Beginning a New Year...

As 2012 comes to a close, I find myself looking back over the past year. Exactly one year ago, I sat in a hospital room looking at my daughter, Brittany hooked up to an IV and all sorts of machines. We were ringing in the New Year praying that my grandbaby would not arrive at 24 weeks. Lilly made her way into the world on her due date in April. After spending a month in the hospitals we found out she has Septo-optic dysplasia. Part of her brain was malformed which causes her pituitary gland to function incorrectly and also causes her to be blind. That month was one of the happiest times in my life and also one of the saddest times. Lilly is the absolute joy of my life. I never thought for one moment that becoming a grandmother would be this satisfying and rewarding. I love her beyond words.

Lilly Ryan

Many other things have happened in 2012 to change my life. One of them has led me to this journey of 'Moving Me'. For the first time in 23 years I am on my own... in a way. My husband, Jim has purchased a house for our retirement in another state. He is busy working on fixing it up. He suffers from Lyme Disease so the process is slow going. He is currently living in the house as he fixes it up. I remained behind. So begins my journey...

I am a teacher, a student, and an artist. With family, work, and schooling, I have forgotten about myself. I have let myself go. The only time I work on my art is while I'm teaching it to my students and that is not being creative for myself, it's just work! So as I begin this trip, I want to find myself again. I'm not exactly sure what this blog will involve but along the way I hope to move to a better person and find the true me.

Some of the things I find interesting so far: sleeping alone in a king sized bed, being able to watch what I want on the TV without interruptions, and going where I want to go with out arguments, groans, or discussions.

My plan: to write, draw, paint, create, sew, cook, lose weight, exercise. I know I put cook and lose weight together. I want to cook at home more instead of going out to eat. I plan to change one thing every week to improve 'me'.

So January 1 starts day one of 365 days of "Moving Me" towards a better, happier me.

KK