2008: Year in Review

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Better late than never, the 2008 year-in-review post, using the same format as last year’s:

• What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before? 
  • Scheduled and cancelled a wedding 
  • Visited Norfolk, VA, Oklahoma City, and Cleveland
  • Took a new position by email without having to interview 
  • Took on 101 goals in 1001 days
  • Sent postcards with PostCrossing
• Did you keep your new years’ resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
  • Nope. I didn’t really keep any of them, but I did make more. (Post to follow) 
• Did anyone close to you give birth?
  • Three of my co-workers had new babies in six weeks- it was a very fertile year. And my cousin is pregnant again, but the baby won’t be here until this year. 
• Did anyone close to you die?
  • Nope.
• What countries did you visit?
  • None
  • I’m hoping to change that in 2009 if I get my finances in order this year. 
• What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
  • More interest in exploring Pittsburgh as a tourist in my town. 
  • Fresh veggies as often as possible, and home-cooked meals too.
  • A car and a driver’s license.
• What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
  • Obama’s election was pretty unbeatable as a milestone for the year.
  • I expected to put the wedding date that never happened, and then realized I had to think of what the date was - wow, that was a milestone moment in itself.
• What was your biggest achievement of the year?
  • Getting a new position at work based on my professional reputation without applying.
  • Publishing my chapbook. 
• What was your biggest failure?
  • Trying to force an unhappy relationship into being a happy one all by myself.  
• Did you suffer illness or injury?
  • Had my gall bladder removed after four longs months of being sick. 
• What was the best thing you bought?
  • My Blackberry, hands down. 
• Where did most of your money go?

                         Bills, bills, bills

• Whose behavior merited celebration?
  • My ex mother-in-law, who handled the end of the engagement with grace and wit.
  • My sister, the Hippie, who was the family member who I felt most supported by when it all fell apart.
  • The American voter for choosing hope over fear.
• Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? 
  • The ex-fiance’ who managed to make me feel guilty for his lying and cheating ways. 
  • Sarah Palin 
  • My ex-boss, who turned on me the minute she found out I had a new job.
• What did you get really, really, really excited about?
  • The reading the night of my chapbook release.
  • Shopping on Etsy. 
• What song will always remind you of 2008? 
  • Um…. probably the “Yes, We Can” song by Will.I.Am 
• Compared to this time last year, are you:
  • Happier or sadder: HAPPIER
  • Older or wiser: WISER
  • Thinner or fatter: THINNER
  • Richer or poorer: RICHER
• What do you wish you’d done more of?
  • Walking around or sitting outside in the sunshine
  • Visiting my family
  • Writing short stories and working on my novel
• What do you wish you’d done less of?
  • Reading crappy airport novels instead of the good books I own and haven’t read 
  • Throwing up from my gall bladder drama
• What did you want and get?
  • A digital camera for Christmas (as soon as I figure out how to upload photos, this blog goes photo-tastic!) 
  • Tiffany pearl earrings (a very generous gift from an admirer… more to come on that as well)
  • A Blackberry
• What did you want and did not get?
  • To work from home
  • An iPod
• How did you spend Christmas?
  • Christmas Eve with my Tennessee family 
  • Christmas day taking over the cooking duties from my British grandma for the first time- a standing rib roast to die for and permanent assignment as the holiday cook. 
• Did you fall in love in 2008?
  • Nope. I fell out of love, into curiosity, into desire, and into like.  
• Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
  • Not that I can think of. I’ve moved beyond hate for now. 
• What was the best book you read?  The Poisonwood Bible
• What was your greatest musical discovery?
  • I still love funk, after years of ignoring it. Also, I really want to expand my blues collection.  
• What was your favorite film of this year?
  • 27 Dresses and Sex and the City for the chick flick win, Baby Mama for laughs.
• What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
  • Flew home to Atlanta, ate at the Red Lobster with the family and opened gifts at Mom & Dad’s, then beers and Wii karaoke with my sisters and brother-in-law until the wee hours.  
  • 32 years old
• What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
  • If I had spent more time on me, and less time on drama with the ex and health problems.
• How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
  • Cute structured-but-flowy dresses, tights, blazers, ballet flats, yoga pants, and incorporating color into my usually black and gray wardrobe.
• What kept you sane?
  • Bourbon and BC
  • Lots of time on the couch or in bed with good books 
• Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
  • Barack Obama
• What political issue stirred you the most?
  • Electing the above public figure  
• Who did you miss?
  • Oddly, my DC ex occassionally (that took two years)
  • My family
• Who was the best new person you met?
  • My tough guy ex-Marine co-worker who talked me down after the end of the engagement
  • My current boss, who I shared wine with at a summer conference 
• Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:
  • You only get one shot, so you better take care of you in this life. It’s no one else’s job. 
• Quote a song lyric that sums up your year: 
  • “I guess I just lost my husband
    I don’t know where he went
    So I’m gonna drink my money
    I’m not gonna pay his rent (nope).”  “So What” – Pink

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Tags: 2008, New Year, wrap up, year end, year in review