New Year 2011

So - a new year has arrived and it is customary to review the old and plan ahead for the new.

As I think back on 2010, it was a good year for the most part. The highlight was the birth of Brooks Hamilton Pulsipher - #2 grandchild and #1 grandson - on December 1st. There is absolutely nothing better than grandchildren. Ashby is now 2 1/2 and is more fun every day. Brooks is so sweet and cuddly. Those two make the whole of life worthwhile!

We did a little traveling during the year. The two weeks in St. Augustine in July were the best. We are already looking forward to this year. I made it up to Iowa for my 45th class reunion and spent another week visiting with Billy and my dad. That was a lot of fun. We took a long weekend over Labor Day and went to the mountains in North Carolina with David, Lisa, and Ashby. That is always a relaxing trip.

We had some visits from friends that added some fun to our year: Connie & Jack (my college roommate) came through and spent a night with us. They were back in November for a conference and Connie and I got to spend a day together. Susan Allen and some of her kids were here in the spring and we spent an afternoon at St. Mountain with them; then she and David were back in the fall and we all went out to dinner. Billy spent the winter in Key West, so we had him before and after his trip down there. He also made it down for Thanksgiving and the birth of Brooks.

Church callings have kept us busy as well. Bill is serving in the bishopric so seems to be going to meetings all the time! I am still Stake Director of Public Affairs. I have had some busy times with that - day of service, news articles, community meetings, etc. I have felt discouraged with the calling, but am hanging in there. Maybe this will be the year that things really happen like they are supposed to. I have accepted and accomplished two different challenges to read the Book of Mormon this year - once in 90 days and once in 100 days. Next year, I am going to read the New Testament - slowly!

I haven't done much scrapbooking, but I did do some paintings for Brooks nursery. Lisa wanted four pictures of a train. Other than that, my only hobbies have been reading and genealogy. I have read or listened to 71 books in 2010. There were a lot that I really like and I gave them four stars. Only one book rated 5 stars, though, A Magnificent Catastrophe by Edward R Larson. I have them all listed on my site on Shelfari.com. I spent several months working on a family history of my Smith-Cleary line for a family reunion in the summer. It turned out pretty good, but I still have a question about one link and I will have to keep working on that in the new year since I can't seem to find the right information.

2011 promises to be a good year, too. We will spend as much time with the grandchildren as possible. Most Sundays we all get together for dinner, which will continue. We are looking forward to our two weeks in Florida. Plus, I will be having a week with my college roommates in the spring here in Atlanta. I hope to go to Iowa for at least a week sometime during the year. We are also supposed to have our reunion with the old Atlanta group of friends this fall - but that may be delayed until the next spring since one of the couples in currently on a mission in England. We also hope for a week in North Carolina in the fall.

I seem to have an aversion to making New Year's resolutions, so I am not doing any - just the general "have a good year."