It’s that time of year again… Time for cookies, trees, gifts, snow (if you’re lucky), songs, mistletoe, ornaments, lights, and joy at celebrating the birth of Jesus. It’s also time for yearly updates. Every year I receive tons of letters from my friends telling me all about the seemingly endless amounts of awesome things their kids accomplished – Johnny took his first steps, Billy said his first word, Jane walked on the moon, Susie found the cure for cancer… And each year as I sit and read through these letters, I’m struck by just how much I have NOT done.
Or at least, the past few years have been like that.
Prior to 2005, I typically felt like I had a lot to say come December. I was moving to or living in or traveling through amazing places – Alaska, Europe, Asia, New York City… But then I moved back to Bucks County – not far from where I grew up – and the excitement seems to have ceased.
I debated as to whether or not to even write something for this year having felt outdone by just about everyone else out there…after all, how can you beat out someone taking their first steps? But after some thought on the matter, I decided that perhaps it was more important do go through this exercise for 2008 because it would help me focus on finding the things that were worth mentioning.
So in the name of hoping 2008 was worth it, I give you…
2008: Year of the Rat
(I’m not making that up – check the Chinese calendar if you don’t believe me)
Let’s begin with 10 “stills” in my life (because it would be more depressing to end there – not that they’re all negatives or anything, but you know what I mean):
- I’m still in Pennsylvania
- I’m still single
- I still live in the same townhouse
- I still have the same fabulous roommate
- I still have Chena the Amazing Dog & Brighton the Great Bird – Chena turned 2 this year and Brighton turned 10
- I still work for the same company
- I still have the same job…or in this environment, perhaps it’s most meaningful to say I still HAVE a job
- I still have debt
- I still love coffee
- I still hate raw tomatoes
Below is a summary of 2008…such as it was:
January
I went to Atlanta to visit my family while Jo & Josh were there. I also found Dave Ramsey and decided set New Years Resolutions to lose weight, start living on a budget, and begin a plan to pay off my debt.
February
I started my budget. I also found out that my foot which I broke in Vermont in 2005 was, in fact, still broken so I was going to have to treat it by wearing this weird bone stimulator (no, it’s not like that – get your mind out of the gutter) 10 hours/day for 6 months. Yay.
March
Gas prices really started soaring, but I still managed to budget in a trip up to Boston to visit Esther & the girls for a long weekend over my birthday.
April
I started attending a Financial Peace University class that was being held locally and I found an amazing church…FINALLY.
May & June
Absolutely nothing of note took place. Nothing. May & June were a total waste this year.
July
I discovered I had a nest of yellowjackets my attic. That was it.
August
Like its predecessors of May & June, August failed to contribute anything of interest for 2008. I think I saw a movie.
September
The most exciting month all year! I went to Seattle to visit Jel & Co. A blast, as always, made even better by the fact that we had a full week to relax & hang.
October
Not as fun as September, but pretty. Great foliage this year. I also had new hardwood floors installed on the ground floor of my home. Oh, and I handed out candy to a lot of princesses & vampires with a few Harry Potter’s thrown in.
November
The removal of all the election paraphernalia from yards & TV was a highlight of my month, second only to the birth of my first nephew – Ronan Powell Rogers. Yay! And then of course there was Thanksgiving. Yum.
December
I calculated that by the end of this year, I’ll have paid off 52% of my unsecured debt (36% of my overall debt) thanks to my budget, Dave Ramsey, and God. I’ve lost 20 pounds of the untold amount I put on after moving out of NYC – still some to go, but I’m on the right track! I got a Wii & a Wii Fit.
I feel like there should be more, but as you can see, 2008 was really pretty dull overall… I am aware that this is partly due to my gazelle intense focus on becoming debt free. I’m still a good 2 years off from crossing that mile marker, but at least I’ve got one full year of it behind me.
I really can’t underscore the importance of this task. It’s huge and has required a lot of sacrifice which, in turn, has made for a relatively boring 2008. And perhaps I should go ahead and warn everyone now that 2009 & 2010 will be going up against 2008 on that front. In 2011, I’ll be sure to give the title of Most Boring Year to one of these 3 contenders because, let’s face it, until I get my debt paid off, I may not being doing much else between now and then…although I do foresee a trip to North Dakota to see my nephew this coming year and perhaps a smaller getaway or two if I can manage it – we’ll see if that budget will allow me that! I became a moderator in December of last year for the GAP Adventures travel forum called The Watering Hole which, while a technically a volunteer position, carries with it some other nice perks like credit towards GAP trips which I might be able to leverage towards this end.
In closing, I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I sincerely hope your 2008 was more interesting than mine… But now look out 2009 – here we come!
Filed under Bucks County, Budgeting, Church, Commentary, Daily Life, Dave Ramsey, Diet, Friends, God, Personal Finance, Reflections, Updates, Year In Review
Hey there, while it might seem “boring” in a “no fabulous braggity brag-brag Xmas letter” kind of way, it seems like a pretty damn good year to me. Kind of like you are letting yourself rest – like how on farms you rotate the crops to let the soil rest. It’s all part of a bigger overall plan for continued fabulousness!
Hey- well you didn’t get a card from my because I couldn’t fiind your address. It’s sitting, party addressed (Plumly Way but what #? What town? What zip?) on my table. That said, there is no letter – just some pics of the girls, no “first this, first that” because if forced to write that I’d say ‘First Year of Hebrew Horror was as bad as I thought, here’s to 2009 and another!’
So I think your year sounds just fine. Consistent and with much progress, there is nothing super glamerous about that, but there is also nothing bad, and much comendable!
Merry Xmas – craziness in FL but will hopefully find a sec to call! Your xmas pic is great.
Love
s
I would like to take issue with the summer months of your year. Something truly amazing happenned in your life. And while finding the Well was cool, that was not it.
I would like to remind you of the MOST amazing, wonderful, stunning, lifelong (well, I will be if I have not been to date) friend you have discovered. And if finding true journey companions is not amazing then, I am going to back to anesthitizing myself with chocolate and wine!
You are amzing and this year is exactly what you planned it to be. In a world where New Year’s resolutions are broken within hours of their birth, you not only courgeously made a significant resolution – You KEPT IT! And that is as amazing as Gavin’s first steps, first words, and peeing by himself in my book! So be encouraged.
@Shanna – You are SO right! I am horribly remiss in not mentioning this… Bad, bad Deb. I am indeed thrilled to have met another lifelong friend – always something to be treasured, celebrated, and should not be undervalued as anything other than a big, huge deal.
OK, Deb, I’m not sure if the following comment made its way to you, so I’ll leave it here:
You are an amazing woman! So clever and creative. God has blessed you with the gift of words, and color, and life. If by “boring” you mean the “doing” part of your life, well, maybe it was boring compared to previous years. But WHO YOU ARE is anything but boring and I am so glad to know you again. Yey!
xo
bjc