the year of the rat

2008 is the year of the rat, a year of opportunities, of socialization and tending to the family. the year of the rat is a time for preparation, for organization.
this year there will be numerous changes for our little family. jason and i both started new part-time jobs this week and hopefully better opportunities loom on the horizon. we are moving and then in a few months, we plan to move again. to someplace not in florida or japan (though, of course, if something opened up there...). i'm enrolling sebastian in a pre-k and we now intend to send him to kindergarden in the fall. it seems only fair to him since we can't focus on homeschooling at this time with all the other changes occurring. jason might go to a school that he has been longing to go to. i might go to grad school, i might pursue some other route. the details aren't clear but what is obvious is that this is a year we are taking by the horns (or perhaps the tail?). 2007 was a year of meditation, of sorting through the possibilities. we enter the new year lighter and determined, with solid goals and the strength to work towards them.
instead of resolutions, we are adopting the suggestions from the back of a calendar that we were lucky enough to receive from our local and tiny japanese market. each month has some wise truism, like this month's "an investment in knowledge always pays the best interest". words to live by. (that doesn't seem flaky, does it? well, you should click on the image and you too will wish you had such a handy calendar on your wall.)



p.s. hey heather and family! i've been trying to get in touch with you! please email me asap! xo