WNBP: A Year In Bullet Points

Well, here we are.  It is Wednesday night, normally the time for a nice random look at the first half of the week. Yet it is also the last few hours of 2008.  I suppose it seems appropriate to do, not just a bullet point presentation of the day, but also of the last 364 of 'em!  Let's see what tidbits come to mind...

*The whole '08 thing began with me trying to come to terms with the devastating loss of my Smaller, Less Fluffy Kitty.  Even having a month to accept this eventuality, I was unprepared for how painful it was going to be.

*December 26th may have come and gone last week without my commenting on this sad anniversary, but rest assured...

I spent a great deal of time looking longingly at a small urn and remembering.

*Up until I lost someone who had been a part of my life every single day for 17 years, I failed to understand that the word, "grieve" is a verb.  It is something you do.  And it is something you do hard.  

*However, under the watchful and supportive eye of the Big, Fluffy Kitty, I began to heal.

She was most attentive.

Sometimes a bit too attentive.  She was lonely without her sister and nemesis.

*Six months later, I finally felt ready to visit with some kitties at the local animal shelter.

*Just to look, mind you.  I really felt it best to take this process one step at a time...

The Absurdly Gi-normous Kitty found me within fifteen minutes.  He was home in under an hour.

*Suddenly, I found myself smiling again.  I even began to laugh!

It was sort of unavoidable.  The AGK is possessed of an indomitably cheerful spirit and is a true lover of life.

*About half-way through the school year, I learned that I was to be transferred in September.  Someone was going to have to take The Bad Job At The Middle School Where All Heck Had Broken Loose And Where No One Else Was Willing To Work.  That someone was going to be me and miracles were fully expected.

*I'm told I've managed a few miracles.  Nice to hear...

*Just before the end of the school year, I was also told that I was to be traveling to Bad Job At The Middle School without my beloved Cheerful Teaching Assistant.  

*This decision was made in full defiance of the fact that she was the only teaching assistant who was willing to go to TBJATMS cheerfully and without complaint.  It seemed to make more sense to send two less-than-cheerful people over there to assist me because I might not have enough to do after all the miracles were wrought.

*They are coming along nicely.  I count that as one of the miracles performed since September...

*During my summer vacation, I knit my first ever honest-to-God sweater since starting the blog!  

*We owe this particular miracle to the wise words of Elizabeth Zimmerman and her percentage system as well as to the nice people at the local Dollar Store.

Give me a break!  Every other sweater I'd tried since starting the blog had gone down in flames.  I wasn't going to risk good yarn on this experiment!  Dollar Store yarn doesn't mind being put in the line of fire.  

*In fact, I suspect that Dollar Store yarn might actually like fire being as it is made of weird stuff that is probably flammable...

*I learned how to make cheese.  

*I have no idea why I wanted to make cheese.  It's just one of those things.  Sometimes I get a bee in my bonnet...

*Over the school vacation in April, I had to come to terms with the fact that my beloved truck was no longer able to be repaired.  At least not on my budget.  

*A new car was chosen.  

*There have been issues with that one, too.  But they are issues of a far less expensive variety at this point, so we are calling the decision the right one.

*Unlike the truck, nothing has exploded while I try to make my way to work in the morning. 

*Exploding has shown itself to be a less than desirable quality in a motor vehicle.  At least as far as I'm concerned.

*I don't want to speak for everyone regarding vehicular combustion.  That seems presumptuous.  

*In November, I donned a dress for the first time in fifteen years.  Not just a dress...one with a full length skirt with a matching strapless top and which sported a sweetheart neckline.  There was a coordinating shrug and sash to go with it as well.  

*It was a sacrifice, but worth it.  

*Baby Brother Sheep's wedding was beautiful and, in one fell swoop, I got a new sister, a niece and a great nephew.  

*The latter has managed to disprove my long-standing belief that I am not a "baby person."  My Lord, this kid is a cutie!!!

*Parents of daughters aged one and under, beware!  Great Nephew Sheep is a charmer capable of wooing even the most hardened of hearts!  

*I also watched more zombie movies than is good for a person, however I prefer to think of them as "training films."

*When the impending zombie apocalypse finally does manifest itself, I can write off all those DVDs as a business expense.

*You know that the government is going to turn to me when no one else knows what to do and everyone is thinking that they can all just live at the mall like in the movies.

*We can't all live at the mall.  Or at Costco.  Or Wal-Mart.  The government is going to need someone to point this out.

*I maybe also spent a good part of the year thinking about stuff like that when I should have been being a more productive person or cleaning the oven...

2008....was it a good year or a bad year?  I suppose that, in the end, you can only say that it was.  Most years are like that, I think.

And what do we say to 2008?  Well, I think I'll leave that to a hero of mine from days gone by.  Who better than Patty Smyth to bid a fond farewell to The Year That Was?

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

SA