Dear Children, we had a great end of the year, all things considered. Dear Flu, you made things very difficult and not fun for me this week. Ready for you to move on. We started a new year and you weren't invited. Dear New Years Eve, whew. I didn't know if I was going to make it. We managed to occupy 7 kids and survived well past midnight. Way too far past midnight. Dear Family, you have a house full of littles anxiously awaiting your arrival. We are so happy you are coming! Warning---the house is a disaster, half of it is buried in laundry and there are still bins out. Just pretend you don't see it and we can laugh and have fun. Dear Christmas Break, I am not ready for you to end, truthfully. I dream of a luxurious break, but I do love having my kids at home with me. It would have been better if I had felt well. Dear Kidney Stone, why can't I just pass them in a week or two? Mine just have to torture me as long as humanly possible before they try and kill me. please have mercy. Dear Other Broken Body Parts, I'm ready to just rip you out. The constant pain is so draining and so discouraging. Although it does make me grateful for every part of my body that happens to work properly. Dear Will, I loved ending one and beginning another year with you. We started it off right in the backyard looking at the stars, in the freezing cold, and watching our neighbor with a flashlight break into his own house and crawl through the window. Well, I hope it was the neighbor. He didn't seem to notice us watching and giggling at him. It seems like a burglar would. Dear Self, some days I have such high hopes for the new year. And then half way through the day I'm like nope it's all crap. I haven't decided yet if I can stick to just one way yet. Let me get my hopes and dreams settled and then add reality to that and see how it goes. At this moment I say it will be the best year yet. Just don't ask me in an hour.
