Archive for December, 2009

Goodbye 2009!

So, I know this isn’t really the end of the decade, but to me it feels like it is because it’s the end of the 00s. There will be no more double-zero-in-the-middle years until the year 3000. Because of that, my friend Herbie said we should call this decade the Oohs (pronounced “ooze” if you weren’t sure). It never caught on- not that we really tried that hard- so everyone is referring to these years as the oughts or naughties. In my heart, they’ll always be the Oohs.
I rang in 2000 in London with my best friend Joe. I almost didn’t make it because I had lost my passport in the clutter of my Bloomington apartment, and had to drive up to Chicago the day before Christmas Eve and use Travisa to expedite my new passport application through in one day. In classic Kristen fashion, I of course found my misplaced passport (with an awesome picture) about a week after I got back. This year, I was happy my passport finally expired so I could get rid of the picture of frazzled me that was on the replacement passport.
I feel like 2009 was a year where a lot of things finally clicked and I made huge steps towards being the person I really want to be. I was going to do a whole decade wrap-up post, but a friend on Facebook reminded me that the decade doesn’t actually end until the end of next year. Honestly, that’s OK.
When it comes down to it, the last decade is kind of summed up by that story. I’ve learned so much about myself in the last 10 years, and I’m almost to the point where Kristen2000 with the clutter and flakiness because of it is gone. And I’m totally OK with that. I’ll Tell my stories from the last decade another time. Right now I’m going to enjoy the last moments as Kristen2009 and dream a little about Kristen2010.
I have been thinking abouty the last 10 years through my iTunes. You can listen to the soundtrack of my last decade over at Blip.fm
Happy New Year!
I will leave you with a picture from 2000. Not of me, but a daily life snapshot of my surroundings the day I got my first digital camera to remind me of who I was and who I want to be.

So, I know this isn’t really the end of the decade, but to me it feels like it is because it’s the end of the 00s. There will be no more double-zero-in-the-middle years until the year 3000. Because of that, my friend Herbie said we should call this decade the Oohs (pronounced “ooze” if you weren’t sure). It never caught on- not that we really tried that hard- so everyone is referring to these years as the oughts or naughties. In my heart, they’ll always be the Oohs.

I rang in 2000 in London with my best friend Joe. I almost didn’t make it because I had lost my passport in the clutter of my Bloomington apartment, and had to drive up to Chicago the day before Christmas Eve and use Travisa to expedite my new passport application through in one day. In classic Kristen fashion, I of course found my misplaced passport (with an awesome picture) about a week after I got back. This year, I was happy my passport finally expired so I could get rid of the picture of frazzled me that was on the replacement passport.

I feel like 2009 was a year where a lot of things finally clicked and I made huge steps towards being the person I really want to be. I was going to do a whole decade wrap-up post, but a friend on Facebook reminded me that the decade doesn’t actually end until the end of next year. Honestly, that’s OK, because I want to really spend some time if I’m going to write about a whole decade of my life.

When it comes down to it, the last decade is kind of summed up by the person I was when I was ringing in 2000. I’ve learned so much about myself in the last 10 years, and I’m almost to the point where Kristen v.2000 with the clutter and flakiness because of it is gone. And I’m totally OK with that. I’ll tell my stories from the last decade another time, and I will definitely talk more about what I’ve been through in 2009 in more detail in the near future because it was truly a transformational year. Right now I’m going to enjoy the last moments as Kristen v.2009 and dream a little about Kristen v.2010.

I have been reflecting on the last 10 years through my iTunes library. You can listen to the soundtrack of my last decade over at Blip.fm

Happy New Year!

I will leave you with a picture from 2000. Not of me, but a daily life snapshot of my surroundings the day I got my first digital camera to remind me of who I was and who I want to be.

My messy studio in Linden Gardens, London W2

My messy studio in Linden Gardens, London W2, 9-17-00

2009
12/31
CATEGORY
musings
nothing
stuff i learned or did
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Thankful

It’s been a long time, but de-cluttering my life has taken all of my energy.

I’m in the home stretch of the transformation and by 2010, you will describe me as this girl you know who used to be a packrat. I plan on writing a lot more about it in the future. It’s amazing how creative I feel and how much I want to write now that I am clearing the decks. It’s like this energy around me can circulate better.

But today is a very important day in Kristen history. It was just one year ago today that I woke up from having what I thought had been the worst.gas.ever with what felt like a knot in my lower right abdomen. A little Wikipedia and a call to a friend, and I had figured out I had appendicitis before I even went to the hospital. At least I knew I would be checking in so I took a shower at home and packed a bag to put in the trunk and it was off to the ER we went.

About 9 hours after getting there, I was waking up in recovery, and Rob was in the waiting room with Janie, Don, and Samantha who were in Indianapolis for Sam’s gymnastics meet. Then they took me to my room and I sent Rob home to get some sleep.

It seemed like I would never recover from my abdominal laparoscopic surgery and like I would never be able to lift more than 8 pounds again. I was disappointed that my packrat title-shedding goal wouldn’t be met for 2009, but looking back I don’t know how I ever thought I would make it there in ~3 weeks.

It was 3 years ago on this day that was also one of the most monumental days of Rob’s and my life together. In the morning we had to put Bud down. He had an intestinal blockage and he had been sick for weeks. It was so sad. I remember it was such a beautiful day. We cleaned Rob’s apartment and had the windows open since it was like 55ยบ. Then later we went and adopted Beans and Nico from Petsmart and the vet’s office respectively. Just as we were getting home with our new kitties, Rob got a phone call that his Grandpa Bill had an aneurysm.

So, a lot of things have happened in our life together on December 6. I feel like we have experienced every emotion possible on this day in the past few years. This year, it was pretty uneventful. And for that I am thankful.

2009
12/06
CATEGORY
kitties
musings
nothing
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