New year, new lotta things....

2011 seemed to be the "culling" year....

Mom passed on, our friend Denise passed on and many friends mentioned deaths of close ones.
Sure, death is always happening somewhere, but it seemed to be concentrated in our community this last year.
Wow, cheery way to start a friendly blog message, eh?
In addition to loss comes other change....my old funky cell phone finally died, so I find myself trying to figure out my new iPhone in the new year.
My family made fun of my "old" computer on its last breath, so I am typing this message on my new laptop. (hey, the former was only 8 years old)
And my car was beginning to wheeze, so I find myself with a new (well, 2007) van--with heated seats. Wow. Now we're living it up. Part of the change I dreamed of was the seats that recede into the floor of the van. If you know me at all, you'll know I spend half my time getting those damned removable seats out of the van in order to pack my gear up for a show.....now I just have to flip seats into the floor.
Well, I'm still trying to speed up my process. Right now it takes me 20 minutes whilst my son is on the sidelines laughing for the umpteenth time at his non-techy Mom. Fine. Laugh away. I will be nice and comfortable in my heated seat, driving down the freeway on the way to my next gig. And my back won't be killing me..... :-)
So, with loss comes change and much of it good. Jodi and I lost Mom this year, but she left a little something to  provide help to cover the other "losses" I was experiencing. For the hundredth time my heart swells with a deep sense of gratefulness to Mom and Dad as I think about this.....and also realize that the universe, Holy Spirit, Allah--whatever name you want to put there, provides just what we need in the nick of time. If it doesn't seem so, then I'm guessing what you thought you needed wasn't what you needed in the first place.