Some pie-crust promises for the New Year. Resolving to resolve.

Here’s a straightforward list of what I am thankful for this year, in no particular order.

1. The health and happiness of my wife and children.
2. The safe pregnancy, seeming good health and upcoming birth of Alistair George Taylor..the last of the line.
3. Being a Foreign Service Officer for the greatest country on the face of the planet. It’s the greatest job and the hardest job but the most rewarding.
4. Having a job, with promotions and raises, in uncertain times. I was poor when times were good and rich when times were bad.
5. My supervisors and colleagues. I have been very lucky. In a bad situation I have a Consul General, a Chief of Visa Operations and two supervisors (in ACS and IV) who are all fair, decent and exceptional people. I’m lucky, for them and for the fellow foot soldiers who make days bearable.
6. Barack Hussein Obama. Nothing more to say there.
7. A very few, but very dear, friends. They’re spread around the world, in Manila and Iloilo, in Washington, DC and the burbs therein, here in Santo Domingo and around the globe. I love you all and miss you terrible..unless you’re right here of course.
8. Being chosen to become the ACS Chief in Taipei. I still have some trouble believing that. With that comes two years of learning Mandarin Chinese, which I’ve already started and already find fascinating.
9. Last but of course not last, LOVE. I am blessed and cursed by it because I feel strongly about so many things. It’s love that is strong and because of that affects me strongly. It is also love that drives me forward, pushed me out of bed in the morning and puts tears of joy in my eyes to realize what I’ve been given in life. There’s much to love in this world and much to scorn, but I hope to have more to love as life goes on.

Next year I’ll publish my New Year’s Resolutions. That ought to be fun. I wonder how much the 1ǃᆝ list will resemble the 1ǃᆜ list. Funny how much copy and pasting I do with these things.

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