2008 Year in Review
Welcome to the 2008 Year in Review. This year was definitely as monumental for me as 2006 was, but in a different way. It took some time to evaluate this year. When I asked IP if he had a good 2008, he said he had; and when he asked me, I was still in the throes of figuring out for myself what 2008 meant. I think I may have hurt him a bit—after all, he proposed to me, so that alone should brighten a girl’s year a lot, right? And of course it did! But the reason why I was so noncommittal at the moment was because I was still thinking it over as a whole. But yes, it was a monumental year for me, for him, for us. We continued on our path, steadily, and passed some big milestones in our lives together. This is the year that cemented for me that IP and I are together for life. I knew that way before, but this year seals the deal completely. Not because of the engagement, but because what we do is now not just for ourselves, but for each other. If 2006 and 2007 were years in which we were re-learning how to be a couple in the same place, 2008 was the year in which we began to function as a family.
January 2008: The year starts out rough—shortly after midnight my little brother calls to tell me that my grandmother is ill and that my mom is traveling to Mexico to be with her. A few days later, she dies. I woke up right around the time she died and just knew; it was a strange sensation, and when my father called to tell me that she was gone, he was only confirming something I had suspected that entire morning. I’m not much for spirituality and I like to think of myself as an evidence-based person, but . . . Well, I can’t explain it. It overshadows my January and I hope it doesn’t set a tone for the year. A woman who’s supposed to be my friend takes the news of grandmother’s death thusly: “So let’s stop talking about depressing stuff. What am I going to wear to your wedding? This surgery will make me look so good that day.” Yeah, we’re not really friends anymore.
February 2008: I travel to Michigan not only to visit my family, but to let them know that IP have moved in together. They took it exceptionally well, with my father only cautioning me that he couldn’t endorse or disapprove since it was my life. The message was clear—I ain’t visiting until you’re married (September 2009, Dad)? I spend the rest of the month railing against the big stinker of a movie that The Other Boleyn Girl and am thrilled that Mathgeek gets into Michigan since it makes the family 4-0 for U-M acceptance. Take that, affirmative action assholes.
March 2008: A low key month in which Mathgeek GETS INTO MIT! Take that, affirmative action assholes to the infinity power! Oh, IP and I also attend a Jonathan Coulton/Paul & Storm concert on our anniversary.
April 2008: Honestly, I don’t remember much of April and the blog doesn’t give me any hints. The New Jersey Devils and the Washington Caps make the big mistake of trying to use playoff slogans that include “red” in them when we all know only one team is honorable enough to carry this off with style and élan. My sister and mother visit; we spend some time in Georgetown and just generally chill out and have fun together.
May 2008: I turn a whopping 3-0. IP surprises me with a Forerunner 405 for my birthday. Pretty damn good gift, wasn’t it? Well, hold onto yours hats, he’s not done for the year . . . May is a pretty calm month in which I a) have to work on Mother’s Day and get yelled at by women who are pissed they have to come in for a conference on that day, 2) the Wings make the Stanley Cup finals, and III) I post Jonathan Coulton’s classic “First of May” on the blog on that same day. Fun, no?
June 2008: I visit Michigan for the first time since February in order to witness my little brother’s graduation from hell. Then the Wings win the Stanley Cup—the team picture is still on my computer at home and at work (no, IP, I will not change it; not yet, at least). IP and I end the month by getting stuck on Rockville Pike at Tuckerman Lane when our car died and even our electrical system puttered out so that we couldn’t put on our hazards. We decide to look at cars.
July 2008: On the fifth of July, we buy an icy blue metallic Mazda 3i (awwww, yeah, baby, just the color I’ve always wanted!). On July 13, I travel to the South Pacific once more on business. On July 18, IP meets me in Kona for our annual vacation. On July 21, in front of the Umauma Falls, IP gets down on one knee and asks me to marry him, proposing with a ring that my grandmother gave me when I was a teen. I of course say yes and we begin the intricate journey that is wedding planning. (I told you he wasn’t done for the year!)
