Looking back over a decade

I have a post today at the Pink Heart Society about setting and keeping resolutions. If anyone knows of any good tips, please join in.

Kate Hardy has looked back over her last decade and I suppose I should as well.

The noughties were the decade that I became serious about writing and became a published author. It did take a bout of gall stones in 2002 to really make me determine to succeed. I then sold my first piece in 2004, and finally sold to Harlequin Mills & Boon in 2005. The trick now is to keep writing stories and build on that success. Because you are only a writer if you write.
One of the great parts has been the many friendships I have made.
My children grew into young adulthood. Instead of being a mother of under 10s, I am now a mother of teenagers with my eldest in his first year of university. I have learnt how much harder it is to watch someone take exams etc, rather than actually going through it.
With our pets, 2009 saw the departure of Tuppence and Penny after 17 years and Joss after 10. It also saw the arrival of Tess & Hardy in May and the Squittini brothers -- Heathcliff and Mr Darcy just a few weeks ago. The population of ducks and hens has been a constant shift but they are not really pets...
The decade started off with my dh being determined to become a beekeeper and ended with me being beekeeper in chief after he discovered an allergy. The honey and the wax has been amazing.
The garden is now developing into the sort of place we envisioned. The hedges which were mere twigs in the ground a decade ago are shoulder high. It is more maintenance than anything but considering the bonfires, the clearing, the battles with nettles and brambles, it is proving worthwhile.
The house is no longer a project but remodelled and redecorated. It should stay this way...I have learnt mobile dishwashers do just as good a job as an electric one, can be fantastic fun and a way to bond with your teenagers. I am rediscovering the joys of a solar dryer as well.
We travelled and I was able to cross off a number of items on my life list. Highlights included Gettysburg and most of the American Civil war battlefields in Virginia, Norway, Rome, Prague, Sorrento, Pompeii, Istanbul, Iceland, and Venice. I think the next decade will be focused more on the Middle East and some of the places I have longed to go since a teenager. First up the Sinai Peninsula in March. I do enjoy travelling.
What will the next decade bring? I have no idea. Life is all about experiencing both the valleys and the mountain peaks. Let's hope there are more mountain peaks than deep rifts.