2008

In the late morning hours of January 2, 2008, I sat at a Starbucks facing the street on 84th & 3rd, just 3 blocks from my office. I remember it crystal clear; I ordered a Gingerbread Latte (for whatever reason, my favorite "holiday" beverage) and sipped it slowly as I delayed going back to work after the week-and-a-half hiatus. To pick apart the timeline a bit, and for clarification purposes, I had just returned from visiting my cousins, aunt, and uncle in Steamboat Springs, CO; I'd actually been "stranded" there for New Year's which turned out to be a blast. A few days before I left for out west, back in Ohio, I threw a big "Keggnog" bash on the night of December 22. It was fun; however, I'd drank much to much eggnog, beer, and may or may not have smoked pot except it definitely was the former. So, my parents see me clearly under the influence of said things and begin to flip a shit and kick everyone out. It also didn't help that many of the guests were not of legal drinking age. Nevertheless, that was now in the past, and I stared out at the dismal gray sky as cars drove by and the world seemed bleak, cold, and for the most part uneventful. Little did I know that about to unravel was the greatest year I've ever known, with each day bringing record amounts of joy and happiness. I learned so many things in 2008 and had so many wonderful experiences, but how in the world was I ever supposed to know this with latte in hand at the 'buck that morning?

In fact, the year's start was not the greatest - I remember my boss yelling at me for being late on January 3 (I'd actually forgotten the office key in Ohio, gotten to the office early that AM, but because no one else was there, I couldn't get in and missed my bosses 9 AM sharp call). That Monday January 7, a woman glared at me with a more-evil-than-normal look even for AM Subway rush hour; you see, I'd stepped on her foot and she just about knifed my face off. Then, all of a sudden, things seemed to jam out beautifully. As I probably mentioned in blog's past, I learned a lot about myself, about women and dating, about single city living, and just "living on my own" in general. Although 2007 was my first official year as an adult out of college with a job, bills, an apartment and all that other "adult" like stuff, all I truly feel like I "came into my own" (this sounds cliched when people say it, but I swear it's true in this case) in the year 2008. There are so many things to mention about the year; I'm sure I'll forget half of the really relevant and/or anecdotal stories, but I will do my best to summarize day-by-day, week-by-week, and memory-by-memory accounts from '08 in the next entry. For now, g'night!!