Where to begin?

I guess I will begin where I left off. Yep, I was hacked. I got a sudden surge of calls from people who care about me, and people who barely know me asking if I was ok. Of course I am ok! Why? Oh, I just got an e-mail or an IM saying you and the kids are in London, you have been robbed at gunpoint, and need money to get home. Nope, I am here, no worries. This is a nasty little huge scam wherein an account of yours is compromised (in this case I believe it was Facebook) and from there the hackers can access all account tied to that account. I had two emails tied to my Facebook, and they got into both. They change your password so you can not get in, and in some cases you can not change it back for 24 hours. This gives them plenty of time to contact every. single. person. you. have. ever. emailed. or. has. emailed. you. and ask them for money. Embarrassing, to say the least. Luckily I have smart and savvy friends who knew better. Pfft, I would totally go to Ireland if given the chance to travel abroad! Anyway, I also had to move the blog, as you know. And it is still in need of decoration. (Update, I did some Christmas decorating. You like?) But things just kept happening, as they often do.

Last Tuesday, I answered the phone early in the morning to hear my exhausted and heartbroken stepmom tell me that my dad is gone. At first, I was matter-of-fact. I asked the particulars, learned what his final wishes were and told her how grateful I am to her for taking loving care of him. My dad did not want a funeral, he always thought they were just awful. We had our goodbye here in July. He was cremated, and will be released on the beautiful Oregon coast. That he chose this place and not his beloved desert means so much to me, some of my most treasured memories are of our time spent in Florence and I feel much more connected knowing he will be there. My dad was not in my life much growing up, but he was there to teach me how to ride a bike in Tennessee when I was nine. He was there when I discovered boys, and scared most of them off. (I now thank him for that.) He was there when I got married in Arizona at...um, too young. He has been in our lives for over a decade now, regularly. The moments we had in my life were too few, but very precious. Forgiveness is a gift. In fact, it is necessary. So once it sank in for a few minutes, I went upstairs and woke Pat and cried in his arms for what seemed like forever. The kids, well I have talked about the year they have had. This was another huge loss for them. Baby steps. One day at a time.

Thanksgiving morning I was dealt another huge blow. Someone who is so very dear to me, in fact someone I have for years called my hero died last Monday from pancreatic cancer. Mike will have a post dedicated to him soon, my story with Mike is long and deserves its own time and place. We never met in person, which I regret. Throwing my arms around his neck, kissing his cheek and thanking him in person is something that was on my bucket list.

Thanksgiving itself was lovely! It was definitely different, in that it was the first year of our marriage we have not spent with the entire family. It's a weird year, having lost my father-in-law in July, and I think some of us aren't quite sure what to on days that have always centered around family and tradition. But we all have families of our own now, and it is good to make our own traditions too. Cooking for 7 instead of 16 or more was actually a challenge, I kept feeling like I was missing or forgetting something!

And now...well Christmas is coming you know! We have already put up the tree. It is very early for us, but we realized we are trying our best to kick 2009 out the door as fast as we can. But as we enter the season of joy and peace, I intend to focus on just that as much as possible. As much heartache as we have faced this year, it pales in comparison to the abundance of blessings and love we have received this year and all the years prior. These gifts sustain us and encourage us to get up every day and keep living life. I wish all of you the same.