Dead Reckoning

Linda over at All & Sundry posted a cool end-of-the-year meme, so I'm going to do my best to complete it. Also, go here and check out the obscenely large waves she photographed. My tiny Midwestern mind is officially blown.

On with the show!

1. What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before? -- went kayaking (three-part summary of the class I took)

2. Did you keep your new year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year? -- In the interest of being honest, I'll list / evaluate my 2006 resolutions, as written out in my paper journal last year:

          >>Spend more quality time with MB -- I did pretty well with this one, other than during November, when I spent all my free time working on NaBloPoMo.

          >>Play with Mr. Kitters more often -- I don't think I did as well with this one as I should've. There were a lot of nights when he asked for his feather toy and I made excuses and didn't get it out. I need to work on this in 2007.

          >>Keep the apartment more neat / clean -- off and on, I succeeded at this. Right now, the place still looks great, since I power-cleaned before yesterday's Thanksmas Eve party. I'm hoping I can make it last at least a week.

          >>floss -- I'm not too good with remembering to floss my teeth. 2006 did not really change this, sad to say.

          >>exercise -- um...not so much. I was pumped for 2007 because I signed up to take a six-week kickboxing workshop starting next Tuesday, but today I found out the class is probably going to be cancelled because not enough people signed up. BOLLOCKS.

          >>waste less food -- We seem to be throwing less food away out of the fridge each time I clean it out, so I'll take that as a good sign.

          >>set up one day a week to spend with Little Sis -- until our schedules got wonky for the holidays / finals, we'd been swimming laps together on Thursday mornings. Since I won't be going to kickboxing (*sob*), we'll probably start that again in the second week of January.

          >>work hard at my job -- definitely fulfilled this one

          >>keep in better touch with friends -- I actually have made some progress with this, aided (shamefully) by MySpace and (much less shamefully) through their blogs.

          >>be better about spending / saving habits. I was doing pretty well before the holidays hit. I'll definitely be keeping this one on the 2007 list.

          >>clean up spare room -- our second bedroom is basically a catch-all storage room, and it's usually a disaster. It's been 90% cleaned up once or twice this year, but I can't really claim success since it's currently in a complete disarray.

          >>get wedding pictures printed and into scrapbook -- HA!

          >>print digital pics and get into albums -- DOUBLE HA!

Seeing how crappily I did overall, I think I'm going to plan on keeping these resolutions around for another year.


3. Did anyone close to you give birth? -- yes

4. Did anyone close to you die? -- no

5. What countries did you visit? -- does Kentucky count?

6. What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006? -- more self-discipline

7. What dates from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

          April 23--my first real whitewater kayaking run, where I was able to overcome my fears and have a pretty kickass time

          June 3--the wedding of one of my best friends, H, to her long-time girlfriend, C. Her closeknit family was 100% supportive, and it made an already-great wedding even more beautiful. I almost lost it during her dance with her dad, because he was so happy and so proud, and it didn't matter at all to him that she was marrying another woman.

          July 1 & July 2--my second whitewater trip, where I learned that my fears can still rule me, followed up by one of the most punishing and most rewarding hikes of my life

          September 30--Danger and I went on a vastly spur-of-the-moment road trip about 3 hours north and back in one night, to pick up some boxes of books that were needed for an event at work the next day. We had a blast, and I can't think of a better partner in crime for an adventure like that.

          October 20 - 28--pretty much the entire trip MB and I took to Seattle and Olympic National Park. It ROCKED.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? -- finally getting a grownup job, and working hard to be good at it

9. What was your biggest failure? -- probably my lack of follow-through on personal goals, like those unkept New Year's resolutions

10. Did you suffer illness or injury? -- nope! other than a few colds and one fanged-finger incident

11. What was the best thing you bought? -- maybe my new favorite shirt, which I got at Goodwill

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? -- I guess the cat gets props, because he left last year's upsetting streak of aggression behind and once again became the sweet little furball that I know and love (well, 95% of the time, anyway)

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? -- I found out in May that the worst coworker I've ever in my life had the displeasure of working with had tried to sabotage my chances of getting my new job, basically out of spite. When I found that out, I was absolutely floored. Knowing that I busted my ass when I worked with him and did everything I was ever asked to do and treated him with common decency even though he was a human turd...to find out that nearly TWO GODDAMN YEARS LATER he was still trying to stab me in the back? That was horrifying. And sort of bitterly funny since:  A. my real boss at the former job wrote me a letter of recommendation for the job anyway B. I got the job and got really good reviews there and C. the backstabber has since been FIRED from the place where we worked together. Karma's a bitch, ain't it, shithead?

14. Where did most of your money go? -- the biggest one-time expense was our fantastic trip to Seattle / Olympic. We also sunk a large chunk of change into reducing our credit card balance, which is awesome even though we don't really have anything tangible to show for it.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about? -- visiting the temperate rainforest in Olympic National Park and teaching kids about science at my new job

16. What song will always remind you of 2006? -- I'm drawing a complete and total blank on this one.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
          a) happier or sadder? -- either about the same or happier
          b) thinner or fatter? -- fatter, for sure :P
          c) richer or poorer? -- richer, though only slightly

18. What do you wish you'd done more of? -- exercised!

19. What do you wish you'd done less of? -- slacked

20. How will you be spending Christmas? -- we spent it with family and friends

21. Did you fall in love in 2006? -- just more in love w/ MB (cheese, cheese, cheese...I know)

22. How many one-night stands? -- hee!

23. What was your favorite TV program? -- Project Runway

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? -- nope! I am remaining mostly hate-free!

25. What was the best book you read? American Gods by Neil Gaiman

26. What was your greatest musical discovery? Flogging Molly

27. What did you want and get? -- mp3 player (for Christmas)!

28. What did you want and not get? -- smaller but still-healthy boobs, a bookcase, and a bedside lamp

29. What was your favorite film of this year? -- I don't remember everything I've seen this year that was new, but I found The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada both enjoyable and surprising.

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? -- My birthday was way back in March, and I turned 25. On my actual birthday, I took the night off work but ended up cleaning out our closet instead of relaxing. Woo! Party animal! I didn't really do much of anything, until Danger and I had a co-birthday party in early May (her birthday is on Earth Day).

31. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? I guess it would've been nice to have finished NaNoWriMo, but I'm not that broken up over it. I would have liked to have spent more time with my parents, especially my dad.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006? -- thrift store / clearance rack office-appropriate pseudo-grownup

33. What kept you sane? MB, my friends and family, music, time spent in nature

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? -- I developed a late-in-the-year crush on Garrett Hedlund. Also had a hot dream about Heath Ledger.

35. What political issue stirred you the most? -- gay marriage bans, and they did not stir me in a good way

36. Who did you miss? -- friends who live far away

37. Who was the best new person you met? -- they aren't really "new," but meeting some of my internet friends at the wedding we attended in Seattle was absolutely incredible

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006. Having a job that you love and which feels like you were born to do it is nearly priceless.

39. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

          This could be the very minute
          I'm aware I'm alive
          All these places feel like home

          With a name I'd never chosen
          I can make my first steps
          As a child of 25

          (Snow Patrol, "Chocolate")