2006 in Review Part II

Didn't think I'd let the new year start without doing this again, did you? I've been doing it for years.
1). What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before? Presented a paper at a conference, called 911 on purpose (sadly, I've done it accidentally twice...not my fault my phone automatically dials the emergency number when you hold down the 7 key), lived in Stratford, went to Padre for spring break, saw the Rolling Stones and Imogen Heap in concert. Those are a few things off the top of my head, nothing too major I suppose.
2) Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I did a decent job with resolutions. My three resoluations last year were to work out twenty days every month, make a home cooked meal at least twice a month, and get a paper published or accepted to a conference. I was good with the workout goal. I possibly didn't make it this month since I stopped keeping track since I came home for Christmas, but I think I probably did twenty days. I did okay with cooking at home twice a month until October, when I got too busy with school stuff and dropped the ball. And I did get to present a conference paper! This year I think I'll keep it simple and not make specific resolutions. I'm just gonna try to stick to my 2007 mantra, (Stronger and Smarter) and try to be more in the moment and less worried about the future, especially the parts of it I can't possibly control.
3) Did anyone close to you give birth? Nope.
4) Did anyone close to you die? No, thank goodness. That was one of the positive things about 2006.
5) What countries did you visit? En-ga-land! And I went to Mexico with Cassie's wedding party on Friday, and even though Juarez is RIGHT THERE, I suppose it still counts. And Canada, if you count spending a total of 14 hours in the Toronto airport, which I personally don't but you can if you want to.
6) What would you like to have in 2007 that you lacked in 2006? A masters degree and a boyfriend (at least, I'm pretty sure I want a boyfriend...still feeling a little gun shy I think). And I'd like to have my Ph.D. candidacy, obviously, but I guess that's not technically something I lacked in 2006 per se, since it wasn't yet an option in 2006. But yeah. It'd be nice to have it in 2007.
7) What date from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? I am having a hard time coming up with a specific date, but I'm hoping that ultimately I'll remember the days I was having a great time in England. I think I'll also always remember my spring break trip to Padre, for both good and bad reasons. Oh, and I'll definitely always remember the night of my parents' 50th birthday party, for lots of reasons. Hehe.
8) What was your biggest achievement of the year? Writing my paper in Stratford and getting it accepted to the conference in Ohio, and dramaturging Rocky.
9) What was your biggest failure? Letting myself fall apart over Mike. He's really not worth all the shit I put myself through. Nobody is worth that much negative emotional effort, and the worst part is I KNEW that and still wasted a lot of time being depressed about it anyway. It was just a big waste of energy, and even though I know logically that the only way out of it was to get through it, I'm still annoyed with myself for focusing so much energy on the negative this year when plenty of positive stuff was also happening in my life.
10) Did you suffer illness or injury? Not really. That most recent cold/flu thing was probably the worst sickness I suffered all year.
11) What was the best thing you bought? I didn't buy the entire thing, but I put some of my own money towards England and that was the best thing I did all year.
12) Whose behavior merited celebration? Mandi, for always being so graceful under pressure and still maintaining her sense of humor and strength even though she has had to deal with more crap this year than anyone should have to deal with in a decade. And Kymberli for following her dreams and taking her chances in New York. I love my girls.
13) Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? Mike's, obviously. Surprise, surprise. But mainly I'm appalled with myself for letting his appalling behavior actually bother me that much. Stupid.
14) Where did most of your money go? Rent, as always. Other than that, food and travel expenses.
15) What did you get really, really, really excited about? Not much, honestly. I guess the most exciting thing was getting ready to go to England, although that experience was so much work as well that it was exciting in a different way than the usual pure "I'm going to Europe!" excitement. It was still awesome, though. And I got excited every time I was going to do fun things with my family, like my two trips to Las Vegas, our trip to Houston, coming home for my parents' birthday party and the Stones concert, etc.
16) What song will always remind you of 2006? "I'm bringing sexy back. YEP!"
17) Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Maybe a little sadder, but only because I feel much less certain about the future than I did at this time last year. I'm feeling happier in general right now though than I have at pretty much any other point over the course of 2006, though, so that's a good thing. I'm finally pretty much happy all the time now with very brief moments of sadness, instead of the other way around.
ii. thinner or fatter? No noticeable change either way.
iii. richer or poorer? I made a bit more money this year than I did last year, but again, there has been no major noticeable change.
18) What do you wish you'd done more of? I wish I'd read more plays, done more research for my thesis project, and had more sex (just being honest!)
19) What do you wish you'd done less of? Crying (I am not a crier most of the time, so I'm hoping it's out of my system for at least the next year), eating fast food
20) How did you spend Christmas? Flew back from Las Vegas with Chelsea the morning of Christmas Eve, had fondue that night with my parents, brother, grandparents, and relatives from New Jersey, opened some gifts and laughed a lot, slept, woke up the next morning, checked stockings, opened more gifts, got together with the whole family again and ate a lot of prime rib. It all went by really quickly again.
