2003 wasn’t my favorite year. I can’t even say it was in the top five. It’s hard to remember the good stuff when the bad stuff is so glaring, but there was good stuff. A lot of good stuff.
Highlights of the good, the bad and the sometimes ugly:
January:
Snow days, a pajama party for the lovely Dr. Shmoo, hockey games with Robbie, Nick and Sharon’s wedding shower, followed by their Vegas wedding which I couldn’t attend, but I watched thanks to the wonders of the internet.
February:
A baby shower for Gigi, more hockey with Robbie, and lots and lots of planning for the London trip with Sheri!
March:
An Art Therapy fundraiser at Cora, more hockey, LONDON, which included two trips to the theater to see The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) and Les Miserables, and more theater when I got home to see The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife.
April:
Jay’s birthday, Second City, a wedding, a memorable trip to the Farmer’s Market (but not to the central library), Easter dinner with Robbie, Ashleigh and Denis.
May:
BIRTHDAY WEEK and many, many festivities for said occasion including a legendary cookout, a theater trip to see the amazing one-man show Foley, a movie marathon that went a little too long, the Trinity Irish Dancers and the Pungo Strawberry Festival.
June:
The Neville Brothers at the Bayou Boogaloo and another fun-filled, vomit-inducing cookout which turned out to be my last drunken hurrah of the year.
July:
Orville died, I rescued a dog, I gave her away, Jae abandoned us for Virginia Beach, Jay deployed, the a/c broke during the hottest part of the year, baseball games, my first (and hopefully only) attempt at being a class speaker (thanks, Rose), Nick’s birthday week and the unbelievably short Chris Isaak.
August:
Tea for Rose’s birthday, the a/c broke again, more baseball and Jae’s birthday party.
September:
Nick moved, Hurricane Isabel visited, I locked myself out of the house, the power was out for days, I finally took the GRE and Jay came home!
October:
A trip to Tom and Amy’s, fun in Baltimore, thirteen years of wedded bliss, IKEA!!, Lord of the Dance and and the Stockley Gardens Art Festival.
November:
The ill-fated NaNoWriMo, the beginning of The Highly Selective Book Club With Only Two Members(TM), I applied to grad school (application incomplete, still), the symphony, Elton John, Rent, Sheri, Thanksgiving joy and happiness with special guest Brian, a book club meeting, a pizza party and brunch in Richmond.
December:
A surprise party for Robbie, a crowd for hockey, a work Christmas party to plan, a Hail and Farewell, a lovely Christmas eve dinner and a fun Christmas morning, another book to read for the book club and another deployment, but the last for awhile.
And scattered throughout the year, the events that made life worth living:
Many trips to Wild Wing, Panera and Starbucks, lots of movies and lunches and laughter and love and some fights and a few tears and good friends and drinking and shopping and Bubba Chryst touring plans and road trip talk and plots to overthrow the library administration and some job hunting and grad school planning and some writing sales and much (sporadic) writing and some reading, too.
The last hours of 2003 are slipping away and I’m trying to think of something witty and clever to write to end the year on a scintillating note. Sad to say, but I’m feeling neither witty nor clever. Forgive me for the lack of scintillation. Maybe champagne would help, but I have none at hand.
Ahh… but looking forward, 2004 has promise. At least according to my various horoscopes.
Rob Brezney says:
“How have you measured your progress over the years, Taurus? Report cards, diplomas, certificates, and plaques? Pay raises, VIP friends, new titles, and nicer cars? Or have your benchmarks of success been subtler, like rising levels of self-love, a growing capacity for intimacy, more robust health, and friendships with people who bring out the best in you? Whatever signs you have relied on, I ask you to set them aside in 2004. Empty your mind completely so that you will be fully receptive to fresh intuitions about how to evaluate your ongoing evolution. ”
Kelli Fox says:
“The future is closer than ever. Cautious individuals are getting cold feet on the threshold of a major change. Step forward with confidence—you’re not going here alone.”
Joyce Jillson says:
“A new year, a new you, and the change is guided by a mentor.”
So, change is in the wind. If you believe that astrology nonsense, of course. Which I don’t. Honest. But if you’re a Gemini or Aquarius, go away.
Still, change wouldn’t be such a bad thing, right? As much as I despise disruptions in my quiet little existence (ha!), I know change can be a good thing. I’m ready for whatever changes come in 2004, but only if they’re good changes and don’t require me to get up really early in the morning.
Resolutions? Hmm… every year I make a list, every year I achieve about half my list. Not so bad, I guess. Among my goals for 2004: to write more and better; to work on keeping that delicate balance in my life that so often eludes me; to learn something new (this is a staple of my list every year) and to travel a bunch. The less quantitative goals include a few personal objectives that mean nothing to anyone but myself, like building relationships, breaking down walls, opening myself up. I sound like a construction project. Maybe I am-- a work in progress.
Happy New Year. Make it count.
You know what’s nice? Getting phone calls and e-mails from people who want to make sure I’m all right and plan things with me so I won’t be lonely and sad. It’s sweet of them to care about me-- and somehow surprising that they do. Why is that?
Another busy week, but as I wander into 2004, things will slow down to a crawl and I’ll have time to write and reflect. Until then, I give you the week’s highlights:
--Santa was good to me, but the best thing about this Christmas was having Jay home and sharing Christmas with friends who feel like family. You can’t wrap that kind of happiness.
--I finished Middlesex. I am proud of this accomplishment because I read it during the busiest December I can remember and it’s over 500 pages of literary joy and madness. Book club meeting coming soon…
--Mona Lisa Smile made me (almost) wish I’d been born a few decades ago. The limitations and rules that applied to women are ridiculous by today’s standards, but the clothes and music were to die for. Who says I can’t wear an apron while I cook and get a law degree? Huh?
--At the other end of the movie spectrum, Jack Black proves anyone--yes, anyone-- can be in a band. Rock on.
--Taking my own advice, recent music purchases include: greatest hits from The Eagles, some all-girl blues, going crazy with Patsy Cline, some old standards sung by jazz great Chet Baker, and classic Cheap Trick just for fun. Jack would approve.
--Due to this end-of-the-year deployment, the big, broad, fat, drunken tree had to come down. It did not come down without a fight, however. I have the scratches and abrasions to prove that dry, brittle trees are bad, dangerous things.
--Christmas cards! Christmas cards! To date, cards have arrived from seventeen states, the District of Columbia and Canada. Which only means that a) I’m a geek for counting and b) people move around too much.
--I apparently make kick ass gravy-- and not enough of it.
--Sharing Christmas morning with people I am not related to is an experience. A nice one. And I’m really, really glad we didn’t go camping.
--I have a shiny new datebook in which to record, well, dates. Woooo.
--My thank you cards are not written. My bills are not paid. Ask me if I care. Go on, I dare you.
--Jay left, which casts a long shadow over everything else. Pardon me while I feel sorry for myself.
262,800 minutes
4380 hours
182.5 days
26 weeks
Six months is a long, long time to be lonely.
What’s it all about?
Life. Love. Writing. Editing. Sex. Books. Romance. Movies. Friendship. Photography. Teaching. Coffee. (Lots of coffee.) Travel. Feminism. Academia. Insomnia. Memories. Experiences. Rants. Raves. Reviews. Babies. Pregnancy. Motherhood. Insanity. Musings of an insomniac writer. Want to know more?
