With the arrival of the new year, I’d had that sinky, saddy feeling of wow. My year was not so good. Because that is kind of the feeling I get when I think 2007. Then I read this post on Yarn-A-Go-Go, and it started making me take inventory of everything that happened over the year. And you know what? In the midst of the upheaval and turmoil and yuckiness, there some really good stuff. So here we go with my own Year-in-Review-A-Go-Go, mostly the good stuff.
JANUARY
I went to a wedding in Lake Placid and got to see the Adirondacks smothered in piles of snow. And bought some good yarn. We went to the Blogger Meet-up and Anti-war Rally and had just an amazing time surrounded by smart, super-friendly, like-minded people. It felt like we were actually part of a community. Go figure.
FEBRUARY
We went up to my Mom’s bar for the Superbowl as a surprise to help her shut the place down (for good) with a bang, and she was super tickled. We also headed up to Timberline in West Virginia for a long weekend of skiing and snowboarding with some good friends.
MARCH
We celebrated BF and the roommate’s bdays. There was the emergency root canal. And then the dog’s face tried to rot off. We also visited California! We almost couldn’t go because of the dog, but the vet stepped in and took her home to stay with him at the last minute, and so we went. It was my first time. We went as north as Santa Rosa, as south as Big Sur, and then settled in San Francisco for my friend’s beautiful wedding. It was an amazing trip.
APRIL
I went home for Passover Seder, my nephew’s birthday, and Easter. I finally got to give the kids the stocking caps I’d knitted for them for Christmas. And then the tree fell on our house. And then a lot of other things started to come crashing down around me, too.
MAY
BF’s sister came for a visit. We had to move back out of the house for the duration of the repairs.
JUNE
We hiked and camped at Trough Creek State Park in PA with some friends. In the rain. I got some great butterfly pictures. And I went home for my niece’s 6th birthday. Marley turned 4. My mom came for a nice weekend visit, and we went to a strawberry festival. We were able to move back into the house on June 24.
JULY
A friend and her family came to town, and we all went out for a really nice dinner. We had people over to the new and improved house for the 4th of July. I went to Seattle for work July 5-7 and had a blast. My sister, brother-in-law, 2 nephews and niece came for a long weekend and we had such a fantastic time. It was a really wonderful visit. We also went to Syracuse and Ithaca, NY for the Empire State Brewfest (and some good camping) with some friends and were blown away by the beauty of the mountains. What a great trip.
AUGUST
We went to Hot Springs, NC for massages and soaks in the springs, then to Knoxville to hear Ani Difranco play at the Bijou, and then to Asheville to hang out with a great, old friend. This was all Labor day weekend. It was a lot of driving, but a relaxing and beautiful weekend. I finished the Bigfoot Socks!
SEPTEMBER
I went home for the mass birthdays and up to Maine for my cousin’s wedding in the same trip. I saw extended family I hadn’t seen since right before I moved here. 7 years later… it was great to see them. We hiked Ravens Rock. We went to a wedding. Well, we missed the wedding and most of the reception, but we got dressed up and met everyone at the after party, and that was fun.
OCTOBER
We went to Arizona. We were in Phoenix, Tucson, Sedona, Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon, Seligman, and then hiked into the Havasupai Reservation. We went to BF’s cousin’s wedding. We had a great time with his family. We saw rocks and mountains and cactuses like we’ve never seen in our lives. We stood in a vortex. The waterfalls on the reservation were breathtaking. We’re already making plans to go back. BF’s friends came to town, and it was an eye-opening visit. It was so good to be social, to get out of the house and go down to the monuments at night, and out to dinner, and to talk with people who didn’t look at me like I was “cute” for working at the farmers’ market or do a lot of smiling and nodding when I talked about local food, and whole food, and food systems in relation to the health problems that are rampant today. It made me want to be social again.
NOVEMBER
I went to hear Ani Difranco speak at All Souls Unitarian Church in DC. BF and I went out to a beautiful dinner in Baltimore and then to hear her play. It was the best show that I’ve heard her perform. I left all energized and giddy. I turned 34. I went home for Thanksgiving and spent a nice week with the family. I finished my the blanket for my sister’s baby.
DECEMBER
It was such a flurry, I’m trying to remember. My sister had her baby boy on the 3rd. His blanket had been completed and was waiting for him in his basinette. He’s absolutely edible. Mom came to town for a before-Christmas visit. We got our tree while she was in town and got it all decorated. I did huge amounts of baking and knitting. The hats for the kids were all completed in time. Two need to be re-knit. The brothers-in-law are still waiting. BF and I celebrated Christmas on Saturday. I drove home on Sunday, celebrated with the folks up there, and then we all drove south to my other sister’s house to celebrate with her family on Thursday. I got home late Thursday night. New Year’s was celebrated at home, with a big meal and great group of friends.
There was more hiking than I can remember. It was a great hiking year. I’m probably also forgetting a weekend trip here or there. And definitely lots of good beer. And we saw Indigenous at State Theatre somewhere along the way.
It was a really hard year. It’s too easy to get overrun by the bad and forget all the little, good moments that happen, too. Time to refine the focus, maybe?
Happy 2008!
