2009 wrap-up

or, the worst year ever ™ comes to a close.

Okay, 2009 was the biggest sack of turds of a year I’ve ever had the displeasure of limping through.  Divorce (I know, I promised never to write about it again), money troubles, the loss of everything I hold dear (I know, I still have my parents and little sis, but let’s focus for a moment, okay?), job troubles…you name it, if it was bad, it seems to have happened.  I know, I know…people have had worse years.  I’m not disputing that.  But still.  Pretty shitty year, all ‘round.

BUT.  But.  With the bad, so must come the good, yes?  And there’s plenty to be happy about this year.  So what I’m going to do is give you guys a look at the good stuff that happened this year.

…

The end.

Hahahaha!  I kid, sorry, that was a little switzerjoke.

I became a lot better at my job this year.  I still stand by my longstanding view, that I don’t really care where I work, but I enjoy the work itself, and I’m expanding what I do.  I actually feel a sense of pride in my work – I know, most people have that as a prerequisite, but c’mon.  I don’t identify with my job, it’s just work.  In any case, it’s good!

I started running seriously again – this is huge!  I’ve been a runner for almost 30 years, but the last 10, I’ve neglected that part of me.  It’s been nice to step to starting lines at least feeling competitive, even if I went out and got my ass kicked.  I’ve entered the Masters ranks, so if I didn’t live where I do I might be competitive already.  Unfortunately, Tony Young lives here, so you know…not so much.  2010 is the first year I’ve entered with a base already in place; I can’t imagine how good it’ll be to run in track and road racing season.

I lost a bunch of weight.  I won’t say a “ton” of weight, because, you know…might give the idea that I needed to be featured on a TLC show or something, but I wasn’t in good shape.  It’s nice to look in the mirror and like what I see again.  And feel that bounce in my step.  I’ll never be 120 pounds again like I was in college, but hell, 150’s within reach, and so is a nice sexy 6-pack.

On a related note, my confidence is back.  Or here for the first time.  Or something.  Before I got hitched, I wasn’t a confident soul, and by the time I was ready to be, I’d given up and it didn’t appear to matter – I mean, I was happily married! (Yeah, I know how that sounds.  Sorry. Not Ms. Ex’s fault)

And most importantly, this has been a year of friends.  I’m going to name a lot of people here, and most readers won’t know who’s who, but that isn’t the point.  And if you don’t see your name here, know that I did my best to remember everyone!  Firstly, Lauren and Chris, Elizabeth, Roxanne, and Gina, without whom I would not have survived the year.  These 5 took every crazy-ass thing I did, handled it, and gave me a place to land.  Nigel, Kenna, Ellen, JT, Debora all took turns listening to me, giving advice and time to get my shit together.  Tons of friends from Facebook came out of the woodwork to provide a kind word when it was needed.  And Twitter, amazingly enough, has been a font of new friends!  So many great new friends, including some I’ve become really close to: @anngaff, @aggyrun, @le_diable, @TheSportBird, @KCbandit, @daNanner (#twittergirlfriend!), @maruskamorena, @kerbehr, @kaynemcgladrey, @chicrunner, @glassidentities, @PreMiddleAge, @jennifervides, @tgrumm (hey, a work friend, too!), @amyrc, @moducey, @schmaislinn…hell, who knows how many more?  The list keeps going.

And last but not least, let’s not forget the hippest little dog in the world, Biggie Smalls! What would I do without the dogger?

So that’s it.  2009 had a lot more good than bad, but I’m still glad that it’s taillights.  2010 is coming with new friends and new goals!  Eat better, travel outside the country, see more track meets, race competitively, and most importantly, treasure my friends, keep them close, and love deeply.  Happy New Year, y’all!

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 31st, 2009 at 10:32 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.