Happy New Year! … on this last day of yet another decade. I’m looking forward to more good things in the decade to come.

It’s amazing, when I can look back over the last ten years and feel nothing but gratitude. Especially while remembering the angst we all experienced entering a new millennium two decades ago. Y2K. Seriously, many of us were gearing up for the apocalypse. I think the last two decades seem sweeter because of angst that didn’t materialize.

The largest unsettling issue was related to computer systems. If operating systems failed, unable to roll with the new multi-digit date of 2000, the world would come to a stand still. Planes would fall out of the sky, vehicle engines would turn off mid journey, electrical grids would shut down, and commerce would come to a halt.  People were preparing for the worst, stock piling food, water, and probably, currency.

Credit: A Time magazine cover found on a Google search of Y2K

1999 was a tough year, living with uncertainty. You can imagine the immense relief we felt when the clock quietly rolled around to 12.01am January 01, 2000 and nothing drastic happened.

The only problem left was to figure out what to do with a three year supply of canned food and water.

I think for many of us New Years Eve 2000 was the best one ever. My mother (if she were still alive today) would probably disagree. She would be thinking January 01, 1946 (with the end of World War Two) was the best New Years Eve ever. She would probably be right, when I stop to think about it.

Remembering those special times gives me hope. As humans, we tend to face up to tough situations when they happen, looking for a way to escape, survive, live through it. Thinking back over my lifetime and the amazing advances we’ve seen in technology; it’s clear that the capability of the human brain is mind blowing. Whatever problem we ever face, there is always someone who will have a solution. Brilliant minds are unable to resist the challenge in the words, It’s impossible, it can’t be done.  They jump into the task quietly shouting, Oh Yeah? just watch me!

Thinking back on rough times reminds me of the angst the world was feeling in my mid-teen years. Bullies were the threat in those days. The cold war was happening between Russia and the rest of the world. The adults in my life were convinced the Russians were plotting to invade us, World War Three was going to happen, and the earth would be destroyed. Soon. Be ready! Those were the days of well stocked and outfitted bomb shelters. If we look hard enough, there may even be a few of them still in existence.

I can remember lying in bed listening to a jet fly overhead, (we were in the flight path for Vancouver International Airport, but I didn’t remember that detail) terrified it was the Russians coming to bomb us. Once the jet passed out of hearing range I could relax and go to sleep.

There was no sudden end to this angst, not like the closure we had with Y2K. Instead, the whole idea of war just seemed to fade away. Lack of interest? Predicted dates that didn’t materialize? All I know is life moved on, the cold war ended. The idea of Russia holding power over us didn’t seem as believable as we once thought.

Worries come and go but life goes on.

I find comfort in the high probability history shows of us being wrong about things that worry us.

I’m looking forward to a productive new decade. I hope you are too.

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So, back to books…

A bargain book today from BookBub. A Lancaster County Christmas $0.99, it is an Amish story. Over the years, there have been four books in my downloads from this author. This new book starts out well and I’m planning to read it next.

Amazon quote:

Jaime and C. J. Fitzpatrick began their married life as most couples do–in love and looking forward to a bright future together. But four years later they’ve drifted apart and are almost ready to call it quits.

Mattie Riehl was hoping to give her husband Sol the Christmas gift they have both longed for–news that a baby was on the way. But as usual, she is disappointed. The holidays bring an acute awareness to Mattie that her dream of a big family isn’t likely to become a reality.

Then a winter storm raging outside blows the Fitzpatricks into the Riehl home–and into a much slower pace of life. Can these two couples from different worlds help each other understand the true meaning of love this Christmas?

That’s all I have for books today.

Happy New Year!

It will be a quiet one at my house. I was hoping to talk a friend into a games night but she is suffering with a bad cold so we will have to take a rain check on that idea. Between a new jigsaw puzzle, new book downloads, and the new 5D Fashion Diamond painting picture of a humming bird, I have lots to help me party tonight.

Diamond painting is a new craft my daughter found for me on Amazon this Christmas. It’s a cross between paint-by-number and cross stitch with embroidery floss. It has little round discs of color that you apply to a sticky surface with a little tool. The discs sparkle with refracted light. Very pretty, and it goes much faster than cross stitch with floss. If you like crafts, check it out. It’s sold in kits and doesn’t seem to be an expensive hobby.

This is the one I’m doing. It will lose the flat look with the diamonds sparkling but it will be pretty.

Happy New Year, Happy Reading!