One decade ago I was with my friend Wendy counting down the New Year. What was going to happen??? Is it really the end of the world and Y2K is the catalyst? 3-2-1...."pop"!!!
Things went by in a blur...
I'm legal to smoke... and vote for that matter... Took some pretty deep hits early on... Cleaned up my act... Graduated High School (class of 2000!!!!)... Saw my potential... Went to college... Dropped out of college... Adopted my dog Hattie... Nephew born... Went back to college after working in the "real" world for a bit... Surprise! Another nephew... Found what I love... Broke up with a love... Legal to drink... Parents divorced... Then things just moved into warp speed... Internship in California... Freelance for ESPN... Dated a guy who first changed the way I looked at relationships... Then, was the first to break my heart... Learned to let go... Graduated college... Found job in Asheville, NC... Move... Fun, fun, fun... Learned to love politics, be green, snowboard, and drink green tea... Margarita Mondays with the girls... Fork in the road and took the risky route... Ops Assistant for College Football... Traveled a lot!!! Loved it!!!... In my element... Worked harder than ever before... Met a Boston boy who was the second to change the way I looked at relationships... Quarter-century old... Risky route didn't turn out to be the best route... Went back to what was safe... Learned that safe isn't always bad... Adopted 2 cats... One died... Broke up with Boston boy... Not happy... Quit smoking... Played Rugby... Got back together with Boston... Vacation to Maine... Second cat died... Learned sometimes things just don't work... New job... Moved to Myrtle Beach... New nephew... And a new vacation planned to Maine...
Now I'm 27... far, far from home.... New lessons being learned... a New Year about to start... brings me back to that night one decade ago and 816.41 miles away...
Wendy and I partying like it was 1999. Bright-eyed and full of optimism. Nothing could stop me then. The world was my oyster and I was so ready to just get out in it. 10-9-8-7.... We are laughing cause we think all the world's computers are going to crash... 6-5-4... What does the world have in store for us? Full of anxiety and anticipation... 3-2-1... "pop"!!!
Lights go out! We're screaming, "Oh my gosh, it really happened!!! Y2K!!! The computers crashed!!!" We run out of her room screaming at the top of our lungs.... only to find her dad standing by the circuit breaker box.
It's amazing all that I managed to fit into one decade. A lot of firsts... and lasts. Through the ups and downs I have managed to survive. I'm a little more wary and slightly wiser. I forgive a little easier... even when it comes to myself. I'm slightly more patient. Definitely more confident in my choices and what I do and do not like. I cherish friendships more and family matters more now than ever before. So, what's the next decade have in store? I can't even begin to imagine. Hopefully though, it's just as much fun.
So, farewell to the last decade...I'm tying it up in a pretty little bow and putting it on a shelf. I look forward to taking it down 10 years from now and comparing it to this upcoming decade. Where will I be? What will I be doing? All I know, is wherever I end up is where I'm suppose to be.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
The New Year
To sum it up 2009 was all about dead cats, car ax, computers crashing, job searching, an online college stint, a new president, chiropractor sessions, new family additions, keeping resolutions, taking several vacations, rugby practice, a lumpy mattress, getting hopes up, and then let down, even trying to sell some avon, part-time at Wal-Mart, kicking butt at darts, packing and unpacking and moving again, opening the mailbox and finding letters from my Gran, Friday Night Football, being on-call, liveshots, vosots, and alligator commercials. With everything 2009 has brought my way, I'm lucky to have good family, friends....... and a little more pay $$$ 2010 bring it on! New decade, new year, new memories to form. No way to tell what this new year has in mind. The good and bad I will take in stride. The surprises of life are what make it fun...you may end up somewhere different than you had planned. We are all unique and special in our own right... so Happy New Years to all and to all a goodnight!!!!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Giving Thanks & The Bigger Picture
Today is Thanksgiving. I woke up, rolled out of bed and my first thoughts are, "Yay, I have to work." (being sarcastic of course) and "This sucks that I'm hundreds of miles away from my family again for Thanksgiving." I've been pretty bummed about it all week. Listening to others plan their festivities doesn't help matters either. I believe that this Thanksgiving makes numero cinco in a row that I don't get to see my family. In the past, it hasn't bothered me as much because I was giving up that holiday for the "bigger picture" i.e. going home for Christmas. Unfortunately, at my new place of employment I not only have to give up my Thanksgiving, but also my Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Year's... and let me add that I've also worked every holiday leading up to this point as well. I've grappled with this "policy" for a few weeks now because I'm not seeing the "bigger picture" therefore feeling a little slighted... ok, a lot slighted. It wouldn't bother me so much if I had to work and got the opportunity to see my family as well at the end of the day, but that's impossible.
Enough with the wallowing! After a long, hot, soaking shower I realized there is a "bigger picture" after all. This is of course, the fact that if it weren't for this job I wouldn't be able to move up the corporate ladder and if it weren't for this job I wouldn't be able to reach some of the goals that I had set for myself this year. So, I'm turning this around today and what better day to do it than Thanksgiving. I know, this is just a drop in the bucket of the many Thanksgivings to come that I will get to spend with my family. With this job ultimately helping me to get there.
