Year In Review: 2012
"2012 – Don’t suck. OK?"
That’s how I ended an entry like this last year. 367 days later, let’s see how things stacked up.
The year of our Lord, 2012, will probably go down as one of my better years in quite some time. The excitement of things to come kicked off early in January, when during a routine eye exam, I asked about the possibility for corrective surgery. By the end of the day, I had all the appropriate paperwork signed to get everything started. Within two weeks, I had my first appointment. Within two weeks from that day, I was approved, and one month later, I had a date for surgery. By the end of April, I had the surgery complete, better eyesight and within a month after really healing, my sight was better than perfect. By the time I had my six month appointment in December, my sight, I was told, was right around 20/15. While it wasn’t horrible to begin with, going from 20/100 (or 150..something like that) down to better than "perfect" is quite awesome. I couldn’t be happier with the change.
In February, I had my one and only interview for the Team USA Volunteer job I had applied for, and it also got me into London which was a "resolution" of mine. While it wasn’t for very long, it was the first of two trips in less than a month. While there I was given a tour of how the house would be set up and by the time July rolled around, it was a completely different place. March marked the second trip down to London. It was for a friend’s birthday and it is still probably one of the best nights I have had in my life. From the limo ride, to doing shots in a random pub/restaurant, to the show and the party afterwards. There has been very little that can compare to a night like that.
April saw two consecutive trips to Germany. The first was for about 5 days and work related. But, I had a sweet rental car, ate some awesome food and drank some good beer. The class sucked, but afterwards was good. Of course, later in the month I returned to the same base, same hotel and same food while I was there for my corrective surgery. That time was better though as I got out exploring a bit more. There was Nuenkirchen with my cousin and former counterpart, Mike with his family. Then Heidelberg for a day with my cousin and his now wife. And to top it off, the semi-shady strip club on a Sunday night where I was abused quite bad. Waking up with new and unexpected scratches is only fun at sometimes.
May and June were uneventful months. Mostly just couting down the days of anticipation for the Olympics the following month.
July-August was obviously fantastic because of the Olympics. And I really got the chance to see London for all it is and could be. While perturbed with the work at the time, as soon as it was over it just sort of hit me like, "damn, that was really a good time." Not too long ago, one of the girls that I have maintained contact with sent me a whole thing of photos with a custom cross-stitch of the Olympic rings with mine and four other girl’s names on it. Also, some memorobilia. Speaking of which, I just got another coin from her. It’s a US Federal Air marshall US Olympic Coin. Pretty sweet. From it I also "earned" a letter of appreciation from the USOC. (I say "earned" because I actually wrote it and they signed it. Their idea anyway) The end of August saw me be a witness for my cousin’s wedding. Sometimes simplicity is key.
September saw the second three weddings I would go to in just a three week time period. That one wasn’t bad. I only went to the reception which was outside and it got cold, I got a headache, but it seemed to be fun anyway. The next week or so, I headed home after 2.5 years. While there, my sister got married. If anyone remembers that entry, then you remember how that night ended. (yeah, baby!) Once I returned to England in October, I had learned I was moved to a different job, only to return to my old/current job a day later. From the moment I returned, I have been hard to simplify things around this office. I have been moving a lot of things from an unorganized, hard to remember set of folders on a shared drive, to an easily labeled web page that is easier to navigate with as much info on it as possible. Of course, people are still stupid and search for things in the wrong spot, but I manage the urge to smack people over the phone. While most of what I do generally goes unnoticed, the Group (one heirarchy above squadron) actually took notice of some things and have copied/made their own versions of checklists that I made up. That’s kind of a big deal as it is usually the other way around. So, go me. I have one last thing that I am working on to get set up and I can leave this job here in a few months knowing that I did practically all that I could do.
November saw another trip to Wales like I did last year. Thanksgiving was uneventful as I chose not to do anything for it.
December started out with a nice night out in Cambridge. A dinner at Little Seoul restaurant, getting some Soju for the first time since I left Korea in 2009 (I’ve missed you!) and a decent night out on the town that night. The night ended kind of shitty/uneventful which left me questioning how some people stay together, but alas, none of my business. The next weekend saw me attend my first ever baby shower. Then I also babysat kids later that night. Definitely not something I would do again. Of course, just before and during Christmas, I finally reunited with Lindsey. It had been over 16 years since we last saw each in person. we knew each other from Virginia when we were on the same swim team(s). For her winter break, since she teaches overseas, she was doing some travelling around Europe. Since I live in England, why not come out this way. The surprising part was her coming over and being here for Christmas. Not that I’m complaining but I wouldn’t necessarily expect Christmas Day to be spent with someone that you hardly "know" after all this time. Anyway, for more on that you can read back one entry.
A "resolution" never did come to fruition, and probably never will. Ah well.
New Year’s this year was good. Sunday night I received a text from India asking if I had plans and she invited me out with her and a regular group of people I acquaint with. The place they chose I was skeptical about, but it turned out to be pretty good. The hightlight of my evening was being able to spend some good one-on-one time with this girl, Rachel. I may have mentioned her before, but I’ve always been too chicken shit to do anything. We were talking early in the night and she mentioned that since it’s New Year’s she wanted to get a little crazy, so I did shots with her. Well, she tried to do shots but she couldn’t do them quickly and I ended up finishing two of hers. As the night wore on, and it was already well after midnight, she started falling asleep at the bar. So, I offered to go on a walk with her and wake her up a bit, to which she agreed. Then, even later on as it was happening again and plans were being made about trying to get to our respective homes (luckily I lived, literally across the street) she was trying to get a cab but with everyone out, it would been over an hour before one would have made it out there. So, I offered to walk her home, and again she agreed. After a walk t
hat seemed to last forever yet took no time at all, we were there. I came in for a bit, had a glass of water and some chips and we talked for a bit. About what I couldn’t even begin to recall, but after about 20 minutes or so, and it already being after 3am, I headed back. How gentlemanly and stupidly of me. Thank -insert higher power of your choice- that it wasn’t cold but after about a 30 minute walk, I was finally home.
I like to think I ended the year better than I began it.
So, to 2013 – Don’t fuck this up, OK?