reset-o-rama

It is my birthday. Or, well, it was two days ago. I'm so out of practice writing that I kept thinking about it all the birthday day and wanted the birthday blog post to be just so perfect that I got all stuck and blockified and couldn't write.

And yesterday was the giant sugar hangover. Too much birthday sugar and other rich food resulted in a next-day sugar crash. A big, big crash. A sugar crash that felt like some kind of post-apocalyptic daze. But I somehow eventually crawled out of bed, put coffee in mouth, and got myself to the place where work is done and worked and worked and worked.

I'm tempted to write all about all the amazing things that happened on the birthday day. I'm tempted to write about the birthday fun that was had at the birthday party last night. I'm tempted to write about the year in review. I'm also considering writing about the plans for the year ahead. Since there are so many things, I'll do some highlights, perhaps.

A year in review:
In July of '08 I was a month into living alone for the first time ever. This was big and hard for a while. And then it slowly got easier as the months went by. It was a summer, and fall, and early winter of not dating, not being in romantic relationship, not seeking out that kind of human connection. It was a great big chunk of time where I was focusing on me. Figuring out what I wanted. So that when I was ready, I could try to find relationship that I wouldn't run from or blow up. In February I decided it was time, that I was ready. So I signed up for match-dot-com. And went on some first dates. I met a man that makes my heart say "whee!" and my head say "don't screw this one up". And we just moved in together :)

This last year was a time of trying new things and doing more of the things I like to do. There was a lot of making cheese. I took two pottery classes. I took a martial arts class in the spring. I knit some fuzzy leg warmers and kept knitting on the scarf I've been making for my sister. And the last year things at work were getting more interesting, too. I was taking on new projects at work: working with the President and senior VPs tracking the roll out of the strategic plan. I developed some computer training for my coworkers. I created a mailmerge for course scheduling that most departments are now using. I was an election judge in the November 2008 election. I got even more involved in my volunteer commitment and co-chaired a major fundraising event that involved a 2 day speaker/workshop, silent auction, cocktail reception, and book sale that met our attendance goal of 250 attendees. And In May, became President of the Board.

This last year I haven't traveled quite as much as I originally planned, I haven't written as much as I thought I would, I haven't hiked or cheesed, or knit, or many things as much as I thought, but I certainly did a lot.

The Birthday 2009 in review:
Birthday 2009 started with Aaron making me an insano sugar breakfast of a toast sandwich with creamcheese and cherries cooked in sugar syrup for the filling. And covered in powdered sugar. I opened gifts from my family and cards from family and friends. I went to a 4-hour meeting for the school and they had 4 kinds of sweet, fruity, breakfast crepes. And then I went on the Celestial Seasonings Tea tour with Aaron. And then dinner with Aaron. Dinner at Sunflower: Halibut in brown butter lemon caper sauce, coconut rice, grilled asparagus, Mixed Wild Mushrooms, and a spinach salad with sour cherries and hot brie croutons. Oh and the "breads and spreads" with 4 kinds of spreads and 3 kinds of breads. It was a food-coma inducing birthday, indeed.

Birthday 2009 part2 was a dinner/happy hour with 11 of my favorite people followed by going to see the new Harry Potter movie with 8 of these people. A multi-hour birthday fun fest of food and flix. :)

The Year Ahead:
For the year ahead, my goals are to write more, travel more, more hiking, more cheese, more learning new things, more cherishing the things I already do and love. There will perhaps be some more detailed thoughts, but I'm running out of steam and need some breakfast.

So the plan...keep living and doing and loving :)