Goodbye and good riddance?

The year 2008 has 4 hours and 14 minutes left in it, as I sit here blogging for the first time in almost 2 months...I am trying to figure out if I am ungrateful enough to say that I didn't like this year and am glad to see it go (true), or if I should take the rosy approach and say that I was blessed with a year of good health and God's provision (also very true.) Was the year half full or half empty? I guess using the glass analogy, I can take it a step further and say 2008 was like a mixed drink. Now, mind you, alcohol has not touched my lips in close to 3 years (I guess--I really have lost track), but back in my drinking days, I was a big fan of the sweet drinks that were good enough to sip slowly but had the same potency of those that tasted like turpentine. Mai tais, Long-Island iced teas, fuzzy navels, etc... something about it being New Year's Eve and the new air freshener I just bought that smells like peach wine coolers has sparked my memory of those tasty drinks of yesteryear. Anyway, the point--if I have one--is that this year (4 hours, 6 minutes left, but who's counting?) has been full of negatively potent moments, but not without its sweet spots to get me through, either.
In 2008:
I quit my job to take a higher paying job, only to be offered another job about 6 weeks later, when I was finally figuring out my new job. The job I was offered was the same hourly rate (a lateral move financially), but working for the Lord at my church. The only hesitation I had was that I was embarrassed to be quitting so early...but once I got that over with, I found myself blessed with a job that I could and do enjoy, so much. It's really not like working at all, because I don't dread getting up and going there every morning, as I have with a lot of my other jobs. I have a great job that I can see myself doing for a long time!
In the spring, my friend Lisa West lost her year-long battle with colon cancer. The treatment seemed to be working, but when she went to another hospital to try to enroll in an experimental program, the pre-screening for candidacy revealed the cancer had spread everywhere, and within about two weeks she was gone. Just before she started her long chemo cycle, she and her husband got baptized together at church. The thing that I can never, ever forget is her telling me that if this is what it takes to bring him to the Lord, it was worth it. She left behind 7 and 12 year old girls. I pray for them, that they will always remember their mom as I do--a strong, outspoken woman who always made them her number one priority. (I miss you, Lisa!)
Also in 2008 (3 hours, 55 minutes left), I found out that my friends April, Dana, and Carolyn were diagnosed with breast cancer. I received my first ever prescription for a mammogram in November and I plan to use in 2009. Having sick friends makes me thankful for my health--a ridiculously gross understatement.
Also in the spring, right around the time that I changed jobs and Lisa died, my husband made the tough but necessary decision to quit his Civil Service job, under emotional duress. He did not have another job lined up, and just a month to look for one before his terminal leave was up. A friend of mine had given me an old cell phone for my daughter (who'd washed hers--oops), but didn't have the charger, so we went to Alltel to buy one the next evening. Brian asked the lady if they were hiring. I remember thinking, "Yeah, right, like a former Public Affairs Officer is going to sell cell phones." He and I both had to get over any pretenses we may have had...needing to keep a roof over your head and food on the table is a strong motivator to do whatever it takes. His starting salary (before commissions) was exactly half of what he was making working for the Army--talk about scary. But he used those PR skills to become the top seller, and after his commission, we barely felt the difference. Several months later, I still know he made the right move, and I praise God for getting us through such a tough, scary transition.
The last part of 2008 (3hours, 46 minutes) found me a full-time-working-chauffeuring-kids-listening-for-bumps-in-the-night-single-mom, as Brian was in Japan for 2 months for a Naval Reserve assignment. Two weeks after arriving at NAF Misawa, he found out he has 450-day activation orders, destination Afghanistan. He returned from Japan 19 days ago, and we had house guests for 6 of those days...now we are trying to tie up all the lose ends before I drop him off at the Reserve Center in Kansas City on Monday, January 5.
So, that was 2008, and here comes 2009, in 3 hours, 39 minutes. Do I really want this year to end? Am I ready for the next one, which promises to be a very long, lonely road? Yeah. Because I am never really alone. I have my kids to live for (and they keep me busy, that's for sure), I have my awesome coworkers and my local friends, I have my military-brat and -wife friends (who have either gone through or are currently in the midst of deployments), and I have my family, who don't live near me but are never far from my heart. I have a husband who loves me and loves our country enough to defend and protect it, and even if I don't get to hear him snore every night, we will be sleeping under the same stars and praying to the same loving God to be reunited safely.
Most of all, I have my Lord and Savior, who has promised to never leave nor forsake me. He said that when I am at my weakest, He is at His strongest. I am absolutely claiming those promises! He has shown himself to be a wise, loving provider to me, even during what I sometimes considered a lousy year (3 hours, 30 minutes). I praise Him for seeing me through 2008, and I will rely on Him to get me through 2009, whether it's sweet or makes me need more than a couple of Advil.
Happy New Year!