We started off the year with the passing of my wonderful fiancé's great-grandmother, whom he loved dearly. And let me tell you, she was a fabulous lady. Even in her 80s, she insisted on mowing her own yard. She also made a killer batch of party mix that none of the family has quite mastered. I miss visiting her, but I know my fiancé misses her more.
We also lost our sweet kitty Luna, but subsequently took in our big orange baby, Tibbot. We don't know what life would be like without him.
In March, my first freelance articles appeared in print, and I realized that I didn't waste a lot of time and money on a worthless degree.
In April, I threw my grandmother a surprise 70th birthday party under the guise of a family Easter get-together. I had my whole family in on it and started planning a year in advance, so I was surprised that she didn't figure it out beforehand.
That same day, however, my cousin passed away. He had been sick for a while, but I don't think that ever makes it easier. I still miss the way he used to pick on me.
In May, my little cousin was born, the first girl in our family in about 14 years. Also, after seven long years of waiting, my wonderful boyfriend finally became my wonderful fiancé.
In June, my fiancé lost another very special person, his mom. She hadn't let anyone know how bad her cancer was, so it came as a total shock. We miss her so much, but I feel like she sends little signs that she is still around, like the pink rose that bloomed at my house on her birthday in November (she passed away from breast cancer), or the first snow we've had on Christmas Day in decades (she loved snow).
In October, I got the chance of a lifetime to work for the publishing company I had been freelancing for. It involved moving three hours from home, but it was too good an opportunity to pass up. Before I could move, however, I ended up in the emergency room with a kidney stone and learned that I only had one kidney. During surgery to remove the stone and few others still in my kidney (they don't like to let single-kidney patients pass them on their own), the doctor discovered that I'd never had a kidney because I didn't even have an opening for a right ureter. Funny thing is, lots of people only have one kidney; usually, though, they're missing the left kidney instead of the right one. That put me down for a couple weeks, but I finally got my strength up to move and start my new job. I also brought home little Oscar to keep Tibbot company. Needless to say, our lives are never boring.
What's left for 2011? Well, I will finally become Mrs. Coleman. Apart from that, I have no clue. Here's hoping for bigger and better things in 2011. If New Year's was any indication, it should be an amazing year!
