New Year's Day

[textualdeviance]

*Took my first college class in seven years, and not only survived, but got an A out of it.
*Applied and got into WWU.
*Applied and did not get into UW--picky bitches.
*Celebrated a year on my breathing machine, which has totally changed my life
*Turned 34.
*Celebrated 10 years with M., and eight years of being married to him.
*Celebrated my mom's 60th birthday, and my dad's 65th.
*Sang some very lovely music in a couple of fun concerts with lovely people.
*Closed down most of my websites, thus taking a huge load off my shoulders in terms of time and energy spent.
*Went to Austin for SXSW and spent 10 days driving around BC and Alberta.
*Lost 15 lbs., by a slight diet change, and finally getting my meds in proper order, which resulted in having enough energy to be more active.
*Visited my parents once, and they visited me once.
*Met some wonderful new people, and unfortunately lost touch with a few others.
*Finished my first (almost) full-time term in more than 10 years, and got fairly decent grades out of it, thereby proving to myself that I can do this, which I wasn't totally sure of before.
*Got an apartment in B'ham, decorated it all by myself, assembled furniture, bought my own groceries, etc. May not seem like much, but before this, I lived on my own a total of three months since moving out of my parents' house. Having my own place is really unusual. Scary, but fun, too.
*Spent a lot of time and money keeping my elderly kitty healthy, but have been greatly rewarded with a happy, healthier cat who surely has plenty of time left.
*Said goodbye to a wonderful roommate and extremely helpful person who moved out to get his own place.
*Moved my deeply-entrenched office into a different room.
*Got re-connected with a very old friend who moved here from Colorado for her husband's job. Felt weird as I realized her oldest, whom I babysat when she was an infant, is now about to graduate.
*Had a great three-month sabbatical, with few responsibilities except for working on the house.
*Filled and planted, almost on my own, a big retaining wall in the back yard.
*Said goodbye to my last grandparent, who passed away in January.
*Saw several great movies, including Sin City, Batman Begins, King Kong, Brokeback Mountain, Good Night and Good Luck and Everything is Illuminated.
*Bought plenty of good music, mostly older stuff.
*Read some lovely Molly Ivins books.
*Bonded with M. over some good tv.
*Played a lot of video games, including Sims 2, Zoo Tycoon 2, Rise of Nations, Black and White 2 and my current pastime, Age of Mythology.
*Refinanced the house and took out a HELOC, which then got used to pay off credit cards and the last car payment. We now own both cars outright and have only a small amount of debt that isn't house-related.
*Got in significantly fewer flamewars than previous years, though a few were really doozies.





*Live in Bellingham for another nine months, at least, only coming home on weekends, holidays and term breaks.
*Do an internship over the summer if I get one.
*Take nine more classes toward my degree, hopefully including being an editor on the paper.
*Turn 35.
*Celebrate 11 years with M., and nine years married to him (coming up in just 2 1/2 weeks!)
*Hopefully continue the downward trajectory on my weight, though it will still be slow and not much.
*Keep a close eye on my kitty's health.
*Start helping my parents with the logistics of moving out of the place they've lived in for nearly 30 years. With luck, they'll be moving sometime next summer or fall.
*Hopefully get to the stack of pleasure books I've had sitting around waiting to be read for ages.
*Get in even fewer flamewars than last year, hopefully by biting my tongue instead of making my opinion on every little thing known.
*Hopefully celebrate a Democrat sweep in Congress.
*Hopefully find some way to sing, even though I won't have time for a real chorus or show.
*Cheer on my Hawks as they march through the playoffs.
*Watch more great movies and tv.
*Expand my musical interests by investigating what Pandora recommends to me.
*Play a lot more video games, including Rise of Legends which looks freaking fantastic.
*Hopefully celebrate a sea change in attitudes as Brokeback Mountain makes a lot of money (for an indie) and gets award after award.