Goodbye 2007, Hello 2008

So, this is the obligatory end of the year post.

This past year has been full of ups and downs. Here are the highlights:

*Lost my job at the daycare. As it turns out, it was a good thing. The stress of the daycare was getting to be way too much. I miss seeing the kids on a daily basis, though. But I still see the ones that I want to, such as Scott & Nathan (of course), Lucas, Mackenzie, Claire, Janie, and Ben. Christmas wasn’t the same this year without making a dozen handprint “holly” wreaths.

*Got a new job at the church. More money, benefits, better hours. I don’t have to worry about getting puked or pooped on. And, I get to use my degree for a change. The last few weeks have been incredibly busy and stressful, but now that Christmas is over, it should lighten up some. (Until the Lent/Easter season, which begins in 6 weeks).

*Went to Ireland, Scotland and England this summer. Life-changing trip. I am so proud to be Irish! Still can’t stop talking about my trip, it was that amazing. I am now ordering food off of FoodIreland.com, drinking my body weight in Earl Gray tea, and redecorated my living room in the English Manor style. Oh, and I met Orlando Bloom. Really, can’t find a negative to the trip…outside of the flight home. And the roads, which were incredibly narrow and scary to drive on.

*Love life is full of ups and downs. Men suck. I just don’t understand why they do the things they do sometimes. I need an owners’ manual. Or, maybe I should just start following the advice of my dear friend Joe, which is to throw rocks at them. And that they are all gay. I am ready to start throwing rocks at their heads. I am that frustrated!!

*Camp this year was amazing. It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times. Kids lives were changed. God was glorified. Oh, and I had the most incidents reported to the Regional office than any other camp that summer. My counselors and staff were great. Couldn’t ask for better. Ok, so maybe if I could convince Zach Alvey that throwing lightening bugs into fans is not a good FOB activity, it would be better. I already have my theme picked out for next summer.

*The kids are growing up fast. Barrett is now 7½ and is playing every sport possible, and kicking butt at all of them. Ella Marie will be 6 in a week and is in kindergarten, which totally blows my mind. I remember taking care of her as an infant! Clayton is 3½ and is completely insane. He is constantly cracking me up! Nathan is almost 5, and is getting to be such a little man. Scott (my Punky) is 2 and is becoming more and more an imp each time I see him. A new Goebel was born in November, Conner David. He is such a cutie! Julie does good work. He doesn’t do much right now but sleep, poop, eat and spit up.

*I am now officially in my 30s. This past summer, I turned 31. It sometimes doesn’t feel like it. At times, I feel like I am just out of college, ready for life to begin, and at other times, it seems like high school and college were 1000 years ago. This May will be my 10 year college reunion. It doesn’t seem possible.

*Friends have gotten engaged, married, and had babies this past year. At times, I feel like my life is on pause, waiting for the play button to get pushed. At other times, I love being single, and being able to just be “Randa”.


So what’s in store for 2008? According to my horoscope in my British edition of Cosmo, the biggest changes in a quarter of a century will happen this year. Whether or not that happens, there are a few things that I would like to do by the end of the year. I don’t want to call them resolutions, because resolutions are usually broken. I’ll call them goals for the year instead:

*Lose 15 pounds. If I can do that, I’ll be close to my high school/college weight again.

*Organize my closet. It’s such a mess right now. I have a really cute little black Gap skirt that I have been looking for for the last three weeks and still can’t find it anywhere.

*Raise the bar at camp this summer. I am hoping to write two curriculums instead of one, with a separate curriculum for boys and girls. I hope I can pull it off.

*Date a boy. It’s simple for most people, but if you know me at all, you know how hard this is for me.

*Own a piece of Burberry. I wanted to get one while in London, but ran out of pounds. London’s an expensive place, and the exchange rate is crap right now for us.

Last night, for New Years, when I finally went to bed, I slipped a piece of mistletoe under my pillow. According to Irish tradition, if a young lady sleeps with mistletoe under her pillow on New Years, she will dream of her future husband. I did dream of someone last night….so I guess I’ll have to wait and see…….hmmm………