Highs (ha!!!) - Going back to school. Although I do feel slightly creepy at college, I know I'm doing the right thing. - Daughter started school, doing well. Lows - My job has been pissing me off towards the boiling point as the year rolls on. I am simply not happy there, and can't start applying for another for at least a year.
Highs: New Orleans, Vegas, Promotion, Great Birthday, Fun Parties, Great FWB situation, Shed dead weight friends, Tried a ton of new restaurants, started reduced carb diet, lost weight, gained muscle Lows: Still haven't broken into a traditional ad agency, but other than that, this year has been great.
Highs: I'm in the process of buying a house. I've got a new job, with pretty awesome people. I was the best man at my brother's wedding and found out yesterday that I'm going to have a niece. This is also the year that I realized that I wanted to marry my girlfriend and start a family with her. Lows: Losing my job probably ranks up there as one of the worst things that has ever happened to me. The fact that it happened right before December, during the closing process made it even worse. Not to mention the stress of having to find a job, the stress on my relationship, and the fact that money is going to be tight for a while. Oh, and the damn dog got hit by a car. Luckily, she got the equivalent of a smack upside the head, but that didn't stop her from stress-shitting all over my shirt on the way to the vet. All of these things happened in like a 2 week period.
high: husband's cancer finally in remission low: otherwise very healthy and active grandma died of a cancer that would be completely curable in the US 2013: Looking forward to graduating, getting a job and perhaps even a house...like an adult!
Highs: -My girlfriend moved here, and our relationship is better than ever. -Being confident and satisfied with the career path I'm on. -I was very ambitious and worked my ass off on my own little enterprise, and my blog doubled in popularity over the previous year too. -I learned more about myself and managed to grow through the lows I experienced this year. Lows: -Several brutal months on the job. I learned just how tough sales can be. -I let it get the best of me too. My job and the pressure I put on myself pushed me close to depression. -Being irresponsible with money. 2013: I'm going to take my job more seriously and get that promotion, keep pushing my limits and build some awesome stuff in my shop, and keep the awesome relationship my girlfriend and I have going.
The Highs: Learned a lot. Went on some awesome trips with people I love. Deepened friendships. Got a few job offers. I don't have cancer...biopsy is negative. Family bought some land back from people who bought it from my great-grandpa, putting it back in the family and giving all of us a beautiful spot to enjoy. That was exciting. Making good progress on meta-analysis. Made a 4.0 last 2 semesters...the GPA is nice, but I feel like I really have a grasp on the material thanks to several professors, classmates and mentors. I feel good. The Lows: Lost my brother. 2013: Feel pretty optimistic about it. May 2014 doesn't sound terribly far away anymore. I think it's gonna be badass.
Highs: -internship over the summer that will turn into a great letter of recommendation for graduate school -getting straight A's this summer and fall semester, yet getting highly more intoxicated than any other year as an undergrad -birth of my niece -reunited with some old friends back in middle school days -got to see Childish Gambino and Frank Ocean this summer. Yes. Lows: -having a series of men capture my attention, make various plans/tell me how much they like me, then stop talking to me out of nowhere for still unknown reasons (Commitment issues? I'm too awesome for them to handle? I'm going for the latter..) -beginning of the end of undergraduate -turned 22. woof. 2013: -kick ass my last semester of undergraduate; goal is to get straight A's while getting even more intoxicated than 2012 -maybe actually get serious with someone? (doubtful..but still the possibility) -graduate in May -get a full time job to make money for graduate school -take GRE, apply to grad schools, and choose one to go to in 2014
Lows: Lost one of my best friends to cancer. Took a split from my girl. Used the time to try to rekindle things with my ex wife. Realized how depressed I was. Realized my ex wife is exactly as crazy as I remember. Highs My relationship is great right now. We both really needed to seperate so we could sort through the anger we were holding for each other. At the end of my first year back in school I'm sitting just north of a 3.00 gpa. Finally on the path to responsibility and adulthood.
