Saturday, December 30, 2006

My 2006 Year In Review

On the whole, 2006 was a pretty darn good year. Sure there were some bumps along the way (aren't there always?) but nothing really major to complain about. 2006 was not quite as exciting as 2004 and 2005 in that we did not travel to the other side of the world, but this was our first year in our new house and that was pretty momentous. This is my personal year in review in no particular order:

1. New House--- I can't speak for M, but I am thoroughly pleased with our house purchase. Of course there are always changes and improvements we'd like to make, but over all it is a very good house. We enjoy the peace and quiet, the lovely backyard, the space to entertain, the indoor carparking, and just plenty of room to swing the proverbial cat (not that we would of course).

2. Grew The First Garden--- We the first one at the new house anyway. I really like having a yard again because I get to putter around with flowers and vegetables. I wasn't even sure a veggie garden would grow in our backyard because of the shadow of the house, but even the tomatoes made it. I'm already looking forward to next year.

3. Pulled Off Another Country Fair--- The fair is a family tradition going back before I was born, so it is nice that we are able to keep in up even though we are no longer printers. I love getting to camp with both brothers and enjoy all the tasty food. It's also fun to watch M enjoy them afresh.

4. Took Local Vacations--- We did enjoy the Oregon coast and Portland quite a bit. They may not be very exotic locales, but they are beautiful and easy to do in a long weekend.

5. Snowed My Mom--- The one sort of far away place we visited this year was Pittsburgh. This was part of a plan to surprise my mom with a trip to see my baby brother, JM. With a little help from our friends we managed to get her a little time off work. We told her we wanted to go out to dinner, and she didn't even bat an eyelash until we were getting out at the airport. What a great time! Pittsburgh is not nearly so rusted or icky as we thought. In fact, we really enjoyed ourselves.

6. Saw NYC--- It was a very quick trip, and we certainly did not see everything, but at least we can now say we've been to New York. It really is overwhelming in so many ways. I think we will need a return visit once we've saved up another small fortune to pay for the hotel room.

7. Positive Political Change!--- The election was not a complete sweep, but it did do a lot for my political outlook. I actually feel that there may be some hope on a number of fronts. However, as R likes to say, the Democrats are very good at snatching defeat from the jaws of victory.

8. Finished Pro Cert--- For those who don't remember, the Pro Cert is an evil state requirement for keeping my job. I spent two years jumping through meaningless hoops and paying lots of money in order to prove that I wasn't a bad teacher. I finally jumped through the flaming hoop with spikes all around while wearing a blindfold and writing checks, and they decided I had passed. Now I am the proud owner of a PROFESSIONAL teaching certificate (as opposed to a nasty old provisional one) and I am allowed to go on with my career.

9. Survived Lock Down--- More than three hours laying on the floor in the dark was not my idea of a good time. At least it all turned out to be nothing.

10. Survived The Hanukah Storm Of 2006--- Three days without power seemed really long especially when the temperature in our house went down to 47 degrees F, but it turns out we were some of the lucky ones. I don't know how some people survived more than a week without light and heat.

That's it for the big memorable stuff. Did I forget anything important? I'm estimating that I also brushed my teeth about 1000 times too, but that kind of accomplishment just isn't very exciting. Let's hope next year is at least as good as this one.

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