It's hard to believe, it's not hard to believe, that I made less than a dozen posts in 2017. 2017 has been hard. 2016 seems better in comparison! Since April a number of things have happened - I adopted four budgies, I came down with bronchitis, a family member was diagnosed with intestinal cancer, my bronchitis marched on, one of the adopted budgies passed away while at the vet, my family member successfully had their surgery, one of the other new budgies came down with something that I spent all of August and $800 treating, September was...OK somehow...no September was not OK, one of my co-workers died from a heart attack. October looked like it was going to be OK, but I have spent the first seven days of it with a nasty cold that feels like I have bronchitis all over again!
A lot of this stuff sapped not only my regular energy but my creative energy. It's easy to say "Go with the flow" or "Roll with the punches", but it's not so easy when so many things punch you down. This summer was one continual stream of wake up calls that caused me to re-examine a lot of things in my life. The past few months have reminded me how little control we have. We like to think we're in control, but wow, we sure are not! It seems like the only things I can control are getting out of bed every morning and going to work. Or, as in the case of the last week, not going to work.
Usually I'm not such a downer, but as Thanksgiving comes around this weekend, it's a timely reminder of all the things that I can be thankful for - a safe home, a loving family and husband, a cranky teenage cockatiel, dental benefits and just living in a city that is safe. Gratitude - truly a skill that can be taken for granted. I wish all my friends and readers a lovely Thanksgiving if you are Canadian - and a lovely weekend if you are not.