 2008, 2009 is a much better year for all of us. I hope that a new administration can be the wind of change that we need to turn some of our problems around.