Here We Go Again!!!!

I started this blog with the best of intentions but then life happened and it happened big time.  July started with a cold and ended with a cough. Thankfully I'm the only who got sick.  Then in August my mother passed away. While we knew the end was near and that she had been dying for years, it was very difficult.  So I spent two weeks in Ohio  only to return to fall down concrete stairs and injure my ankle. It took about two months before I could bend my toes and another month before they would stay down.  During this time I was also dealing with some other personal issues.

Then December arrived and we had an a great month. My favorite Christmas tradition on our base is the arrival of Santa Claus. One lucky pilot gets to pick up and deliver Santa to the kids Christmas party.  It is so much fun watching all the children as the helicopter circles over head before he lands. This year Santa stepped off the helicopter sporting his traditional red jacket, swim trunks and flip flops. While I didn't get a good picture of Santa, I did catch the helicopter landing with the big guy.

Our family had been saving and working hard to go to Walt Disney World totally debt free. We had a blast! Ten days at the happiest place on Earth was exactly what we needed after the previous months.   Not only did we have a great time but we managed to stay in our budget and return home still debt free.   We did use some money I inherited from my mom to join the Disney Vacation Club so we will be returning and returning and returning.

Then Christmas Eve arrived and it was typical island style. Five houses on base lost power and we were one of them.  The house next to us was empty and still had power so we ran extension cords to light the tree and to run the refrigerator and air conditioners.  Then the following morning we borrowed the oven to make our Christmas breakfast. We counted our blessing, opened presents and enjoyed celebrating the birth of our Saviour.

To summarize what our family learned in the past 6 months is that you can plan, work and save for a fun debt free family vacation. People get sick and most get well. Sadly, some die and we feel a tremendous loss.  If the worse thing that happens to you on Christmas is that you lose your power then you are truly blessed. 

So what now? My plan is to spend the next few days catching up on our January and then hopefully keep this blog up to date.