Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Hey, 2008, the door is over there—>

A wise man once told me, “You can only move forward, never back.”

That was a little over ten years ago, but that line (or the general gist of it - memory like a sieve over here) has remained front and center since that comment was left on my blog.  That guy, some random weirdo from London, who I’d never meet (NEVER!), happened to be responsible for the second best night of our entire 2008 London vacation.  While we had managed to lose touch for a few years, we’re back to being bloggy friends… who have taken the friendship offline.  (Eating dinner, hanging out in a pub with the SCA geeks and exchanging English lessons (“Dog’s bollocks!” vs “It’s pronounced Peebiddy.”) was both fascinating and amazing. I can’t wait for the next trip out there!)

Anyhoo, I digress. 

When I look back at the past, I almost always end up digging through my blog archives because so much of my life is recorded there.  Sometimes, it’s the pictures that matter, sometimes it’s the words… but mostly, it’s the people that matter. It doesn’t matter if it’s good things or bad things that catch my attention - everything that happens, happens for a reason.  Sometimes, the reason is crystal clear and sometimes, I can spend years waiting for the reason to make itself apparent

In a nutshell, 2008 was a good year - reconnecting with old friends, bringing new ones into my world, celebrating milestones with my family - all these people ended up playing a bigger role in my life than anyone could have imagined.  I’m looking forward to beginning 2009 knowing that these people are in my life. 

I made a resolution in 2004 that, once we were in New England, I would make the effort to spend more time with my friends.  It’s taken me a while to get to that point - and it required a bulldozer *ahem* - but I’m thrilled beyond belief that I can hang out with them again.  Aside from the bulldozer, this wouldn’t have been possible without social networking apps like FB.  I’m hoping to spend more time with my friends and less with their FB profiles in 2009.

It’s been a heck of a year, 2008, but I’m excited to move on.

I’ve made mistakes.  I’ve had my ups and downs, ins and outs, my share of bad breaks, but when it’s all been said and done, I raise my

Vanilla Coke and swear, “God, it’s been fun!” (The Mighty Mighty Bosstones - ‘Dogs and Chaplains’)