End of Year Reflections, Redux

Every year I take the time to reflect on the past year and look towards the new year. I don't really do resolutions, as they are mostly excuses for me to fail - I mean, seriously - how many times have we all joined the gym in January only to be reminded in May that you have spent $200 so far on one workout. No thank you.
But, I do find that reflecting a cathartic experience, and because I know you are all voyeurs (or you wouldn't be here), I now present Peanuts 2009 Year in Review. Enjoy.

Firsts
In January I was rear-ended on my lunch break, which resulted in back and neck injuries and therapy. While not completely disabling it was a struggle and a total pain in the ass to fit 3 weekly visits with a chiropractor into an already busy schedule. My insurance company cut me off months later, resulting in my first hiring-a-lawyer experience. But it all worked out in the end - turns out, my lawyer kicks some major tuchkas and now I can afford to eat.

In February, although still having physical trouble, I tried to snowboard for the first time. I suspected that I would be pretty terrible at it anyway, considering I can hardly walk without hurting myself, but was excited to try. Needless to say, the results had to do with me on my ass for most of the day, followed by more back pain. Good times.

Also in February, I hired a stylist. Yeah, you read that right - my own personal stylist. I had found a New Years special for Inspired Style, a company that focuses on determining your body style and the type of clothes that fit, at any weight. I figured that since my weight has fluctuated my entire life that I could at least learn to dress it better. So, Anne came over and took some horribly embarrassing photos and measurements and we went over my personal preferences. Other than the photos that have since been burned, it was a good experience and I learned some things - not that I've really done much with the results... you'll still fine me in jeans most of the time.

In March, Jayna and Eric came for the weekend and we went to Newport for the Seafood and Wine Festival. Veronica also came, which was such a nice treat. The 5 of us rented a house on the beach and had some good times. The festival was a bit of a disappointment for me - too crowded, too expensive and poorly planned - but we had fun anyway. We also climbed a lighthouse, and say some seals - I like seals so, good times.

In May, Rob and I went out to Bend and spend the weekend with my cousin Scott. It was my first trip to Bend and I was surprised to discover how much it reminded me of Flag - I was delighted. We drifted down the river on our inflatable Walmart rafts, which we named Full Sail and something else beer related. Scott taught Rob to shoot a bow & arrow and introduced us to the Red Beer. Excellent times were had. Oh, and we saw Star Trek - while no one will ever surpass Shatners acting capacity, I thouroghly enjoyed it.

At the end of June I departed for an amazing 2-week trip to China. It was simultaneously the most wonderful and most annoying trip of my life. I loved China - I mean, really loved it. To the extent that I was daydreaming about spending a year living there, learing the language and getting driven around in my company limosine by my personal driver. On the other hand, I learned that traveling on a guided tour sucks - and that's putting it mildly. While it's great that you get to see a ton of stuff, you spend most of your time on a crappy bus with no freedom to explore - I felt that I had minimal exposure to the real nitty-gritty. We were shuttled from one tourist trap to the next and one gift shop to the next. My favorite parts were the few times we were able to venture out on our own, and the beautiful countryside near Yangshao. I won't take a guided tour again, but I will gladly return to China any day.

In September, for my birthday, Rob took me one a wine tasting tour and night at the Hotel McMinneville. It was really a cute little town and we loved touring the wineries and taking photos of the countryside. Unfortunately, being the clutz that I am, I took a nice little slide down half a flight of stairs resulting in a really lovely set of stair-step bruises on my backside. Other than that, it was a really nice trip.

In October, Rob and I took a day trip up to Seattle - while not a first for me, Rob had never been and it was fun to experience the city through a newbies eye. It was really way to short a trip, but we managed to take a ferry to Bainbridge, hit up Pikes Market, ride the monorail and have a nice dinner. If only we had been there late enought to hit the hot-dog stand in pioneer square - mmm, hot dog with cream cheese - WIN!

In December, I finished my first year of grad school, and my first business plan - one that will lead to my eventual fame, fortune and internet domination. I'm currently working on two more, but I don't want to brag. December also brought me the Swine flu - something that was not so cool, and that caused my mother endless hours of worry. Obviously I survived this "vicious killer" and lived to tell the tale.

Not So Much Firsts, But Still Worth Noting
This last year also brought some weddings, some babies, some engagements - it seems that they go in cycles. Two years ago I was invited to seven weddings. Seven! This year I witnessed the fallout - babies galore. It seems that everyone I went to high school or college with popped out a kid or was talking about popping one out, and yet, I still don't feel the uterus kicking. Ce La Vie. But, weddings I like - can't complain about free booze, food, love and dancing.

Repeats from last year include Dogtober Fest, the NAU Alumni game, and the International Beer Fest - some of my favorite events. Storm Large also reappeared, when X and I went to see Crazy Enough,which was stellar, BTW.

In July, Rob adopted Bailey, my 2nd favorite dog - well, technically she's my favorite living dog but don't tell her or it will go to her head. It's surprising how much she reminds me of Beanie, and I sometimes wonder if she didn't guide her home to us. She's made everything so much more fun, if not dirtier.

The Best and The Worst Day, Ever
On December 11th, everything went to hell. Well, not everything, but it was the most emotional day I've had for awhile. It was my last day at work, my grandmother died, my niece Ameila was born, we celebrated Jenny's upcoming move to Eastern OR/WA and it was the anniversary of Sabines death. I'm not sure I've ever gone through more emotions in one day. The result was that I was reminded of how thankful I am for everything and, more importantly, everyone in my life. Thank you all for making this year a great one!

New Year, New Life?
No, but a lot changes - that's for sure. I plan to start it off the same as last year, with good friends at Stedman & Brians, although it wont be the same with Steddles being preggers and all! Woot!

