Christmas is difficult for many reasons. (Three in particular.) But I have many blessings in my life. 
Caring, thoughtful, kind friends and neighbors. Because of them the distance between those three and me closes every day. The path in front of me is now not paved with pipe dreams but with solid, concrete steps, each worthy in their own right; yet each one also opens at least one more door.
The trick is work. Discipline. Commitment. Planning.
You know, my strong suit. 
The shocking part is how far I’ve come over the past several months in finally translating abstract, aspirational ideas into real, tangible action. Starting slowly, one task at a time, bit by bit, those actions have begun to bear fruit, offering more opportunities than I ever imagined, as well as more necessity – but also more motivation – for even more discipline.
“Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” —Thomas Edison
Without Batmish; without Dak, I couldn’t have made it here.
Where is here? Here is this path, laid out in front of me — no acrobatics or magic tricks required — putting one foot in front of the other does the trick. 
What is required is, quite simply, work. It just took a long damn time to be able to see which direction I needed to be going and then more time trying to find an on-ramp. Now, I don’t know what will come of this. I can only work harder than I’ve ever worked with more dedication and determination than I have for any other endeavor in my lifetime. That, I have control over. And before you judge my penchant for free-flowing, impulsive and unharnessed bursts of random creativity lacking focus and follow through, it’s worth pointing out that when I have made up my mind like this in the past, I’ve had some stellar successes. A good example is the first years of the girls’ lives: I worked, excelled in college, and was deeply and passionately engaged in lots of community organizations, all while managing to be a involved, loving, and surprisingly good mother, and I did it by exercising extraordinary discipline, planning and commitment because I knew I must in order to accomplish the goals I had set my mind to accomplishing.
When a realistic, obtainable, and life-altering opportunity is in front of me, and the difference between success and failure is dependent on how hard I work and how much I’m willing to sacrifice, everything changes. In school I consistently made the best grades in the hardest subjects with the toughest instructors and had difficulty in the boring, easy courses.
“I’ll study. Get ready. And then the chance will come.” —Abraham Lincoln
I had a good day. And I expect a good year. Thank you, my friends. Merry Christmas. (And thanks for not requiring me to wear the elf hat this year.🎄)
It really was nice having ya’ll here.😉 And Batmish, you outdid yourself.
serene 