Ready or not, 2015 is almost here

whew.... where did 2014 go? On one hand, 2014 was a whirlwind; on the other, it took forever to get through 2014. The year was a big year--so many things happened. As we are nearing New Year's Eve, my mind wanders to a year ago. My dad was a few months into his battle to recover from surgery that was unsuccessful at removing the cancer from his kidney. Although the kidney was removed, the cancer had already spread. He was optimistic, as we all were, that the drug protocol was going to be effective. It would grant him more time on this earth. This time last year, I was trying to spend as much time with him as possible. I too was optimistic. But he never really got his strength back and ultimately lost his fight with renal cancer on May 4th, 2014. I will never forget that morning of his death. I kissed him on the forehead as he was dying in hospice and told him that Quinn and I were there and that it's ok to go--we will all be ok. He nodded ever so slightly. He heard me. I'll hang onto that moment for the rest of my life. Quinn still talks about "sick Grandpa", for the images of his Grandfather in hospice are forever imprinted in his mind. I'm sad that that's all he remembers of his Grandpa. He remembers the "sick Grandpa". I miss my Dad every day and, even though we were never together for Christmas, I particularly missed him. I kept thinking I had to call him, only to realize that there was to be no call. With sadness of losing Dad comes the excitement of moving into our new home--all of it happened at the same time. Our house in Littleton went on the market while Dad was entering hospice care. Fortunately, it sold in about 40 hours and the offer that came in was higher than asking price. Twenty days later, we turned the keys of our home for 9 years over to a young couple. Ten days after that, we closed on our home in Parker. I thought I would be sad to leave our home that we brought our son home in, that saw so much of our family through the years, but I really didn't look back. I was ready to move and very excited to move to Parker. And the move was everything I expected--life changing to be sure. My commute went from 1 3/4 hours to less than an hour, including dropping Quinn off at school. We found an amazing Montessori for Quinn. He is very happy there and feels safe and loved. He's working well above kindergarten level in math and science and is on par for pre-K in language and reading. And he's becoming ever more confident and secure in his school work. His teachers are amazing. Our Hillpark home is almost perfect. We love the neighborhood and love all the wildlife around us. Not a day goes by that we don't see the deer and we have a neighborhood fox that comes around a few times a week. I love Parker--I didn't think I would. But it has a small town charm to it that I don't feel anywhere else. The people are friendly and welcoming and it's very family oriented. I could not ask for a better place to live and raise our child. This year we also upgraded our RV--we traded our first RV in on a much bigger and luxurious model and really enjoyed it this year. We also joined a camping club that got us out camping and trying new places. I can see many years of camping in this RV as it's perfectly sized for us now and into the future. In August, we had our first family vacation since Quinn was born. We flew to San Diego and spent a week in La Jolla and surrounding areas. Quinn and Mike both loved the beaches and could easily live in an area with beaches; Mike continues to convince me to find a job in California. Quinn did great on his first plane ride, although felt his motion sickness on the trip home. Quinn still talks about his week in San Diego. He loved everything about the trip! As the summer came to a close and winter was knocking on the door, a nosebleed from Abby sent us flying to the emergency vet, only to find out nothing about the nosebleed but to get the news that Abby was in congestive heart failure. She is now on a cocktail of meds that are keeping her in surprisingly great shape. As 2014 closes, we are looking forward to 2015. Right now life is good, but we all know that life will turn on you in a blink of an eye. So embrace today, look forward to tomorrow, don't have regrets for yesterday. Happy New Year!