Happy New Year!

I'm paraphrasing Charles Dickens from A Tale of Two Cities here: 2009, it rocked in some ways and sucked in others.

Rocked:

Chad started his own business with two great partners that exceeded our best expectations!

Chad discovered the joys of actually living at home versus spending far too much time on business travel.

I actually got to spend time with Chad and have a handsome date to dinner and events.

I was fortunate to work as a production assistant for the auditions for Broadway's Spiderman musical. It was a blast! 250 amazingly talented young people auditioned for two roles. Two were chosen to move on to New York City!

We spent the equivalent $ of a European vacation on a new HVAC system which is much more eco-friendly and works great.

We welcomed Harper to one branch of the family tree and Regan to the other branch. Hello, nieces!

Our sweet pets: Marigold, Kenji, Sonic and Janie are all still with us - happy and healthy.

Sucked:

We spent the equivalent $ of a European vacation on a new HVAC system.

Chad learned some of the pitfalls of running his own business during back-to-back all-nighters on the phone with India.

We lost Chad's Papa F. Consequently, Chad spent his birthday this year at Papa's funeral.

Our sweet 1952 house got robbed. We're still recovering financially, physically (door repairs / painting replacements) and emotionally from this major inconvenience.

One month after the extended warranty ended on my car, we spent the equivalent $ of a deluxe domestic vacation on my (stupid) car repairs. Three words: Melted Engine Parts.

Chad's car got side-swiped parked on the street in front of our house mere days ago. To quote Chad, "it looks like a beater-car now".

Goodbye, 2009. We'll not forget you and your events. You had flair for drama, friend!