Highs and Lows of 2009 and what to look forward to in 2010...

Hard to believe another year has come and gone...mind boggling, actually. But is has, and yet again, we are in the throes of winter, as evidenced by the fact it took me an hour to go 10 miles only to come home to a driveway I had to shovel. Wah, I know.

So 2009 was a year of ups and downs...recapped as follows:

- Actually accomplished my New Year's resolution, which was go get more sleep. Thanks to the help of a very cute doctor, I actually sleep soundly for 5-6 hours a night.

- Learned to wakeboard and love it...even after rupturing my ear drum on my first MAJOR spill of the season

- Took amazing trips...Europe, Las Vegas, NYC (even if only for one day!)

- Turned 35

- Finally went to Cedar Point for the first time...and I have lived in Ohio for 11 years!!!

- Got some major house projects finished, mainly my basement. Painted a few walls here and there, got some storage solutions up in the garage, added the flower baskets to my deck and finally got rid of the plants I didn't care for so much (mainly my ever green plants) Had a green yard all summer thanks to my wonderful irrigation system.

- Had an incredible agility year despite the torn ACL of one little lovable labbie

- Met Scott and have done a lot of fun things with him.

- 2009 was an EXPENSIVE YEAR...new water heater, furnace, AC, 2 new tires and some brakes, all in a span of about 2 mos. ACL surgery, rehab and dog biscuits 2 mos later...the bleeding had to stop somewhere!!!Thankfully, 2009 is over and hopefully, the bleeding is over.

- 2009 presented some challenges with my health...carried over into 2010. I have been blessed with good health all my life, and not feeling good sometimes is something new to me. Hopefully sometime in the not too distant future, they will finally be able to figure out what is wrong with me.

Looking on to 2010....

- Chelsie and I are starting some obedience classes on Friday! Called Rally Obedience...don't really know what it is, but I know it will get her OUT of the house. She is bored and ready to do something FUN!

- I am also keeping Scott's Border Collie RIP (aka - Ippy) to run in agility until Chelsie heals. Scott had offered me the option awhile back...and I took him up on it this weekend after helping at my club's agility trial. We start classes this week..hopefully...and may compete in a competition as early as the end of this month. RIP's registered name is "Harvest Moon The Undertaker"...call name RIP. Chelsie and the cat are not sure about this...Scoobi is a great baby sitter for Rip.

- At some point later this year, labbie number 2 will join our household. While I hope Chelsie's agility career is not cut short by this injury, she is nearly 8 yrs old (at the end of the month) and by the time puppy 2 is trained, she will be 10+ yrs old. My goal with her is to finish her MACH and move her to a lower jump height for as long as she wants to do agility. When she says no more, we are done.

- Get within 100 pts of Chelsie's MACH, her health permitting

- Get some air under my wake board...ON PURPOSE!

- Pay off my car!

- Eat better, consistently...and drink less diet coke. Yeah right.

- Spend some time at La Playa y Resort del Monroe. Natalie is currently turning her house into a beach resort, complete with pool. Hopefully it comes with Cabana boys and margaritas...in the middle of central Ohio where is it currently in the single digit temperatures.

- Minimize house projects and work on transitioning to maintenance mode

- Host 2 parties


I am sure there are a host of other things, but these are some of the big things I hope to do in 2010. I am sure it will prove to be incredibly busy, but I am happier when I am busy.

Much health and happiness in 2010. Looking forward to spending time with everyone!!