2006: Year in Review

1. What did you do in 2006 that you'd never done before?
Went on a cruise, road tripped to a football game, partied a lot, travelled with the cycling team

2. Did you keep your New Year's resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I can't find this year's resolutions anywhere, although I'm certain that riding more and losing weight were included, and if that's the case then I was mostly successful!

This year: stress less, lose the last 10-12 pounds, put myself first, do all those things I've always wanted to

3. Did someone close to you give birth?
Nope!

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Does my kitty Ringo count?

5. What countries did you visit?
Bahamas

6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2006?
Better friends.

7. What dates from 2006 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
hmmm... none really stand out right now

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
2 semesters of straight As? Got my first car all on my own!

9. What was your biggest failure?
Letting it all get to me again. Not being happier.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I sprained my ankle on the cruise and had surgery on my sinuses.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
2 new bikes, a bike rack for my car, a new digital camera, miscellaneous other bike stuff (to total an exorbitant amount of money)

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Will, as usual. He is the best person I know.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Princess Yak and my dear roommate Alex Kennedy the girl

14. Where did most of your money go?
cycling, drinking, going out

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
meeting all the newbies, going out a lot, New Years (ok, hasn't happened yet, but I'm excited!)

16. What song will always remind you of 2006?
Luda's Money Maker, Lostprophets' We Still Kill the Old Way

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or hardened? happier.
ii. thinner or fatter? 15 pounds thinner!!
iii. richer or poorer? richer!

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
sleep, ride my bike, party, enjoy life

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
stress out, work

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
family and friends

22. Did you fall in love in 2005?
No.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Top Gear, Colbert Report, Daily Show, Ugly Betty

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
hate is a strong word, and I don't know if anyone affected me enough to merit that

26. What was the best book you read?
The Devil Wears Prada. I didn't read that much this year. Currently in the middle of Life of Pi

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Lostprophets, more hip hop

28. What did you want and get?
new bicycle, new earrings, a racquetball racquet

29. What did you want and not get?
One of those ipod alarm clock things, extension cord thing for the ibook... I was very fortunate this year

30. Favorite film of this year?
V for Vendetta

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 23on March 13. Went out to Cheesecake factory with various people. Jocelyn surprised me at the Tech race with brownies. Hoping to have something not as low key this year.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Reaching the point I'm at now much earlier in the year

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2006?
More effort!

34. What kept you sane?
Will. Coffee.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
George Hincapie (ok, so no one knows who he is), Barack Obama

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Argh... again, there are too many to list. I'd say voting, the war in Iraq, the current state of the system here.

37. Who do you miss?
My soulmate Melissa, my friend Sarah

38. Who was the best new person you met?
I adore all the newbies who break the tech mold, especially the one from TN

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2006:
To put myself first... I can't take care of anyone else if I'm not taking care of myself

So it continues...

Now that my hair is back to a normal-ish color (still a little dark, but the soft permanent will begin to wash out), I have a terrible hair cut.

I went the other day to Hair Cuttery, because I was trying to save money. I asked for shoulder length hair with long layers, and instead I got something somewhat resembling the whole Friends hair craze thing. I've had this haircut before... it's equally bad the second time around.

Conclusion: there are some things you shouldn't try to save money on... hair is one of them

We'll see whether going to a real salon and begging them to fix it will work, although I doubt they'll be able to do much since it's already so short.

Hair Fiasco

I was attempting to dye my hair close to its natural color (so that I could quit messing with dye) but the dye I used was bad and I ended up with almost black hair... and not uniformly so. Although, it wasn't too noticeable, but I didn't like it.

I am currently mid-second attempt at making myself a brunette again. The first time I tried to lighten it with permanent dye, that didn't work. Now I'm trying to "strip" the dark color, then use a soft permanent to give me a normal brown until my natural color grows back in.

Here's hoping it works and I can quit spending my hard earned money on hair products.

Time flies...

...when you're busy. And when you're having fun! So, the semester ended, not a moment too soon, and ended very well. I was able to pull off straight A's among all that contract work. Not an easy task, and I'm glad it's over with.

After my final Wednesday we went to Sweetwater to celebrate. And again Thursday. Even the Sweetwater people commented about us being alcoholics. Oh well. Friday I threw an end of semester party that was a lot of fun. Since then, it's been out and about basically every night to catch up on the fun until the end of this week, with a little work thrown in during the day.

Now I'm glad to be sitting still for the first time in a long time and to have a moment to myself with my thoughts. Although it's bittersweet, because I already miss people who are gone. I still have a lot on my to-do list for this break, although I doubt I'll accomplish much of it. Among other things, I need to clean out my car, upload a ton of pictures, get a haircut, finally get my spa sydell massage, organize a ton of paperwork, and do some fun and not-for-fun reading. I also want to do something active every day, whether it's cycling, running or playing racquetball. We'll see how it goes.

I can't wait for everyone to come back!

YAY!

