happy new year! time to start off the new year with a quick recap of what's being happening in my life. NYE was a lot of fun...at first, it seemed as tho it might fizzle out before the fireworks. i tried (in vain) to make some plans to include the majority, but in true NYE-style the many waited til the last minute and then decided on something else. so, we still had a few people over to watch the fireworks from our roof and then headed out to a friend's party at the sunworld dynasty hotel for a long-awaited night out. good times! great music, great venue, hung out with great people both old and new and just generally schmoozed the night away. a much needed and much appreciated start to the new year.
the new year hasn't been all fun and games so far however. after our nice, 4-day rest and recoup, it was back the grind. year-end reports were due, planning, and all the necessary things which eat away at our free time but pay the bills...thursday was my regular, mid-week respite and by afternoon i started to feel a little achey. by dinner time, i was cold one minute, hot the next and sore all over. by bedtime, i was running to the bathroom every 20 minutes and shortly after going to sleep, i was running to empty my stomach's contents. fun, fun. took friday and saturday off work to rest up and finally had something substantial to eat by dinner on saturday night. today, feeling a bit better but still fragile. hopefully one more night's sleep will put this flu to bed.
this last week also marked a very sad start to the new year...got a call on friday morning that grandma weishar had passed away suddenly. the details aren't important, but this spry, brilliant, lovable little lady has been taken away and we are all feeling the loss. it goes without saying that she will be sadly missed by those who knew her, but it always makes being away from home that much more difficult...you don't really get the same opportunity to say goodbye, or grieve, or comfort, or remember the good times with those who remain. but, that's something we have had to go through a couple of times. i wish i could say it gets easier. i also wish i could say i wouldn't have to go through it again, but i know what the truth is. it's not really a matter of living abroad...living here wouldn't have stopped things from happening...it's a matter of getting older and dealing with mortality. and that's something that will likely never get any easier.
