A look back at 2008

Recently I've been thinking about how awful this winter is, how cold it is, how much snow we have. I realize this will pass and there will be green grass and moments of reading outside again. I was also thinking how over the course of every year my life tends to change. This year the big change was moving in with Mike. I am in a committed relationship with someone I could live with for the rest of my life. I would have never thought that a couple years ago, nor would I have wanted it.

In 2008:

1. Watched my sister get married, move into a house and buy a puppy
2. Relaxed, drank, ate and made friends in Cabo, Mexico
3. Ate my first Izumi's fish fry and then many many more
4. Tubed on Shawano lake - which I haven't since I was in high school
5. Danced, partied and tanned in Fort Myers beach with the girls
6. Designed my favorite campaign to date - the Flavors of Denver and am very happy that they raised a huge amount of money, topping last year's event.
7. Double Dated at Noah's Ark
8. Lost a lot of money in the stock market
9. Took Mike to his first State Fair
10. Won best an award for best email campaign within the nations continuing education schools.
11. Learned how to cook with garlic or cook in general
13. Feel in love with the blue cheese dip at Lulu and Juniper 61
14. Chaired a committee at work to raise money for local and national nonprofits
15. Saw some really great music acts: Ray LaMontange in Madison, Amos Lee in Chicago and Milwaukee, Jack Johnson in Alpine Valley, Matt Costa in Atlanta, Jeffery Foucault in Milwaukee and Fort Atkinson and the best show ever - Bruce Springsteen and the E-Street band at Harley Fest
16. Surprised Mike with a trip to Atlanta to see his best friend
17. Learned a lesson to stay away from group dinners over 8 people
18. Meet about 50 more relatives of Mike's in one evening
19. Pushed myself to design better, say no to clients and be utterly creative
20. Learned to: value the friends I am closest with, reconnect with old friends, take criticism with a grain of salt, cherish the time I have with my grandmas and grandpa, live responsibly not extravagantly, speak up, and most of all love the one I'm with.

Payoff

So after the previous ranting, that day happened to be our work holiday party. At which time two awards were given out for employee excellence. Guess who won the first? Yes yours truly, out of 80 employees I won an award for outstanding work. It was ironic while I was standing beside the Dean while she was reading that I make all my deadlines, am very optimistic, etc that the two week prior I have not made one deadline and would rather drink arsenic for lunch than work on a project. I do hope that being the only one in the office over the winter break, I'll be able to catch up on all my projects and you know be prepared for that big 17 day vacation come March.

Give me a straight answer

At work I deal with all types of people. Nice people, demanding people, controlling people, crazy fun people. The past couple weeks I've dealt with them all more so than before. Today was the first day in a really long time that if the person on the other side of the telephone was standing in front of me I would have mustered up all my frustration and punched them.

You see this person on the other side of the phone is not the person you can get a straight answer from when you ask her a general question. And if it's a billable question, this person wants it in writing. But when asked a very general question she will not answer it. Not at all. And when the process is not followed to a T but made efficient for a brief moment in time, who gets a lecture? I do.

If I'm not an alcoholic by 2009 I'd be surprised.

$1.59

Gas is now down to $1.59. And for all you milk drinkers, the price for a gallon of milk is $1.98 (with coupon). According to this ad, you're saving $1.91. Everything is half off this Christmas, except movie tickets.

Sleep

As soon as it started getting cold out I LOVE sleeping. At work at about 3pm I can't wait to cuddle up, put my head on the pillow and have sweet dreams. It's hard to stay up at night unless something really exciting is going on like a wedding, 80's dancing or some really good Entertainment news. Since it's been cold a new soft furry blanket has made friends with the sheet and quilt. I end up kicking down the cotton sheet so that my body is wrapped up in this milk chocolate fur. It is absolutely wonderful.

Red Lobster

Yesterday, for the first time in over 15 years I dined at Red Lobster. Since I had an extremely frustrating day at work all I wanted a cold beer and fried food. Mike and I have been to the dive places in Tosa so we decided to try something new - Red Lobster. I anticipated red leather booths, all you can eat fried shrimp and the smell of grease. Not the case. I would say it's the equivalent to a Applebees. The decor was nice, the menu had variety but there was not all you can eat anything. The food was so so. I can't believe we went there - next time I'm going back to the Rick Inn on capital where jack and cokes are less than $5 and the fried fish is awesome.