Thursday, January 9, 2014

The Year of Dental Work, And Other Stuff

For me, 2013 will always be the Year of Dental Work: My poor cat Jinxy had five teefers pulled in March, and then in December I had six fillings replaced.  
 

Yep, that's about the highlight of the year.  The reason I had six fillings pulled is that I saw a new dentist (who I suspect is way more aggressive than my last dentist, who for 10 years always said everything looked fine.)  The reason I had a new dentist is that I moved.  The reason that I moved is that I got married.  Oh, yeah, I guess there were some other things that happened this year.

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I started this blog in November, 2009, and at the time I put the tagline "Reporting on Timorabilia since 2009" under the title, because I thought it was funny.  Well, now that it's 2014, the "since 2009" tagline is no longer ironic.  In the world of blogs, having one that goes back five calendar years is pretty impressive.  Granted, only about two people read this one, and I don't post as often as I like, but I've had at least one post a month (avg: 3-4) for the past 50 months.  (In fact, I just noticed that this is my 200th post!) 

This will be the third year (2012, 2011) for which I've posted a bulleted summary.  I've done it enough times that now I can go back and see patterns of what I post each year: travel, tennis, new experiences. Consider this my annual Holiday Card to my blog readers (both of you.)

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2013 was a strange year, because there were so many huge, life-changing events, and a lot less of the smaller bulleted things I would put in a list.  Here it is anyway:
  • Welcomed in the new year watching fireworks over the Mississippi River in New Orleans with my fiance. 

  • Continued to plan for a wedding and honeymoon.
  • Tried to learn Icelandic
  • Put my house up for sale.  Learned that all realtors suck and lie
  • Vicariously lived through the selling of Katherine's condo.
  • Looked at houses.  Bought one.   (Bought the same house twice in one week, in fact.)



  • Applied to oodles of jobs.  Got a few interviews.  Finally got hired.
  • Started a Google calendar for all my appointments, which replaced the pretty one on my wall with all the nature scenes, but which I could use to share my schedule with Katherine. 
  • Left a job I'd been at for 10 years. Moved out of a house I'd lived in for four years. 
  • Said goodbye to lots of people.  Ended my tennis career in Champaign with a strong 2nd-place finish in the Gold League. 
  • Moved.
  • Got Married.
  • Went on a honeymoon to Iceland.  Started to blog about the vacation but never finished it-- there was too much to say.  Maybe I'll still finish it some day.
     
    Too beautiful to write about!

  • Started a new job.  
  • Bought my first smart phone.  
  • Told a story in front of strangers.  For fun. 
  • According to Goodreads, read 32 books. 
  • Joined a new tennis league.  Won 18 straight matches, including the playoffs tournament.

     
    Champion!
  • Met lots of new people in my new home. 
  • Being the boring married suburban couple we are, ended the year at another couple's house in the suburbs playing board games.