Hasta, 2007: Bring it On, 2008!

2007 was a year of change, a year of turmoil and love, a year of loneliness and celebration. Despite the sometimes strange circumstances, I've managed to overcome-- and here I'll celebrate my successes. Yes, I'm bragging. I don't give a shit!


Moving in with Tom
I bid adieu to my bachelorette pad in June, and Johnson along with it. Montpelier is a great little city to hang out in, and our apartment (and our kitties) are great. I'm very, very happy about where (and with whom) I live.

Getting a New, High(er) Paying Job
In June, I started my job at Upper Valley Services, in Moretown, Vt. I practically doubled my income, and my self-esteem with it. I started out reviewing the medical and program records of one organization that Upper Valley oversees, and progressed from there to auditing the medical and program records of Upper Valley, and just recently I've been asked to review the documents, policies and procedures for all three of the Upper Valley offices. I've received more financial reward at this job than I ever have, and the organizational challenges are custom-fit for my anal-retentive nature.

Exercising
In late summer and early fall, I noticed a sad and strange thing...I could no longer fit into my jeans. After a long summer of eating out with Tom and mostly not smoking, I had gained a lot of weight. A startling revelation came when the doctor proclaimed my weight at 190 pounds and told me to start exercising. I started running, which didn't suit my knees too well, and continued to walk every morning until I proclaimed it to be too cold. I've since moved indoors, doing several different intense yoga routines 5 days a week. I've also started to become more intelligent and rational about my food choices. The results are starting to slowly reveal themselves! (Slooooooowly).

Taking Care of the Mental Shit
I've always been considered moody by my friends, but I don't think many people realized how drastic those changes were or how deeply they affected me and the people to whom I was most close. I've dealt with unhealthy thinking patterns and ways of dealing with my emotions for a long time…mid-fall was my breaking point. I finally decided to put a stop to it and called a psychiatrist, who wrote me a nice little 'scrip and recommended talk-therapy. I've been attending regularly, and am just starting to figure things out. I hope to grow continually more healthy, both mentally and physically. I can't really hold on to the bad shit anymore, sorry to say. It's time to make my life my own, and make it the way that I need it to be.

The Money Pit: Climbing Out, and Making a Plan to Stay Out
I've done a lot of blaming when it comes to how much money I've got, but the real and brutal truth is that I've never done much in the way of managing my money. I receive a paycheck, and I spend it. That's all. I've never really stuck to a budget, or saved any of my paychecks (except for a very few times). The amount of money that I've spent since my income has grown is embarrassing. I always said that I would spend wisely if I "could just afford it." Well, seems like that wasn't the case—I just spent more. More on groceries, more on going out, more on clothes, more on bullshit. I really don't know where the last few months of money has gone. So. Enough is enough. If I ever want to become debt-free, if I ever want to have a house and children and a retirement, I've got to smarten up. So. My first bit of business in that department is to start to balance and reconcile my checkbook (balance at least weekly, and reconcile as soon as the statement comes out). I will also create a budget—and do my very best to stick to it. The most painful bit of business will be to call the first of the credit cards that I've defaulted on—and start to pay them back. It'll hurt, but it's got to be done. Once I pay the first one off, I'll start on the second, and then with the other bills. I'm looking ahead and forward to the day when I can open my mail without anxiety!

Keep On Truckin'…
In 2008, my goal is to continue to climb out of the money pit. I will continue to be frugal in my spending; I will continue to put aside at least a small amount of my paycheck into my savings account; I will continue to pay off my old credit cards and various bills. I would like to be debt free (except for my student loans) by the end of 2008. After the bills are paid off, I'll move on to some serious saving—for an as yet undefined goal. It could be a house, or a trip…I'm not sure yet. The main goal right now is credit repair. It wouldn't be a bad thing to just have a nest egg for awhile, and see where my life takes me.

I'm a much different person than I was at the beginning of 2007. I'm a more goal-oriented, secure, and much happier than I was. I have a smaller circle of close friends, and a wider circle of colleagues. I'm more honest. I'm no longer afraid of making changes, or of making mistakes. I no longer need as much approval from others before feeling okay. I'm older, and that's okay, too.

I hope you all had a great holiday season, and have an awesome (in whatever way you define that to be) New Year!