After that, it's down to business. Literally - it will be my last year of business school, the start of a freelance career and hopefully the start of a new company for me. I'm excited, scared, hopeful and a wee bit cocky. But, hey, what else is new?

I think I'd like to try snowboarding again, and maybe this year I will start that marathon training that I've been thinking of for years. But, probably not - perhaps I will strive to complete the Shamrock Run without a stop for coffee instead. I also plan to ride my new bike a lot more and generally focus on my health, instead of striving to lose weight. I would like to get back to the point where the muffin top ceases and the chub-rub desists.

There will be a few more weddings (three announced so far), several more babies and getting to meet my new niece - maybe I'll even change a diaper. I'm sure that will kick the uterus into overdrive, yes?

Finally, I look forward to the sale of my house, possible cohabitation and a Caribbean vacation with the man I love. I also hope for visits from friends (yes, Monkey, that means you) and to visit others in Walla Walla, Anchorage, Denver and anywhere else I can afford. This year is all about change and spending time on things that are important to me - friends, family and beer festivals.

Happy New Year to You!

Slacker

It's been brought to my attention that I am seriously slacking on the correspondence lately so here is a run-down of the haps. I'm using a few bits of an email I sent to my dad, so sorry for the regurgitation pops.

Work: I've been planning our sales meeting on Tuesday, which entails finding and securing event space for 150 people, coordinating catering and hotel rooms and building powerpoint presentations. My boss frequently like to change the plan which means I spend a good portion of my time chasing my tail and making apologetic phone calls. I'm also building a new website for our sales team which is really fun but also trying because I haven't done it since college and, wouldn't you know it, the whole web thing has really changed. I'm teaching myself CSS and relearning HTML... it's fun though. Oh, and they've started laying people off so I guess I should be thankful, no matter how much time I spend silently crying in my cube.

School: This term has proven to be more challenging than last but I'm still really enjoying it. I had a paper due last week that kept me up past midnight for a week strait but I learned a lot about Facebook. Yes, I got to write a paper about Facebook! This week I will be working on a financial analysis of Target.. turns out I got some pretty wicked math skills from my dad and I'm not too shabby at the accounting stuff, although I am still learning what the results mean - i.e. is it good or bad if the dividend ratio is high? I guess I'll figure that out Saturday when I sit down to write. The first day of my accounting class I was pretty sure I was going to die a slow death from boredom but my instructor has turned out to be a pretty funny guy and does a really good job of explaining the concepts.

Life: Let's see, Sabine passed in December and I'm still struggling with that - not that I cry on a daily basis, but it's weird to come home to an empty house. I've been thinking of getting a new pooch but know it would be better to wait until after my trip to China in June. I've paid for a little over half the trip and am considering investing in Rosetta Stone language tapes so I can be little more prepared than I was in Korea. We will have tour-guides, but its always nice to be able to do basic items.. like find the bathroom.

I was rear-ended by a cargo van on my lunch break a few weeks ago and he did more damage to my neck and back than he did to my car. He claimed he was going about 5 miles an hour but considering he destroyed the steel reinforcement beam on the back of my car I beg to differ. Anyway, I get to go to the chiropractor and get massages three times a week for the next twelve weeks. I've also started seeing a naturopath/ accupuncturist/ hippy doctor and really like her. The irony of the whole injury is that i was on my way to join the gym when I was hit. R and I were planning to run a 5k next month but it looks like I may be walk/jogging it... I'm still down 35 pounds but stalled and need to lose more so I need to up the exercise.

Still seeing the boy, going on 5 months now, which is a record for me. He is still wonderful - can't complain about a man that cooks and occasionally vacuums your house, even if it is might be because your house is so disgusting he can't stand it.

And that's about it. Have a Christmas party to attend tomorrow (our office party was cancelled due to weather) and might go to the closing party at Jerry's, everyone's favorite wine bar. I'm pretty sad that they are closing. Stupid economy.

So little time

I keep meaning to post but then I get distracted. It's been a good week... here is a little recap, in case you've missed it:

• We completed our team project and received a perfect score on both the paper and the presentation

• I signed up for a two week trip to China. Two of my teammates have signed up as well so I already have friends

• I spent 8 hours catching up on my graphic design freelance projects and can *almost* breathe now

• I designed a 16 page booklet for work, manually printed 400 double sided copies and then had to throw it out due to poor printer quality. I'll be reprinting all day Tuesday but on a (hopefully) better machine

• My awesome mom bought me a plane ticket home so I can go to B's wedding and have Thanksgiving with the folks. I'm also looking forward to meeting little Paiger while I'm there and catching up with old friends

• My dad has been sending me little checks in the mail and I'm so incredibly thankful

• I've been on more than a few successful dates with a lovely man that is not an asshole, which is a totally new thing for me

• The girls and I went to see Disney's High School Musical on Ice, which was a complete disaster, but X let me wear her purple hat that almost made up for it (see below) and there was a yummy Crow Bar salmon plate involved too

• I had happy hour with Steddles, at the Crow Bar, again. I love that place!

• Snowpatrol release a new album and I just downloaded it - squeeeee.

• I'm going to see Matt Nathanson on Sunday so I downloaded that too - I don't want to be the only one that doesn't know the lyrics!

• I lost another 2.5 lbs this week bringing my total up to 30 lbs since June!



And that's about it... I am going to try harder to blog, I'm tired of ya'll pestering me. ;)

I'm doing it

I just put down a fat deposit on a trip to China. Yeah! And today should be a fun filled day of Disney's High School Musical on Ice. That's wrong on so many levels, isn't it?