NEW YEAR'S EVE 2016

Here we are at the last day of 2016.  How did that happen?  Maybe it's because I am not working, but it doesn't feel like New Year's Eve.  Just as it didn't feel like Christmas or my birthday.  I guess it really does take an entire year to get used to being retired.  One year ago today was my last day of work.  And what a year it has been.  So much has happened.

January began with the sign at church being defaced with graffiti.  New Year's Day we are standing over at church with police making a report.  What a way to start the year!  The second day was better as Joe and I met my brother Larry and sister-in-law Kim to celebrate our birthdays in Lancaster County.  I also went to the first of many funerals -- my friend Bernadette.  A few days later it was a funeral for my friend Ada.  New next door neighbors moved in during January also.  And we had our first major snow storm of the season.

February I celebrated Chinese New Year (the Year of the Monkey), Valentine's Day, attended a Friendship Feast at church and then Joe and I flew to Tennessee for the funeral of his ex-wife.  We had a chance to stay with his son, D.J., and explore a little of the area.  We both fell in love with the Walmart there and bought so much we had to buy another suitcase to bring it all home.

Easter came in March.  We still had no pastor at church but Elder Sean did a fantastic job for us.  We couldn't have gotten through the year without him.  My sister wasn't able to come down so for the first time in many years we weren't able to spend Easter together.  But Joe and I went out to eat with our friends Walt and Carole.  And then the pipe in the bathroom broke.  😕

April brought the closing of the Tacony Branch of the library where I got my start -- my first library card at age 6, my volunteer career and my first paid library job.  It will reopen in a couple of years bigger and better than ever.  We had a huge wind storm right before Villanova won the NCAA Championship.  We didn't have much snow all winter, but we had it in April.  When that left I started my garden.  Can't wait to get back to it with the warm Spring weather.  But the most memorable thing that happened was going to the Annual Conference at Pinebrook.  What a wonderful time that was.

May brought another funeral, that of our Deacon Ed.  Funeral number 4 was another sad one.  Ed was Joe's first friend when he came to our church and his best friend for many years.  We had our first annual Ladies' Brunch at church.  I'm looking forward to this year's.  We also celebrated Joe's birthday, had a cookout at my sister's house on the Saturday before Memorial Day and watched our neighborhood parade on Memorial Day itself.

On to June.  It was time for the first annual Men's Breakfast.  If ladies have brunch, you know men have to have a breakfast.  This is going to turn into an annual thing.  I'm already making plans for this year.  I went to my friend and former supervisor Donna's birthday party.

July we went to Lancaster County to celebrate my sister's birthday.  It was good to get away.

August had another funeral.  This one was for my former supervisor Marian.  So many deaths this year.  We had a work week at church and ended the week with a family reunion where I got to meet up with my siblings and cousins.  I didn't want to go, but it turned out to be a lot of fun.  We got a new pastor at church and Joe and I along with Pastor Ralph and his wife Carolyn did a ministry opportunity night at a local Christian college hoping to get students to help us start a youth ministry.

I celebrated the first day of September on the second day because I had thrown my back out.  Ouch!  We had T-shirt Sunday at church on Labor Day weekend.  Then a couple of weeks later Joe and I celebrated our tenth wedding anniversary.  We went to see the show "Samson" and stayed overnight in Lancaster County.  We renewed our vows with the pastor who married us and on the same day installed our new pastor. 

October was a slow month... finally.  We celebrated Reformation Sunday and Halloween and I decorated for the fall.

November I went to a retirement party for my former co-worker Wil.  It seems like we are all retiring around the same time.  We had our annual Pie and Praise at church.  Thanksgiving was celebrated at Elaine's house and was a lot of fun.

December, of course, was all about Christmas and my birthday.  And that brings us to today and New Year's Eve.  What a year it has been!

Tonight we are going to an open house at the Parsonage given by Pastor Ralph and Carolyn.  We are going early, though, because I don't like driving on New Year's Eve.  When we get home I have Robin Roberts' two specials recorded for us to watch.  We don't always stay up for midnight, but I hope to this year.  We will see how tired we are.

So year one of retirement is now under my belt.  I think I know how this works now, so hopefully year two will be even better.

Joe and I wish you all a Happy and Healthy New Year.  Be safe!  See you in 2017.

Kathy

Sunrise:  7:22 a.m.

Sunset:  4:46 p.m.

9 hours and 24 minutes of daylight

 Cloudy
Temperatures:  44*/39*