2003: Year in Review.

Oooh, New Year’s Eve. Time to take stock.

Looking back: 2003 was a very good year. Some highlights:

Got hired by my employer, an area publishing company. Marks my first “real job” in Maryland.
Traveled to Chicago, California, and other places. Cali was a first, and Chicago was just crazy.
Made some new friends, all on my own.
Got my finances in order, thanks entirely to Iain.
Tried working out, and found I wasn’t allergic to it.
Quit television.
Helped launch a web magazine.
Launched this blog, and got some props for it.

In the “intangible” arena, I think I’ve become happier with myself and my life, with the way things turned out. I’m starting to think of Baltimore as home. I’m starting to think of myself as a normal person, a good person, a person who can do things, and do them the right way. Things seem to be settling into a good, productive pattern that I can be proud of. I may not be very hip, or have a lot of the cool possessions and qualities that I thought were so important in college. Instead, I’m focusing on what I like and what I like to do, regardless of what people think about it.

For me, this marks a milestone.

The best part of 2003 is that there are so few valleys of despair. There are some, of course: the weight obsession of 2003, which was coupled with the pervasive depression of early and mid-2003; the war and it’s attendant atrocities; some fights and things. But looking back, the valleys didn’t rule the year. The peaks did. And that’s about all I can ask.

Looking forward: Got some goals and projections for 2004.

Pay off my car.
Work on my social skills. As in, write more letters, make more phone calls, be better at remembering birthdays, buying gifts.
Quit spending money on stupid things that make me happy for five minutes.
Direct my energies outward. Possibly get a volunteer gig.
Find my brass balls and make some dreams happen. Instead of wishing a book deal would drop out of the sky, start writing a book. Instead of drooling over houses, tighten belt so will be ready to purchase in a year.
For the love of God, quit smoking already.
Exercise. At all. [Uh oh … goals and projections degenerating into crappy, cliched New Year’s resolutions … resolve not to let it happen again.]
Eat better. [Aack! Aack! Stop it. No cliches!]
Get organized. [I mean it, cut it out].
Be the best attendant I can be for the weddings this summer. [That’s better. A little more personal, a little more realistic.]