Thursday Thirteen

This morning I was thinking about how this has been the year of the medical expenses for our family. That led me to thinking about the Chinese calendar and how each year is named for a certain animal / characteristic. Somehow, and I’m not sure how, I put the two together and started thinking what characterized each year and what would I name them. This takes me to this week’s Thursday Thirteen: Year of . . . 2006 – Medical Expenses Anyone whose been reading my blog for a little while will see this replayed more often than I care to count! 2005 – College Graduation/Job Hunt Just what it says 2004 – Weight Loss I signed up in October 2003 with Weight Watchers because I had not only held onto the Freshman Fifteen from college, but also those extra pounds since getting married. I lost the most during 2004, reached my weight goal and kept it off until I got pregnant. I went from 156 to 124 – and I don’t mind sharing that! 2003 – Job Switch Both J and I switched jobs this year. 2002 – Wedding J and I tied the knot! I never in my life thought it would happen. 2001 – Pull My Head Out of My Ass You could say I was “mentally challenged” in the years that proceeded 2001 (keep reading to find out why). This was the year I decided to do something about it! 2000 – Trouble With the Law Yup, I fucked up and got caught. It was good though because it made me realize that I was heading down the same path as a relative of mine. I had no desire to be anything like her, so spending a night in jail was my epiphany. 1999 – Break-up/Back Together J and I had some bumps this year. As you can tell we kissed and made up by the time we got married. 1998 – Moved to City from College Town This was the biggest move I ever made. I was so accustomed to the “ho-hum” life of College Town that when I got offered a job and could relocate – I jumped at the chance. It was the first time that I really moved away from my mother, too. Meaning, more than 5 miles. 1997 – First Cool Apartment of My Own College Town had some decent areas and I managed to score a very cool apartment in one of them. It was an old hotel that had been converted to studio apartments. What was nice was that they actually worked out to be 1 bedrooms instead of studios. It was also next to Hazel Abel Park, which was Tim Burton creepy in the winter when the days were short and there was a lot of snow on the ground. It gives you an idea of the “historic” area, which I adored then and still do! 1996 – Apartment With Roommate Amy You hear funny stories about how roommates leave socks or something on the door handle to let the other roommate know that they have “company”. Well, this was the first time I experienced it first hand. I had to sit outside the apartment door and wait for them to finish. It sucked. It also made me realize that I needed my own place! LOL 1995 – The Big “Piss Off” to My Mother and Many Others – Hello Again “J”! I decided to do things for myself and BE MYSELF. See 1994 for explanation. I met up with J again (after on and off dating over the past 3 years). 1994 – Do As Others Expect Me To When I finished high school, I didn’t know that I wanted to go to college. I took a couple years off and just worked. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, so I managed to allow myself to be led by what other people thought I should be doing. This included me starting college, going to church with my mother, having the majority of my friends come from said church, doing whatever church friends were doing – generally just going along blindly and not giving a shit about much of anything. Get the Thursday Thirteen code here! The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted! View More Thursday Thirteen Participants