2009, Goodbye! Better Days Ahead!

These are the things that made 2009 hard/sad/bad/challenging/difficult. Some of the things that made 2009 difficult aren't exactly mine to share, or are too personal to disclose.
First and foremost, my stepdad Ed passed away February 28, 2009. He was on hospice at home in his own bed and there were weeks of sadness and pain as we all said goodbye. Then there have been months and months of sadness and pain as we continue to say goodbye. My Mom has been very strong throughout the past year and has acted admirably.
Jonathan had a bad bout of flu and became severely dehydrated with an uncontrollable fever at the exact same time that Ed was passing away. We wound up in the ER the night of Ed's funeral. Thankfully, Jonathan recovered, but it was just very hard and unfortunate timing.
Dave's mother had a stroke and it affected her vision permanently and she had to place Dave's father in a VA hospice.
We almost killed our cat by running her through a full wash cycle in the washing machine and had to rush her to the animal hospital and it ran up a large veterinary bill.
Anna, finally reaching close enough to 30 lbs to be sedated, got her broken front teeth fixed with porcelain crowns, and while the dentist did a beautiful job, it ran up a large dental bill.
We got a large, unexpected medical bill from 4 years ago, from the time of Jonathan's surgery, when he was 2 years old... Thousands of dollars. I guess the insurance company and the doctor's office had been kicking it back and forth for years and finally we were expected to pay it. Luckily, the doctor's office reduced the amount we owed, but it still angered us because it was their mistake at the time that caused the claim to be rejected.
On that note, Jonathan's legs continue to be bothersome. It feels like a problem that will never be fully solved and it makes me crazy. I hate that his legs hurt him and I hate that we can never resolve it.
My health continued to be an annoying, nagging problem. I feel like I am about at the same point I was in 2007 when I started going to the doctors (plural) for all of my symptoms. I return to the rheumatologist next week and I am going to discuss some things with him, and then I am going to go back to the neurologist and discuss some things with him. It is too much to get into... But I continue to run fevers and have sore throats, on top of all other things like my migraines and my visual disturbances and my numbness and tingling, fatigue and pain, etc, etc, etc. I am tired of hearing about it myself, so I won't carry on about that. Every single day it is something and I am growing more and more tired and despairing of it all.
I had to have surgery in August right before school started to remove a "rotten egg" as Anna liked to tell everyone at the time. It was really my left ovary and tube. My first surgery ever. Also, financially stressful, more bills to pay.
My Dad was forced to relocate to Florida from New York. While this has been a good thing for him and us in many ways, it was very stressful during August and September. For him and us, I think probably more for him.
Jonathan started the big K. He did very well, and it has been a good thing for him. But it was still a big adjustment for us all, and at the same time,
I started my first significant job since the kids have been born. Which I LOVE, but it has been a challenge to adjust to having a job at all. Again, all of this was during August and September.
The air conditioner broke and we called someone out on the weekend which was another big bill.
The pool had a serious leak, ran up lots of extra water bills and repair bills, and continues to be a big joy sucker and source of unfruitful labor for Dave.
We purchased two gerbils back on September 11th, as a reward for Jonathan's great adjustment to K. While we chose to purchase the gerbils, they have been a punishment for me, since I have to clean their nasty cage.
The kids and I had what I am pretty sure was the swine flu back in the early fall. It was a very bad couple of days in our house. (Half of Jonathan's class was out with the flu, and there were several confirmed cases of it in his class.)
I have come to the sad conclusion that I can't continue to serve in Baby K as I have the last 2 years as coordinator. I just can't do it anymore.
Throughout this year, we have continued to have car troubles and large repair bills. At one point, both of our cars were in the shop at the same time and we had to borrow my Dad's car quite a bit. The PT cruiser had a major meltdown in July, and again in October, and my car has had several fits. I can't even remember all of the details, but it has definitely been a bad year for cars. Then again, we now pay a total of 150 a month in a car payment. That is something to be grateful for.
Sigh. I could go on, and the thing of it all is that some of the worst things about 2009 aren't even bloggable. It has just been a very, very hard year. A conflict-filled, heartbreaking Christmas finished the year out. But for each thing I list here, I can think of good things also. I am blessed in many ways, and in so many ways God made provisions for us through all of this messiness. And the big picture is this: that we have a home, 2 cars to get to school and work, etc., food to eat, clean water to drink, family that we love enough to make us a little crazy, 2 healthy, bright and wonderful children, health insurance, and most of all, each other. Better days ahead, hopefully, but even if they aren't better, but worse, we will be okay.
This past week at church, we sang a song that comforted me in a wonderful way. Ed used to sing it out loud standing next to me at church, and I always took heart that he sang it so loudly, and with such conviction and joy. God is bigger than the air I breathe, the world we'll leave. God will save the day, and all will say, My Glorious. And all You ever do, is change the old for new, People, we believe that, God is bigger than the air I breathe, the world we'll leave, and God will save the day, and all will say, My Glorious. (My Glorious/Chris Tomlin).