21) Did you fall in love in 2006? No, I fell out of love instead. Blech.
22) How many one-night stands? Uh, half of one? There was the night we went to the club in Stratford and I drank too many vodka energy drinks and ended up in bed with someone but a) the main reason I slept in his bed was because my roommate was already with Irish guy in my room so I couldn't go in there, b) we didn't actually have sex or even fool around all that much beyond kissing, and c) the only reason it was only one night was because that's what I wanted it to be. Had I wanted it to be something more it would have been, at least for a while. In short, I don't think it really counts.
23) What was your favorite TV program? Big Love. I can't wait for it to start again! Also Lost and Grey's Anatomy
24) Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I don't hate anyone right now. I don't even really intensely dislike anyone right now.
25) What was the best book you read? Probably The Time Traveler's Wife
26) What was your greatest musical discovery? Carrie Rodriguez, Snow Patrol (better late than never)
27) What did you want and get? To present a conference paper, to be involved in some productions at Texas State (got A LOT of that!), to study in England
28) What did you want and not get? A healthy relationship, a surprise windfall of money
29) What was your favorite film of this year? Probably Little Miss Sunshine, although I can't remember many other films I saw right off the top of my head
30) What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I turned 24. My birthday itself was boring since it fell on a Sunday two days before Rocky opened so I was too busy with rehearsal and putting together my lobby display to really celebrate. But two days before my birthday, Mandi threw me and her boyfriend Jason a birthday party (we share a birthday) and I had a great time. We went out on the square and then went back to Mandi's for dancing and Jello shots and funny conversations. It was a really good birthday celebration. Then a few days after my birthday my siblings and Chelsea's Mike took me out for dinner, which was also nice.
31) What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? Never having to worry about finances. Wouldn't it be great to never have to worry about money and whether you're going to have enough? It doesn't buy happiness, sure, but never having to worry about it at all would sure make life much less stressful all around.
32) How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006? Lazy. I have a lot of really cute clothes, and I love dressing up for box office or going out. The thing is, I put on a work uniform three or four mornings a week now and then when I get home I usually shower and just put on my pajamas at 4:00 in the afternoon unless I have specific plans to go somewhere later in the evening. My other bad habit is putting on my workout clothes when I get up in the morning since I know if I put the workout clothes on I will actually work out at some point during the day. But then I don't exercise right away, I end up going to run errands and doing my laundry or whatever and before I know it it's time for night class or rehearsal and I'm still in my workout clothes and I haven't worked out yet, so then I end up wearing my workout clothes all day but not actually working out until 10:00 at night and...well, it's stupid. One of my goals for 2007 is to get better about working out and walking Cohen first thing during the day just so I have more opportunities to put on real clothes.
33) What kept you sane? Cohen and Jose. They were always there when I needed a warm body to cuddle and "kiss" away my tears when I was sad, and walking Cohen is always a big mood booster for me. Plus nothing in the world is funnier than a silly basset hound steam shoveling his head around the living room and howling with his nose shoved under the recliner. He made me smile and laugh every single day, and it's so nice to have something alive and happy to see you to come home to, even if it's not actually a human being. I'm not big on actually talking about my problems, I'd much rather just sit with someone quiet and let myself be sad for a while, and animals are great for that. I don't know what I'd do without them in my life.
34) Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? Justin Timberlake? I don't know, I don't do the celebrity crush thing. You know that.
35) What political issue stirred you the most? Uh...I listen to the news on NPR every afternoon, so do I at least get credit for knowing what's going on in the world of politics and world conflicts even if I'm too self-absorbed and selfish to really bring myself to worry about any of it too much? The two things I do care quite a bit about and will always get worked up about are abortion rights and gay marriage, and I'll support both in every way I can, but I can't honestly say I've been politically active this year at all whatsoever. I'm not even registered to vote where I live right now (shhhhh).
36) Whom did you miss? Matthew, and all the other people I was already missing prior to 2006 (Kymberli, Mike, all of my college friends, my family...I have friends scattered across the country now, so no matter where I go for the rest of my life I'll be missing someone important)
37) Who was the best new person you met? Richie my favorite Canadian, and Debbie. I think I can count them as one person since they're pretty much always together, to the point where it's never, "Where's Debbie?" or "Did you call Richie?", it's "Did anyone tell DebbieandRichie?" They're both smart, fun, and funny, and I'm so bummed we only get to be in the same place for ten months.
38) Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006. There are some factors in my life that I cannot control, cannot fix, and cannot make better. And when things don't go my way, all I can do is make as many positive choices as I can and know that eventually my fortune will change for the better, I just have to hold on until it does. Also, there's no point in trying to predict your own future, because there's no way to know what's going to happen next and it's best to just not even try.
39) Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined
I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned
(Uh, that's the positive spin on things, but it's best to take a glass-half-full view of things, wouldn't you say?)