2005: A Building Year

"Everything happens for a reason!

Now, for a sports analogy:
When you have a bad year for a team, it's called a 'building year,' a year when everyone is young and learning to work together, or the coaching staff isn't quite 'gelling' yet.

2005 was, perhaps, a building year.... "
-- Beth, in a comment on Becki's blog

Indeed. 2005 was, without question, a building year. Now before I launch into the, uh, building experiences, let me say this. I know that there are a brazillion people out there who have had a harder year than I have. Loss of friends, love, homes, jobs – you name it, I’m sure someone has experienced it. I realize that overall, the stuff that I went through was minor and instead of dwelling on it and letting it win, well, I just turn it into a learning experience. Most of the time. Sometimes I’ll cry about it, most likely I’ll complain about it, but once the initial reaction passes, well, I’ll be just fine. Especially after I turn it into a blog entry. Heh. Anyway.

So I was recently going through the blog and compiling all of the entries I’ve written this year regarding the guys I’ve dated. It was most definitely a building year in the dating arena, people – I wrote SEVENTY PAGES. Of those, 55 were about the random losers and the other 15 were about Not Boyfriend. The thing about it is, when I read back over them, I only wince about a couple of them. The rest I totally laugh about. So yes. My wish for myself in 2006 is that I find someone – just one person – who I can write seventy pages about. And those seventy pages will be about how he is everything I want, and how good he is to me. My wish for YOU is that I spare you from those seventy pages.

Now if I went through and found all of the references to how much I hate my job, well, that would take up a lot of pages as well. The thing that keeps me going in that respect is that no matter how many resumes I send out and how many jobs I apply for and don’t get, there is ONE out there that I’m supposed to have. So I keep looking and keep the faith. In the ideal world, I would get paid for writing. Or doing stick drawings. This is not the ideal world. My wish for myself in 2006 is that I find a job that makes me happy, at the very most. At the very least, a job that makes me not miserable. Both of those would be a giant step up from 2005. And 2004, 2003 and 2002.

Compiling the entries about my friends and family would most likely outpace any other subject. In regards to my friends, 2005 was NOT a building year. I think our last building year was maybe 1992 or so. And now, through the magic of the internet in general and blogging in particular, my girls and I are closer than ever. I can tell a story once and get everyone’s input on it – no matter how mundane – and that way, the next time we’re all together, they can immediately start making fun of me, instead of being delayed by my having to tell the story. Everybody wins! Except maybe me. Or whoever else is getting made fun of. And of course, all of the people who I’ve never met and yet feel like I’ve known forever. That would be you, blogfriends, in case that was unclear. So my wish for myself in 2006 is that I continue to be surrounded by people I love and care about who love and care about me.

I don’t generally make New Year’s resolutions, per se. I don’t know why – I just don’t. I think my mindset is that I’ve got stuff in my head that I want to change in the coming year, but putting them down on paper as a “resolution” beginning January 1 isn’t my style. In any case, I’ve got a mind full of changes to make and things I want to remain the same, and believe me – I’ve got my work cut out for me. But hey – I got through the building year relatively unscathed, so I feel that next year can only be better, right?

Happy New Year!!!