weapons of massdistraction

How happy am I that this miserable excuse of a year is nearly over? Sure, it can be argued that moving from one calendar year to another is arbitrary, that it’s just a date. But somehow it feels significant.

2006 Highlights:

• The little man was issued his first library card, and his first passport. J and I took him to Iceland (using the latter, I don’t think the former would have worked).
• The kraken! This tattoo makes me smile.
• A few of my favorite photos were shown in an art exhibit in Minneapolis.
• After languishing on the To Do list for years I finally joined the YWCA and have been going regularly. Especially pleased about setting the little man up with one-on-one swimming lessons.
• This year I’ve made it out to more live music shows than I did in the last several years combined.
• I upgraded to a shiny new camera and now have my own car (function over form, I swear).
• The living room is now a gorgeous shade of green. And I painted it all by myself.
• I met some lovely people this year, including other local photo nerds via the Twin Cities flickr photo group. I especially enjoyed our photo walks and look forward to many more of those next year.

2006 Lowlights:

• The baby died.
• My cat who had been with me for 14 years became seriously ill and had to be put to sleep.
• The little man’s diagnosis was changed from PDD-NOS to PDD, which, on the autism spectrum, is more severe. And he had to undergo an MRI.
• My marriage imploded. It was inevitable.
• J is moving out in a week (on the anniversary of the baby’s death no less). It’ll be good in the long run, but very sad, just the same.
• With just my income, the little man and I won’t be able to move to Minneapolis any time soon. So our future will be filled with even more commutes, shuttling back and forth from St. Paul.
• I’ve felt even less focused and more pessimistic than usual. I’m disappointed in myself, and really don’t want to disappoint others.

No idea what 2007 holds in store for us, but it has got to be an improvement over this one. And hopefully I’ll finally get over this lingering cold. Grrrr.