MrNepathy's Blog

The ball is about to drop on 2009 to draw this year to a close. For the past few years I’ve written an end-of-the-year wrap up about my life. Last year was a little difficult given the events that transpired so I tried to find the highlights amidst the darkness. While this year did not have anything so life altering it was still not a year without pitfalls. However it was also a year of some great things. So here we go, diving into the year that was 2009.

Perhaps the biggest change for me was moving. I moved farther from work and into a more expensive situation. Old traditions, like Rock Band and Big Bang Theory were replaced with new things, like Chinese food on Fridays and shouting at the TVs together as some 12 year old in Nebraska shoots us. When life or sadness seemed to crash down on me, the three of us sat up until the early morning talking. We went out to a party and though we were in a group of a dozen people or so and had just come from the same house, still we found ourselves off in a corner talking. It’s been great to see two people who deserve to be happy become happy. I live with two of my favorite people.

One of the highlights of the year, and in fact one of the highlights of recent years was something that a friend wrote to my mom. I can’t describe how that letter made me feel and do it any justice. All I can say is that I hope everyone gets to experience something like that. Anything that makes my mom feel good is a wonderful thing to me. She kept the letter and reads it whenever she feels a little down.

Someone also created a website for me, obviously. It gives me a place to call my own, write I want and not worry about who owns the rights to what. While I may not have won the writing contests I entered, I haven’t given up. My head got spun around a bit, but that’s how life goes. I was encouraged to keep going by a quirky little event. My niece loves to read and so I decided to get her a copy of Watership Down. In looking through the introduction by Richard Adams, he said he tried seven times to have the novel published before someone finally did. Seven times. How anyone could pass up on a book so tremendous is beyond me, but there it is. While I may not have his gift for words, I am encouraged by the fact that he initially failed.

It was definitely a year of weddings and they ran the gambit from the nerdy to the elegant. Each held its special joys. Watching a garter ceremony where the bride sits on the leg of a Stormtrooper is rather enjoyable. Or watching Stormtroopers deejay. There’s something fantastic about watching Star Wars characters do regular things. No Gamorrean Chicken Dance, however. The last wedding I went to this year bordered on overwhelming. I felt like I would get kicked out for not being classy enough. Also got to hear a friend give a speech and that shocked all of us. But the biggest wedding of all for me was the one I stood up in. While people may have teased me with imagined responsibilities of a bridesmaid and I lamented on having to give a speech, I was happy and touched to be a part of it. It was good to be there for such a close friend and be part of her day. In each case it was nice to see friends happy and moving forward into a new phase of their lives. Also, in each case, I killed in my suit. That’s just straight up fact.

Work was rather abysmal with its 45-hour weeks and its reduction in pay. I went through a very angry phase before surrendering to the truth. Surviving the remainder of the reduced-salary time will be an adventure, but one I can manage. It’s just work after all.

I lost a status I held for thirty-six years and that’s being the last person born into my family. In August I relinquished my title to my nephew. In September I got to meet him and hold him. Seeing my mom hold him and my brother hold him was quite rewarding. I look forward to X-boc’s adventures, anecdotes, joys and events. He’s truly blessed to have the parents and sister that he has. Tomorrow I will be on my way to see them and my mom. Florida may not seem like Christmas, but anywhere they are is Christmas to me.

In the final moments of 2009 I find myself smiling a little more. Or a lot more. But, more on that later.

May the rest of 2009 treat you well and all of 2010 treat you better. Thanks for reading this, thanks for the laughs and the support. As you take your first steps into 2010, remember to find happiness where you can, and when you cannot find it, create it.