Excellent game, even though the refs were crappy.

Finals Week

Hours at the Lab
Sunday: 10am-930pm
Monday : 730am -830pm

Coming up
Wednesday: ADM Final (must get extemely high grade), some contract meeting, Sweetwater!
Thursday: 6:30am meeting at Lockheed Marietta (that's going to be a fun one), but done!

Friday: end of boot camp celebration!

Lush

We hit up Buckhead Friday night.

Saturday morning I woke up and found my shoes in the kitchen sink.

I love my life.

Not Enough Hours in the Day

Too much going on, not enough time!!

1. FWD test Friday
2. Navy meeting stuff due Friday
3. ADM Report due Monday
4. Navy meeting Monday
5. IPPD Presentation Tuesday
6. Lockheed Thursday
7. IPPD Report Friday
   

Then done! Except for the fact that I have to work until Dec 21st. Joy.

Happy, though. :-)

Weekend

Awesome weekend. Despite the football team's suckage.

Flying (I miss it!), extremely shady hotel, and lots of alcohol... very memorable.

pictures. :-)

HOLY CRAP

I dropped the ball tonight, got in over my head and we got pulled over after moondogs. Thank god for Danny! He is my hero! He passed all the sobriety tests, including breathalyzer, with flying colors! Without him, we'd would have been screwed.

Not really sure how I'm going to make it up to him yet. Suggestions?

Definitely oa fun night, though!

Stress

Stress from everywhere. I am amazed by how one simple little thing can make me smile for so long, but turn everything upside down at the same time. I'm used to the emotional rollercoaster, but being high and low at the same time is weird.

I bought sleeping pills.

Thanksgiving in Review

I should be studying, so I suppose this is as good of a time as ever to update/outline Thanksgiving "break."

• Watched Tech bball
• Hosted 12 people at my parent's house for Thanksgiving (Mom is out of town)
• Watched lots of football
• Went to Circuit City to get a new camera at 5:30 am
• Was successful but I swear I'll never do that again
• Missed my entire first week of training (whoops )
• Went to my 5 year high school reunion
• which went better than I expected and
• was at C.J.'s Landing, which Kristy always wanted me to go to (but, sorry, Kristy... it was too smoky and not that great!)
• all the girls look awesome while
• all the guys look gross
• and high school would've been better if alcohol had been involved (well, at least on my part since I know most of those people were already involving alcohol, among other illegal activities)
• Watched the Georgia game at Melissa's house with her family (YAY!)
• Have another reason to detest Reggie Ball
• Went out afterwards, which was fun despite the fact that I was hoping for some more fun ;-)
• Got to see Alden and Kaya for the first time in a while

As far as my quarter life crisis is concerned, I actually was becoming more comfortable with some decisions earlier in the break until some people/circumstances made me once again second guess myself. I'm being purposefully vague, some because a lot of it isn't appropriate for here, and some because I have no idea what's going on in my mind. And that's the scary part.

Now it's back to the real world... two tests this week, with basketball before and Jax trip after. Hopefully Wednesday and Thursday will pass quickly! Now, if only I could motivate myself to study.

Opposite Land

I suddenly find myself in opposite land. I am second-guessing my second-guesses.

Things are so crazy I think I actually mentioned "my thesis" today. Weird, right?

Upcoming:
11/22: FWD Project due (I am almost done, I swear!)
11/29: ADM Test
11/30: IPPD Test
12/2: ACC CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!
12/4: ADM Presentation
12/8: FWD Final
12/11: IPPD Presentation
12/11: ADM Project due
12/12: IPPD Report due

Not only that, but I'm the point (wo)man on our Lockheed project and we have several deliverables coming up. And the bazillion other contract projects going on.

Looking forward to GT-UGA and seeing my soulmate Melissa!!! I'm hoping that our souls being in close proximity will help soothe mine.

???

Awesome night. Serves to confuse me even more.

Road Trip!

I got a ticket for the ACC Championship game in Jacksonville on Dec 2. I am so excited! I probably shouldn't go, since the week after all of my major projects for the semester are due, but I've decided to anyway. It's part of my quest to have normal college experiences, even though I'm technically not in college, at least according to Facebook.

I'm a little hesitant cause they don't usually win the big games that I go to. Or is it that I go to the big games that they don't win? Either way, most of my favorites are going, which means it should be a good time.

And it'll be my ray of light amidst the darkness that is the remainder of this semster.

The Dooce

Put better than I ever could myself.

Missing My Camera

I have misplaced my camera. I've never lost such an expensive item, so I'm a little distraught. I was in the market for a new one soon anyway, but I still would like to have that one back.

I last remember using it at the Malloy's house. I was taking pictures of Colin while he was doing his Science "Expo" experiment (alka-seltzer rockets) that I was helping him with.

But, mostly I miss it because I wish I could've take a picture of the tv screen last night. While flipping through Comshitstic's guide, I noticied showtime was playing The Passion of the Christ.

