Decade in Review

Apparently, a lame blog year in review is not enough...seeing that I have now been reminded by countless "Decade in Review" stories on TV and the internet that we are closing out a decade.  Is it the 0s?  How do you say that...the "ohs"?  Or the two thousands?  Are we going to the tens?  Anyway, here is my very brief Decade in Review.  Too bad I don't have a picture to post from each year...that would be great!  But would have required a scanner and me remembering before today that we are closing out a decade.  Oh well.  Maybe next decade...

2000:  Y2k happens.  Or doesn't happen...depending on whether you thought the world would end or not.  I spend 2.5 months of the summer in Mexico with Campus Outreach.  Don't want to leave, but must finish college.

2001: I graduate from college, barely squeaking out a Cum Laude honor.  By .01 of a grade point.  I go 6 months without a real job.  September 11th occurs, further dashing my hopes of a real job.  In November, I begin what turns out to be a dead-end-for-me job at a bank.

2002: Turns out to be the hardest year of my life so far that I have learned the most from.  Heart gets broken by a boy, job is slow and not challenging, I am bored.  Life in the "real world" outside of college is hard.  Come to know God more for it, but somehow become bitter, too.

2003:  I discover that I need both athletic and musical outlets in my life, even though I am out of college.  Join a chorus and train for a half marathon.  Two decisions that have made huge differences in my life, even today.

2004:  Heart is broken again, but this time I leave dead-end depressing job at bank and SC (my home for 25 years)...and move my life to Annapolis, MD.  Best decision yet!

2005:  I am a little bit lonely, but am slowly making friends and adjusting to life in Maryland.

2006:  I go on last minute Bulgarian Carmina Burana tour to Florida with the chorale.  Make what I feel sure will (even today) be lifelong friends.  Spend too much money going out to eat and drink with said friends.  Move into Home for Wayward Chorus Girls to save money.  Another great decision.

2007: Run first marathon.  Get new, more likable, better paying, shorter commute job.

2008: Make off-the-cuff decision to sing in the chorus with operetta company in Baltimore.  Meet J.  Start dating J.

2009:  I turn 30 and buy my first diamonds, a pair of earrings.  Spend birthday in New York City.  Fall in love with J.  Train for Goofy Challenge.  Go to the opera a lot.

So that's it!  My Decade in Review...boy has my life changed!  Not quite as drastically as my friends who now are married with 3 or 4 kids, but I am in a different geographic location!  That should count for something.

Happy New Year, everyone!

2009 Blog Year in Review

I did this last year and enjoyed it, so I thought I'd give it a go this year, too.  Here is the first sentence of the first post of each month of 2009:

January: When I first moved to Maryland, my intention was to eventually live in downtown DC.
February: I seriously don't think I could have asked for a better way to celebrate my 30th and Maureen's 40ishth birthday.
March: I've really been a blogging slacker the past few weeks.
April: One of my Fall/Winter/Spring luxuries is a pre-bedtime bath.
May:  I've been a really lazy person lately.
June:  Dear Starbucks Triple Grande Iced Latte
July:  It's hard to believe that my last post was almost a month ago!
August: It's crazy to me that this summer is almost over.
September:  Hi again, faithful readers (all 5 of you).
October:  There is just something about the changing of the seasons that is quite appealing to me.
November:  For the past 12 years or so, it has been my responsibility to cook the turkey for my family's Thanksgiving dinner.
December: I am perhaps an oddity when it comes to receiving personal customer service.

So it looks like I was a lazy person in 2009 and time passed me by rather quickly.  At least, that is what I would infer from these first post sentences!  Let's hope 2010 is a little more disciplined for me!

Quick Update

Here are a few things I've have/will be up to:

• - Christmas at the Home for Wayward Chorus Girls was lovely.  My parents were visiting, and we had our normal Christmas Eve gathering pre and post-church.  This year, we must have been tired because the night ended at 2:30 AM instead of 3:30 or 4...

• - The kitties are like two peas in a pod for sure now.  They did finally separate to sleep the other night though...Alfio came into my room and Marcello stayed with Maureen.
  

• - While I'm happy to be in the marathon taper stage, that makes it particularly hard to run at all!  I also can't seem to stop eating.
  

• - New Years' Eve, I'll be headed to the Engineer's Club with J again this year for their NYE bash.  Should be a good time again as I've heard some other fun folks will be joining us.
  

• - Somehow this week, I've ended up with a sinus/cold issue.  I think it is sinus related because I keep dealing with a sinus headache.  No fun :(
  

• - I'm getting really excited about my trip to Disney in a week and a half for the Goofy Challenge!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!  Stay tuned in the next few days for some more posts I have scheduled to go up...

New Addition to the Home for Wayward Chorus Girls...Meet Alfio!

Last Friday, my roommate came home with a surprise.  Another cat!  And not just another cat, but Marcello's biological brother!  When we picked Marcello out, he and his brother were the last ones in the litter.  Both of them were so cute, I figured the other would get adopted at some point.  But his brother never did.  I hated thinking that he was going un-adopted, but I knew I couldn't afford another cat.  So...Maureen adopted him instead!  It took Marcello a few days to get used to him, and Alfio was a bit scared the first few days, but now they are inseparable.  I even woke up last night to both of them sleeping at the foot of my bed on either side of me.  So sweet!

