auld lang syne

auld lang syne

Happy new year everyone! I spent last night at a small party with some friends. We played board games and stuff and it was a fun time. I wished I could have stopped out at "The House", but I was really sore and it was hard enough to get to the party in Chippewa. Anyway, I got a drunk-dial from the other party, which was pretty funny ;)

I think I'm going to jump on the bandwagon here and do a "year in review". 2005 was, well, eventful. When I think back on this year, I don't want to think of it as "the year of the accident." Why is it that, when looking back upon a year, we tend to focus on the bad things that happened? It's oversimplified. I guess it just makes it easier for us to move forward. Maybe we focus on the hard times, so the "good" times will be better by comparison. Then we can say, "the new year has to be better, because it can't get any worse."

I've never really understood using our calendar system to reflect on what happened in our lives. The things that happened to me in the year 2005 didn't happen because it was 2005. The things that happened in January have little or no relation to the things that happened in December. But I suppose it's just easy to organize things in set units, like two semesters, or 365 days. And it gives us a chance to reflect on the past, when maybe we wouldn't otherwise. So at the risk of being a hypocrite, I will also organize my memories of the past year or so into a neat little package called "2005".

January and February were very trying times for me. If you saw me at the beginning of the year, you probably noticed I was worn down. Basically my living situation had changed from bad to, well, different. It was a time of mixed emotions. I learned how important it is to be comfortable enough in a house to call it "home". I'm not going to delve into a lot of detail on here, but if you're curious about what happened, just ask. In retrospect, it probably wasn't as bad as I'm making it sound.

I don't remember much of March, I think I was in the practice rooms.

April was the month of my senior recital. I spent every day of that month obsessing over how quickly the 19th was approaching. I programmed a very challenging recital. I split it on piano and percussion. All the percussion pieces ended up being pieces for mallet instruments, but I guess it just worked out that way because they fit well with the piano pieces. And there aren't a lot of non-mallet percussion solos that are fun to listen to if you're not a percussionist. Anyway, I worked my butt off, and I was happy in the end. My recital was probably one of the best days of my life. It's so empowering to be able to challenge yourself like that and pull it off. I was so happy that so many people came to watch. My brother and his girlfriend even drove from WY for it!

I don't think I could have asked for a better summer. I spent a lot of time relaxing, and practicing, and riding my bike. I hung out with friends a lot, too. In June, Ali moved in. She's a great roommate - we get along really well!

In August I went tubing in the Apple River with a bunch of my friends. We had a blast! Too bad I broke my tailbone. Don't ever break your tailbone, it sucks! At the end of the month Raji and I went down to Illinois for my family's annual BBQ competition. We spent two days eating food, drinking beer, and jamming out, and it pretty much doesn't get any better than that. August was also pretty busy because I was teaching at Chi-Hi. I had such a good group of kids this year!

With September came the start of a new semester. It was a really strange time because I'm almost done with the music department, but I don't want to be done. I've fulfilled my requirements for piano lessons, and none of the professors had room for me in their studios, so I didn't get to take lessons this semester. It's the first time in 19 years that I haven't taken piano lessons, and that's been really difficult for me. I also didn't get in to Wind Symphony because I have enough semesters of large ensembles, and there are other people who needed to be in it. I miss it so much, but with the way this semester turned out, it's a good thing I wasn't in a band. September also sucked because I ran over a dog. My neighbor girl let the dog out without a leash on and the dog ran right in front of my car. :( But we rushed it to the vet and she's fine now.

The beginning of October was busy with teaching at Chi-Hi, and getting ready to do grad school applications.

We all know how the rest of the year went. Overall, I can't say it was a bad year. Like I said, it was eventful. Lots of big changes - I made plans for grad school, lost probably 30 lbs (don't worry, some of that was after the accident, and I'm gaining weight again), and I lived with someone new - I guess a lot of it was normal, 22-year-old stuff. Then of course in October there were a lot of even more drastic changes. There's no way to sum up the accident or how I've grown and changed as a result of it. I think everyone who was affected is now a different person. I will say that I lost one of my mentors (G) and a new friend (Branden), and I've been confronted with the fragility of life. I've been pushed, but I've pushed back. These past few months have been the most difficult of my entire life, but those experiences are an important part of who I am today.

Anyway, I don't think I'm doing a very good job of putting thoughts into words today - probably a result of painkillers and tiredness. Time to watch some TV - Raji bought me DVDs of "Mission Hill" and "The Adventures of Pete & Pete" for Christmas. Yay!