A year of firsts

1. Started my first weblog.
2. Braved the spotlight as a bride.
3. Left my first full-time job.
4. Lived for a month and a bit with the man of my dreams.
5. Was awarded a fellowship.
6. Drove long-distance on my own.
7. Set up my own furniture.
8. Got my first parking ticket (but escaped paying).
9. Watched the most epic movie (at least to me) - ROTK.
10. Reached the heights of geekdom with my LOTR craze.
11. Entered the Green Card lottery.
12. Volunteered to go first for the fiction workshop of 2004 (but may not succeed with a very good story).
13. Got an Amazon.com credit card.
14. Gave a car the complete works all by myself - wash, rinse, wax.
15. Got almost drunk (no hangover, thank goodness).
16. Visited the Met Museum.
17. Attended a raunchy bachelorette party.
18. Made a permanent exit from the dating world.
19. Got a prawn as a pet.
20. Had small group dinner with famous author (who cooked the dinner too!).

A rather rambly not-very-in-order list. There's more, I'm sure. As 2003 turns into 2004, I realize how much I am grateful for, so much has happened in this amazing year. I got married, I got accepted into the program I always wanted to enter, I returned to Ann Arbor, I watched the final part of the LOTR trilogy, I made new friends (online - that's you, Monkey! - and offline), I renewed old friendships, a good friend got attached to my brother's good friend (they met at my wedding!), it goes on and on!

As I write this, my poor husband is leaving his office (he didn't get a half day off), going into the new year crowd to buy me a new year present before coming to my parents' house where we will spend the night with my brother and friends (including the new couple mentioned above!). Perhaps we'll go down to the beach where the ships will be ablaze with festive lights and will shoot flares when we reach the first hour of the new year. I'm so happy to be spending it with those I love. Last night, I was moaning to Lin Kiat about a girl my age who has the unfair combination of being thin and possessing an unfaked cleavage. We were reading her weblog together and admiring the pictures of her and her husband and their beautiful baby. Lin Kiat grinned and said, "She has a loving husband and so do you. What are you complaining about?" He's very right, of course.

I have very little to complain about this year, and I hope next year will be just as special. Happy new year to all my friends, my readers, the lurkers (who I hope will say hallo one day) and all who share this world! Peace out.

Posted by Monoceros at December 31, 2003 5:04 AM