It's hard to believe that we're marking the beginning of the second decade of this century! I remember clearly where I was and what I was doing 10 years ago as we awaited the dawn of 2000. It was the time of Y2k....seems so silly now, but some people took it so seriously. The Kid and I were the only ones home for new year's eve (I don't remember where the girls were), and we played games on the computer to pass the time until midnight--no blogs or Facebook then to keep us occupied. At midnight we watched the time turn over (correctly) on our computer, and had some sparkling cider to toast the new year.
This year it's the two of us again. The Kid was supposed to be away visiting his high school friends, but he woke up sick this morning and had to delay his departure. So we're sitting here with our laptops, awaiting 2010, and we'll have sparkling cider again. Maybe I'll try out my new popcorn maker, too.
So much has happened in the last ten years. At the beginning of 2000 I was going up for tenure, and discerning my call to the priesthood. My three older kids were all in college, and the Kid was in 3rd grade. Now the girls are both married and mothers, the Kid is in college and Elder Son is in grad school. My father, mother-in-law, and father-in-law all died of cancer, and my mother has moved into assisted living. 9/11 happened, and I went off to seminary and was ordained. I've moved three times. I've made new friends and reconnected with old ones. And all that just barely conveys how my life has changed. I wonder what the next 10 years will bring?
Happy New Year everyone. May 2010 be filled with good things for all.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
2009--the good, the bad, and the ugly
Where to start? I think I'll go in reverse order:
The Ugly:
~I will remember 2009 in large part by the truly abominable behavior I experienced from some colleagues, primarily my former boss. As I've reflected over it the last few months, I still find myself not quite believing how reprehensible some of it was, and how completely unnecessary. But if nothing else, I learned a lot about how NOT to interact with people, how NOT to manage staff, and about how I react under stress--both positively and negatively.
The Bad:
~Job stress. Lots of it, much remaining unbloggable. Really, it's remarkable how much that defined my life for the first two-thirds of the year (and see the Ugly, above). While things had been stressful for much of my tenure there, I couldn't have foreseen how hard the last year there would turn out to be.
~Moving stress--no matter if the move is positive, packing and moving is HARD physically and psychologically. I've done it many times, and I know how to get it done efficiently, but it never gets easier.
The Good:
~Family--Baby J thrives, and I was privileged to baptize her at the Easter Vigil. WW got married, and Mr. WW arrived from Nepal in time for Baby M's birth. The Kid graduated from high school, and survived his first semester of college. I got used to living alone.We had a wonderful Thanksgiving together in my great new house, and celebrated Christmas together in VT.
~Friends--took care of me in so many ways when I was totally stressed out, and rejoiced with me when things turned around. I discovered deep wells of caring and concern and generosity of spirit, sometimes from completely unexpected places. And I reconnected with some old friends via FB.
~Colleagues--rallied around me when I needed them. My clergy coach and his wife went above and beyond the call of duty to support and encourage me. I don't know where I'd be without them.
~A wonderful new parish--my new church has been warm and welcoming and seems truly happy to have me here. There are many challenges to face here, and I know the honeymoon will not last forever, but it is so nice to start out positively. I am so happy to be here, and I feel really lucky and blessed that I ended up in a good place.
And that's 2009 in a nutshell.
The Ugly:
~I will remember 2009 in large part by the truly abominable behavior I experienced from some colleagues, primarily my former boss. As I've reflected over it the last few months, I still find myself not quite believing how reprehensible some of it was, and how completely unnecessary. But if nothing else, I learned a lot about how NOT to interact with people, how NOT to manage staff, and about how I react under stress--both positively and negatively.
The Bad:
~Job stress. Lots of it, much remaining unbloggable. Really, it's remarkable how much that defined my life for the first two-thirds of the year (and see the Ugly, above). While things had been stressful for much of my tenure there, I couldn't have foreseen how hard the last year there would turn out to be.
~Moving stress--no matter if the move is positive, packing and moving is HARD physically and psychologically. I've done it many times, and I know how to get it done efficiently, but it never gets easier.
The Good:
~Family--Baby J thrives, and I was privileged to baptize her at the Easter Vigil. WW got married, and Mr. WW arrived from Nepal in time for Baby M's birth. The Kid graduated from high school, and survived his first semester of college. I got used to living alone.We had a wonderful Thanksgiving together in my great new house, and celebrated Christmas together in VT.
~Friends--took care of me in so many ways when I was totally stressed out, and rejoiced with me when things turned around. I discovered deep wells of caring and concern and generosity of spirit, sometimes from completely unexpected places. And I reconnected with some old friends via FB.
~Colleagues--rallied around me when I needed them. My clergy coach and his wife went above and beyond the call of duty to support and encourage me. I don't know where I'd be without them.
~A wonderful new parish--my new church has been warm and welcoming and seems truly happy to have me here. There are many challenges to face here, and I know the honeymoon will not last forever, but it is so nice to start out positively. I am so happy to be here, and I feel really lucky and blessed that I ended up in a good place.
And that's 2009 in a nutshell.
December!
Where did the month go?
After NaBloPoMo, I had every intention of continuing to blog, and I found myself thinking occassionally, "That'll blog!" but somehow, the posts never got written. So here's the month in random bits:
~The month started with a wonderful liturgy installing me as rector and celebrating our new ministry together as a parish. Some of my favorite people from my former parish traveled up to attend, and my clergy coach preached. It was a truly fantastic evening. And the next day was my birthday.
~I managed NOT to have the Christmas blues--I can't remember the last time that happened. Really. I can't remember.
~But I have to say that when Christmas Eve came, it took me a bit to feel the magic. Church on Christmas Eve is different here. Not bad, necessarily, but different.
