Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Looking Back over 2006

2006 has been a good year, I think. Let's see...

Looking Back

Looking back over this year, I think I am a blessed man. Cathy loves me; my lovely wife sent me flowers on our anniversary, and she hid a card for me (that I found months later). She survived the Hepatitis-C treatments, I remodeled an apartment, and we moved again (from apartment #2 to #1).

I also became a pastoral intern, got a laptop upgrade, a newer camera, and a Pocket PC (each at little or no cost to me). We visited Las Vegas, Seaworld, and (soon) Disneyland.

When it comes to family, we raised several kittens, kept one, and also had a new nephew born to us. Dad got hit by a car but survived (thank you, Lord). Life is generally very good, with a few bumps along the way, I think.

On the "maybe not so surprising" side, I never did watch "The Da Vinci Code" and none of my family (including extended family) owns an iPod.

Presently

Cathy is doing well. She got a MRI on 12/21/2006 and we should get results any day now; the test is to determine, in part, whether Cathy has signs of damage due to MS (multiple sclerosis). In general, she's gotten accustomed to the dietary requirements and enjoys relatively good health. It is true that her energy levels are lower and get depleted quicker than before, but we've made enough changes in our life to minimze the impact of such changes. The biggest thing is just going to bed earlier.

I am doing well, as well. I've got some aches from the continuous stress on my body from all the stuff I am engaged in, but God has been gracious and sustains me. It will actually be a relief to work full-time and take 9 units compared to what last semester was like!

I'm almost completely done with the remodel - I just have to finish the closets and get the carpets cleaned. I'm quite pleased with the job I've done; I've learned more than I bargained for, but the results were satisfactory. Whenever I wanted to quit, I tried to recall the verse that says "do everything as unto the Lord" and ask myself if I would ask Jesus to live here. Of course, if it were Jesus, I'd ask for some carpentry tips, especially with those doors... anyway, I've only got some closet doors to hang, and some smoke alarm batteries to replace, and I'm done.

We did get an excellent family as new tenants. This family is from our church and attends (both husband and wife) the same seminary I attend. They have a new baby and an indoor cat. He's in the Army National Guard and served in Iraq. She was in my small group over the summer. Amazing stuff, how God works.

I didn't send out Christmas cards this year, either. *sigh* I did call Taiwan and a few domestic family members, but basically we had a quiet Christmas at home. This year, everybody got See's Candy and gift cards. Oh, and Cathy got a new kitten, Boaz.

The week after Christmas is action-packed, though. There's work, as usual, then a day at Disneyland on Thursday (12/28), Seaworld on Saturday (12/30) and a family gathering on New Year's Eve.

Looking Forward

I should graduate in 2007. I've got 6 selective units to take, and several required courses before my graduation. I'm cramming in three elective units into the month of Janurary (Winter interterm), then another three-unit elective over the Summer interterm session. For the Spring inbetween, I'll have four classes during for a total of nine units (one class is zero units, go figure). For Fall, I only have a single Hebrew class to complete, and I'll graduate in December! Looking forward to that...

Cathy & I have been married going on ten years, now. I've got about two months to find a nice anniversary ring for Cathy. This is a big one, and I need to make a big deal about it... so I could use any ideas that you may have to contribute.

2 comments:

  1. Got the results from the MRI today, and they are "normal" (whatever that means). Cathy is supposed to see a doctor in January to go over the MRI results.

    I suppose "abnormal" would be bad; so far so good.

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  2. I enjoyed this post. (Not to say I don't enjoy your others - I just liked the whole "Jones family overview" thing.) :)

    As far as anniversary gift recommendations go, our family has an EXCELLENT jeweler we work with. He can do custom pieces or you can choose from his large inventory of beautiful stuff. His name is Razmik and he's at the Upland Jewelry Mart at Mountain and the 10 fwy. He has great prices and if you mention that my mom referred you, you'll probably get some kind of preferential treatment. :) She's gotten ALL her jewelry from him (as have I) and she's referred loads of people, so I think he likes her a lot. Anywho... hope that's helpful. :)

    Oh, one other thing about jewelry... But I'll email it to you. Does Cathy read your blog?

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