Happy New Year

We’re not all that big on the New Year’s celebrations at out house.  Both of us were asleep on the couch by 10 and only woke up in time to see Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest drop the ball!  Yes, we’re officially old.

I tried to come up with a recap list of last year’s highlights, but most of them were negative.  2008 wasn’t a good year for a lot of us and between falling home prices and layoffs a good portion of us are not in a better position than we were at this time last year.

Last year I:

• Overcame my incident-induced fear of guns and learned to shoot a handgun.
• Lost what used to be a good friend because she got laid off at work and blamed it on me, even though I did everything I could.
• Changed my relationship with a friend who at the time was a good friend, but is now the very best of friends.  This last year would have been much more difficult to take without her unconditional love.
• Learned a lot about myself as a result of the aftermath of the shunning since I refused to back down after setting the boundaries.
• Acted like and adult and traded in our gas-guzzling recreational vehicle, which we never used for recreation anyway, for a fuel-efficient Toyota Corolla that is still cool enough to have earned the nickname the Batmobile.
• Gained 50 lbs because a) I eat my stress and b) my feet were AFU and I could hardly walk, let alone exercise.
• Finally found out what was wrong with my feet (bursitis!) and got it fixed (shots in the feet – ewww!).
• Enriched and added a heretofore unimagined amount of frustration to our lives at the same time by getting a puppy – a hard-headed, obstinate, tail-chasing, window-licking puppy who is cuter than any animal has a right to be – while conveniently forgetting that I am too old for this shit!
• Realized what I want to be when I grow up. I still don’t know how to make it happen, but there is a bakery in my future somehow.

This year I want to:

• Get my CCW permit because it will make me more comfortable to have formal training, and it will be that final step in overcoming the fear.
• Get back to healthy habits. Now that my feet are better I can get back to regular exercise.  I should probably quit with the fried catfish and the burgers too.  Maybe.  We’ll see.  No promises there because that catfish?  Divine.
• Meet bloggers. One of the things I need to get over is my shyness with reaching out and meeting new people, online or in person.  This year if the stars align (and I don’t get fired) I’d like to go to TequilaCon and meet everyone I’m always reading about.
• Make more of an effort to keep my financial house in order. I’ve let depression and stress derail all of my good intentions.  I want to pay off my Jeep this year if possible, which means paying off other things so I can free up the extra funds to plunk on the Jeep.  This means I need to do less of the retail therapy when I’m stressed or just jonesing for something “new”.  You know.
• Get my head screwed on straight. I’ve let the parental schism and work stress, along with what probably amounts to the 3 year itch at home, mess up my head to the point that I am officially a woman on the ledge.  I need to find coping skills that do not include copious amounts of food, alcohol, or shopping.  Drugs maybe.  I haven’t tried that yet.
• Spend more time with meditation practice. Hopefully this will help with the last item, the screwing on of my head.
• Learn to sew. I have a great sewing machine that I don’t use because I have the opposite of talent with the sewing and it makes my head want to explode.  Since I haven’t had any formal learning in this area since the quarter of middle school home-ec devoted to making the world’s ugliest tote bag I’m thinking a class might help with the exploding part.

This is going to be a year of change for us because the Boy graduates from high school (even if I have to sacrifice a baby goat under a full moon!) in the spring.  He will have more independence and we will need to learn to let go.  I don’t see myself having to deal with empty nesting because I don’t think he’s going anywhere soon, but there will definitely be a paradigm shift within the house.

Happy New Year everyone!  May it be better than the last!