Bring Me 2009.

Christmas 2008 has come and gone. 2009 lies in wait. One week still remains of the historic 2008, and now is the time when all the cliche "year in review" items surface. Sports writers reflect on the year in sports, political writers look back on the last year of weirdness in modern Democracy, and secretaries wax poetic in the company's final Newsletter of the year, commenting on how many barely edible cakes were issued for office parties and birthdays.
This time of year also brings out those whimsical songs of the season. Radio stations that began playing Christmas music on Halloween, finally bust that nut as the apex of their musical scam approaches, and they prepare to return to regular programming.
Personally, I'd say I had a pretty good year. I was able to elude the sadness of Death, unlike last year when both of my Father's parents passed away. My cousin Bill got engaged, my future brother-in-law also got engaged. I've been engaged myself for exactly a year now. My fiance, Janelle, and I continued to grow closer as we got one more year closer to officially intertwining our Lives.
I remember I got an unexpected salary raise at some point in the early spring this year as well. It was the first time I received a raise for seemingly no reason. I was told, it was more or less a cost of living upgrade. Now, that's pretty damn good. The cost of living certainly was on the rise. Gas was approaching loan paperwork status, and my favorite beer climbed closer and closer to too damn much. Thankfully, both seem to have come back down to a reasonable sum, as gas is actually at its lowest price in nearly four and a half years.
We finally upgraded Janelle's transportation as well. Upgrade, in a sense, just meant that we got her a new used car. Her other vehicle was on less than a last leg, and rebuilding and repair just seemed to make less and less sense. Janelle also finally got her first classroom, teaching first grade to the little ones in Dayton. I was extremely happy when she got the call, since being a teacher is something she has been so passionate about for as long as I've known her. She spent untold thousands of American dollars on her education, and hadn't been able to use it for the last four years. She was beginning to reject the idea of teaching all together since she couldn't land a classroom, and her quiet stress was building. I never would have let her quit trying, because Teaching is her dream. Now, she's living her dream, and I couldn't be happier for her.
My cat got another year older, and another year more senile. She's the runt of her litter but you'd never know it. Sure, she's a size or two smaller than most female cats nine years of age, but she still has the fight of a kitten. I say she gets more senile because I like to give her a hard time. A good friend of mine once said that he believes animals understand every word we say to them. They just choose to remain silent. I couldn't agree more. Sure, sometimes you can look Kitty right in the face, tell her she's a greedy, ungrateful, loudly shrieking menace, and what does she do? She turns away and licks her ass. Did she hear me? She has ears, of course she heard me. Then other times, you can look right at her, and say she's a good kitty, and she'll start the purring engine and try to ram your approaching petting hand with her head. She responds in the only way a stubborn cat can at any given moment, and I find it fascinating every time.
All kinds of things, weird or otherwise happened to me, and probably to you too over the last 365 days. There were so many things in the world to talk about, but I really can't bring myself to do that. I will say that our Country succeeded despite pure economic meltdown, and the fervor of yet another war, in bringing about a new Wave. Barack Obama got my vote, and he will be President next month. I truly look forward to seeing what happens in this World now that he will be President. It's one of the most impressive and vital things our Great Nation has managed to pull off in its young career as a Nation. I only hope that traditional, and polished politics don't interfere.
I think that if you can look back on your year and find one thing that can keep you smiling, then that is good enough. I've had plenty of years where I couldn't do that. Here, I've listed a few and quite seriously I'm sure I could come up with more. I've had a good year, and I look forward to so many more. I'm not usually one for resolutions. The only one I have ever really made and took seriously was quitting smoking cigarettes, and here I sit cig free since 2004. I probably won't make any resolutions for 2009, since I don't think I need a drastic change in my life. I might resolve to spend a little less money where I don't need to, but that's about it. I'm happy NOW. And I intend to stay that way. Happy New Year.