I have now lived through three decades in my lifetime, the '80s, '90s and whatever you'd call the last ten years (2000s? 00s? In ten years nobody has been able to clear that up for me). I remember when the new millenium hit, and everyone thought something big would happen! Something HUGE! SOMETHING CATASTROPHICALLY INCREDIBLE!!!!! And it didn't. Well, not at that moment, anyway. But I can certainly think of PLENTY of things that have happened in the last ten years that have quite possibly made this as-yet-unnamed decade to be my favorite thusfar. So in honor of the last ten years, and the fact that we are about to enter the year Two Thousand and ten, and I started dating my husband on the tenth day of the tenth month, and we married on January tenth, and my favorite album is Pearl Jam's TEN, and some guy up the block has a license plate that just says "Ten," here's a list of the TOP TEN IMPORTANT MOMENTS OF MY LIFE IN THE PAST DECADE! In a kinda-chronological order:
1. I became a teacher. I chose a career path in 2000-2001. I was not planning on going into education, mom was a teacher and I was NOT gonna do that! Kids? Bleh! They annoyed the tar out of me, were rude, smelly, boring...teaching was NOT for me! I was gonna be some kinda sports something or other...a writer, publicist, SOMETHING. I was even taking Mass Communication classes to get the ball rolling. But somehow things worked out differently than I planned. And so far, so good.
2. I graduated from college. I wasn't a big fan of Iona, so finishing it was the best part of the whole ordeal. And I wrote TWO thesis papers that final year as well, while taking classes and student teaching. Suckadoodle. But then it was all over as of May 2002. After four years, I was DONE. Most people I know look back at their college years as their glory days, the best times of their lives. Not this chickadee, no sirree, I was ready to close the door on that chapter of my life, letting the door hit me on the ass on the way out. Goodbye, Iona, hello real world!
3. I got married. That was, you know, kinda huge. We had been together for 6 years at that point, but marriage brought our relationship to a new level. I didn't expect to get engaged in college, and was so excited that it would finally happen! We married, we moved in together, I became a grown-up. Well, as grown-up as I'll ever be, I suppose. I learned to cook, pay bills, we went on vacations, etc. etc. etc. Plus I got to wear a big, pretty dress and be the center of attention for a whole day, which was sweet. Too bad I didn't include wedding karaoke though...that would've been kickass.
4. I taught at Holy Cross for 4 years. ALOT of stuff stemmed from those four years. I learned how to actually BE a teacher (no classes ever quite prepare you for that). It was my first full-time job, so for the first time in my life I had money that I could actually SPEND and didn't have to put it right into tuition bills. I wanted to quit at times early on...not only that job, but teaching in general, but I found out I was alot stronger than I thought I was and kept truckin' on. I had some realy great times there, the trips, the proms, the shows, the STUDENTS! :-) Most importantly, I made lifelong friends here. Without those friends, I would not have stayed at HCS for that long. Without those friends I would not have gotten through a lot of other things in my life. Without those friends, I would have missed out on a lot of laughter. Without those friends, this decade would have been much, much, MUCH more boring. :-)
5. MERLIN!!! I never thought I'd have a pet, it was just not my thing (the care, the cleaning, the smell, the expense, blah blah blah). I wasn't an animal person, I was the one the dogs would jump up to and I'd run the heck away screaming. I didn't pet animals, and if I somehow had to, I washed my hands IMMEDIATELY. Animals kind of grossed me out. Then this gray little furball came down from Heaven and meowed himself into our lives. Our world has not been the same since.
6. I got my master's degree. I debated whether or not I should do this (Did I WANT to deal with kids all my life? Did I WANT to eventually make some sort of respectable salary? Did I WANT to possibly be some high powered lawyer/businessperson/lady who wears power suits and has her own office and assistant? Maybe, maybe, and maybe.) After some encouragement from the people mentioned in #s 3 & 4, I went through with it. Man, I despised going to those classes, I hated doing the papers, I felt nauseous thinking about sitting in class for hours, I dreaded registration time and I counted the freaking minutes until it was finally all over, but once it was done, what a relief! To this day, I hate driving up the Mosholu because it reminds me of those days...*shudder*
7. I moved into a REAL apartment! My parents renovated the place and I no longer had to live in a basement apartment where all my friends had to duck just to get into the front door. (Seriously, there was a low pipe in the kitchen that our plumber cracked his noggin on more than a few times. I'm suprised homeboy didn't get a concussion) I pretty much picked out everything, all the fixtures, colors, tiles, etc. Of course, we lived in the basement of building as it was being renovated, which was , ah, interesting. Three floods, no heat, countless blackouts and a fire later, it was finito. This was some project, but I'm very grateful for the opportunity, and now I love my cute little digs.
8. I changed jobs. This was big and kind of unexpected...if you know me at all, then you know how I LOATHE change, and this change would be a doozie. I was toying with the idea of leaving HCS for about a year, but didn't think I'd go through with it because, well, Holy Cross was my comfort zone. The day of my interview, I got lost finding the place (shocker), was sweating up a storm in the ONE suit I owned (nothing like a cool, calm & collected first impression), and seriously was not sure I could handle ANY of the following : A) Public School, B) High School, C) Teaching to Regents Exams, and D) A South Bronx School (well, south-ish, for those people who are being nit-picky). Somehow I was told I had the job, I didn't say "No Thanks" right away and ended up with A,B,C AND D all at once. Whoa squared. I felt like I didn't have much choice, this was where my life was supposed to head. It was difficult at first, but all jobs are, and since then I think I've done pretty well for myself (Dental Coverage!!! Health Insurance with Vision? And I finally got that office-even though it's pink! WOOT!!!). In addition, I've met MORE friends who I've had such a blast with in the past four years. I imagine these friendships will also prove to pass the test of time.
9. I got sick. I'm trying to keep this list positive, but this was a pretty major thing that I can't leave out, and it does have a happy ending. Test after test after test showed the doctors nothing except "there's something wrong...but we don't know what." Thanks, doc, glad I'm paying you the big bucks. I could have easily fallen into a very dark place, but thanks to all of the people around me, I got through it feeling stronger than before. Not sure what the future holds here, but so far so good.
10. I can't decide on a 10th item. I know, I promised you TEN! Ten years, Jan. 10th, Pearl Jam, etc., but fact is there are so many other things, events, and people who have influenced my life in the past decade that I can't decide what to put here and what else to leave out. So instead, I'll take #10 to say thanks to all those who have contributed to making my life what it is on this day, December 31, 2009. May the next ten years kick even more ass :-)
woot woot!
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