Welcome 2008! (I don't hate my life like I did this time last year!)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Welcome to 2008 and I hope that it holds only wonderful and fantastic experiences for you all (and when wonderful and fantastic are not an option, I hope they are at least interesting “growth” experiences). My 2008 was rung in at a fantastic loft party. I apologize to anyone who was there who caught me in my bitch stage – by the time we made it to the party I was ready to be at home on my couch. Justin put it all into perspective for me by saying this:

“Deep thought for the evening: You really want to be at home on your couch right now, but instead you are in a $4 million dollar loft at a party thrown by your friend who owns an asset management firm and invites you to all his parties because he thinks you are fun – on New Year’s Eve and in New York City… How many poor slobs at home on their couch want to be you right now?”

Thank you Justin for making me feel very petty and like everyone wants to be me (strange feelings to have at the same time).

The holidays in good old Atlanta were quite interesting. I met my dad’s new BF (who I like a lot, BTW), my dad tried to convince me that I was really totally over NY and really wanted to come home, and then my grandmother was informed that if she’s not going to do something about the things that are making her unhappy that my dad wasn’t going to invite her to stay over any more. He’s trying to get to a point where he is limiting the negative influences and the drama in his life – all I can say is “It’s about damn time.” All in all, it was just another happy family Christmas at the Herron household.

I did get my first week off work since we opened the company in April. That was certainly very strange for me. Having so many days off in a row makes me feel like I have no idea what is going on now that I am back, but I had forgotten what it was like to sleep in. Also, before we left for the holidays my two bosses took me out to dinner and gave me a raise. That was pretty great and they both got completely smashed (I was a bit tipsy, but thanks to the 2-1 ratio that is the golden rule for drinking with your boss – you only have 1 drink for every 2 your boss(es) have, that way there is much less chance for embarrassment). The next day (Friday before Christmas), I walked in right on time and my boss looked at me and said, “I wasn’t sure we’d be seeing you today.” I replied, “I wasn’t aware that not seeing me was an option.” (Because in my world when you get a raise, you definitely show up to work on time the next day – call me crazy.) Apparently the big boss couldn’t quite make it, the e-mail we got was sent with the subject line “I Tried – too much Tanqueray and tonic”. Brilliant!

I don’t really do the traditional New Year’s Resolution thing, but some areas I’ve decided to focus on in 2008:

1. My Money: I’ve finally figured out how to pay all my bills, still have some fun and start clawing my way out of debt all at the same time. Next step is contributing to my shiny new 401k and building some savings (stay tuned next year for the next installment of our adventure – investing! Coming in 2009).
2. My Health: In Q4 of 2007 I started making strides in this area. I joined a gym and I started paying attention to what I eat (not really changing my eating habits or modifying what I eat at all, but I can tell you exactly how badly I do eat). The next logical step is actually going to the gym when I don’t have a session with my trainer and changing my eating habits. I think I’ll try eating at home (I swear I can cook something in my kitchen besides cookies).

Good luck to me and good luck to all of you in whatever you’ve decided to focus on.