Personally, the last 10 years have been pretty great for me, but it's no secret that the 2000's haven't been the greatest for our country. I know a lot of people think Obama arrived on a big white horse and will save us all, but I'll just say that so far I'm not all that impressed with him. I'll leave it at that.
2009 was a good year for me. I'm thriving in life and I love my job. My 41st birthday ended my first year of milestones without my mother. This was the first year in about 7 years that I was able to make it back to Arizona for Thanksgiving. I not only got to see my family, meet my new niece and actually relax, but I found time to get back to Parker and reconnect with people I hadn't seen in 25 years. And you know what? It certainly didn't feel as though 25 years had passed since I had seen them last as a teenager. It was great to see that my childhood friends had grown into such wonderful adults. A natural progression I guess.
In 2010, I'm looking forward to a change at work. I am going to be working as the compliance monitor for the state of Connecticut. Which is a big, but very welcomed change for me. I'm looking forward to taking a vacation for the first time in a few years. It will be this winter and it will be someplace nice and warm. I'm also looking forward to watching Aimee and Leonard FINALLY tie the knot in LA in May. They've been together since 1993. They were very good friends of mine at The Theatre School in Chicago, where we all attended college.
As always, 2009 saw us all lose people we cared about and some we idolized. I think the two celebrity deaths that shook me the most were Farrah Fawcett and Brittany Murphy. I was a big fan of both of them and I was just blindsided by both of their deaths. Unfortunately, I wasn't all that surprised by Michael Jackson's death. It's tragic nonetheless, but not all that surprising. It's a sad state of affairs when regular Americans struggle to get the prescription meds they need but celebrities are able to commandeer all the meds they want and they, nor their doctors, are ever held accountable. And for this reason, Michael Jackson is dead.
So, to everyone, have a wonderful holiday season. If you celebrate Christmas, wish me "Merry Christmas!" If you celebrate Hannukah, wish me "Happy Hanukkah!" If you celebrate the solstice....well you get the idea. Wish me well. May you all enjoy the holiday season and keep your hearts full of love and light. May 2010 bring you love, light and laughter! Merry Christmas!
