Bye Bye Number Nine

I can't say I am sorry to say goodbye to 2009. It's been quite a year.

On the really good side, Older Daughter graduated from Tennessee Tech with a degree in Political Science. Anyone have a job for her? We sure would love to see her out of retail, but feel grateful that she is employed.

Also on the good side were two spectacular visits with Younger Daughter. She made the trip down for her sisser's graduation in May and we had a great visit with her in July for her birthday. On the down side? She had to cancel her Thanksgiving trip yet again. Maybe Christmas in 2010? Younger Daughter is also working towards her degree. It's a long haul when you are working full time and carrying a lot of credit hours. Younger daughter also puts in time and effort fighting rheumatoid arthritis. Not only for herself, but helping to raise money to combat this horrible disease.

Dear Husband's father is still hanging in there. One of the best moves we made was bringing him down to Tennessee with us in 2007. The assisted living facility he is in has about 40 other permanent residents and he is a favorite of caretakers. He participates in exercise classes and plays bingo! They have some of the weirdest prizes I've ever seen - and believe me a lot of them end up here.

Weather has played a large part in the Tennessee economy over the last three years. Two years of drought followed by almost record-setting precipitation has hit the Farmer's hard. There have been plant closures over the last three years also and one of our neighbors makes the 40 mile trip to Crossville five days a week.

Some businesses thrive while others struggle to get off the ground. There is an old ice cream parlor in town which was briefly open last year, the owner became ill and had to sell out. A new bakery was set to move into the site and that effort seems to have stalled.

And our National Guard Unit, the 278th Armored Cavalry, is on it's way to Iraq again, in what we hope is their last deployment there. They shipped down to Mississippi in early December and before they even left, fundraising began here to bring them home for Christmas. They shipped back down to Mississippi yesterday. Since a huge majority are from Tennessee, their deployment leaves a huge hole in the middle Tennessee area.

2009 has had its ups and its downs and all I can say is goodbye!