I have never been happier to reach the end of a calendar year.
What was so bad about '09, you ask? Let's review.
January: We kicked things off with both of my parents' deaths, 12 hours apart, on January 9th.
March: Then my cat died.
July: Then my husband's grandmother died.
September: Then my husband's friend died.
October: Then a city that was very important to me was devastated by massive earthquakes.
Holy shit. But I suppose some good things happened this year too.
January: I had my first on-campus job interview.
March: I went to Vegas with Repressed Librarian, and spent a week in a lakeside cottage in upstate New York wine country with Arbitrista. Also: with my parents' life insurance money, I paid off nearly $50K in credit card debt. (I also bought a MacBook Air, a couch, and an Hermes scarf.)
April: We moved out of the apartment and into a house, and got another dog. Also went to Mexico for La Blonde Parisienne's wedding.
June: After 5 years of pain, my book was finally published. Plus I got nominated for a promotion (a process that is quite nearly finished).
July: We plan a trip to Europe (only 3 months away!!). Ended a very successful summer field season which featured many angry bird pictures. Submitted an NSF grant (still waiting to hear the outcome!).
October: A very successful trip to a field site to collect some birds for the aviary.
November: Trip to NYC to celebrate the 20th anniversary of meeting Arbitrista.
December: A paper published, and two phone interviews for jobs. Also am in the midst of a very cool experiment that is going very well so far.
I also started to develop a national reputation for my work, and was asked to review a whopping 16 papers and 7 grants. I co-taught 2 graduate courses. I made progress on some very big-deal projects. I applied to 42 jobs. I watched every single episode of every Real Housewives series. I drank some excellent scotches, acquired some enviable wines, and discovered some amazing cocktails.
It's been a very busy year, with high highs and low lows. I am worn out, and looking forward to a quiet holiday season at home with Arbitrista (and my sister, who is coming to visit) here in BTCT. I am more than ready for the new decade.
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11 comments:
I'm with ya! Good riddance indeed. And I didn't have nearly the fun you did, even after all your horrors. My horrors weren't as bad tho either, so you're #1 all 'round.
What an amazing and challenging year. I'm awed by your resilience. On to the next decade - and I agree with Belle - you're #1
Yes, I think a quiet holiday is in order!
I join you in sadness for your losses and join you in celebration for all the good things.
Belle and PowerProf are right: You're tops BH!! Here's to a new decade, a new chapter in your life, and a great new year!
And I know I should know this as a regular reader here, but what is your favorite scotch? And what's a good one to start out with? I've decided that I need to start drinking scotch to add some variance to the wine and for the nights I am too lazy to make martinis. So I've decided scotch it is. I need advice.
Agreed. My year was nowhere near as crappy and tragic as yours, but I'm happy to see it in the rearview mirror.
Congratulations on all your accomplishments! All the recognition is well deserved.
Hooray for the end of 2009! I hope your next year is filled with more positive than negative things.
And I loved the angry birds series and hope to see it featured again!
Wishing you a much quieter 2010!
May 2010 bring you only wonderful things and amazing journeys for your body and your soul.
2009 really sucked for a lot of people I know - nothing on the scale that you've had to deal with, but divorces, broken bones, flooded apartments, redundancies, car crashes, etc. Personally I felt like I was in a holding pattern the whole year and will be very glad to welcome 2010!
Having followed the ups and downs of 2009 for you, I concur with many of the comments above: you are an amazingly strong person to have come through all that tragedy with so much of yourself intact -- and thriving!
I hope 2010 continues on the upswing.
That's quite a list of good, but I don't think it outweighs the bad. I'm wit you, good riddance to 2209.
May 2010 be much better, and may that scarf continue to keep you warm. =)
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