*My* Annual Year: 2008 in review, driven wholly by what I wrote down in my daily planner
January
I went to the dentist on January 4th at 10 AM. I purchase an electronic toothbrush with UV-light sanitizer for the head. My hygienist assures me it is the “Cadillac of toothbrushes.” I got my period on the 20th, which also happens to be Audrey’s birthday (designated, as are all birthdays in my planner, by a monster truck sticker). Pure coincidence, though I usually feel more fertile whenever I am around her.
I was also probably suffering from seasonal depression by this point, because I diagnose myself with this each winter. Jim always says I can solve this by drinking more milk for the Vitamin D, but I don’t like milk, as a general rule. This just makes me feel more helpless.
February
I mail my tax return on Valentine’s Day. I also attend a Bon Jovi concert on the 28th and bought dog tags because I’m a cowboy, and on a steel horse I ride. I’m wanted. Dead or Alive.
March
I am supposed to go on a tour of the White House with my sister and her fifth grade class on the 15th, but this is cancelled. Undaunted, I finish and return the most fantastic book about former (and first) Executive Mansion Dweller John Adams, aptly titled John Adams (and due back to the library by the 20th). One-part US history, one-part love story, it is probably one of my favorite books read to date, and the impetus behind my yet-to-be revealed campaign to build a John Adams monument. In addition, I, cum laude graduate of Thomas Jefferson’s alma mater, am administratively withdrawn from an online class at the local community college because I do not do enough work by the cut-off date (the 16th). I do not get a refund. This is equal parts hilarious and infuriating.
April
I have a second dental appointment on April 3. (Spoiler alert: I will go on for an unheard of third cleaning in the autumn. You pay out of pocket for a root canal and crown, and then ask me why).
May
I am stimulated by Uncle Sam on May 9, meaning I received $600 of my own money back from the government. This allows me to get a new camera and fill my gas tank all the way instead of only half-way. At the end of the month, I say goodbye to my position as an Associate Analyst at Dare Great Big Mighty Things, which is a v. good thing. I also test-drive Dramamine on a 9 hour car trip to New England to visit family with my mother on the 29th. Also a v. good thing—I don’t wake up until Connecticut.
June
I start a new job at Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care on June 2nd, which is apt since I am neither maternal, nor do I care about children. This means I have to answer the phone, Mary’s Center, Mary speaking. Lots of questions ensue. I finally leave the East Coast to see the Pacific, snow-capped mountains, and waterfalls: Jim and I head to Yosemite and San Francisco at the end of the month. I do well in the park, except for the part where we hiked up a waterfall and I thought I was going to die every step of the way because I’m Mary and that’s how I role (seeing German babies and old Japanese women make the climb like it ain’t no thang does not reassure me). It is beautiful, breathtaking, I get to wear my camouflage shorts in public for the first time. At the ripe old age of 25, I finally get a glimpse of the Pacific.
July
I celebrate the 4th of July in Northhampton, MA. No fireworks, but plenty of beer and hippies (where “hippy” is defined as “anyone that is not a DC tool”). By this point, I am once again enrolled in another Geography class at the community college. We have an ethnic food night celebration on the 22nd and I bring in Krispy Kreme donuts like a jack-ass.
I make my car payment on the 24th, and attended a Mark Knopfler concert in Philadelphia on the 26th. Jim and I get lost in Philadelphia. Jim gets a GPS from his Dad shortly thereafter, but I don’t learn to change the voice to that of a British man until November, somewhere on the New Jersey Turnpike.
August
I activate my new American Express Blue Sky Card on the 24th. I am now enrolled in an economics class and am not happy about it. I purposely didn’t take economics in college because I hated it. Turns out, a few years later, I still need to take it, and I still hate it.
September
On Patriot Day (the 11th), I finally submit my application to GW for a Masters of Education. I am unofficially told that I’m in on the 30th. Jim and I go to a Redskins game on the 21st with bomb seats courtesy of his rich boss. I spend the game eating a hot dog and silently judging all the gross Americans in RFK stadium. Jim tells me you can see my flipflop tan from space.
October
I am a cowgirl for Halloween since I figure it is not appropriate to wear my “Baby One More Time” (Britney pre-breakdown) costume to work.
November
On the 5th, I celebrate two years of Jim putting up with me and 26 years of Jim. I then change my contacts on the 9th and eat my first buffalo (not the whole thing) with Ace (Angie) on the 14th. And, (you were warned) I go to the dentist (again) on the 20th. I learn how to change the voice accents on Jim’s GPS circa the 30th.
December
To date this month, I have changed my contacts (the 9th) and turned 26 (the 12th). As of the 17th, I am officially done with economics and am officially a graduate student at George Washington University. On the 18th, I adopt a family to buy Christmas presents for and decide my mother is the only person left on the planet who still writes letters (she wants stationary for Christmas and I can’t find any).
