Review and Preview

See these dolls? They swivel.

Good things from 2006.
• Great new group of fantastic friends that I've met since I began blogging. And some I haven't. (Yet!) And, of course, all of my fabulous friends and family I was already lucky enough to know.
• Blogging. I've really, really been happy to be able to put my crap into words. Also, it's kind of nice to be able to look back. I've journaled for ages in notebooks. Or on scraps of paper. That get lost. And shuffled out of order, depending on what cute notebook I had with me at any one time. So I'm happy to have an organized view into my life.
• Birding. I haven't had a hobby in a long time. In fact, I'm not sure I've ever had a hobby, per se, before getting into birding. And I have Crazy John to thank for getting me started.
• Quitting smoking. This needs no further comment, but that never stopped me from running on at the mouth. I feel better physically, and there's no end to the increase in self-esteem. And I'm saving money.
• Moving to my new town. I loved where I lived before, but the housing costs were out of control. So for the last 10 years I had been living in sub-optimal places. I needed a yard. And my own bathroom. I have both now (and a GREAT kitchen). Also, the move extracted me from a less-than-ideal living situation.

Good Things to Come:
• Spring migration. I didn't even have my own binoculars until sometime in June, I think. So I'm really psyched to think about all the new birds I will be able to see!
• Spring planting. Well, shit, the garden in general. Birding was one hobby I'd wanted to do for ages. Gardening is another. For many years, I've been finding stopgap measures to feed the gardener in me. I've got herbs in containers. I have a hydrangea bush I've coddled for the past 5 years; it began as a 1 foot tall plant from Whole Foods, and now it's easily 3 feet by 3 feet or so. It, too, is in a container. But this year....THIS year I have a garden spot. I've begun composting. I've mulched the plot with the fallen leaves to keep the weeds from overtaking everything. I've selected and purchased seeds. Now I will get to plan a layout so I can get as healthy a yield as I can. There's a lot of planning to do, which is so exciting.
• A new direction, job-wise. I have to have one. I've been so down and out this year and last. Grant funding ended for my low-paying but enjoyable non-profit job. Then the new, exciting, well-paying job at the local private university turned out to be....HELL. It left me shattered, as well as confused about what I'll do next. I'm realizing, I think, that I don't have the ambition or the desire to become the foremost expert on X topic. I just want to work in a job I like most of the time and get paid enough to do it so that I can meet my modest needs. Now I have to conquer the fear of being rejected from jobs I apply for. And of experiencing the horror of that last job. That's what I'm afraid of. So that's what I'll conquer this year!

So, no resolutions, exactly. Just ideas and goals.