So, here we are at the end of 2006....

2006 gave me plenty of changes, challenges, smiles, heartaches, and growth. What a long strange year it's been. Care to walk down memory lane with me?

2006 started right off with a big change...I started teaching middle school health. The same week I started I got a zit. A sign of things to come? I gave up a full-time sure thing for a long-term not sure thing. I rolled the dice, played for a while, and lost. It was good while it lasted!

I continued to love the kids and staff that I worked with at the afterschool program. Pretty amazing people. Pretty amazing kids. It's always great to learn more than you teach. Had such a good time working with these people.

Then there was this guy. A nice guy. A fun guy to be with. A guy whom I really really really liked. And then it happened. He left. I got dumped. I got angry and sad and felt sorry for myself and thought the world was ending...oh, but the world WASN'T ending. (That would come a few weeks later.) Once again, I became Jen-you-are-amazing-but-there-is-someone-just-a-little-bit-more-important-closer-better-convenient-less Scorpio-than you. After some synthetic happiness and a book, I have realized - EMBRACED- the fact that it wasn't my flaws (as if I have any...) that made this happen. It was his own issues (stupidity?), which I will never understand. Whatever. The good news is that I have arrived at a point where I wish him only happiness and a full life. Yeah, I still get pissed sometimes (okay, daily), but I often think that I was too strong of a woman for him anyway. Do you hear me roaring?

And so, here I was in July unemployed and dumped with a house and a ridiculously high car payment. What the hell was I going to do? What choice did I have? I had to start looking for work. And so I did.

Thankfully, I managed to find a job that fits my skills well and that I am relatively happy at (when I am not cleaning up the really shitty stuff). So, at the end of July, I packed up the house - putting most of what I owned on the curb, free for the taking - and moved. I moved into a little, one bedroom apartment on the second floor with two cats and a large chocolate lab. Whose idea of a good time was this? Oh, and did I fail to mention that it was only about ten miles or so from where the guy who dumped me lived? Let's clear the air right this very instant. I did NOT move for him, to be near him, or to see him. I moved for work. Now that we've settled that...

And the highs? There were actually some...
1. A Dave Matthews concert at Darien Lake. So much fun. Camped. Got dumped. Was *so* close to throwing up on him. Should have.
2. A John Mayer and Sheryl Crow concert at where else? Darien Lake. SO MUCH FUN. A ridiculous amount of fun, actually. It shouldn't have been legal. Actually, it wasn't. Laughed so hard I peed my pants a little...and so did the company I was with. Did I mention that it was a ridiculous amount of fun?
3. A fantastic trip to Chicago to see my sister and family. What a great time. It really brought me back to the importance of having family and knowing what it means to keep relationships growing.
4. A Little Big Town and The Wreckers concert with my mom. First and a half row, baby! We had a great time and Little Big Town ROCKED IT.
5. Hanging out at Lamoka Lake doing nothing except drinking more than I should have been. A 31 year old acting like a 22 year old. Who cares? It was fun.
6. A December trip to New York City. Who wouldn't love that? Rockefeller Center, Macy's windows, the Swarovski crystal snowflake...and friends. My friends were there. That made it extra super duper wonderful!
7. Christmas. Christmas with my family was unparalleled this year. My heart was so open to love and nonmaterial gifts. I loved being with them and taking in all that they had to give me.
8. The stress weight loss diet. It worked! I've dropped about 40 pounds this year...and still have 3 days left! Actually, I logged a lot of miles on the ole Mizunos this year. Planning to log even more next year.

And of course there was the baby boom!! Katie birthed. Then Cristin birthed! We are still waiting for Kristin to birth! Come on babies. We are anxious to meet you. All amazing little creatures put on this earth to test their parents patience, love, and endurance. So far, I think it's a pretty even tie.

So, 2006, what did you teach me?

• You taught me that I don't deserve to settle.



• You taught me that I enjoy being OUT of the classroom better than I like being IN the classroom.



• You taught me that a broken heart doesn't have to stay broken. Sometimes things that are broken are built better than before - stronger, bigger, able to hold more.



• You taught me that synthetic happiness isn't such a bad thing.



• You taught me that I am ridiculously strong. I can handle whatever life throws at me. And now, I can handle it with confidence that I am doing the best that I can.



• You taught me that I can still keep up with 20-something's. HA!



• You taught me that having the closeness and support of my family is the most important gift that I can have. My mom and my sister are the best. Even when we hate each other.



• You taught me that I don't need everyone's approval. Any approval I need, I already have. Any approval I will need, I won't have to work for...it will just come.



• You taught me that I am a creative, beautiful, good person who is only going to get better with age.



• You taught me that I like Coach bags. Yeah. I like Coach bags, like A LOT.



• You taught me that being a landlord ain't all it cracked up to be. Ouch.



• You taught me that I can set up a tent in a skirt and not care who is watching. I am a woman. I am camping alone. I also learned that I can't start a fire by myself. That sucked.

Good heavens, 2006. You really kicked my ass. Thanks for the good, the bad, and the ugly. It felt like it was a little heavy on the ugly side. Could you maybe be a little more gentle in 2007? I'm just asking....