2010 is over, and oh what a year it has been...

"And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe maybe this year will be better than the last..."

As I find myself posting the same Facebook status as I have every year as long as I have had a Facebook, I wonder if this year was really that terrible after all.  While faced with many challenges including, but not limited to, not being "so sure" about my job, then learning to love it; growing into a routine with this furry creature I call, "Dave" who refuses to cuddle with me, but I know still loves me; and falling in and out of love I find myself thinking that this year has been a year of self-discovery, and for that, I am not too sure I can call this year "bad" by any context of the imagination.

Every year we make resolutions.  I rarely follow mine for longer than two days.  This is not to say that I have committment issues, it has more to do with the fact that I set my standards to high.  Saying things like "save more money" or "work out" are things that come with conditions.  I can save money on the condition that my ill-fated dog doesn't get sick again.  I can work out on the condition that I ever really wanted to in the first place. This year, I challenge myself and you to make a resolution that doesn't have contigencies. 

2010 was a year where I found out what I am truly capable of and how self-aware I actually am. I feel confident that the 365 long days of 2010 have done their job of preparing me for all of the excitement and curveballs that 2011 might bring. I will share what I learned with you if you so happen to care to read this, which, if you have gotten this far, why not keep going (it's not going to get any worse).  Ahem, in 2010 I have learned:

• When needed, I am more stubborn than I ever thought possible
• I'm more self-aware than I realized
• I have more resiliency than most people I know
• Never to settle
• Sometimes you have to do things that are hard, but "yes we can"! (I learned that from Obama- first and only good lesson from him)
• I am quite funny (witty, actually)
• How to be a good dog-mom
• What I want in a future mate, and what I don't want
• I still don't like sushi, but there's always 2011!
• I have GREAT friends- new and old
• I have a fantastic family who loves me no matter what
• Sometimes I'm an emotional basketcase, and I'm okay with that
• I'm still unable to make decisions- important or unimportant (I don't think 2011 will change that).
• I haven't lost ALL of my creativity
• My butt isn't going to get any smaller.
• I'm stronger than yesterday (Britney reference, in case you didn't catch that).
• You can't make others happy until you, yourself are happy.
• I cannot handle as much alcohol as I could in college- lesson learned.
• It's okay to think of yourself first sometimes.

Wow!  I did a GREAT job in 2010.  See if you can beat that! You're right, it isn't a competition (well, it is a little), but if it was, I would totally win!

Left Light Blinking World

So the other day I was driving out to East Jesus (New Richmond) from my office.  This is a drive that I have made many times, however, I never fail to see something that amazes me from a dumb butt Ohio driver.  That day it came from Goober Guy who clearly knew how to drive (sarcasm, in case you didn't catch that).  I believe it was around the Milford area when I was lucky enough to get behind the best driver in the world.

I happen to be one of those people who are completely and utterly irked by the idea that someone would leave their turn signal on for two seconds past the time they get over or turn.  So, Goober gets in front of me in the fast lane and drives for a good 3 miles with his left blinker on.  At this point I am trying to remind myself to breathe and not yell profanity that he wouldn't be able to hear anyway.  But then, just as I think all might be well in this left light blinking world, Goober makes the ultimate in dumb-butt move- he gets over to the outer right lane.  You guessed it, he still had the left blinker on.  As I get to where I look out of my window and can see him, I realize the problem.  I will give you one guess as to what he was doing.  (No, not that, get your head out of the gutter.)  Goober Guy was on his CELL PHONE.  I mean, I talk on my cell phone while driving, but that is because I can still manage to keep up with the task of driving while doing so.  This man clearly couldn't multi-task.  Then again, what man can?

Oh, Canada!

So I know that no one will really, truly care about what I write here, but since the trend for blogging is growing, who would I be not to folllow in suit and be fashionable, eh? That's right, I'm 0.0001 Canadian.

Anyway, as I lay here in bed next to my dog who is panting his little brains out (He doesn't fend well in the heat, and quite frankly, neither do I. It makes us both cantakerous.), it only reiterates the fact that the story of my life is probably not blog worthy.  It actually seems pretty blase and common.  To me, however, it is laying in bed next to my panting dog that make me feel most lucky. Not only because because he is the cutest dog in the entire world, which you will be able to see for your own eyes throughout the series of Dave photos that will be posted throughout the lifetime of this blog, but because aside from a few people in my life, he could care less how boring I am.  In fact, I think that he is even more boring than I am- gasp! I mean he gets up in the morning, lays in bed pouting while he watches me get ready with his "sad" eyes, then he goes in his cage, gets out of his cage, lays on our bed again and chews on a bone, a toy, or Kyle's sock, then he lays on the top of the couch and looks out the window (or bonks his head against it repeatedly), then goes back to the bed to lay on it while we sleep.  Aside from the periodic trips O-U-T-S-I-D-E he is a huge fluff ball of boringness.  He fits into my life perfectly..

This is not to say that I have an all the time boring life, nor is this to say that I don't enjoy the times of my life that I would classify as "boring". I couldn't handle the life that some people have where they go, go, go all the time.  I do that for about ten hours everyday at work (hence the title of this blog site), so the last thing I want to do when I get home is GO anywhere (except, of course, to take Dave O-U-T-I...you get it).  It is funny how things change in life and how times I would have considered boring years ago are now like finding precious jewels.  When I find time to just do nothing, I feel like I have found a rift in the space time continuum. I used to die at the thought of staying in, and now I welcome it.  It almost sounds as if I welcome death, but you knew what I meant.

As I keep typing on and on and on, I am beginning to realize how much of a fail this first blog is. On a scale of 1 to 10 it is about 0.0001, or we can think of it like this: Emily is to Canadian, as this blog's greatness is to_______.

I will try again tomorrow.