2006 Year in Review
Wow. What a year.
I’ll be truthful—I haven’t had a year as dramatic and as life-changing since 1998. My latter half of 1996 and beginning of 1997 were especially tough, and I resolved to make things better in 1998. I ended up losing 65 pounds that year, in addition to finally figuring out what I wanted to do in school. I moved out of my house, made lots of friends, and had a pretty good happy streak until I hit the wall right after graduate school ended. From the end of grad school forward (even though I hate the U of T), it was two crappy jobs, living at home, and feeling like a pile of worthlessness bundled up in JCrew. It was a tough time, that summer of 2003 until January 2006. But I survived, and for anyone going through a tough time like that, it does end. It doesn’t necessarily have to be as long as my time, either—inertia played a large part in that long period of time.
I digress, though. Onto the year that was!
January 2006: I begin the year by getting fabulous new glasses and hoping to hear from a job that I interviewed for in December 2005. While I wait, I receive a call from a company based in Maryland asking me to interview for an open position they have. I agree to take a look at their job description, and am blown away—this would be a major job with lots of a responsibilities and room for growth. It would also involve my longed for move and the beginning of a career, a career I had only begun to reconsider. I take the plunge and interview for the company, rearranging a flight in order to arrive earlier on the day of my interview (which was, coincidentally, the start date of a visit to see IP). My interview lasts for hours, and I immediately like my interviewers who are professional, polished, and obviously accomplished. I walk away feeling wonderful, especially when I’m complimented on my blue purse! That night, after a dinner at a fancy Washington DC restaurant (Restaurant Week, what can I say), IP and I go over every detail of the interview, giddy. We spend the rest of the weekend relaxing, but the interview pops up occasionally as a source of hope. After returning to Michigan (but witnessing the collapse of IP’s computer before that), I wait for a week. My phone rings and my new boss asks “Are you ready to move?” I jump and scream for about three hours until someone, anyone gets home and I can tell them I am done with Dyn-o-mite! After receiving my offer letter which contains a lucrative starting salary, I call IP and ask him out to a Valentine’s Day dinner. He accepts. I tell my little brother mathgeek first, then the rest of my family over the course of two days. They are sad to see me go, but are happy that I am finally moving on. I quit Dyn-o-mite! cheerfully, programming an email message to fan out to my friends as I am giving my two weeks (which was really three days or so). I leave on January 27, 2006 for Washington DC.
February 2006: The new month begins with me working hard at my new job—I jump right in and am immediately noticed as a smart and tough employee. I enjoy my commute to and from work, listening to music on my iPod nano; I read the Express, comparing it somewhat to the Michigan Daily; I enjoy my new apartment, which was found with relative ease. IP helps me pick out furniture (rather, drives me—I doubt he’d select red sofas and red dining room chairs) and urges me to decorate (hint as to what’s happened: almost a year later, and there are about five things on my wall—pretty pathetic, I know). The stress of the move causes me to get a wickedly nasty cold complete with a fever and a cold sore. I spend one night shivering until IP drags out his down sleeping bag and holds me until I fall asleep.
March 2006: I recover from my cold, and all is well with the world. I find that my weekends are amazingly empty (that will soon change) and that my running, though not the hottest since the half-marathon in October 2005, is getting better bit by bit. I buy Girl Scout cookies only because my mom isn’t around to buy them for me, and I burn those off with some running sans Forerunner—the damn thing refuses to work in the DC area. I’m still convinced George W. Bush and the entire federal government is trying to sabotage my runs because he doesn’t want me to get faster. I realize that my friends don’t give a shit about what I’m up to, though the lesson takes a bit longer to really sink in (read: I kept on trying for a while). The 12 Hours of Sebring begin on March 18, and I do not have to scan one second of it. Go WordNerd, it’s your birthday!
April 2006: My sister graduates from college! She graduates with honors, though almost fails to get us into Michigan Stadium (she did get us stellar seats in the end). The Metro ads debut between Metro Center and Gallery Place, and between Gallery Place and Judiciary (or Judishooary) Square and I imagine the kind of calculations needed to come up with an exposure number a la Dyn-o-mite!. I begin the Book List, which is always in sore need of an update.
May 2006: I turn 28 years old (not 32, hon). I continue reading Don Quixote after bringing it back to DC, but I of course have yet to complete reading it. A friend visits early in the month, forcing me to realize that I am not the hostess with the mostess, but that IP was probably a tour conductor in one of his past lives. I come across my first weird encounter on the Metro (and so far, my only weird encounter on the Metro—good), and sadly lose my iPod nano’s headphones at Metro Center. But more is in store for the iPod nano in June.
June 2006: I begin the first of four major tasks at my new job, and get through tasks one and two successfully—I think this proved me to my new employers, surely and truly, and I have reaped the benefits of it. IP and I visit Michigan and see his friends, not succeeding in seeing any of my friends—like I said, they don’t really care, and I don’t really get it at this point. At the second of my fourth task, I step on my poor iPod with a 1-1/2″ kitten heel. I am devastated—I have lost a valuable ally in my battle against cubicle noise. What shall I do? I also learn that I am in for the 2006 ING New York City Marathon. Cue major freaking out because my running is recovering at best. I also know that I will not defer the invitation. Nueva York, here I come!
