Gratitude List for 2009 with a Travel Theme

Every year when I make my New Year’s Day list of resolutions, I review what I am grateful for from the past year… This year I wrote my list while I sat on the beach so for the most part our travels came up because that was my current frame of mind but I am positive that I have other thoughts as well, if I took the time to think them through. The key word for me is “time.” I haven’t taken time to keep my blog current because in my current non-tenured state at work, I have had to focus my time on writing articles for an academic audience; peer-reviewed articles. Yet I realized at the beach that I still want to express myself in my blogs so I am working on my schedule so that I make the time to write from my heart.
So here is this is what came to mind on the bright sunny day in Southern California; there is definitely a travel theme:

I began and ended 2009 in Newport Beach, CA… When I am there, it isn’t about anyone else. I don’t even care if I don’t meet the financial or beauty standards of the community. I’m not there to impress anyone or even try to fit in.  It is just about me and time to walk and walk and walk; time to just breathe – big deep, fulfilling volumes of sea air. Another location might be just as nice; M and I have enjoyed beaches to the north as well… this one just happens to be easier for us to get to from the airport.  I am sure there are other beaches that I could love just as much; this is just one that over the past sixteen years I have come to know.  Familiarity and routine eases any travel anxiety when one is as busy as I am and just wants a break from stress. When the children were little, we went to Laguna Beach more and I loved it there too; but over time, we have gravitated to this area since it was so close to our favorite airport.  I just have come to know that like many others, I am a beach person ironically living in a mountain state. I love the mountains too and appreciate the scent of pine trees and the sound of water racing over rocks, but it is at the ocean that I feel most at home.  It is the sound of the surf that silences my analytical mind which otherwise chatters at me non-stop and the scent of the sea air that I breathe in deep.
 
2009 was a year with a lot of growth; the kind of harsh, edgy growth that doesn’t always make sense when you’re in the middle of it. Our winter was long and in some ways it felt like it lasted into summer due to a situation we had to work through with D; but when we came out on the other side of the process; I was grateful for two wonderful people who loved D just as he was; didn’t judge him for his autism; and taught us all a lot in the process. 

In June, I traveled w/ my family and parents to Rome the week after M officially retired; we dined outside every night  and each afternoon M, K, and I would sit in Piazza -- Campo De’ Fiori to people watch and soak up the atmosphere. On the first full day in Rome, my parents wanted to find a restaurant they had eaten at years ago: Osteria Del Gallo just down an alley from Piazza Novana.  After about 45 minutes of wandering about cobblestone alleys lost, we finally found it and realized how close it was to the piazza all along. We loved it so much we came back a few more times over the course of our week in Rome. I still miss the homemade risotto, gnocchi, and fresh wine that we had a various places on the trip. For Christmas, I made a photo album of the trip so that our memories could be reviewed as often as we liked; whenever we want a smile.

At the beginning of July, I explored Chicago on my own for the first time during a conference and met up with my aunt and uncle for a great dinner at a fabulous restaurant while I was there. I wish the evening could have lasted longer. It was the highlight of the trip.
An almost highlight of the Chicago conference was meeting a young adult author who said she would be coming to Boulder to do research and would call me to again more insight about the area. Like a naïve teenager, I actually believed her, but in the end, she never called so I felt silly for thinking she really would.  I still enjoyed the authors I met at the conference and discovered a lot of great books.

I also traveled w/ M and D to New Orleans for the first time; stayed in an old hotel in the French Quarters and the next morning enjoyed the moment when a jazz saxophone player played a song for D in an open courtyard. I was also grateful to find one of the best crab cake salads I’ve ever had at the Crescent City Brewery. It was wonderful to find food that wasn’t fried!

Spent time extended Summers’ family this summer in Gulf Shores, Alabama for the first time; loved the garden-fresh vegetables and fresh eggs that B brought with her and the fresh gulf shrimp she picked up along the way. Loved getting to just talk and spend time with family.

Even celebrated my birthday in Newport Beach and “crashed” our friends’ summer party while we were there for the weekend.

Traveled to Charlotte, North Carolina for the first time this autumn – there is this quaint park across from the Convention Center: The Green; two bronze book statues mark the entrance and along the brick path are poems written by young adults engraved into metal tablets among other whimsical items.

In 2009, I was also fortunate to spend two weekends with K in Boston – one in the spring at the end of her freshman year; and one weekend in the fall at the beginning of her sophomore year. I am grateful that the ache of missing her has become more manageable over time and that M’s retirement will help us to get there to see her more often. I am grateful for our time together and grateful for the Web 2.0 tools that allow us to commute regularly when we can’t be together. Taught two of my favorite classes this past summer and fall: Qualitative research (online for the first time) and Advanced qualitative research; in both classes I met wonderful students whom I will miss dearly and am grateful that I will continue to work with a few through their dissertations! I loved, loved, loved the teaching experiences in an area that I am passionate about.

I also published two articles with a few  more possibilities in the pipeline…which will help me with my job… Then, in December I had the experience of hooding my doctoral student at graduation and remembering my own graduation six years ago when my husband rented a limo for the celebratory ride… 

Last but not least, I spent the week after Xmas at a beautiful one-bedroom cottage in NP with M, K, and D. The remodeled 1930’s house was located on one of the harbor canals and just a couple of blocks from the beach. The owners were very personable and we felt like we were staying at their home instead of a rental. Every afternoon I sat in the sun in our backyard court yard listening to the fountain that sat in the corner of the Mediterranean-style patio. Each day we would take a Duffy boat ride sometimes during the day to see the beautiful homes on the harbor and sometimes at night to see the colored Christmas lights on the spectacular homes. Then, every evening we sat by the fire pit and talk and every morning I would run along the beach or take a reflective walk with K. In the end it was such a peaceful way to bring 2009 to a close. 

I am grateful for all I learned in 2009 and look forward to the new discoveries of 2010 and hope to share more in the new year and live each day in a state of meaningfulness.