I cannot say that I am sad to see 2007 go. We started 2007 off with Tom losing his job and I guess we just never recovered.

We went 3 months without him working at all, his former employer screwing up his unemployment, going back to work part time and juggling 2 jobs with 1 car, then him getting sent back full-time but at his regular job and having to commute 70 miles a day. The good ending to that is he finally had enough and found another wonderful job that hopefully will take him through retirement and may be where Mark gets to spend part of his career.

Tommy left for boot camp in Ft. Jackson, SC an I didn't get to talk to him again until the end of March. That was hard but I think good for both of us. It was great to see him in March and hard to put him on the bus for Aberdeen after only 24 hours. He was fast tracked though and surprised me at work one night in June.

My sister in law had a horrible year dealing with her cancer and we thought we were going to lose her. After Chemo, radiation, 2 surgeries, a serious infection, and more chemo we are praying that she is finally on the mend and that she will regain her health and vitality in 2008.

Tom's mom had a totally botched surgery in May and we are just now getting her back on her feet but are fairly sure she will require more surgery before she can get around on her own. I have lost track of the number of doctors visits and prescriptions.

May also brought me to leaving National College after nearly 2 years when I couldn't take the underhanded treatment of the students any more. The people who were responsible for that have since left but since my position was filled I couldn't go back.

I was already to start the MAT program in the fall when 2 weeks before vacation I discovered that I needed to take a number of classes to get through the program before they would even consider me a part of the program. Of course, the class was not offered at Thomas More and one class would end up costing me over $1000 since I would have to take it over the summer in special session. To top it off, I would have to quit my job to do that since the class met 5 days a week. *sigh* They also informed me that I need to take the Praxis before I could start classes and it was only being offered (you guessed it) the weekend of vacation when I was in NY for our family reunion. I finally had had enough of the antics at TM and dropped out of the program. At 46, I think I am beyond juggling someone elses problems. If they had done what they were supposed to have done 2 years prior it would have been a different story.

We headed for reunion anticipating our usual 5 days of fun and that was shattered when my uncle was ordered to the hospital immediately the morning after we got there and was eventually diagnosed with leukemia. He and his family spent the rest of 2007 battling that and he is now officially in remission but in the process contracted pneumonia and had a heart attack. We are hopeful he is now on the mend as well.

September was the straw that I think finally broke the camels back. Tom's dad seemed to be losing ground very, very rapidly (just in a matter of weeks). He was having trouble walking, writing and finally quit eating. I took him to the hospital thinking that he had had a minor stroke and we discovered that he had metastatic lung cancer which had already spread to his brain. By the time we discovered it it was too late to do anything since his brain was riddled with tumors. He passed away 19 days later.

Tommy is now living with his grandmother trying to take care of her everyday needs and struggling with his own grief as well as hers. We are grateful that he is stationed with a unit in Maineville so he can be home most of the month to be there with her. We are now running 2 households since Lil has never paid a bill or grocery shopped. We hope to get her in a senior apartment of her own soon and get the house sold but the mortgage payment is so high that we are not sure we can do that.

The year ended with the death of my father's sister Mary on Christmas Eve. She was the last of my father's family. She died peacefully at home after a long illness but it is still hard knowing she is gone.

Time "off" is at a premium and we are trying hard some weeks to hold on to our sanity. Of course some will argue we do that anyway. :-)

We had some wonderful moments this year too. We gained a new cousin when Chris and Kryssa had Liliana and a new niece when Joe and Stephanie had Grace. I finally got to see my brother's baby in August (when he was 8 months old!), I didn't see nearly enough of him though! Nephew Dan got married on December 15 and we are glad to all Chelsea to the family. Niece Liz graduated from HS and moved back east to attend college at Kutztown State and seems to be happily settling in. Her brother Ryan has been in touch with her and we hope that soon he will be able to leave Montana as well.

Saying goodbye to 2007 was not much of a hardship at all. We are welcoming 2008 with open arms though.