Well another two weeks off has been both helpful and productive. With the inauguration and the beginning of the Obama presidency coming up, I will be on far more often. I am excited about the changes our nation may experience in the next four years, but also very ready to demand accountability from the new administration. I have been amused by all the talking heads, analyzing everything from Obama’s cabinet picks, to what kind of dog they will be getting, or what type of bread he orders a sandwich on. Give me a break. The excuse I have heard the media give is that they need to smother him in case something happens in the world and they need an immediate reaction… I’ve got news for the media… if something happens in the world, maybe they can give him an hour to digest the situation before he offers a comment. It is after all, NOT about the media.
But I digress. I came on to write tonight briefly about 2008. A year ago I wrote almost bitterly about 2007… I was glad to see that year end. I am far more kind to 2008. It wasn’t a great year, but it wasn’t a bad year, at least on a personal level. It was simply a year. And one that seemingly feels like a placeholder in my life. It was a year where I more or less was able to clear through all of the muck that has composed my life and establish some priorities; a year where I was able to make some decisions about where I am headed with my life and set myself up for a successful 2009.
My life over the past year has centered around work, my kids, and the election. Sadly, I focused more on the election than on other things I needed to take care of in my life, which is the main reason why I have been absent from this forum since early November. I have been busy writing of late, working on my dissertation and writing two chapters for a book that two colleagues (and friends) are writing on conflict resolution. It’s been a wonderful opportunity to focus on my professional writing so that I can get it done, and ultimately get back to more pleasurable personal projects.
Life at work has been excellent. I am enjoying my responsibilities and really doing some good work. It’s a far cry from where I felt after the initial divorce news came up, and I am glad that period is behind me. I did enter and come up short in a couple of searches… one in particular that I really wanted, but where internal institutional politics doomed my candidacy… me and everyone else who made it to the on-campus screening process. Such is life.
Life at home is hectic and perhaps less than fulfilling. I spent a lot of time with my kids in 2008… the absolute highlight of my year. Syd (my oldest) and I took a trip to Maryland to see my best friend married, and we had a blast. I am planning to take her to New York in the summer so that she can see where I grew up. I have not been back to upstate New York since I left my job there thirteen years ago, so it will be interesting going back. I have a lot of people I’d like to catch up with, and I am very much looking forward to that.
One downer this past year has been in relationships. Things ended with my last girlfriend (Molly) all the way back in April. She was perfect for me in many, many ways, but there were a couple of issues - real issues - that I don’t think we were going to be able to work through. But I have missed her a great deal - she is an exceptional person. I have reflected that at least my last two break-ups (Molly and my ex-wife) have been civilized and we retain good friendships. Huh… maybe I’m learning something after all these years. In any event, I have had no real relationships develop since things ended with Molly. I have, however, had some damn scary first dates! And a couple of first dates with people that I liked more than they liked me. Once again, such is life.
I have come to realize that I won’t attract the type of person I want to be with until I lose the weight I have been carrying for so long. That motivated me to finally break down and join Gold’s, and I have been going regularly. Combined with watching what I eat, I am starting to drop weight again. I plan to have the bulk of my extra weight gone by the time we go to New York next summer. And I have finally gotten serious about getting this done. Then hopefully I’ll stop encountering the situation where people I am interested in aren’t interested in me, and vice-versa.
So with all of this in mind, I have some pretty clear goals for 2009. Not resolutions, mind you, because these things have already been resolved in my mind. This is more a plan of action. Ultimately, I will have almost all of my dissertation work completed in 2009 - the book chapters have been good for getting me back into the literature and that has gotten the creative juices flowing again. I will have the second chapter done in two days and then will be moving back into fleshing out my lit review so that I can move toward defending a proposal.
My other big goal is the weight loss. I am doing the right things to lose weight, so I feel good about where it is headed. I also know that losing the weight will improve my life in many ways… relationships, energy, and long-term health.
Those are really my only big items in 2009. Everything else I will take as it comes, for good or otherwise. I do plan to be blogging regularly, though not quite as intensely as I did for the election - that was simply exhausting (mentally) for me. With Dubya’s departure and an idealist Democrat as our President, I am feeling pretty hopeful about the next four years, despite the fact that the early going for Obama is likely to be rocky where the economy is concerned.
All of these plans of course means spending less time playing Warcraft, which has been the all-too pleasant bane of my existence. But that is a worthwhile sacrifice and I am going to have to dole out my playing time as a reward for getting other things done.
Alright, that is enough personal analysis for one night. Back to hanging out with my kids and ringing in a new year which, by the way, I hope is a good one for you as well.