----------------------------------------------------------------
I went in to work today not wanting to be there, but determined to keep a positive outlook on everything. What a relief it was to know I wasn't the only one wallowing in self-pity for having to work on Thanksgiving. First thing I did when I walked in was ask everyone what they were thankful for, which was closely followed by a few people who told me I was too perky. Too perky??? I know my mom would get a laugh out of that. That is the last thing I have been for the past couple of days. That didn't deter me though. Throughout the day, anything no matter how minute it was...if I was thankful for it, then I said it out loud. I mean, what's the point in being all gloom and doom about this? There's nothing we can do to change it.
So, here are some of the ones I came up with on this turkey day:
1) That I even have a job to begin with.
2) That my paycheck cleared today!
3) That I'm finally able to save money to go on vacations and to pay down debt.
4) That the photocopier works.
5) My 3 nephews Josh, Logan, and Liam.
6) My understanding and loving family.
7) My grandma and her letters that she sends me.
8) The caring and generous people out there that gave me a free Thanksgiving meal today.
9) The homeless man that returned something valuable to me that I had left behind today.
10) My health.
11) The friends I have made here in Myrtle Beach who have taken me in and made this place feel more like home.
12) All of my friends.... you guys are some of the best people I know.
13) My dog and her unconditional love.
14) My 1 bedroom apartment (sooooo much better than the studio I lived in for 2 and a half years).
15) My washer and drier and the fact I no longer have to go to a laundromat.
16) Food in my fridge.
17) A working cell phone that holds a charge for more than an hour.
18) A working computer in fact, since I had a rash of electronics malfunctioning on me for a while.
19) Health insurance.
20) A car with no car payments.
and sooooo much more!!!!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Enough with the wallowing! After a long, hot, soaking shower I realized there is a "bigger picture" after all. This is of course, the fact that if it weren't for this job I wouldn't be able to move up the corporate ladder and if it weren't for this job I wouldn't be able to reach some of the goals that I had set for myself this year. So, I'm turning this around today and what better day to do it than Thanksgiving. I know, this is just a drop in the bucket of the many Thanksgivings to come that I will get to spend with my family. With this job ultimately helping me to get there.
----------------------------------------------------------------
I went in to work today not wanting to be there, but determined to keep a positive outlook on everything. What a relief it was to know I wasn't the only one wallowing in self-pity for having to work on Thanksgiving. First thing I did when I walked in was ask everyone what they were thankful for, which was closely followed by a few people who told me I was too perky. Too perky??? I know my mom would get a laugh out of that. That is the last thing I have been for the past couple of days. That didn't deter me though. Throughout the day, anything no matter how minute it was...if I was thankful for it, then I said it out loud. I mean, what's the point in being all gloom and doom about this? There's nothing we can do to change it.
So, here are some of the ones I came up with on this turkey day:
1) That I even have a job to begin with.
2) That my paycheck cleared today!
3) That I'm finally able to save money to go on vacations and to pay down debt.
4) That the photocopier works.
5) My 3 nephews Josh, Logan, and Liam.
6) My understanding and loving family.
7) My grandma and her letters that she sends me.
8) The caring and generous people out there that gave me a free Thanksgiving meal today.
9) The homeless man that returned something valuable to me that I had left behind today.
10) My health.
11) The friends I have made here in Myrtle Beach who have taken me in and made this place feel more like home.
12) All of my friends.... you guys are some of the best people I know.
13) My dog and her unconditional love.
14) My 1 bedroom apartment (sooooo much better than the studio I lived in for 2 and a half years).
15) My washer and drier and the fact I no longer have to go to a laundromat.
16) Food in my fridge.
17) A working cell phone that holds a charge for more than an hour.
18) A working computer in fact, since I had a rash of electronics malfunctioning on me for a while.
19) Health insurance.
20) A car with no car payments.
and sooooo much more!!!!
Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Monday, November 23, 2009
The beginning...
This is the beginning of "My So-Called Blog Life". First thoughts are: Where do I begin? I've missed out on some great opportunities for some very interesting blogs...do I try and rehash them or start new? How serious do I want these blogs to really be? I mean, I'm not really one to talk about my feelings even to those who are close to me, so putting them in a blog almost seems too frivolous for me.
So, here are my answers: I will begin with today, but will make references to things I have done in the past in each blog. Because after all, life is full of patterns. Although I get bored easily and seek out new and interesting things to keep me entertained, I have learned that I can more times than not relate it back to some experience I have had in the past no matter how new it is. As for the feelings thing... no worries, I will keep it as light and superficial as possible. I want people to read this and feel good...maybe laugh a time or two. Laughter and humor keep me going daily. I am a pretty sarcastic person and I try not to take myself too seriously. Please keep that in mind while reading.
All in all, I think this blog is going to be a creative outlet for me to tell the interesting stories that happen to me almost daily. From the simplest ideas that just pop into my mind to the more complex, tragically funny situations I find myself in. This is going to be fun ya'll!
So, here are my answers: I will begin with today, but will make references to things I have done in the past in each blog. Because after all, life is full of patterns. Although I get bored easily and seek out new and interesting things to keep me entertained, I have learned that I can more times than not relate it back to some experience I have had in the past no matter how new it is. As for the feelings thing... no worries, I will keep it as light and superficial as possible. I want people to read this and feel good...maybe laugh a time or two. Laughter and humor keep me going daily. I am a pretty sarcastic person and I try not to take myself too seriously. Please keep that in mind while reading.
All in all, I think this blog is going to be a creative outlet for me to tell the interesting stories that happen to me almost daily. From the simplest ideas that just pop into my mind to the more complex, tragically funny situations I find myself in. This is going to be fun ya'll!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)