~No Christmas pageant this year, and I'm surprised how much I missed it. But I did invite all the kids at the 5:00 service to come up front, and I read them the Christmas story from a Tomie DePaola book--and I saved the magi part for our Epiphany celebration on January 6.
~Another priest on FB who is in a new church remarked how much easier things would be when she wasn't doing everything for the first time. I think that is a wise observation. Just figuring out how things are "customarily" done is exhausting sometimes. And balancing the whole "of course you can do whatever you want" v. "we can't change anything!" scenario requires a lot of ....tact, to say the least.
~I had presents bought earlier than ever (but not that early by some standards, I suppose) and got the tree up in a timely manner, but I still found myself with too much to do on Christmas Eve. Which makes no sense, because I had so much less to do this year at work than last.
~The Kid and I went to Vermont on Christmas day as soon as I finished church to have Christmas with the NSLS and WW families. Baby J has a new kitchen and loves to cook. "Sit, Amma!" she says, and "Cook!" Then she gives me an ice cream cone. And Baby M is growing fast!
~Unbelievably, my camera never came out of my camera bag while I was away. Don't know how that happened. I did take a few pix with my phone but it's not the same.
~Too many deaths around Christmas....a good friend's father died on the 23rd, a priest colleague from my former diocese dies on December 24th, as did someone from my former parish in VT. I went to her funeral on Tuesday. It was the first time I'd been back to that parish since the week I was ordained as a deacon, and it was good to reconnect as we celebrated P's long and full life.
~We made it home yesterday between snow storms--here and there. I seem to have lost my driving-in-the-snow mojo, and I need to get it back. I live at the top of a hill, and I worry about getting up (and down!) when the roads are messy, although I did okay when I went to get groceries this morning.
~I won't be sorry to see 2009 out. What a year--the good, the bad, and the ugly. At least it ended on an upbeat. That should be a separate post, actually.
~What will 2010 bring in the blogosphere? When I click through my blogroll, I see so many abandoned or taken down blogs. There are voices I miss. But people move on....that's life. It will be interesting to see how blogging/fb/twitter play out in the next year.
After NaBloPoMo, I had every intention of continuing to blog, and I found myself thinking occassionally, "That'll blog!" but somehow, the posts never got written. So here's the month in random bits:
~The month started with a wonderful liturgy installing me as rector and celebrating our new ministry together as a parish. Some of my favorite people from my former parish traveled up to attend, and my clergy coach preached. It was a truly fantastic evening. And the next day was my birthday.
~I managed NOT to have the Christmas blues--I can't remember the last time that happened. Really. I can't remember.
~But I have to say that when Christmas Eve came, it took me a bit to feel the magic. Church on Christmas Eve is different here. Not bad, necessarily, but different.
~No Christmas pageant this year, and I'm surprised how much I missed it. But I did invite all the kids at the 5:00 service to come up front, and I read them the Christmas story from a Tomie DePaola book--and I saved the magi part for our Epiphany celebration on January 6.
~Another priest on FB who is in a new church remarked how much easier things would be when she wasn't doing everything for the first time. I think that is a wise observation. Just figuring out how things are "customarily" done is exhausting sometimes. And balancing the whole "of course you can do whatever you want" v. "we can't change anything!" scenario requires a lot of ....tact, to say the least.
~I had presents bought earlier than ever (but not that early by some standards, I suppose) and got the tree up in a timely manner, but I still found myself with too much to do on Christmas Eve. Which makes no sense, because I had so much less to do this year at work than last.
~The Kid and I went to Vermont on Christmas day as soon as I finished church to have Christmas with the NSLS and WW families. Baby J has a new kitchen and loves to cook. "Sit, Amma!" she says, and "Cook!" Then she gives me an ice cream cone. And Baby M is growing fast!
~Unbelievably, my camera never came out of my camera bag while I was away. Don't know how that happened. I did take a few pix with my phone but it's not the same.
~Too many deaths around Christmas....a good friend's father died on the 23rd, a priest colleague from my former diocese dies on December 24th, as did someone from my former parish in VT. I went to her funeral on Tuesday. It was the first time I'd been back to that parish since the week I was ordained as a deacon, and it was good to reconnect as we celebrated P's long and full life.
~We made it home yesterday between snow storms--here and there. I seem to have lost my driving-in-the-snow mojo, and I need to get it back. I live at the top of a hill, and I worry about getting up (and down!) when the roads are messy, although I did okay when I went to get groceries this morning.
~I won't be sorry to see 2009 out. What a year--the good, the bad, and the ugly. At least it ended on an upbeat. That should be a separate post, actually.
~What will 2010 bring in the blogosphere? When I click through my blogroll, I see so many abandoned or taken down blogs. There are voices I miss. But people move on....that's life. It will be interesting to see how blogging/fb/twitter play out in the next year.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Ding dong, the witch is dead
I spent the whole day today out shopping--I went to a very large mall in one direction because the Apple store is there, and I needed my computer worked on. And when I finished up there (some four hours later!) I went to Whole Foods in the opposite direction. Driving home it hit me--it's December 14, most of my shopping is done, and I don't have the Christmas grumpies yet! How did THAT happen?
Seriously, it's the first time that I can remember that the whole Christmas to-do hasn't depressed me to some extent--whether it was the shopping or work or what. Of course, there are still 11 days to go. And I have tons of work to do--sermons, bulletins, buying and decorating the tree, wrapping the gifts. I could still succumb. But something feels different this year--it feels lighter somehow. And I'm not complaining!
Seriously, it's the first time that I can remember that the whole Christmas to-do hasn't depressed me to some extent--whether it was the shopping or work or what. Of course, there are still 11 days to go. And I have tons of work to do--sermons, bulletins, buying and decorating the tree, wrapping the gifts. I could still succumb. But something feels different this year--it feels lighter somehow. And I'm not complaining!
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)