2008

Happy New Year! Today has been such a crazy day that I'm not sure that I would like it to be a foreshadowing of the year ahead. It began all too early - at about 5:45 this morning. My roommate wanted to drive up the mountain to watch the first sunrise of the new year. I have long been a proponent of sunsets over sunrises, for the simple fact that you don't have to wake up to see a sunset. Not only that, but I see the sunrise almost everyday during the winter months on my way to work.

We were up until past midnight last night to ring in the new year, so 5:45 came all too soon. I'm not sure why we stayed up so late - we went to a dance, but weren't having any fun and left it a little before midnight. We came home and celebrated the new year - just the two of us on our balcony, clanging pots and shooting off little confetti things and watching other people's cool fireworks go off to the north of us. Doesn't that sound exciting?

My roommate's good friend showed up a little after 6:00 this morning. Nobody else came (enjoying their sleep, no doubt), so our little trio took off, up the mountain. I was kind of grouchy about it, but tried to tell myself that it was a neat idea to welcome the sun on the first day of 2008. We made it to a look-out on the mountain about one minute before the sun peaked over another mountain at us. It was beautiful, and I will have to get the picture from my roommate to post on here.

Then, we continued up the mountain to go to a church campground to make breakfast. I just wanted to go home and was kind of happy when the campground was too icy to get into. However, my roommate was determined, and we found another place to make breakfast. By this time I was pretty starving and more grumpy, but I acquiesced, and finally got out of the car to help the others. Breakfast was delicious, and I was was in much better spirits after eating the canned hash.

That doesn't begin to describe the day, but this post is already longer than it probably should be. Suffice it to say that the day was rather an emotional roller coaster, with high points (sunrise, make-shift sledding on the mountain, sleeping for several hours, watching Oscar, playing the Wii), and lows (feeling alone and friendless, looking at my messy house, realizing that some of my friends are in places in their lives that I cannot follow), and although I do not wish today to foreshadow the year, I supposed that it is actually a pretty accurate summary of life. I guess the trick is to truly enjoy the highs and to learn from and appreciate the lows for what they teach us about life and about ourselves.

I have only begun to think about resolutions. Maybe I will post them tomorrow. What are you going to do this year?