2013: Stupidly Fantastic and Fantastically Stupid

Ah, 2013.  My 29th year on this, our fair planet.  It was a strange one, I’ll be honest.  Starting a new year away from Pittsburgh, even after all this time, still feels a bit off to me.  I still tell people I’m new here.  In reality, at this point, I’m not.  Perhaps one of these days I’ll feel at home here.  I can now say officially, however, that such a day did not occur in the year 2013.

What DID occur in 2013, you may ask?  Well, as luck would have it, I have prepared a brief list, just for you.

 

WHAT A MESS:

My job got so awful that I had to straight up quit.  Yes, I gave up.  What of it?

I blew my knee out and couldn’t do kung fu for 10 solid weeks.  Joints after the age of 23, am I right?

Following recovery from said injury, I was so discouraged that I essentially quit for an extended period of time.  Yes, this means I backed out of my black belt test in December.  I didn’t even really work out and, as a result, lost an otherwise perfectly serviceable pair of jeans due to catastrophic thigh friction.

Simon got so sick that we thought we were going to lose him.

UGGGGH, CAN YOU EVEN IMAGINE, I’M DYING EVEN THINKING ABOUT IT.

Oh, I still live in Harrisburg.  Yeah, I know we talked about that already.  I’m talking about it again.

 

OH WAIT, THERE WERE SOME OKAY THINGS THAT HAPPENED ALSO:

First, and absolutely of the utmost importance, Simon is finally back to his old self.  After 3 months, trial and error with multiple medications and prescription foods, and a mere $3,000 IN VET BILLS, he’s happy and healthy once more.  I’m just going to pretend it’s another college loan and add it to the list of bills that I’ll be paying on until I die, no big.

I became an aunt.  This is a totally awesome thing because, regardless of what people may say or think, I do like kids.  I just don’t like awful, badly behaved kids, and I don’t want any kids living in my house.  Oh, also I hate how kids are always sticky.  Why is that?  It makes no sense, and it grosses me right out.  Anyway, my niece is awesome and pretty much the cutest baby ever.  Also, she’s only 6 months old and is already wearing 24 month clothing.  AUNTIE’S LITTLE BEAST.

Despite my injury and subsequent martial arts-related despair, I was able to pull myself up by my bootstraps and learn a new style that, surprise, I pretty much love.  My coach decided to teach this particular style because a number of the students in class had injuries that were not conducive to jump kicks and low stances.  Hooray for busted knees?

I found a job that, growing pains notwithstanding, is still infinitely better that the job I quit last April.  I still love my coworkers, I still have super weird HR-related stories, and I now earn a salary that is laughably higher than what I made while I was in Pittsburgh.  And thank goodness for that, because Simon bills.

I’ve made quite a few surprise friends this past year.  I’m not really sure how it happened, and I still miss my Pittsburgh friends so desperately that simply writing this is running me through the emotional gauntlet, but I feel incredibly fortunate to now have Central PA friends as well.  I have gaming buddies, I have kung fu buddies, I have drinking buddies, and I have also stumbled upon a few gaming-kung fu-drinking buddies that I spend far too much (just kidding, never enough) time with.  This presents a problem, because now wherever I happen to be living, I will be missing someone.  CURSE YOU, CRUEL FATE!  WHY MUST I ALWAYS BE SEPARATED FROM THOSE DEAR TO ME!?

I got a car.  Yes, it’s another expense, but damn, is it necessary out here.  Don’t worry, I’ll get into that another time.

Oh, and I got married!  DON’T WORRY, I WILL GET INTO THAT LATER, TOO.

 

So, my dear friends, I would say that overall, 2013 was an overwhelmingly positive experience.  Yes, I am more in debt.  Yes, I am significantly squishier.  And yes, I have developed quite a number of white hairs as a direct result of the Simon’s-insides-don’t-work-anymore fiasco.  But it’s been an adventure.  In the end, what more can you ask?  Maybe for little help in replacing those shredded jeans…

Well, ask and you shall receive, my friends, because yesterday I got a $20 off coupon for my favorite clothing store, which I redeemed for the EXACT SAME PAIR OF PANTS sans wear and tear.  With an additional 25% off as well!

All right, 2014, we’re off to a solid start!  No gross surprises, okay?  PROMISE?