July 2006: During a visit to New York (the first time I’ve ever been to New York City, too!), I hang out with IP’s parents and begin my marathon training for the New York City Marathon. I complete tasks three and four at my work successfully, enjoying an eight-mile run along Chicago’s Lake Michigan trail. I see an old work friend from my Dyn-o-mite! days in Chicago—the one who moved away makes time to see me, but the others who still live in Michigan don’t! Steve Yzerman retires early in the month, and I am sad because my Red Wings hero has put up his skates (note: Yzerman’s jersey was retired tonight, and I didn’t see it—but I’ll look for clips on YouTube, damnit!).
August 2006: A calm month after a whirlwind two at work, IP and I take a trip, hiking in the southwest, stumbling upon a rattlesnake, and meeting the light of our lives, little Scorpie. As always, our vacation is relaxing and well worth the miles we log on our legs and on a car’s odometer. Since roadtrips are what I grew up with, roadtrips with IP is just building up a whole new bunch of good memories (except I’m not doing math homework on these). I purchase an iPod mere weeks before the next generation comes out—oh, well, the screen’s brighter and a bit bigger, but whatever. Mine still works just fine! IP’s birthday finds him visiting his parents as I spend a day at the mall and get whistled at by 16 year old kids. Joy.
September 2006: I visit Michigan once more and see a couple of my high school friends—one is pregnant and the other is sporting a new motorcycle. I’m sporting the news that I will be going to Hawaii in a mere month. This is also a quiet month at work, though I wish in retrospect that it’d been a bit busier with prep work if anything else. I continue my marathon training, including 14 miles during the waning storms of Tropical Storm Ernesto.
October 2006: A doozy of a month, with three work tasks that I am not sufficiently prepared for but manage to pull of successfully. The stress is pretty intense, though, and after the first task is done I whine and cry at IP. He does his usual best in calming down, and I go onto task two and task three with a clearer head. Task three involves Hawaii, though, so I can’t complain too much. I spend a week at the end of the month on the island of Oahu. It’s great fun, and I get in the last of my marathon training around Diamond Head State Monument. The Tigers make it to their first World Series in 22 years and I am scared shitless of going to New York in November.
November 2006: Marathon time! At the beginning of the month, IP and I pack up and head towards New York City (cue Frank Sinatra, all). I get next to no sleep the night before thanks to noisy neighbors, but successfully complete the 37th running of the ING New York City Marathon. I am totally proud of this accomplishment, and continue to be to this day: watching the “Inspiration” video still brings a tear or two to my eyes, and whenever I think about standing at the starting line listening to “Theme from New York, New York,” I get very, very giddy. This was my first marathon, and I know my subsequent marathons will have trouble topping this one . . . even New York 2008 (if I get in, that is!) will have a heard time topping this only because it was my first. However, the crowds, I’m sure, will be just as lovely. I finish to IP’s excited embrace and Scorpie’s pinchy hug, which is the best finish a woman could ask for. IP and I then hit Michigan once more during the next weekend; he spends time with my family while I visit with Patrick Stewart and the rest of the Royal Shakespeare Company. IP and I begin hitting the gym consistently—I cross-train, he lifts and cross-trains. We wrap up November by having friends over for Thanksgiving (a very lovely evening, indeed). I also get a mondo raise at work! Woohoo!
December 2006: The year is wrapped up quietly, with a visit to Michigan for the holidays and a long weekend to round out the year. While IP is away for a conference, I go out with my work for our holiday celebration—a good time was had by all. The conference, by the way, caused some consternation as IP and I tried to print a poster for said conference. We persevered, but not before enduring some headaches. While in Michigan, I see my friends from Dyn-o-mite! (and get a cold from the one who still works at Dyn-o-mite!, I think). I also see a friend who’s having a good and tough year—she’s happy, but facing some challenges. I also registered for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in April 2007—my next racing challenge before I decide on a fall marathon. IP and I spent a quiet long weekend together—we celebrated New Year’s Eve by eating seafood and drinking margaritas. As the clocked rolled over, we hugged, kissed, and he congratulated me on an exciting and life-changing year. I hugged him back tightly and thanked him for helping me throughout the year.
And that’s my 2006 in a nutshell. Still to come are my resolutions and my final 2006 Book List (I finished two books in the last week of 2006, so I need to update that before beginning 2007). If anyone can remember something I didn’t mention, feel free to insert it into my comments—it’s entirely possible I missed something since it’s been such a full year. It’s been a really exciting year, especially in contrast to last year. I’ve already thanked IP, but many thanks also go to my family who supported me in all my crazy quests and goals. Here’s to a bright 2007—it might not be as life-changing, but with everyone around me, it should be a good one, definitely.
