...the road ahead

...so, another year well underway.  Just returned from a holiday jaunt.  Had the opportunity to spend some quality time with a dear friend during the trip.  This friend is always good at spurring thoughts about what I have done with my life up to this point and just what I shall do with the future.   She helps me to sort through regrets and happy memories.  She challenges me to think outside the box when I talk with her about dreams -- she's really good at getting me motivated to make those dreams the stuff of everyday life.  She helps me see that the ordinary is not always boring and when things look bleak, they are not so much so when put in perspective with all the other things going on around me.  She helps me to see some of the harsh truths regarding aspects of my life and is never slow to point out that there are just as many, if not more details to counter the harshness.  We used to do all this over tea and coffee at the kitchen table.  Since she has moved away, this is not possible.  But once or twice a year, I am privilaged to a visit at that very same table.  We pick up as if it were just a few hours ago that we had last sat over a cup.  This is certainly a mark of a good friendship. 
...I must admit that over this visit, nothing definite has come to light as to where this year's road might lead.  Some small details made themselves known -- a new faboo work out in a mag at the PT's office;  ideas for better eating habits, again from a "gift" mag her hubby brought back from GB; project ideas for knitting; renewed interest in modern arts from a visit to "the Dali"; thoughts on renewing friendship and relationships with our husbands and children and good friends...so many little things that will affect the big picture in some manner, I am sure.  ...looking forward to sharing the stories yet again at that table, but until then the cell and computer will have to do.