that year in review thing the cool kids are doing

I’ve done it the last couple of years – why stop now? It’s too late in the evening for the Next England Installment, and we just got back from Morganton/Asheville/Charleston last night, so I’ve been a little wiped out. Charleston was lovely — 70 degrees by the time we left yesterday, and SUNNY. When we got there Wednesday it was a little chilly still – like low 40s in the evening– but the rest of the time it was warmer and warmer every day. It was actually in the fifties here a couple of days while we were gone, but being hell Boone, there is STILL snow on the ground. One day I’ll post some pictures but need to get done with England first.

SO. Here’s my Review of 2010. And yeah, I know most people just do the first sentence. I do the first paragraph. Because I am WORDY. I’m also starting with the second January entry because the first January entry was also a year in review thing and that probably breaks some sort of metaphysical dichotomy-ish super important law of journaling and the space-time continuum. 

January: Greetings from the Mountains Of Madness

It’s seven degrees right now. Our high today was nine degrees. Looks like it won’t be above 20 until Monday when we are hoping for a steamy 36 degrees. However, since yesterday was supposed to get above freezing and didn’t, leaving us with something like three weeks of temperatures that did not get out of the 20s, I am not holding my breath. It has snowed and snowed and snowed some more. Not huge amounts at one time, but I imagine we have at least a foot on the ground still. I know, I know … it’s WAAAAY worse up north. And, as I continually remind myself, we have heat and we have power and we have a cozy roof over our heads. Still, I am SO TIRED of winter. Already. 

February: traaaaavelin’ man

In another of my apparently endless (and usually fruitless) attempts to inject some actual entries into my diary, I joined theFebMusMo diary, (February Music Month, of course). Which gives you daily music prompts to incorporate. Yay, something else to ignore! Go me! Oddly I had been thinking of including music prior to this, because Search Results has been doing that a lot in her entries and I’ve really enjoyed them. So we’ll see how this goes. The prompt today (and I seriously doubt I’ll be usually  following the prompts but I am laaaaazy and uninspired) is the song that was number one the day you were born. Which in my case was June 3, 1961:

March: movie game answers and a little whine with that

Guess what it’s doing. After the forecast was changed a couple of days ago from BIGGEST SNOW YET to just a few flurries. It is POURING SNOW and we’ve gotten at least four inches in the past couple of hours!! And there are wrecks all over the place because A) nobody was expecting it, and B) we live in a town full of college students and idiot tourists and idiot locals who have OOooOOoo, oversized bigass SUVs and OOooOOO, hey, they can go 70 MPH when you can’t see a foot in front of you!! Because they have oversized bigass SUVs and slick roads don’t stop them! Until they end up in a ditch. And I guarantee most of the wrecks have involved idiots in oversized bigass SUVs with pea-brains rattling around in their skulls.  

April: graduation madness

Well, on the plus side, it is an absolutely stunning, breathtaking, GORGEOUS day. It is 75 degrees and there’s not a cloud in the sky and it is ….like….like….. spring! It could still snow again, of course, but maybe this is… IT. Maybe Horrendo Winter is… GONE!!

May: still worst od’er ever!  

Yes, I’ve been back from the Big Maryland/Delaware trip for days and days yet have made no updates and done very little catching up on my faves. I think I’m still recovering, actually. I had a wonderful time, but that is a looooong way to drive for such a short visit. I got to see more of Cousin E than usual, since we spent the night with her going and coming back, and also got to meet Catwoman and the very adorable Honey, which was worth the trip right there. We sat around and had delicious salad and wine and tea and played with Adorable Honey (a Sheltie) and chatted like we’d known each other all our lives and it was such fun. But it also felt like I didn’t get to spend enough time with Cousins J and MJ and the two Aunts M (one is Daddy’s sister – the other isn’t technically my aunt, but is my cousins’ aunt on their dad’s side. She feels like an aunt to me, though) and the little boys (who are getting to be not so little) and the little girls and the husbands of the cousins. Of course as I’m thinking maybe we should try for an extra day next time, Daddy says, (more than once) "I sure am glad we’re not staying any longer!"

June: you all everybody

First of all…. NO MORE LOST. WAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! 

