So I guess it's been a year since I posted here (at least publicly)... 2008, what can I say?

I imagine this will be a shorter post than previous years, 2008 kind of flew by for me.

I think this year I will break this down based on what I said I wanted out of 2008 in last year's post...

Love

First couple of months were pretty rough in this area... Another lonely valentine's day. I spent it in good company in a bar (Shea's Corner Pub), but it was a tough day for me nonetheless. Thank god for good friends!

A little later in the year, there was a near miss on re-dating somebody from 2007. Old, unspoken feelings resurfaced and were finally spoken, and a solid friendship emerged. Unfortunately, she started dating someone else, and I didn't deal with it so well. By my hand, we stopped hanging out because it was just to difficult for me. Truly unfortunate, but we still talk online and on (less-so) on the phone. As far as I know she is still with the same guy and it's going well, which she totally deserves.

Then we move into the "relationship of the year". I say it that way, not out of sarcasm, but because it lasted for most of the year. I ran into an old friend on facebook... real sweet girl. We started talking, hanging out a bit, and before long dating. It's tough for me to write too much about this one, because it just recently ended, so I have not had a whole lot of time for retrospection (perhaps I'll make another post, another day once I have had that time).

In any case, like I said, real sweet girl. She has a 5-year old son from a previous relationship... Now I had never really given much though to dating somebody with a kid but she managed it well, and it didn't freak me out like I always thought it would. It was good... for a time.

Actually it was never bad. I was content, but something was missing. I couldn't tell you what it was, but I never developed a strong romantic attachment to her. Conversely (as is so often the case is such situations), her attachment to me was very strong. I recognized this, and decided to stick it out for a while... to see if my emotions grew... Unfortunately, they didn't and I ended up calling it quits a few days before Christmas. Certainly not the best time, but it felt to me like spending the holidays together in that capacity would be fake, and that's just not my style. :(


Friends

Well here's an area I've always been blessed, and 2008 was no different.
My good friend Lenny moved off to Texas, which was a good move for her, but I miss her dearly.

I lost touch with a few people when I started dating Jen (inevitable side effect of making room for a significant other). Most of those people were acquaintances more than anything else... only one of them was a good friend which I regret losing touch with. Thankfully, I've been able to reconnect with her in the past few weeks.

I actually think reconnecting with past friends was a very significant part of 2008. Through facebook alone, I've found many people I thought I'd never see again. Even last night, at the new years party I went to, I ran into people I have not seen for years! I've only really become friends again with a handful of those I rediscovered, but running into old friends is always an awesome way to bring back memories.

One other thing of note about 2008, is that I started actually hanging out with my sister. Now over the past few years, I've started to spend a lot more time with my family in general, but this year Cheryl and I started actually making fairly regular plans to go out and do stuff together, which has been an awesome experience.

As always, my old and dear friends were there for me throughout the year... all the way up until the last moment of it and into the next. I am truly blessed when it comes to friends.


Big Bags of Money

Well, what can I say? No big bags of money... The company I work for did give me a nice bonus or the extra work I did on the project mentioned in last year's post, but no raise this year due to a salary freeze. Considering the current economy, I'm truly grateful just to have a job, but the big bags of money will have to wait...


2009

What do I want out of 2009? As is usually the case, I'd like to find true love. I will continue the decorating effort I started last year on apartment. I will improve my general organization and "tidyness" of my home also. And cliche as it is.. I will start working out, stop this gut before it gets too noticeable, and maybe even put on a bit of muscle! I will cook more, and eat out less... and I will... well, I guess that's enough for now... if I get through all that, then I'll come up with more stuff

Happy New Year to all my friends... new, old, and rediscovered!