This was one of my best years ever. Highs: Fell more in love than ever. Bought house. Remodeled house with the help of my parents and friends. Was diagnosed with sleep apnea and began getting treatment for it. This improved my quality of life 10x Moved girlfriend into house. The above two things allowed me to support her so she could quit teaching and go back to school for something she actually wanted to do. Promotion with huge pay raise. Got engaged shortly there after. Lows: Spent shit tons of money on a down payment for the house, and on the ring. Leaving me financially strapped. I let my nicotene addiction become an issue again after quitting for 6 months Let my diet go and put on weight. All of the positives listed above came with a huge ammount of stress. Which probably caused the above two things to happen. 2013: I'm going to take time for me And do things I like not related to buying a ring or working on a house.. And save for a wedding in 14/15. But most importantly, take time for me and live with less stress.
Lows: The whole fucking year has been pretty shitty. From having bronchitis, then pneumonia for 6 weeks, to my uncle being diagnosed with cancer, to being sick of my job, to greater than usual nuttiness with my mother . . .wah Highs: I've got a great wife and kid, both healthy, but specific highs? The steak and martini dinner i had Wednesday night was pretty damn good. That may about sum it up.
Lows: Honestly, I got nothing to really complain about. Little shit annoys me way too easily, I suppose, but that is why we have booze. Highs: My daughter was born this year, and she is awesome. The world didn't end right before her first Christmas, so that was a high. My marriage is stronger than ever, my wife is awesome and still the best person I know, and I even still like both of my jobs. My wife is finally getting treatments to get rid of her allergies, which means she should be allergy free by 2015 (considering she is allergic to everything, this is awesome). She'll feel much better. 2013: I'd say find a teaching job, but in this state that simply won't happen, so I'll settle for moving to full time at my video store job, getting a nice raise with the additional hours, allowing my wife to go to part time at her job while we still enjoy going on multiple vacations a year and putting a lot of money away for the kid's college fund. Again, my life is pretty awesome at the moment. Vacations for the next year include 4 days in Vegas, a week in Tennessee, and an extended 4 day weekend in Chicago. This in combination with my wife finally getting rid of her allergies and her health improving vastly because of that, things are looking quite good for 2013.
Highs: I haven't been fucked with by the cops for this whole year. I went back to school and aced all of my classes. I've made a lot of new business contacts. Lows: I'm still on probation until 2021. I still have to pay for a breathalyzer on my car ($65 a month) until 2015. My ex-wife is still a bitch. 2013: One of my diesel technology instructors is planning on retiring soon, and he's told me that once I finish my associate's degree in diesel technology, he wants me to take his place teaching at the college. He says he can get me in even with my record. I'll just have to wait and see on that, but he's been there for a long time and has a lot of clout.
Highs: One year sober on Thanksgiving day and I'm loving it. Spent 12 weeks in Argentina and got to go to the holy grail of soccer games (River vs Boca). Finally graduated university. Moved in with my girlfriend and things seem to be going well. Falcons are having a good year so far. Lows: Coming to the realization that my professional soccer career is probably over at 26. I just can't seem to get another fair shake in the US leagues and it'd be about $2000 to get to the tryouts that are lined up for me in Argentina. It's a tough realization to come to that the biggest part of my life for the last 20+ years won't be the same anymore. 2013: Probably going to shift my focus to refereeing soccer, try and break into the professional ranks in the next couple years. I've got a hand up on 99% of the referees as I've played at really high levels and most of them haven't. I'll also be trying to find a real job now that I have my degree. If I can find a job close to where my girlfriend is doing her grad school, I'll probably end up popping the question sometime in the upcoming year. I'll also focus pretty heavily on my golf game once I get a job and have money, hopefully get to around a 10 handicap in the next year.
High: Got into working out, lost 35 lbs. Graduating college was a close second. Low: Unemployed. Also, my brother repeatedly fucking up in school and breaking my family's trust in him. Needs to learn how to get serious in life and get his shit done. That's about it though. Expectations for 2013: Preferably this fellowship in Hong Kong.
