2008: The Bits I Remember
2008 has been one of those "Best of times, worst of times" kind of years. Let's briefly look back.
In January, my hamster Binky died. He was a sweet little hamster and I missed him a lot. His death led to the later purchase of two Chinese dwarf hamsters (Dru and Fred) and a Syrian named Jayne. It says a lot about Binky that we ended up with three hamsters to replace him.
From January until April I worked at a hospital. It was one of the worst jobs I ever had, and I've been a telemarketer, and I used to scrub my laxative-addicted grandmother's toilet for cash. In April I stopped going to that job. Some of the crappy jobs I've had, I look back and think, "The work was crap, but I really do miss the people I worked with." This was not one of those jobs. There are maybe 3 people from that office that I don't actively hate. I considered sending them all a gift-wrapped box of fresh dog poop for Christmas, but in the end decided that they are not worth the postage, the gift wrap, or the dog crap.
In June my grandfather's girlfriend (or whatever he prefers to call her) passed away from breast cancer. She was the second companion he lost to breast cancer, and it has been a hard blow to him and the family.
In late June, my favorite guinea pig Homer got sick. Well, sicker. He had some kind of chronic kidney problems, probably for about 6 to 9 months before that. I brought him to the vet and did all I could, but in early July he passed away. On the same day, a close family friend, Don Granholm, lost his long hard battle with colon cancer. Maybe Don is taking care of Homer up in heaven.
In later July, I had the first unsuccessful attempt to extract my broken molar. It was unpleasant.
In August, I started my new job. The work is terribly boring, but I love my co-workers. They are all fantastic, bright, clever and intelligent. They accept me for the slightly odd person that I am. Whenever it reaches the time that I leave this job, I genuinely will miss them all. They are the main reason I've even stayed in this country all the way to the end of this year. They have shown me that there are decent people here. They give me hope that someday I might actually feel at home on this damp frigid island.
In September, I went to Minnesota and visited my family and friends. I got to see most of the people I love and miss, like my friends (Sara and Sharla and Mark) and my family (even my cousin Raeanne who came all the way from Louisiana to see me). I finally got to meet my brother's twin babies, Zach and Rissa. They are cute on my brother's blog, but they are way cuter in person. My mom threw me a great party, with the help of my cousin Pedro. It was fun, but there was a bit if a Don-shaped hole missing from it. When I saw his family, I really missed him. I had a great time in general, in spite of having to enter the hell that is the Amsterdam airport. I didn't want to come home.
Upon my return, my tooth was finally successfully extracted. Thus proving that my dentist is incompetent, but not all British dentists are.
The year ended, as they so often do, with Christmas. I got some cool stuff. Neil's family got us Need For Speed Undercover. I got a fabulous cookbook and a knitting pattern book. We had steaks and pumpkin cheesecake, but the cheesecake recipe needs some work. I think more cheese and a more solid crust.
My husband got me a sweater for my birthday, and we had chocolate cake and Chinese food.
Yeah, there was an election in America. Celebrities did things and looked stupid. It was a year, and there is bound to be another one any time now. And I still miss Homer.
Alana
