letting go of another 366

i am certain we are not alone in feeling relief at saying "goodbye" to 2008, and more importantly, hope as we look forward to the new beginning we receive tomorrow.  there are few things that we know the dawn of 2009 will bring for us, other than a new year of taxes and another round of FAFSA filing.  (oh yeah, and the first african-american president--that's is an awesome change we can't take for granted!)  despite the unknown elements that come with a new year, it is always refreshing to have what feels like a new start. 

i am personally overjoyed to say "adios" to 2008.  for me it was the year of the head injury (similar, if you will, to the chinese year of the monkey) and i am glad to see it go.  this past year started, quite literally, with a bang: i woke up the morning of january 1 and whacked my head into the short ceiling of the guest bedroom at rob & becky's.  a month and a half later i slipped on the ice and received my first concussion.  post-concussion, it is apparently important to refrain from further head trauma; however, the world seems to have it out for my cranium so i have found myself sustaining many other injuries.  for instance, i slammed my head in the door of the car when kemi was visiting in moscow (at least i got a black eye for that one).  i have also managed to bash and bang up my head in some way nearly every week, whether it be in the attic-like storage space at mt. bachelor, on someone's bike racks, or in playing with harvey.  and then there was my nasty kayak carnage on granite creek this summer where my chin, nose, and kayak helmet drug along the rocky stream-bed.  

so my head especially looks forward to a new year, one in which it sustains fewer insults.  and now we have 2009, the year of the _____ injury.  guess we'll have to wait and see on that one.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

PEACE BE WITH YOU.