Focus: My low of the year was my now ex-fiancee ditching me for her coworker; which incidentally lead to the high of the year of getting the burden of a long-distance relationship off my back (and getting to fuck her cousin in the bargain). Oh and finally leaving community college with a piece of paper; that was pretty sweet. Alt-Focus: So far my outlook for 2013 is up in the air. I might've found a job, not in the field I just graduated college from; but around here a paycheck is a paycheck. One of my greatest pitfalls is playing life by ear, so I might get ran over by a bus, go to prison, or end up a quadriplegic; so it's too early to tell whether or not I got screwed by the non-occurrence of the Apocalypse.
Highs: I am still at the job that I started in September 2011. It is in the field that I went to school for. I became an uncle to an awesome baby boy. He is the first grandchild for my parents. My dad came down and visited from Connecticut twice. He moved back there in 2008, after my mom left him. It was the first that I had seen him since he moved back there, and I had a good time seeing him both times. I wrote another online Jeopardy tournament and have seen it through once again. I moved out of my mom and step dad's house. Lows: I did not have a date all year. I have been pretty lonely at times and interaction with friends has been sparse. I realized that I hate my job and probably need to find a new one by the middle of the year, regardless. I thought that I would like sitting in front of a computer for a job and it would be a huge improvement over retail, given my sedentary lifestyle, but I have come to loathe it. Overall it wasn't bad by my standards. I am hoping for better in 2013, but I have a bad feeling about it.
2012: This year was altogether great for me. I started my master's program in January, and am one semester from finishing. I've tutored some fantastic kids, and have made a lot of connections through their parents, one of which resulted in a standing job offer with a six figure income when I graduate. I quit smoking four months ago. I finally learned to accept that some people will never apologize or explain themselves when they do a shite thing, and that even if they tried to explain, it will rarely negate the impact of the action. So I let things go, and let rickety bridges burn, and I'm a lot happier for it. The only things that have been really awful this year were getting stuck in Morocco alone when I missed my flight and failing daily to understand or relate to my sister in any fashion. 2013: I'm ringing in next year up in Brooklyn, and I have high hopes for it. I finish my master's in May and will kick off my big girl career soon after. The environmental tox research that I've been a part of this past year will be submitted for publication, along with the clinical trials study design I'll be working on in the spring. I was originally planning to go to South America, but it's beginning to look like I'll be financially sound enough to spend Christmas and/or New Year's in Antarctica. Also, I'll be turning 25, and I'm planning to make up for my lack of celebration the last four years with... Something.
High: Kicked ass at work. Low: This wasn't a great year for me. Between the boy grieving for his mom, my long dormant depression and anxiety making an appearance and this general feeling that the south isn't my home but NJ doesn't feel like home brought on this feeling of malaise. 2013: I'm being moved to a field caseload in January, I'm hoping to do well enough to be promoted to IPS Officer(Intensive Probation Supervision) which carries a small raise. I am hoping for a proposal. I'm hoping the depression will lift for an extended amount of time and the south will feel more like my home. After reading Dixie's post up above, I hope and pray one of my probationers that's on until 2021 says his low point is having a bitchy redheaded PO that actually holds him responsible for his behavior. It would negate the shit year I've had.
High: -Got married in October. Lows: -Barely speaking to my mom for the shit she pulled at the wedding and realizing the relationship with my parents will never be the same. -Losing a friend of ten years. It's most likely for the better, but it still hurts. -Found out my grandma has a brain tumor. -Fighting with my husband because this marriage thing isn't easy, apparently. Who knew? -Anxiety and depression from trying to deal with my parents' divorce. 2013: -Really get back into working out, which I think will help with the depression and anxiety. -Work on the communication between my husband and I. -Work on making myself happy and getting to the root of my issues.
It must be the year for internet basement dwellers to drop weight because I've shed about forty pounds this year mostly thanks to working out and not eating crap all the time. Who knew? A result of that, that I just found out this morning, is that my cholesterol and triglyceride levels have dropped from shockingly, unbelievably bad to the high end of normal without medication, so I'm pretty happy about that. (Old man problems.) For next year, I don't really know. I have a few exercise goals in the back of my head I'm shooting for, but for the most part, I'm going to keep doing what I have been doing. It seems to be working.