Absolute Write December Blog Chain and Year-End Wrap Up

Note:  I typically try to be an upbeat person, or, failing that, at least a fairly sarcastic one.  Any way I approached it, though, looking back on this year was bound to be a little rough.  So, for this installment of the December Absolute Write blog chain (a year-end wrap up), forgive me if I'm a little more reflective than enthusiastic.

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2009 has been circled on my calendar for a long time.  When my husband and I got married six years ago, we knew that he'd have three years of graduate school and then I'd have three years of graduate school after that.  While our friends all got married, bought nice houses, had babies, and then had more babies, we would still be eating ramen soup and waiting for 2009.  That's when all our careful planning, all our patience would pay off.

It was really, really hard.  Six years is a long time to wait for kids and houses, particularly with a mother and a mother-in-law double-teaming us (mostly good-naturedly) to start cranking out the grandchildren.  We had a series of bad apartments that made us desperately wish for a house of our own.  By the time we hit January of this year, though, we were in the home stretch.  My husband had a good job.  I had accepted an offer for a great job, to start after my graduation.  The money would be enough for a house.  We would finally be able to afford kids and have a place to put them.  Jobs, houses, kids -- everything was finally on the horizon.  Everything was falling into place just as promised.

Then in February, I got word that my job was a victim of the economy.  Instead of starting in August, would I be so kind as to start in January 2010?  Well, hey, what's a little more waiting after six years?  We signed another year's lease on our apartment and pouted about the wait, but decided that having a job in January was still better than no job at all, so we got over it.  Apparently, 2009 was not to be the year of the job or the house, but 2010 was looking up.  Of course, the other effect this had was that we would have to wait to have children so that I could ge tthe time off from work.  No sweat.  We have time.  We're still young.  2010 is a good year for kids, too.  A nice round number.  Even with my woefully deficient math skills, I'd probably be able to calculate their age.

As it turned out, the waiting had other intended consequences.  We had known about my mother-in-law's cancer for a few years, but she was doing so well until the bottom dropped out over this past summer.  She fell desperately ill for a few months and died in October.  The family was devastated, and I felt suddenly selfish for putting off the kids until after school.  The waiting was no longer merely a purely personal torture for my husband and I; it had worked to deprive my future chlidren of a truly wonderful grandmother that they would never know.

By the time the end of October hit, I found myself working part-time to help make ends meet until January.  Originally, the limited schedule had been nice because it allowed me to help take care of my mother-in-law and my uncle, who died of cancer shortly after my mother-in-law.  Once they were both gone, however, I found myself with too much time on my hands.  The plan I had started with at the beginning of the year was floundering.  I was becoming depressed and needed some new goals before things got too off-track.

Earlier in the year, on a whim, I had joined a writing group with a friend to rekindle my love of writing, and they were gearing up for NaNoWriMo 2009.  I decided the project was a perfect distraction and threw myself into it.  As it turns out, it was exactly what I needed.  Not only did it give me a routine to get me up out of bed and keep me going, but it also gave me an escape.  I could spend time in my own little world, with my own little characters, free from depression and guilt and more waiting.  Well, almost free -- the characters spent an inordinately large amount of time dealing with hospitals, doctors, and death themselves.  But still, it helped.  I crossed the finish line early, and I'm still working on the story, revising and rewriting as I have time over the holidays.  Writing is now a part of my daily life, and the infusion of creativity into my day has done wonders for me.  Connecting with other writers gives me an additional kick in the pants on the days when I really need it.

Ultimately, 2009 did not bring much of anything that it initially promised.  It did not bring a job, a house, or a baby for me and my husband.  Instead it brought disappointment, impatience, and grief.  But it also brought rebirth -- it brought a writer into being -- and as the year closes, everything that is yet to be is finally within reach.  For that, I am blessed and thankful, and I am learning to appreciate this past year for all it has taught me.

But, believe me, I can't wait for 2010!

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Other participants in this month's year-end wrap up blog chain are listed below.  Please stop by their blogs and see what they're up to!

Lost Wanderer -- http://www.lostwanderer5.blogspot.com/
Claire Crossdale -- http://theromanticqueryletter.blogspot.com/
coryleslie -- http://corrinejackson.wordpress.com/
bsolah -- http://benajminsolah.com/blog
DavidZahir -- http://zahirblue.blogspot.com/
RavenCorinnCarluk -- http://ravencorrincarluk.blogspot.com/
Ralph Pines -- http://ralfast.wordpress.com/
shethinkstoomuch -- http://shethinkstoomuch.wordpress.com/
Lady Cat -- http://www.randomwriterlythoughts.blogspot.com/
truelyana -- http://expressiveworld.com/
misaditas -- http://misaditas-novels.blogspot.com/
collectonian -- http://collectonian.livejournal.com/
laharrison -- http://lesleyharrison.wordpress.com/
beawhiz -- http://beawrites.wordpress.com/
razibahmed -- http://www.blogging37.com/
FreshHell -- http://freshhell.wordpress.com/
AlissaC -- http://alissacarleton.blogspot.com/  ME
Aimee -- http://writing.aimeelaine.com/ NEXT UP!
Forbidden Snowflake -- http://queryshark.blogspot.com/