Month End Musings ~ January 2009 . . .

I came up with the idea of "Month End Musings" so that at the end of every month I could post snippets of things (ideas, observations, questions, thoughts, updates) which were not meaty enough for full-blown postings.
January turned out to be a bittersweet month. It began very nicely with a lunch in my honor to celebrate my having received (in December) the outstanding staff award at the University. At the lunch (attended by all but one of the faculty members who nominated me and two friends), I was given a beautiful hardbound book which included the criteria for the award, the letters of nomination submitted on my behalf, and many photos. I was touched beyond words and will treasure it always.

Continuing with the sweet was the reserved parking space I received as part of the award. And how sweet it is!

The inauguration of President Obama - How sweet it was!

The dismantling of Christmas continued throughout the month and is almost complete. In the meantime, I was able to keep the holiday alive by finally uploading ALL the Christmas decoration photos fit to print. The complete album (best viewed as a slide show or in the grid format) may be found at:

http://s431.photobucket.com/albums/qq37/Sandy4663/Holidays/Christmas%20Decorations/Holiday%20Decorations%202008/

It turns out the Green Statue of Liberty I mentioned in an earlier post is promoting Liberty Income Tax Service and not hawking pizza after all!

While January started out very nicely, it ended on a sad note for our family. My beloved Cousin Mike died somewhat suddenly and unexpectedly on January 28. Rest in peace, Mikey.

Here's hoping for a better February.