Second of all, I thought the finale was fantastic. I do however have to watch it again and process the whole confusing (how surprising!)  thing and adjust to a sad world with ... no more Lost! Waaaaahhhhh!!!! I don’t know how people who have spent six years watching it are functioning. Although apparently there were quite a few people who spent six years watching and were so unhappy with the finale that they proclaimed it SIX YEARS OF THEIR LIVES WASTED, THAT THEY WILL NEVER GET BACK!!! Wow. We’ve been addicted for three years, having come a little late to the party as usual, and even if I’d hated the finale instead of thinking it was total genius, I still would think those past three years had been time well spent. Otherwise.. why would you keep watching?

July: ummmm… I should probably update….

If for no other reason than that I’ve gotten several really nice very thoughtful notes about my dad, and….. he STILL HASN’T HAD THE SURGERY!! Someone from the VA left a message, I think it was the day before the surgery date… and they didn’t have any beds. So it got postponed. It IS elective surgery, but we sure would all like to get it over with. He thinks now it’s the 15th. He actually isn’t completely positive. They still haven’t sent him any official paperwork, but somebody told him the 15th. So, I asked off for the 15th and 16th, next Thursday and Friday. If they change it, I’ll take my days back yet again. Whatever! 

August: oh, for the teeniest bit of ambition…..

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September: still sunny in EdnaLand….

A very quick update– and a huge THANK YOU for all the good wishes! The interview went REALLY well. Really really well. And I don’t generally come out of interviews saying that. I usually come out of interviews feeling like I’ve spent the whole time babbling inanely, making no sense at all and leaving the interviewers wondering what the hell is wrong with me. This time I felt like I gave excellent answers, spoke clearly with a minimum of babble, and didn’t sound like I’d just tumbled down from another planet. I hope. It helped immensely that I already knew everyone I interviewed with, except the person who is kind of the interim registrar, and I liked her immediately. It was surprisingly not grueling. Everyone gave off very good vibes my way. I got a tour of the area, dropping by to see a number of people who I’ve worked with in my current and past job for years, and they all appeared genuinely thrilled that I was in the running. It was quite the morale booster, and since so much always does lie with who you know, I’m looking at that as a VERY positive thing. 

October: off to see the wizard

An aside before I even get going — STILL no word on the job!!! On Wednesday, Woman In Charge told me they hoped to have a decision by the end of the week. For the third week in a row. Yet again, her hope apparently did not pan out.  HAHAHAHAHA!!! Oh, well. Luckily for me, getting this job is not a matter of life or death. It would be wonderful (and the money would be REALLY wonderful), but I have a job I like (despite being a little boring at times, at least I love my co-workers and boss and it’s overall a good job) and it’s very low stress. The New Job would not be low-stress. And I’m starting to wonder about the whole department, since it has been over two months since I applied, and a month since I interviewed. I know they are reorganizing, and I think that’s what’s behind this delay. But it is kind of a red flag. Well, I’ll just keep patiently waiting. Although they are just about to pass my deadline of being able to put in my notice, go to England, and come back to a new job. So I’m a little peeved that they are just thoughtlessly ignoring MY schedule. How dare they! At the same time, I’m certainly not going to feel bad about not being able to start over there within two weeks. IF they offer it to me. And IF I take it. And now I don’t have to worry about telling them I immediately need two weeks off to go to England – that’s not even an issue at this point. I’ll just have to start when I get back, at the very earliest. 

November: trying to get readjusted to the Real World

OMG. We had SUCH A GOOD TIME. And boy is it a shock to be back. I did not want to come back. I tried my best to get Baker B to pack up the cats and join me. For good. And I think he was tempted. It’s a shame we have to be so concerned about silly stuff like, oh, jobs. And money. Hey, I could work in a pub! 

December: london the fifth, and a ferry ride to greenwich

 After the London Eye, we took advantage of another London Pass Attraction, and rode the City Cruise ferry to Greenwich. Since everything took about a quadrillion times longer than we expected, we ended up having very little time to spend in Greenwich, home of all sorts of interesting stuff, including Greenwich Mean Time, a Royal Park, the former Royal Observatory which is now an astronomy museum, and a great little town center. All we really did was walk around a little bit in the town center, and have dinner in a tiny Thai dive that had the Best.Noodles.EVER. By then we had to catch the return ferry. There’s no tube station, although there are rail stops and buses- the ferry was the most convenient for us, though.