August 2008: IP turns a whopping 34 (thirty-four; treinta y cuatro; trentaquattro; trideset četiri; třicet-čtyři; fire og tredive; vierendertig; tiedonhaku-ja neljä; trente-quatre; vierunddreißig; tριάντα τεσσερα; trettifire; trzydzieści cztery; trinta e quarto; treizeci şi patru de; тридцать четыре; trettiofyra). We attend the wedding of IP’s college friend and pick up some pointers on what we don’t want to do at our own wedding (example: pack up shish kabobs in plastic bags for our guests). During that trip, we visit with IP’s aunt and uncle, and then receive a visit from IP’s parents. Very family-centric month, August.
September 2008: I declare on this blog that I’m pulling behind Barack Obama 100% (like a regular reader couldn’t guess that I’m a Dem). I am called in for jury duty and actually enjoy the two days that I am away from the office; that’s how boring my job is, that spending time in circuit court for Montgomery County is that much more entertaining. I travel to Michigan to select a wedding venue and begin to grapple with guest issues: people my parents want to invite who I hate, co-workers assuming they’re invited, etc. IP finds a new job and is thrilled with how far he’s come in a few short years in D.C.; hon, you’ve earned every bit of it! Towards the end of the month, IP and I travel all the way to West Falls Church in order to catch a Paul & Storm concert. That’s devotion, y’all.
October 2008: Two of three work events finally happen, but not without drama. Let’s just put it this way: the one co-worker I might have invited to the wedding is now a definite no-no. Not that that’s a huge punishment, right, but he’s the one who declared “I’m going!” when I came back from Hawaii engaged. My mom and sister book flights to come and help me dress shop in December (yay!). IP and I are harassed throughout the month with phone calls for someone who used to have our phone number—everything from collection agencies and vets try to reach her through us (we finally got her number off of the interwebs and started giving that out—and yes, she knows we’re doing that because we contacted her since it was getting out of control). I fall in love with the Obama Address Saturday Night Live skit. “White devils be crazy! White devils be craaaazzaaay!”
November 2008: Barack Obama is elected the 44th President of the United States. When Keith Olbermann announces it on MSNBC, it’s all I can do to keep my emotions in check—about damn time! While Obama won overwhelmingly, I do feel we dodged a bullet with Sarah Palin—please make sure she disappear into Alaskan obscurity, Flying Spaghetti Monster! IP’s uncle stays with us during a conference he’s attending; we apparently walk too fast (everyone says that—why does everyone say that?). I tackle the last of my work conferences and take a week off to myself—it was bliss! IP and I finish booking all of our major vendors for the wedding and I breathe a sigh of relief for two seconds before I start tackling the minor details. Mathgeek visits us during Thanksgiving, using the getaway from Boston as a time to relax, eat well and see some D.C. sights with his sister and brother-in-law-to-be.
December 2008: Mom and Dorkus visit to go dress shopping with me! I try on multiple dresses that I really like, but when I slip into one particular Maggie Sottero dress, I fall in love immediately. I have one other appointment with a bridal salon and find two dresses there that are pretty, but my mind drifts back to the Maggie. I decide on that one and am thrilled. I keep on looking at pictures of me in the dress, giggling with glee. I LOVE THIS DRESS. Sorry. IP and I spend the rest of December relaxing, writing, reading or going to the gym. For Christmas, my bosses surprise us peons with an actual bonus (buh!?) and let us work from home for days on end during the holidays (guh?!). Metro gives me a Christmas gift on Christmas Eve—offloaded three out of four times on that day. IP and I end the year hugging and kissing, vowing to make 2009 a good year.
That was my 2008. Some low points, some very high points, and at the end of it all, I was exactly where I wanted to be—in IP’s arms as the new year arrived. Let’s see what the year will bring as my guy and I get hitched, University of Michigan style (that is to say, in Ann Arbor, please don’t imagine football accents or anything of that sort).
