Mondo Beyondo

I feel a little cheeky cashing in on the 'New Year' theme again seeing as that was what my last post was about! However, I came across this blog and it prompted me: "The surest way to start fresh and move forward is to be at peace with what came before... My challenge for you is to answer the following questions and declare 2007 complete." I guess, before I can embrace the *new*, I must let go of the old... So here it goes:

1. What do you want to acknowledge yourself for in regard to 2007?
2007 was a big year, on so many levels. It's still hard to believe that at the start of the year we were settling in Australia, having just bought a house and started a business six months earlier; and by the end of the year we were back in England with a blank canvas! It was definitely one of the more challenging years, where I learnt big and expensive (on all levels!) lessons, but it was also the year I experienced first hand that saying, "This too shall pass". It was a powerful and humbling experience, to lose control over your life and have to give so much up to faith and hope. I feel happy and blessed that we got through it all.

2. What is there to grieve about 2007?

The whole Australia experience held a lot of disappointment. The picture above is of my mother when we first arrived in Australia. I love this picture. She looks happy. *Really* happy. Anyone who has met my mother will know that she is a complex woman and genuine happiness is not something that comes easily to her. It moved even further away after my father passed away at the end of 2004. So the move to Australia was about *new* beginnings. A fresh start to build new hopes and dreams... the promise of the Lucky Country. And we felt lucky. Port Macquarie was like paradise, and I think my mother's expression and pose on the photograph holds all that promises.

Then came the news: she wouldn't be allowed to apply for a permanent visa until I was granted mine - in 2 years time. The politics of it all is inconsequential here, but the devastation of hope that bombshell caused is immeasurable. My mother crumpled over night. In retrospect, HUGE careless errors were made because of our ridiculous rush to move our entire lives to the other side of the world. Mistakes that could and should have been avoided, so that now I cannot help but wonder if my impetuous actions played some part in the stroke she suffered less than a year later.

3. What else do you need to say about the year to declare it complete?

Despite the rollercoaster of trials and tribulations, there were good things that came out of the experience. We got to spend a precious 16 months with Cam's family and meet two new nephews. We realised how much we both loved England. We owned a Camper. We got Jake (our Jack Russell X)... the list goes on. So thank you 2007 for the journey you took me (us) on.

I declare 2007 complete and 2008 is my year of FOUNDATIONS.

{Mondo Beyondo rocks! And apparently Part II is coming soon! In the meantime, for other scribblings, go here}.