Immediately followed by what I'm sure is an oscar winning movie entitled Amy's Orgasm.

My Mom and I enjoyed a long laugh.

Results

The wonderful wonderful Mark Taylor will not be the next governor of Georgia. Instead, the citizens of Georgia have elected to keep as governor a man who has passed laws to make himself richer (quintessientially republican) while reducing Hope scholarship. I've said it once, I'll say it again. Don't mess with me and education, particularly paying for it. Without Hope me and a college education might not have happened. It would benefit Georgia to continue to attempt to educate the many young people of this state.

Fortunately, it seems like Georgia is an anomaly and most other places in the country are flipping. It begs the question, why is Georgia bucking the trend? Lucas believes it was rigged, and that is certainly a possibility. It probably is more likely due to the closed-mindedness, backwards, antiquated notions of many Georgians that I know (my father included). Can we say that this surprises us, from the state with a hunting and fishing amendment (which passed at 90%)? Seems like the little flag to get conservatives out to vote worked. Way to go, politics.

The only state in the nation. Wish I could say I am surprised. Way to go, Georgians.

I am so sad. But not nearly as sad as I was when Bush was re-elected.
Here's to the Senate going the same direction the House did (woohoo!)

Voting in my Household

I'm Satchel, my Dad is Bucky.

Suffrage for Livia

Today was a big day (see also: upcoming post on surgery post-op).

I voted for the first time ever. I became a citizen last year, and sure I could've voted in the primary (but I didn't/still haven't got my voter info and thought I wasn't registered!)

I was very emotional and excited. This was surprising, because even as recently as the beginning of college I was very apathetic about politics. I was apathetic because I disagreed with everything. Now everything I disagree with makes me so upset that I have no option but to get up and try to do something about it, be it trying to get people to vote, getting those who don't usually read up on news and politics to do so, or just getting out and voting myself.

I went to a church up the street (from my parent's house in Dunwoody, where I am registered, ) which is kinda funny because my neighbor across the street votes at the high school and my dad votes at another church because he never changed his address to our new one (even though we've lived here for almost 6 years.)

My dad has been bugging me about this election for a few weeks now. A Bill O'Reilly watching, Rush Limbaugh listening conservative republican, he and I don't generally see eye to eye when it comes to politics. This morning as I was leavning, he told me that if I voted Democrat then he would leave me out of his will. I did anyway. I think it's funny that he's thinks the way he does, because he's not a rich old white man and we came to America for all the "freedom" that you get here, which includes making up my own mind and voting for whoever I want. Plus, there's not much in his will anyway (it would probably be a little better if the whole republican thing were working out for him.)

I went in, there were no lines, it was relatively easy. I was a little bothered by the whole thing, though. The Diebold logo everywhere made me feel a little sick to my stomach, especially since there was no option to print out my result. I checked my answers over and over. Looked ok, but who knows what happens in those machines.

I put a lot of time reading into the candidates and issues and even printed up my cheat sheet including reasons why to take with me. I recommend the AJC's voters guide. In general I am no fan of the AJC, but I must say they did a great job presenting the necessary info in an easy to browse manner. Much better than opening each single candidate's webpage. At one point Firefox was tired of have 30 tabs open, so thanks AJC.

The offices I spent the most time on were secretary of state and school superintendent. I wanted someone who would guarantee a paper trail. The democrat did but the republican wouldn't come out and say it, although she championed herself for being the only one with a "plan" (that was incredibly vague and didn't have many action items) for voting procedures in Georgia. For school superintendent I went with the liberterian. I know, of course, that this splits the vote from the democrat and that the republican incumbent will most likely be re-elected, but he was the only one who had clear action items that I agreed with and also wanted to make the position appointed so that it could be bipartisan in the future. To run for an office and want to get rid of it? That takes balls. The governor was a no-duh for me. Not only does it seem that good ol' Sonny is a little dirty, he never really made points in debates versus Mark Taylor. Not only that, but he's always been reducing Hope scholarship. Funding for education is a big one with me. Reduce it and you're on my bad side (hear that, Dubya?) I actually did vote for one republican, for the office of labor commissioner. He had it way more together than the other guy, plus he was a Tech grad.

I also considered the constitutional amendments and referendums carefully. Except for the whole amend the constitution "to protect the traditions of fishing and hunting." Seriously? You know you live in Georgia when...

Jen Lee spoke of the election on her blog and mentioned that California recommends voting absentee so that you get a paper ballot. I've been told by others that while this is true, sometimes the absentee ballots don't get counted (although illegal) unless it's a close election. This wouldn't surprise me in this state. So, what does one do? Go the day of and leave the fates to Diebold, or, vote absentee and risk not being counted at all?

All in all, I suppose I'm excited to participate in the government of this country (that sentence was really hard for me to construct without being negative about the government or the direction of the country, by the way). I look forward to doing it in '08.

Except then my vote really won't count, thanks electoral college and red state.