This is by no means meant to be a synopsis of my year – in fact, I’m leaving out some of the biggest stuff on purpose. Just a few random tidbits about time and how we choose to pass it.
Thoughts on 2008:
- In February I decided to chop my hair off and go blonde, per my hairdresser’s suggestion. I’ve been going to Tommy for about 7 years, and this is by far my very favorite haircut I’ve ever had. I never in a million years thought I’d look good as a blonde, (my natural haircolor is red although as I’ve gotten older it’s become more like brunette, sadly) but there you have it, friends.
Susan and me on New Year's Eve 2007, before my haircut.
My hair in December 2008 with my siblings and some of my cousins at a family reunion.
- In March I started writing poetry again, first with Susan and then with Chris and later in the year with all my new buddies at poetryassignment.com. I’ve never been happier – has been about 8 years since I’ve written for fun.
- At the end of March I turned 30 and that sucked. OK, so I really don’t feel that different but I especially love being carded now. Or told I look 23. Or anything like that.
- I ran my first 10K in April. Did the Charleston Cooper River Bridge Run with my sister, Jenny. It was amazing. It took about an hour (forgot my exact time, but I was happy with it). Two weeks later I hiked Mount Mitchell with my brother, Kevin. Talk about feeling accomplished!
- Speaking of looking 23, in May some boy kissed me on the dance floor at 8es in Athens because Susan told him we were celebrating my 23rd birthday. Thanks, Susan! Seeing as how it was a college bar I’m guessing he was still too young to look for a ring. He told me later he knew I wasn’t 23 – he thought I was 25 or 26. Ok, I’ll take that.
- Ronnie moved to California in July, which drastically changed my life, too, and not for the better. I miss him every day. We celebrated with tattooes before he left.
- In July and August I visited Erin and NYC, by myself the first time and with Jeff the second time. I will live there one day.
- In November I wrote a novel. That was one of the biggest dreams of my life. It needs a lot of editing and rewriting, so I’m nowhere near finished, but I did it.
- One of my last purchases of the year was a polka-dot bikini. “She wore an itsy-bitsy, teeny weeny …”
Thoughts on 2009:
- One of the first things I did to welcome 2009 was lose a game of pool and as punishment take a shot of straight Absente (it’s Absinthe without the wormwood) with no sugar or water to cut it. I didn’t see any green fairies, but Chris, who was my pool partner and lost with me, started coughing and said his went down the wrong tube. Maybe life is all about making sure you a) know what you’re swallowing, and b) make sure it goes down the right tube.
- I spent the first day of the new year with some of the people that mean the most in the world to me: Carissa, Jeff, Wade, Chris, Amy, Kevin, Jenn, Mia and Sadie. A great reminder that friends and family are everything.
- Here’s the thing about haircuts: Even when I love my current hairstyle, I always fear if I don’t change it soon enough, I’ll get locked in forever, scared to try something new. So even though my 2008 hairstyle was my favorite ever, I decided it was time for a change. Tommy loves me as a client for this reason, and he happily gave me a new look (I’m still blonde, though!) Sometimes people ask me if my haircuts are metaphors for bigger change – I guess so in a sense. One thing I don’t want is to wake up one day and realize I’ve had the same outdated haircut for 10 years. Maybe that is also how I want to live – without getting in a 10-year rut. Or a 1-year rut.
New look, new outlook?
- For the rest of the year, I plan to keep writing, keep learning, keep loving, keep changing my hairstyle. And trying my very best not to let things go down the wrong tube.
