To be honest, this year wasn’t exactly chock full of belly laughs. But life has a funny way of reminding me that this journey is a full spectrum of experiences. Pain has an equal and opposite counterpart – joy. There is no Yin without the Yang. Laughter never strays too far from tears. And somehow, I’ve been lucky enough to have people in my life who make me laugh.

I belong to a book club. I’ve mentioned it before. The club consists of a phenomenal group of smart, witty, empathetic, conscientious, beautiful women. And every year, in December, we participate in a White Elephant gift exchange. For five years, now, we have tried to one-up each other by bringing the most ridiculous, outrageous, trite, horrific, embarrassing, and plain ole ugly-ass gifts to pawn off on each other.

This year, I laughed more in that one evening than perhaps the sum of moments in the entire rest of the year.

Thank you, ladies. I feel blessed to have girlfriends such as you.

Now, what made you snort with glee in 2009?