2009

My favorite movies this year (in no particular order):

1. Inglourious Basterds
2. Up!
3. Julie & Julia
4. Away We Go
5. Funny People
6. The Informant!
7. Adventureland
8. Public Enemies
9. The Blind Side
10. The Proposal
11. He's Just Not That Into You

Favorite pastimes:

1. College football
2. Wii
3. Mahjong
4. ER
5. EW.com
6. How I Met Your Mother
7. Tennis
8. Monk marathons
9. Nebraska antique shopping
10. Searching for library jobs

Signs that I'm an old lady:

1. See list of pastimes
2. Use of the word pastime
3. Cardigan collection
4. 9:30 Friday night bedtime
5. Vacuum for Christmas

At the end/beginning of the last decade, I was in the St. Dominic's gym, dancing with Eric Pratt at the elite KH/AH dance party. I watched whatshisname be the first million dollar winner on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire right before I left for the dance. "I just wanted to call and let you know that I'm about to win a million dollars." So cheeky. I came home from the dance and vowed to do something, and ten years later I have no memory of what or how or if I accomplished it. However, here are some things that I accomplished in the past 10 years:

1. Graduated from High School
2. Graduated from K-State
3. Made it halfway through Graduate School
4. Qualified for Nationals in 2 events
5. Got a full-time job WITH benefits
6. Survived a semester of substitute teaching
7. Attended a Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting
8. Got a short story published (in a course manual, but still)
9. Traveled to New York City, Salt Lake City, Houston, Austin, Corpus Christie, Madison, Memphis, Nashville and Oxford.
10. Turned 21 and then some
11. Recorded a CD (with a group)
12. Bought a truck
13. Lived with 3, 2, 1 and 0 roommates
14. Learned to cook... a little bit
15. Escaped my teens without a tattoo, criminal record, baby or permanent body piercing (you can hardly tell my nose was pierced).

So tonight, as I ring in the next decade with a wild round of Bananagrams, I leave these and other things behind, hoping for a surprising new decade. A decade that brings the end to OU's football dominance, and the resurgence of the Snyder dynasty. A decade where the literary world is set on fire by Steven Miller and Susan Alsop. Or maybe just new Lorrie, Miranda, Antonya and Dan. A decade of wispy female folk music and indie picaresque films full of cutesy dialogue and thrift store wardrobes. The summer of George? The decade of Susan. Bring it on.