If Everyone Else Jumped Off a Cliff, Then I Guess I Would Follow?

Ah, the end-of-year recap, a perennial favorite.  Let’s see what my New Year’s Resolutions were:

• Take vitamins everyday [This didn’t happen.]
• Lose weight [I fluctuated up and down for a while, but I think I am about 10 pounds lighter than I was.]
• Dance more [I’m not entirely sure if I kept this one or not.]
• Finish my Associates Degree [Nope.  Nope.  Definitely not.]
• Get a real job [I did not think this would happen, but it did.]
• Stop spending money on pure crap. [Hah.  Yeah, right.]
• Related to previous: stop taking money for non-school crap from my school account [This kind of happened, once the warehouse job and the IT job got going.]
• Related to two resolutions ago: pay off my car insurance before it's due [OMG, I really did keep this one!  Unfortunately, with the state of my finances, I don’t think it’ll last.]
• Celebrate a 2nd anniversary with Ben [FAILURE!]
• Scan, clean, and clear up my laptop at least once a month (likely the 1st) [I did this until I reinstalled Windows, and I’m not even bothering with my Mac.]
• Finish up decorating my room (picture frames and shelves, mostly)  [I did get a couple more frames and shelf brackets, but didn’t do anything with them.]
• Try to take better care of myself, including: exercise, diet, stop chewing my nails, "spa" days...  [The only one of these I succeeded with was to stop chewing my nails.  That lasted until my Human Relations Skills class, when I had to do something to occupy myself, since the teacher discouraged note-taking.]

So, final tally: 4/12, plus some partial credit.

I’ve gained many new friends and rediscovered old ones this year, and have finally accepted that Kate and Annette are no longer by my side.  I’m starting to gather a new support group; strangely, the dynamics are a lot like the old one.  I’m not sure if that’s good or bad.

I actually had something resembling a birthday party, and the first birthday jam for me in about three years.  Really, September was an amazing month: my birthday, a couple of contest wins, Cowtown Jamborama being amazing (even if it was because of the people and not the dancing), and the couple of interviews that led to my new job.

I’ve finally fallen into the Cult of Mac, thanks to my brother.  So far, so good—that was until Valve offered my new-found gaming love Portal for $5 this last week.  Now I need a gaming machine, because, let’s face it, Macs can’t cut it.

I don’t blog much anymore because of Facebook.  A lot of this was me finding interesting little things online or having strange things happen to me that collected during a week or so that I’d have to sum up.  Microblogging through my Facebook status is disgustingly addictive.

I’ve been taking horrible advantage of my friends who have Guitar Hero and Rock Band.  Somehow, I’ve gotten decent on the drums; I think that’s the only reason they still put up with me.

I have contact lenses again (although I don’t wear them as often as i should) and I changed my hairstyle.  So far, these changes seem to please everyone.

Looking at this list, I realized that 2008 was a year of curveballs.  I didn’t expect my relationship with Ben to go belly-up in a matter of months.  I didn’t expect to get a 9-5 gig with the gift shop, leading to a real IT job.  I didn’t expect to be moving out of my mother’s house at the end of the year.  I didn’t expect to be emotionally standing on my head on a raft in the middle of the ocean during a tsunami while my professional life is standing on top of a mountain, breathing in the clean mountain air, proud of its accomplishments.

I’m not entirely sure whether or not to say it’s been a good year or a bad year; depending on my mood and location, I could say either.  And I’m a little tentative on where I’m going to be 2009.  Despite what my dear Kate and Annette say, my foresight is obviously not that strong.  I know I’ll be moving in a couple of weeks.  I know I’ll be saying goodbye to a fellow dancer who has become a dear friend in less than a week.  And beyond that, I don’t know.  I’m not sure I want to know.  All I can do is hope for love, laughter, music, movement, and a respite from crazy emotions that have defined this year.  No clue if any of that will happen.

 

Thank you, my dear friends and my loving family, for putting up with me this year.  I know I’ve been difficult, and I know I’ve caused pain and tears, and, in my selfishness, I probably didn’t give you the support you deserved.  But I’m glad that all of you are with me still.

Here’s to 2009.