::eyeballs cheese and wine PhysOrg and I picked up today::
Among other things …
Oh yeah, it’s going to be a good weekend 
My USB headphones have been set up and I have been importing new music to iTunes this afternoon.
I should go make more gingerbread cookie dough …
I wonder if end-of-year reflections are a modern invention or if people have sat down and tallied up their accomplishments and written out their goals for the next year as long as there have been calendars? Was it a religious duty initially, centered around spiritual growth, or has it always been a secular, ambition-driven measurement for self-improvement?
Maybe it also gives people in the Northern Hemisphere some motivation to make it through the cold, dark months of January and February (personally, my least-favorite time of year).
I have seen enough years pass to know that there is a certain amount of Accomplishment, Failure, Routine, and the Unexpected in any year such that resolutions are … well, they’re simply whatever they mean to the individual … no real indication of whether life is going to go well or poorly in the next year, although it seems that we make resolutions each year in order to propel our lives in a positive direction.
It’s not always from trying or the lack of it that we succeed or fail at our plans, and our own schemes are the biggest portion of life under our direct control.
Here are some things that I consider accomplishments for 2006:
I bought my first house with three of my friends in July. This is a big achievement for me financially and socially. My goal a few years back was to be a homeowner by age 35, so this has happened earlier than I expected.
I paid off a couple of credit cards that had been opened back when I was in grad school (debt is a big, big pain to repay, but so easy to rack up when you’re a poor student).
I have been *working on* my relationships with various people: friends, family, co-workers, etc. and have made at least one or two new friends this year. I hope to do a better job with this next year, but some progress has been made.
My income has been steadily rising, but job satisfaction could be better. Again, something to work on in 2007.
There have been big changes in people’s lives this past year:
PhysOrg’s mom has been in good health since her surgery last January, maybe the most amazing Good Thing that happened this year.
Friends’ relationships have changed and branched out in different ways than we anticipated a year ago.
Friends have gotten engaged and/or married in the past year.
Friends and acquaintances have lost loved ones, suffered grief, and dealt with illness in their families.
Friends have finished degrees, changed jobs, lost jobs, and moved.
It has been one standard human year with the usual mix of good and bad. It may be more of a Year to Remember for some and a Year to Fast-Forward Through for others, but we’re all leaving it a little different than we were last January 1st.
Best wishes to all!
It has been a good day. I slept late and poked around the house for a while in the morning. Gruntac presented me with USB headphones Then I ran around town doing things by myself for a while. I came home and went out to dinner with people. We had ice cream afterwards and discussed New Year’s party plans. Good times.
Today was the *only* day in maybe twenty years that my hair has been entirely straight (and *not* super short). Most of you missed it. I am too lazy to pull out the camera 
And I did have a lot of my hair cut off today. It is now shoulder-length and brown. Brown rocks.
It was a nice feeling to leave work yesterday, knowing that I have *most* of next week off and plenty of holiday celebrations before it really picks up again in January.
A bunch of us clustered at PhysOrg’s family’s house last night to socialize and watch Love, Actually– which is not only the best Christmas movie ever, but one of my favorite movies. Pizza was ordered, PhysOrg’s mom made her famous hot cocoa and Christmas cookies, and a good time was had by all.
Our friends who live in Seattle are in town and have dropped by this morning for a game of Arkham Horror with PhysOrg, Inle, Gruntac, and Onlyunjeu (who is home from school). What am I doing and why am I not upstairs playing? I have a couple of errands I need to take care of today and am working up to finishing my coffee and running out to do those so that I can be back in time to see Happy Feet this afternoon on the IMAX.
Mlitiagrl is over at her parents for the next couple of days, so I have been promoted to chief fish caretaker while she is visiting them Yay, fish!
Tomorrow, I will be spending Christmas Eve (or part of it) with PhysOrg’s family at his sister’s house.
Hope everyone has a great weekend with family and friends!
In computer news, I downloaded a piece of shareware last night called Yasu that I am hoping will help with a few minor computer issues I have been having lately.
I have avoided doing much routine maintenance on my iMac and I think this is the source of the occasional slowness and freeze-ups I have been having while booting/shutting down.
Yes, I know. This is bad. If it were a PC, it would have already taken up chain smoking and have a pot belly.
So I am looking into options to keep my computer healthy and clutter-free.
Do any of you Apple-users have recommendations or opinions about system maintenance?
There will be a party at our place on New Year’s Eve.
No official starting time set. Let’s say “sometime after noon” for the sake of PhysOrg wearing pants (but no promises).
I expect there will be some movies at some point in the late afternoon/evening (::cues Mr. Guff::).
I will likely have baked and picked up some sodas and snacky things.
It should be a fun time. Come join us.
Wimpy forearms sore from stirring stiff cookie dough the past couple of days.
Head sore from bonking it on a coffee mug PhysOrg was holding in the kitchen over the weekend.
Bruise on leg from doing something that I can’t remember, but I remember saying “I think my leg is going to be bruised.”
Maybe I need to take more vitamins.
And hit the gym.
Kabul Restaurant (on State Street)
Wednesday, December 27th
7:00 PM
Let me know if you plan to come– if we have more than 6 people, I should probably call and ask about a reservation. Otherwise, we’ve never had a problem getting a table right away.
Not to say that I won’t update again until January, but I wanted to sneak the message in here somewhere–
I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and that 2007 unfolds as the best year of your life (so far, anyway)!
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