I think maybe I’ll just get her a daily planner instead...
I went to the dentist on January 4th at 10 AM. I purchase an electronic toothbrush with UV-light sanitizer for the head. My hygienist assures me it is the “Cadillac of toothbrushes.” I got my period on the 20th, which also happens to be Audrey’s birthday (designated, as are all birthdays in my planner, by a monster truck sticker). Pure coincidence, though I usually feel more fertile whenever I am around her.
I was also probably suffering from seasonal depression by this point, because I diagnose myself with this each winter. Jim always says I can solve this by drinking more milk for the Vitamin D, but I don’t like milk, as a general rule. This just makes me feel more helpless.
February
I mail my tax return on Valentine’s Day. I also attend a Bon Jovi concert on the 28th and bought dog tags because I’m a cowboy, and on a steel horse I ride. I’m wanted. Dead or Alive.
March
I am supposed to go on a tour of the White House with my sister and her fifth grade class on the 15th, but this is cancelled. Undaunted, I finish and return the most fantastic book about former (and first) Executive Mansion Dweller John Adams, aptly titled John Adams (and due back to the library by the 20th). One-part US history, one-part love story, it is probably one of my favorite books read to date, and the impetus behind my yet-to-be revealed campaign to build a John Adams monument. In addition, I, cum laude graduate of Thomas Jefferson’s alma mater, am administratively withdrawn from an online class at the local community college because I do not do enough work by the cut-off date (the 16th). I do not get a refund. This is equal parts hilarious and infuriating.
April
I have a second dental appointment on April 3. (Spoiler alert: I will go on for an unheard of third cleaning in the autumn. You pay out of pocket for a root canal and crown, and then ask me why).
May
I am stimulated by Uncle Sam on May 9, meaning I received $600 of my own money back from the government. This allows me to get a new camera and fill my gas tank all the way instead of only half-way. At the end of the month, I say goodbye to my position as an Associate Analyst at Dare Great Big Mighty Things, which is a v. good thing. I also test-drive Dramamine on a 9 hour car trip to New England to visit family with my mother on the 29th. Also a v. good thing—I don’t wake up until Connecticut.
June
I start a new job at Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care on June 2nd, which is apt since I am neither maternal, nor do I care about children. This means I have to answer the phone, Mary’s Center, Mary speaking. Lots of questions ensue. I finally leave the East Coast to see the Pacific, snow-capped mountains, and waterfalls: Jim and I head to Yosemite and San Francisco at the end of the month. I do well in the park, except for the part where we hiked up a waterfall and I thought I was going to die every step of the way because I’m Mary and that’s how I role (seeing German babies and old Japanese women make the climb like it ain’t no thang does not reassure me). It is beautiful, breathtaking, I get to wear my camouflage shorts in public for the first time. At the ripe old age of 25, I finally get a glimpse of the Pacific.
July
I celebrate the 4th of July in Northhampton, MA. No fireworks, but plenty of beer and hippies (where “hippy” is defined as “anyone that is not a DC tool”). By this point, I am once again enrolled in another Geography class at the community college. We have an ethnic food night celebration on the 22nd and I bring in Krispy Kreme donuts like a jack-ass.
I make my car payment on the 24th, and attended a Mark Knopfler concert in Philadelphia on the 26th. Jim and I get lost in Philadelphia. Jim gets a GPS from his Dad shortly thereafter, but I don’t learn to change the voice to that of a British man until November, somewhere on the New Jersey Turnpike.
August
I activate my new American Express Blue Sky Card on the 24th. I am now enrolled in an economics class and am not happy about it. I purposely didn’t take economics in college because I hated it. Turns out, a few years later, I still need to take it, and I still hate it.
September
On Patriot Day (the 11th), I finally submit my application to GW for a Masters of Education. I am unofficially told that I’m in on the 30th. Jim and I go to a Redskins game on the 21st with bomb seats courtesy of his rich boss. I spend the game eating a hot dog and silently judging all the gross Americans in RFK stadium. Jim tells me you can see my flipflop tan from space.
October
I am a cowgirl for Halloween since I figure it is not appropriate to wear my “Baby One More Time” (Britney pre-breakdown) costume to work.
November
On the 5th, I celebrate two years of Jim putting up with me and 26 years of Jim. I then change my contacts on the 9th and eat my first buffalo (not the whole thing) with Ace (Angie) on the 14th. And, (you were warned) I go to the dentist (again) on the 20th. I learn how to change the voice accents on Jim’s GPS circa the 30th.
December
To date this month, I have changed my contacts (the 9th) and turned 26 (the 12th). As of the 17th, I am officially done with economics and am officially a graduate student at George Washington University. On the 18th, I adopt a family to buy Christmas presents for and decide my mother is the only person left on the planet who still writes letters (she wants stationary for Christmas and I can’t find any).
I think maybe I’ll just get her a daily planner instead...
Comments