Year End Review

i always see year end reviews on tv so i thought i should do one too. overall 2005 was a good year for me. at least i see it that way. i'm sure i could easily turn it around and have a negative feeling about it, but that's just not my style. so here is my review of 2005. though numbered, the only order to my list will be the order in which i remember the events.

1. i had date's with three people from online personal websites. two of which only involved one date and the third made it four and is still my friend in what i would call a weird way. maybe i'll write about that sometime in the future.

2. i dated one girl that wasn't from the internet for three months. it ended on a positive note and we are still friends. right after our break up i was told i couldn't date any of her friends, but she has been dating one of mine for a few months now.

3. i was lazy and hardly made any money as a financial advisor, but that will change in 2006. that is my one new year resolution.

4. on january 31st i became member #996 of the coyote ugly bar on sixth street.

5. the best movie i saw in theater was batman begins. the worst was flight of the phoenix, and the funniest movie was wedding crashers.

6. i attended a party on a party boat for the first time ever. it was on grapevine lake and i must say that was a lot of fun.

7. my brother was shipped off to iraq and made it back, all body parts accounted for, 11 months later. at which time i helped him shop for a new car with the ton of cash uncle sam gave him. i must say that the new ford mustang is sweet!

8. at my job with the bank i was ranked as the number 1 helpline agent out of over 400 agents nation wide.

9. in june it was announced that they were closing the site that i was working at and i would be laid off. october 28th was the date it was set to close.

10. i accepted a temporary currency reporting position with the bank so that i could extend my severance package to a full 12 weeks. my last day with the bank will be january 31st, 2006.

11. i attended the national conference for a company that will remain nameless, per the company attorney. the company had over 50k in attendance and filled the georgia dome near full capacity.

12. for the first time since i can remember i had a birthday without any friends present, but this was by choice, for i was on a sabbatical at my mom's river front home in oregon. during which i about killed myself by wrecking my step dad's brand new moutain bike. i was glad it only cost my $40 to repair it.

13. i started working out and eating less during the late summer/early fall. as i result i lost 10 pounds and didn't pass the 200 pound mark during the holidays.

14. i became more involved in my church by becoming part of the leadership team and budget team as we endured 9 pastorless months. this was followed by us electing a woman pastor to lead our congregation.

15. i gave my roommate the boot after 5 1/2 years of living together. for the record it was a positive separation.

16. i purchased several cds from half price books clearance rack which caused me to discover several good bands that i had never heard of before.

17. i started two blogs. this one at the end of april, and a photo blog during november. needless to say i love blogging. which is so MOL.

18. i sang karaoke multiple times. the funniest was at my church. i filled in for a no show during my church's anniversary show. i sang will smith's version of "just the two of us". i sounded so white. it was so bad, but so funny.

19. i stared reading seven books, four of which i finished, and one of which i'm still reading. two of these books were fiction and are two of the books i finished. these fiction books were the first fiction books i've read in seven years. riding the bus to work over the past three months had a lot to do with me reading more books than in any other year since tenth grade.

20. i got a little trashed at el mol's poker party, broke his liquor bottle from tiawan, was told i couldn't drink the party foul drink anymore despite my repetitive fouls, had a puke and rally session, offended a friend by saying something about his wife, and said friend was still nice enough to drive me to his house and let me sleep in the guest bedroom. said wife even cooked me breakfast! subsequently i didn't find out that i was an ass until i talked with another friend later that day. needless to say i'm not sure i plan on drinking that much again. it's not as much fun if you can't remember it all.

21. i started playing my guitar that i've owned for over three years. i now know three picking songs and seven chords.

22. i bought a fancy hand held computer and recently changed my password to something i can't remember. thus i am locked out of it and i am waiting for the battery to die so that it looses gobs of information allowing me to reload it. at least that is the theory i have.

23. i have avoided the ipod craze and to this day can't find a good excuse to buy one. i think they are cool, i just can't justify buying the little bugger.

24. my car insurance premium dropped $100 a month after my birthday. three months later i rear ended a guy in a new toyota camry, offered my insurance info, and was told that he didn't need it because he couldn't see any substantial damage!

25. for the first time in my life i chased and corralled a horny jackass that had escaped my dad's property. my dad had never owned an ass before which is probably why i had never chased one before.

26. i didn't buy anyone presents for christmas this year and was almost successful in not receiving any either. for multiple reasons i didn't exactly have the money to buy presents this year and i had a revelation about christmas giving as well. the revelation is that we should be giving to those who are in need and not exchanging equally weighted gifts with other's that could have bought it for themselves if they didn't buy my gift.

27. i attended a happening new years eve party hosted by the keymaster, drank a bottle of wine over a three hour period, and spent four hours letting the buzz wear off so i could drive home. i'm happy to say that i remember everything, didn't puke and rally, didn't offend any friends, or have to be driven home. it was a good way to end the year and start a new one.

all in all it was a great year and i plan on topping it in 2006. i must send out a great big thanks to all of my friends and family that helped made it all possible. happy new year everybody!