Here are a few photos my roommate took of them:

Alfio, the new addition

Sometimes, they look like twins!

This should be our Christmas card

The kitteh bonding has begun!

While a bit crazier, it is so fun having two kitties, especially since they seem to enjoy each others' company so much!

Blizzard '09

Well, the snow we thought was coming did arrive, and dumped 20+ inches of snow on good 'ole Annapolis!  No Saturday/Sunday Messiah performances...no 22 mile run...it was actually nice to have 2 days where I had to pretty much stay in the house!

Looking out my second story window in a slow part of the blizzard

By Sunday, both my roommate and I were dealing with cabin fever, so we ventured the few miles on icy/snowy roads to downtown Annapolis.  We started out at the Rams Head, and then moved over to Galway Bay.  On the walk over, I grabbed a few photos of downtown in the snow.

St. Anne's Church in the Snow

Reynolds' Tavern

State House

Looking up Fleet St

Snowy Stairs

Historic Homes

State House grounds

Governors' Mansion at Night

As lovely as it was, I hope we don't have anymore storms like this anytime soon!

Yep...it's Definitely THAT Time of the Year Again...

...the time in which I have little to no free time.  Much as I love it, I'm craving a morning to sleep in, drink my coffee, and generally just veg.  Not having that time is my own fault though.  The Goofy training means back to back weekend morning runs.

The past few weeks have been a lovely blur of rehearsals, performances, parties, and running.  I really do enjoy everything I do, I just wish it weren't all crammed into the same time frame!  If I ever decide to train for another long distance race, it will not be during this crazy month of December.  To give you a taste of what I'm up against, let me describe my next 3-4 days to you:

-Tonight: Messiah Dress Rehearsal.  Come home, take relaxing bath, stretch tight hip, go to bed.  Say a prayer for no snow on Saturday.

-Tomorrow: I'm off from work due to a doctor's appointment.  Get up at 6:45 AM (earlier than I do to go to work!), run 11 miles from 7:30 AM to 10:00 AM.  Shower, rush to doc appointment.  Come home and get house ready for guests.  6 PM- Parents arrive.  Rush to church for Messiah performance.  Come home immediately afterwards.  Go to bed.  Pray for no snow on Saturday.

-Saturday: Get up at 6 AM to drive to Baltimore for a 5 mile race. Pray for no snow.  Run race.  Drive to NCR Trail.  Run 17 more miles.  Come home and eat food.  Go sing 8 PM Full Messiah performance.  Crash.

-Sunday: Sleep in briefly.  Brunch with parents.  Send parents off to Williamsburg.  Sing 3 PM Messiah matinee.  Go caroling afterwards.  Come home and crash.

I know I often write about how busy I am, but this weekend really takes the cake!  Hopefully I will make it to the other side...and let's all pray for no snow on Saturday since I'll be running 22 miles and also don't want our Saturday Messiah performance cancelled!

Personal Interactionaphobia (or Why I Hate Small Talk!)

I am perhaps an oddity when it comes to receiving personal customer service.  I truly don't like it!  I'd rather do it myself and screw things up than have someone help me personally.  I'm the person that always says, "Just looking" when someone in a store asks if they can help me, even if I am looking for something in particular!  I'll walk up and down the aisles of the grocery store multiple times in order to find an item before I'll ask an employee where it is.  I used to be much worse...I would have nightmares about having to take my car in to get the oil changed!  I still don't like having to interact with car repairs, etc...but it's easier than it used to be.  In college, I made my roommate call to make hair appointments for me.  Truthfully, I hate the phone more than in person interactions.  I still tell my current roommate that I will pick up our take out order if she calls it in!

My mother, on the other hand, always wants personal service.  She'll call the Omaha Steaks line to order steaks and tell them all about why she needs them...her upcoming dinner party, a daughter visiting, etc.  As a teenager, I was always highly embarrassed when my mom would start telling store clerks her life story.  (Sorry Mama!).  Now, I just find it amusing. :)

I wonder if growing up being embarrassed by my Mom's small talk with strangers is why I dislike small talk so much.  I know there is a place for it, but I just don't like it.  I have some really odd fear of people thinking I am stupid, so I never want to ask for help or service in a store.  I was thinking about these strange fears today because I have an appointment to get my hair highlighted and cut.  I had the same stylist for awhile, but she has stopped cutting hair, so I have been bouncing around to different stylists at the salon.  I am literally nervous about going to get my hair done because having to personally interact with the stylist makes me nervous.  I can't quite pinpoint it...but it must have something to do with small talk.  The thing that made me stick with my last stylist for so long was that she immediately made me feel comfortable and didn't really engage in small talk.  We jumped right in and chatted about life.  Now, I have to answer questions about my job, the holidays, etc when I go to a new stylist.  But, silence is definitely more awkward.  It's such a strange thing!

I am trying to get better about the whole personal interaction issue.  When I bought my MacBook, I made a personal shopping appointment with a real, live person.  And I asked them questions!  I've been actually calling places.  And talking to people.

Honestly though, with online shopping and service, self checkouts, etc on the rise...there must be more people out there like me than I realize.  But perhaps it doesn't stress others out quite like it does me!