2009 in Review

Here is a list (that is hopefully in order) of stuff that happened in 2009:


I fretted a lot over not having a job anymore and the daunting task of finding a new one.

I found a new one. And they accepted me! And it was actually my realistic "dream job"!

I went to Las Vegas for the first time and partied it up with my family.

Then I started my new job and commuted from Richmond to Charlottesville for five months.

Josh got a job in Charlottesville, too, and moved there before me.

But then his mom died, which is super sad. I was with him in Delaware for the funeral.

In June I visited Alaska for Allison and Sam's wedding. And saw moose and musk oxen.

I also visited Wisconsin for a workshop-type-thing.

I went back to Raleigh to see friends from grad school.

I finally stopped commuting and actually moved to Charlottesville in August.

Grandpa had a stroke, and my mom came to see him.

Then she came again right after that, with my dad. We did touristy stuff.

In October I went to Illinois for a conference.

And my trip got longer because I had to fly to New Mexico to see my dad, who didn't quite have a heart attack. After that he quit his job and I came back to Charlottesville.

I spent the holidays in Richmond, and my parents came again for Christmas.


It was a pretty full year I would say, with ups and downs.

Happy New Year everyone!

finally

Christmas went well. My parents came to visit, and I spent a week with them and the grandparents in Richmond.

I made another mosaic, which I gave to my mom. She's been wanting one since I started making them three years ago, so she says it's about time.

I don't think I'll be driving any time soon.

"Another Narrow Escape from Burying Alive"

At work I do a lot of historical research. Today I was looking through the microfilm of an 1849 Huntsville, Alabama newspaper when I came across the above headline. Obviously I stopped to read it.

The article begins: "Some four or five appalling cases of this sort have occurred at Cincinnati and St. Louis, lately, in the midst of the fearful rate of mortality from the scourge [cholera epidemic]."

It then tells the story of a man who "was seized with cholera" and died a few hours later. They put his body in a coffin for mourners to see but before the the funeral "the dead man rose from his coffin, to the great terror of those around, and walked out of his shroud." Then the story adds a quip about how the man sent his coffin back because he didn't need it anymore. It ends with this: "This is true, and it is another warning against too much haste in burials."

Indeed.

(The Democrat [Huntsville, Ala.], 22 Aug. 1849)

partay

Last night Josh and I went to a Christmas party.

Check us out:



And in case you're thinking Virginia is warm in December and you're starting to get jealous of our beach duds, just know that it was below freezing outside.

triple A saves the day

This evening, for the first time in my whole life, I left my keys in my car. In my trunk, to be exact. But I finally had a reason to use my AAA membership, other than for free maps (and trust me, I'm all about the free maps [and I guess since I pay for a membership they're not technically "free"]). I was at a bowling alley, but within thirty minutes of calling for help the nice man arrived and voila I had my keys back. And then I drank a beer to recover.

No Rest

Shortly after I moved to Charlottesville Josh and I started working out together, since both of our apartment complexes have gyms. First we did this four-week program for getting a "fighter's physique." Luckily it didn't actually involve fighting.

After that we just sort of did our own thing, but we both prefer a "program" to keep us going, so now we're doing some workout he found online for MMA fighters. I don't even know what MMA stands for, but I think it's some sort of cross between boxing and wrestling. Luckily this program doesn't involve fighting either. But sometimes it involves wanting to die. There are three days laid out for you, and the second day is insanely harder than the other two. It involves sprinting and jumping around and push-ups and mountain climbers and swinging weights around. We also improvise on things since we don't have a full gym, like laying a bar across the side rails on the treadmill to pull ourselves up from a lying position. It's awkward to have to lie down on the treadmill with people walking or running next to me, but I'm getting over being embarrassed about what fellow gym-goers think.

Anyway, today we did the super hard workout. Next to our list of things we're supposed to do Josh wrote in big block letters "NO REST." Sometimes I have to rest a little anyway, because my lungs are about to burst out of my chest and fall panting to the floor. But I try to keep up. The uphill sprints at the end are the worst. Sometimes I think I'm going to puke or die from lack of oxygen, but that hasn't happened yet. And after I catch my breath and stop pouring sweat, I feel pretty good.

holiday spirit

Don't worry, I'm not dead.

But I am getting into the Christmas spirit. I spent Thanksgiving and the rest of the weekend with my grandparents (and aunts, cousins, etc.) in Richmond. While there I helped switch out all the dishes to their Christmas dishes, and I helped decorate the house for Christmas (minus putting up a tree, someone will do that later). Then Josh and I visited the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden to see all the Christmas lights. I also went out and bought a three-foot artificial tree and a box of ornaments to put in my apartment. I come from a family who always has a fresh tree that gets covered in tons of ornaments collected through the years, so my new tree isn't really ideal. But it's cute, and a girl has to start somewhere.