However, now that I think about it, 2011 did hold some events, so here is that 365 days in quick review. What should have been a years worth of posts in one, hopefully succinct, much overdue post.
January: I decided my news years resolution for 2011 would be to try vegetarianism for about three months until my birthday, and spent most of this month looking up recipes for food that did not include meat. Except for the fact that I didn't start this until about the 2nd week of January due to some leftovers I refused to throw away, and then accidentally forgot at about week three and accidentally ordered a meatball sub for lunch one day, and then refused to throw it away on the principle that it was a perfectly good sandwich that I'd just paid for, this resolution gets off to a pretty good start. Also, Dori and I start working on her manners, as jumping on new people is generally frowned upon in dogs that are about 50 pounds and look like maybe, possibly they might be part doberman pincher... almost. Even though she looks more like a vizsla and only means this in the most flattering, "WOW YOU'RE EXCITING AND NEW AND COOL AND I'M SO HAPPY TO MEET YOU" kind of way, people don't really seem to like this habit of hers, so we start trying to stop it.
February: To my knowledge and recollection, nothing too horribly cool happens in this month. I am still not eating meat, and Dori is still adamant about greeting new people by jumping upon them.
March: The jumping continues... it's a work in progress, she has lots of energy and just gets overexcited, which means she stops listening to me... to my schagrin. This month also holds the AWESOME road trip to Georgia, to see cool people that I like that insisted upon moving there. Atlanta is awesome and I to this day (in March of 2012) still use a picture of a cute dog that let me pet him in a park as my Facebook profile pic. Savannah is also really cool and has some killer blueberry goat cheese that to this day (still in March of 2012) really makes me want to move there so that I might live in the small cafe/coffee shop that served this tasty dairy product to me. Downside: I hit a curb and busted the wall of my tire on the way to drive through the Atlanta ghetto, just to see it... for some reason, so that my three friends and I end up trying to change to my spare in the ghetto and get helped by some very nice lawn care specialists in order to expedite our journey out of said slightly dangerous location. Upside: all of this happened at noon, in broad daylight. Downside: all of this happened at noon on the day we were supposed to leave at about 2 pm or so to begin the 13 hour drive back to KC, and our return trip was delayed a few hours while a new tire was purchased and applied to the car. Upside: this gives me a story to tell and the satisfaction that of the four people in my car when this happened I was one of the two that knew how to change a tire, and I could have done it myself, if the lawn care specialists hadn't shown up and done it faster than me.
April: I get to eat meat again, and in a very unceremonious fashion, break my three month veggie stint by ordering a Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger from Wendy's on my way home from work because I had to be somewhere important quickly, and can't remember now where that someplace was. I have obviously decided that for me vegetarianism isn't really practical and not really worth the effort, because I don't feel any healthier. I begin to think that my dog's legs are made of springs instead of muscle, tendons and bone.
May: I take another awesome trip, this time to UTAH! I do this to see some other people that I kind of, maybe like a little bit. No flat tires occurred on this trip, phew! But there were some pretty awesome caramel apples to be eaten and an incredibly cute baby to be fussed over. I reconnected with Franz, and old flame, and he seems pretty much the same as ever, figures. But, I got to catch up on 5 years worth of changes that happened to all the living people that I knew when I lived there. Ahhh... nostalgia...
June: Recovery from all my trips begins. I decided that I'd do this by not going anywhere cool, or doing anything exciting with my life for a whole month. Mission accomplished, except for a wedding I went to, which wasn't really so horribly boring.
July: I realize at 5 pm on Friday July 1st that I have a 4 day weekend surrounding the 4th of July, so I decide to go to Denver. Family members are highly overrated and really not worth that much gas after all. Lesson learned. Want to know who isn't learning her lesson? Dori. Apparently you are spring worthy for the first 10 minutes of acquaintance, after that she can be polite and keep all four paws where they really ought to be, but for that first 10 minutes that new person is just way too spectacular to allow for proper etiquette to be observed.
August: I move into a new apartment a whole block away from the old one, but this one is just for me and Dori! FUN! Especially because it has a den, which quickly becomes the awesome room where there are multiple comfy places to read, and a bookshelf where the lovely tomes can be kept. For some reason this makes me more happy than it really probably should. And, did I mention there are two whole stairs to get down into the den? Yep... it's the best room ever. Also, my baby sister comes to visit me! My parent's don't really like her, so they dumped her on me for a week. It was horrible, but we didn't kill each other, so a successful visit over all, I'd say.
September: If I had to pick a month, this would be the one where I quickly fall into a predictable routine that will not be broken for quite some time, although I do continue to occupy myself with making my new apartment my own, mainly by purchasing kitchen things that one needs in order to cook. This, more than any other activity, makes feel like I'm growing up. Yes, because I have bought a crock pot, electric mixer with various attachments and a full set of mixing bowls with lids, I am an adult. Those and the bright purple toaster... yep that surely means I'm totally mature and going headlong into adulthood.
October: I may or may not have boycotted this month. I'm pretty sure it didn't exist actually.
November: Holiday madness starts! Mom's birthday plus Thanksgiving means another pointless trip out to Denver. Kansas is very long and straight and covered in farms. So is the eastern half of Colorado you have to drive through to get to the Denver and the mountains. In fact, they are pretty much the same looking, except for once you hit the Colorado boarder the long, straight farms are at a very slight incline that lead up to the mile high city. My reward for this is a glorious shopping spree in which I convince my mom that because it's her birthday, she should buy me a bunch of clothes. I don't know how this works, but it does, and I'm lucky my family likes me.
December: Pretty much consists of lots of patients at the office who want to have their surgeries done, like tomorrow if possible, because, "My insurance plan resets in January and my deductible will go back up." Here's a tip, if you want to take advantage of already having paid part of your deductible, get into your friendly neighborhood surgeon for a consult before December 15th. Otherwise his office staff will think you're an annoying, pushy idiot, and be quite unsympathetic when there doesn't happen to be time left in 2011 to fit you into the surgery schedule. But I'm not holding on to old frustrations at all... nope... not me! I also decide to start what will become a three month process to figuring out what exactly is causing both of wrists to randomly ache and become overly painful, and then heal them. By the end of the month we've ruled out nothing, mainly because once the holiday hit, everything was postponed until January, so stay tuned for the fascinating results to this saga. After all this, it's Christmas! YAY! Then New Years Eve! And, Dori jumps on a new person she just met. Obviously she's learned a lot in the past year... and so have I.
So, there, for the two of you that check this blog in the mostly vain hope that I will have created and posted a new entry, is a quick review of 2011. Just as April of 2012 is about to roll around. Maybe this year's delayed New Years resolution should be to update my blog more often. Let's say once every three months until my birthday. You know, to try it out and see if it works well for me. Yeah... I think that might just be the way to go... ;-)
Peace, until... whenever.
