Done with 2008

What is better than being done with grading, truly? Not much. There is, of course, the requisite e-mails begging you for points after the fact, so my work is never really done, but for all intents and purposes, goodbye fall of 2008!

Tomorrow is New Year's Eve. I am not one for big giant parties on that day, even though 200 Cigarettes is an amazing movie based on party hopping and dubauchery on the drunkiest of holidays. Mostly what I like to do is provide drinks and tasty treats for about 4-5 friends. We chat and watch bad music video countdowns. Someone passes out way too early. By 12:30 we are totally over it. Wild times, no?

This year has been a crazy one. On the good side, we adopted a dog (a rescue chihuahua mix named Radley), got married, and went on some great trips. On the not-so-hot side, the economy tanked, our honeymoon got cancelled because an airline went under, my mother-in-law dealt with breast cancer and chemotherapy, M. got laid off, and my corneal ulcer was pretty damn painful. Even so, I think overall we came out unscathed, relatively. M.'s mom is doing great. I am very thankful for all the love I got this year. The wedding had a good showing of friends and family, and it seems like everyone had a good time. I guess I'm just lucky.

2009 could be a great year. I don't know if we'll get better jobs or buy a place or any of that good stuff, but W. is on his way out, Obama is on his way in (with Hillary in tow!) and just by virtue of being a new year I have high hopes. Being optimistic is going to be one of my resolutions. I am still thinking about this year's crop of resolutions. Maybe I'll post them on Jan 1st. But posting them is a pretty big committment. We'll see...

Hope everyone has good plans for the holiday and that you all have a great 2009!