2009: The Best Year Yet!

Every year we make resolutions and usually they are the same plans and promises that failed to come to fruition last year. Instead of making myself an ad for Dr. Phil or Jenny Craig, I am going to take some time to list some gratitudes for the past few months.

Barton Springs and the Polar Bears
No, not the Sarah Palin kind, the keepin' it wierd kind. I spend January 1, 2009 swimming in Barton's warm(er) waters. Since the springs runs the same temperature year round, the summer's frigid water is warmer than the air in winter and a great place to feel alive (when you can feel your feet). It was fantastic. There were old men in banana hammocks and old ladies in wet suits. A woman swam by me showing off a beautiful butterfly stroke. After reading her cap, I think she might have been an olympian. I have swam in Barton in the winter, and it is usually a solitary experience. This pool was as full as it is in the beginning of June and everyone was happy. There was an old lady handing out mudslides, and many people brought food and coffee to share. Yum. What a great way to start the year!

America going Blue
Yes, Shirley, this one goes out to you. I may have let you down on Thanksgiving with my not-saying-anything when you tried to start the traditional go around the table, but I'm trying to make up for it now. No longer do I equate Obama with the second coming, but boy am I glad America didn't go the other way. Unlike many, I didn't vote for my hope but against my fears. I was compelled to campaign in Philly when America responded to Sarah Palin so favorably. After all the Bush years of feeling marginalized for reading and thinking and being able to point to Africa on a map, I feel such a sense of relief.

Lyrica
This pfizer med blocks pain signals in my brain and it has changed my life. Sure, it comes with a little weight gain, but I would rather be running around a little chubby than not laying in the dark crying. So, thank goodness for pharmaceutical progress. Lyrica, I love you so much, you make it hard for me to hate big Pharm.

The Best Party Yet
Since I was a Junior in high school we have been having a party in the winter and inviting the same roster of people plus a few extras every year. This Christmas it became obvious that we had been having the same party for over a decade. The good news: it just keeps getting better. A few liters of whiskey and an Ipod with T.I.'s "Whatever you like" was all it took to go 'til 4 am. Even better, most of the partiers made it till morning to puke. Yey, whiskey! Yey, adult apartments! Yeay, friends who can boogie all night!

My Brooklyn (Sized) Apartment
Yes, my bedroom is smaller than your closet. Yes, at Thanksgiving my guests decided that there job was to show off its diminutive nature for best dramatic effect. Everyone laughed. Wait, the bed is the whole room! But I really love it. I love that the walls hug me in at night. I love that the proportions force me to unpack when I get back from a trip and to keep things neat in general. I put things in their place because that it the only space for them. In the mornings, I make my bed, and Ta Da! the room is clean. Small is the new Big.

I have many, many more things to celebrate and embrace and appreciate in my pampered, privileged life. My great friends, my family, all the benefits of being me. These are just a few I have been thinking of lately.