aquaintance not to be forgot...

Wow. December is gone. 2009 is gone. The desire to keep a consistent blog is still here, despite the huge lapse since my last post. There is no way to capture even a concise overview of the past few weeks, so I will give my New Year's resolutionless entry.

I have never been one to celebrate on New Year's Eve. Working in retail the last 5 years has ensured that I would work late or be at work very early the next morning. This year I spent the evening with someone who is still working this schedule, so we rang in the EST New Year and tried to get some sleep. I think that our celebration depicts the things that I value and that I hope to have throughout 2010: simple dinners, many laughs, and time spent with those I love.

I am excited for a new calendar page and for what the year has in store for me.

snow may be on the way...

Last year I survived my first real blizzard experience. Portland was hit several times in the month of December by big snow storms that left snow drifts until February and the city that is known for rain a shambles. My car was a civic filled bon-bon of 12 inches of snow covered in 3 inches of ice. I had never seen such weather conditions.

The snow is supposed to come in smaller amounts this weekend and it makes me remember being stranded in my best friend's house, playing Donna Reed during the day and staying up watching "Weeds" and "Brothers and Sisters" on DVD. My trip home that began with a ride to the airport by strangers I met at Starbucks and included 4 stops before I was in Tennessee was redeemed by my first class status and complimentary alcohol.

This year will (hopefully) be calmer but a part of me misses the forced togetherness and crazy antics that last Christmas held here in Oregon. I am sure there will be excitement of different kinds awaiting my early arrival in the southeast...

the one where I turn 30...

If you know me, you are aware that I have a serious addiction to the television show, "Friends." I watch it way too often and quote it even more frequently. It is a part of who I am.

On my birthday, I usually watch the episode where they "all turn 30" because it is hilarious. I love that Joey cries, Ross does something impulsive and that Monica is drunk in front of her parents. I did not do any of these things, but I think I will follow the path of Pheobe. Phoebe had a list of the things she wanted to accomplish by her birthday...I think I will post a list of the things I have accomplished/learned in my 20s.

*I graduated from college with Honors. barely. (I do not use this degree, but, I did find myself in college)
*I survived living with, feeding and loving 6-8 teenage boys for a year and a half. (as their houseparent)
*I lost 85 pounds using diet and exercise. Unfortunately, I gave up these standbys and will be working to get rid of some of the weight for a second time.
*I started a new career, worked my way up for 4.5 years, and realized what it feels like when what you think will be your long term plan is no longer an option.
*In said career, I realized an amazing love for coffee, met some of the people who I love the most and was able to move across the country seamlessly, job-wise.
*I developed a love for Portland when I once thought I would never love anywhere not located in the South.
*I was dealt loss in ways I never thought possible and had to deal with it from 2,700 miles away. Twice.
*I realized that asking for help is more than a "star" skill. It is a way of life.
*I found/continue to find healing in a group of people who were strangers, through my friends who were persistent, through my family that was shattered and from a Heavenly Father who I question a lot.
*I learned that your family expands in ways that are not always traditional or expected, but that being genetically or legally linked is not a prerequisite for being added.

I have had a great birthday and am looking forward to the continued celebration. It is not nearly as scary as I had feared and I am excited that I get to start a whole new list.

my new favorite people...

Can be broken down into two groups: 1) Those who say I do not look 30 and 2) Those who are older than me. I feel that this is an equal opportunity group of favorites...everyone can decide that I do not look 30.

In thinking about the impending aging that will occur in a few days, I have been reminded that I had a hard time realizing/accepting that my parents turned 30. I said that they were 29 for years. I think that the fact that they divorced when they were 29 cemented that age in my mind and it was not cleared until it became obvious that if they were still 29, my birth was "National Enquirer" material. Once I got over that hurdle of thought, I never had a problem with their age again.

Time is a funny thing that is marked by milestones both happy and sad. I guess a milestone that, hopefully, involves cake is one that I should fully embrace. I hope that I do not have a difficult time remembering I am in my 30s because I hope that it holds a whole new set of adventures that put my 20s to shame.

in the words of chandler, "bored, and bored"...

I will start by saying I never get a cold. Part of this is that I now am hardly out in public, but, I have never really gotten sick more than once every year and a half. That being said, I am not a good sick person. I do not like to take meds (they scare me a little) and I do not like to be quarantined in my house. If I choose to stay home for 2.5 days, that is one thing. Being forced to do it makes me feel cranky and a little lonely.

I always try to prepare for the throws of sickness by making a big pot of soup, getting movies, and cleaning what I can so that I do not feel like a huge slacker. All of this careful planning lasts until day 3 when I am b-o-r-e-d. Welcome to day 3.

I am feeling a bit better and think I am on the downhill stretch of ickiness, so, I cannot complain too much. Thankfully, my sickness did not involve any sort of swine and I do not have a job to miss. There, a reason to be thankful for unemployment. Thank you, cold, for the perspective.