Today is back to everything day. Back to school, back to work, back to the business of life. From the time I was in grade school, I inevitably became depressed at this time.

I was born in December, and it is by far my favorite month of the year:

1. Week 1-my birthday
2. Week 2-my brother’s birthday
3. Week 3-my other brother and sister-in-love’s wedding anniversary
4. Week 4-Christmas
5. Week 5-New Year’s Eve

It is party, party,party all month long and I love it! Think about it…a reason to have a piece of cake every week for 5 weeks.  Woo hoo!

And then comes January. Blah! There’s an 11 month wait for December. I would trudge back to school or back to work, pressing down and hiding, as well as I could, the depression that threatened to engulf me. And the only way I could pull myself out of the deep was to find the next thing to look forward to, like maybe, Valentine’s Day.

All that to say that in my second January of retirement, guess what? No depression! Total shock right? 😉 I have time to write. I have time to be purposeful about walking more without taking time away from my desk. I have time to research for our trip to Disneyland Paris next year (Yes! I can finally say next year, as we go in 2018. [Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.]) I have time to listen to David Suchet (my favorite Monsieur Poirot) narrate the Bible in a One Year through the Bible program.  You can google it at “David Suchet Reads the Bible.”  But I just downloaded the app on my i-Phone and I’m digging it at just 3 days in. I have time to think about what I want the rest of my life to be. I want to finish strong whether it’s tomorrow, 5 years from now or umpteen years from now.

So here’s to us. May 2017 be a year of love, healthy challenges and standing up for those who can’t. Thanks for reading, Dear Readers, Dear Friends! I got nothin’ but love for ya!

Donna

PS: Thank you to all my friends and family who made this year’s Christmas and New Year’s celebrations truly blessed, and magnificent. And thank you to the King of kings for his unconditional love and self-sacrifice.  God is good all the time!