Yep, it’s that time — I have to take a look back at the year that was and think about all the dumb, fun stuff I did. It seems like a particular theme has been popping up in my life this past week: be grateful for what you have, because it is so much more than most people in the world could ever hope for. And that’s not just because the new year is approaching; I’ve been stumbling upon this message in words written months and years ago.
In no particular order, here’s what I’ll remember about 2010:
Running — That’s not really a surprise, is it? I fractured my ankle last Christmas Eve, which meant I couldn’t run all of January, but I eased back into it the following month. Not only did I run my first 5k race since London, but I doubled my distance to run a 10k the next month, and then I more than doubled it again and ran a half-marathon. Since March, I’ve run at least one race every month, and running has brought me health, happiness, and many new friends, to boot. I’ve run in the extreme heat (ugh), the pouring rain (blech), and the freezing cold (brr), but it’s still been fun.
Cats — Booty passed away in March, and Birdy came to stay a few days later. I’m so glad that Booty had a natural end, right here at home. I still get a little teary thinking about it; it was such an intense, intimate moment between him and me, something that I’ll never be able to accurately describe to anybody else. But it also made my own transition to the addition of Birdy go more smoothly. Having a kitten in the house (she’ll be a year old at the end of January) has been a crazy… in a mostly-good way. That fact that Beany basically adopted Birdy as her own made my life easier, because I have no idea how I would have dealt with all that energy on my own.
People — Like I said, I met a lot of new friends through running, which is great. Having hobbies in common with somebody has never been enough by itself to let me ‘click’ with a person, because I don’t really care for talking (in person) about things like crafts and cooking. But I can go on endlessly about running, and other runners are the only people who can tolerate that sort of thing.
I also enjoyed my time with Chris, even though we’re no longer together. He introduced me to camping, and he’s just a lot of fun to be around, in general. Trips to the beach, grilling pizzas, swimming in the Mississippi — I’m glad we were able to share those things!
The Outdoors — Even though I wasn’t this way growing up, I’ve been fairly outdoorsy since moving back to Minnesota. But it wasn’t until I went to St. Croix State Park this summer that I realized just how excited I am to be in nature. Being out on a woodsy trail with a river flowing off to the side just feels right to me. It fills me with the sort of energy and excitement that I imagine super-extroverted people feel when they… go to a club or a party or something.
All in all, it was a really nice year for me. There was nothing mind-blowingly amazing, but there doesn’t need to be. It was a tough year for a lot of people I know, which helps me remember that, most of the time, good is good enough.
