Another year over… and a new one just begun (or about to begin). It’s the time of year when all that can be heard is the endless chatter of New Year party planning and never ending car clearance commercials. 2006 has certainly brought on some new challenges in my life, many that I can proudly file under “worked out,” while others are still filed under “pending.” Before moving into the New Year, I would like to reflect on some highlights of the soon to be old, 2006.
I ran two full marathons, Disney back in January and Chicago this past October. With a total of 3 now under my belt, I’m not planning on running another anytime soon. I’ve decided to focus my energy on strength training and flexibility to keep those ugly RA symptoms at bay. After a 4 year hiatus, I’ve returned to Yoga. Running tightened me up a bit so I'm still VERY far from pretzel status, but I’m enjoying it nonetheless.
I put a lot of miles on my car this past year after road trips to Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Downstate NY, Ottawa, etc. D and I also flew down to Florida last January for the Marathon. Sadly, I was not able to make my annual trip out west. I miss it.
I was downsized this past August after nearly 4 years with my company. It was pretty shocking at first, but once I got over the initial sting I was able to embrace and feel blessed by my newfound freedom. And while the lack of funds and cabin fever have certainly increased my anxiety levels, it in no way compares to the stress of working a job that made me feel stuck (despite the money and great health benefits.) Thank you for setting me free, previous employer.
I’ve had some minor health setbacks, but heck, I still managed to run 2 marathons so I must not be feeling all that bad!
I’ve also met some pretty cool people this past year - through friends, and my affiliation with the Arthritis Foundation. I’ve also learned that some of the battles in life are not worth fighting for, or getting worked up about. As Stuart Smalley would say, "...and that’s, OK."
D and I moved into a lovely townhouse this past May. Being the restless, perfectionist wannabe that I am, I cannot wait until our lease is up so we can move somewhere bigger, quieter and cheaper.
D will be starting his 3rd and final semester of his accelerated nursing program at the U of R in a few weeks. He’s still on the fence about what field he would like to go into, or whether he wants to jump right into medical school. He still has time to decide! Regardless, the hypochondriac in me finds that it’s nice to have a health professional around. His clinical hours will be in the evenings next semester, so if I have your number, you may get a call to come over and play trivial pursuit with me.
There’s already a lot to look forward in 2007, starting with my 30th birthday this Friday. As for resolutions, I’ve set a few new goals that I have already started to work toward. As I mentioned in the previous post, I'm working toward fluency in Spanish, then moving on to perfect my German. I have this tendency to mix the two languages together: Wie geht es Ihnen? Asi asi, gracias. ¿Y du? Multilingual folks, how do you keep it all… separate? I would also like to stop eating red meat and pork (again) because it’s just not healthy (for me). There is also my damn thesis which I NEED to finish. And perhaps I will rejoin the ranks of the working class, soon enough.
Here’s to another year of accomplishment... and growth!
to school for show and tell. Who brings vinyl rock albums to school anyway? Uh, me! Interestingly, the video kind of freaked me out when I was younger. Now it just looks… perplexing. 
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for a few years now, and recently I discovered all the new cool stuff I can do with it. So I built a store specializing in music that I like, “
