But I feel I can’t move forward without looking back, to get things in perspective. So here is the other meme that’s going around the blogosphere – post the first sentence the first post from each month (excluding Sideblog entries – my blog, my rules!).

This should be interesting!

January: Mr. Martini and I went to get coffee today.

Factoid: In our old neighborhood, a trip to get coffee took a little more effort – at least 3 extra blocks walk in each direction. The weather must have been pretty good, or we really needed coffee.

February: I would be remiss if I didn’t at least mention the Super Bowl this weekend, and the Bears Hysteria that has gripped Chicago.

Wow, things really change in a year, don’t they? Don’t they, Bears? Sheesh.

March: Tuesday morning I was eating my Cheerios in front of the TV, taking a few minutes to relax during the whole getting-ready extravaganza.

Part of me is laughing that I called my morning routine an “extravaganza.” Heh. By the way – I saw the episode with the “After” Bill, and he looked pretty good. Way to go, Bill!

April: We’re here.

Good grief, moving is a pain in the ass. It’s usually worth it, though. Although I still haven’t gotten 100% used to having people live in the apartment upstairs. I just don’t think I was born to be an apartment-dweller.

May: Don’t you love it when friends visit, and they don’t feel like guests but like part of the household from the second they step in the door?

Come back soon, Ms. Sphincter! Hopefully this time we’ll keep the cats from eating your clothes.

June: It’s been awhile since I’ve written.

There was a three week stretch in late spring when I didn’t post. I’m trying to think about any mitigating circumstances, but I just can’t. Hmmm. Well, at least I came back and posted the crazy prairie dog video – which I still love, by the way.

July: I know I’ve talked about Daisy the PlayStation in the past.

Yes, I named the PlayStation “Daisy” and named our Wii “Liila.” I still love the Wii, and now I’m contemplating getting a Nintendo DS (Brain Age! Nintendogz! Ace Attorney games!) and/or a PSP (play MP3s, surf the web, watch movies! Oh, and play games, maybe). I’m a gadget freak, I admit it.

August: It figures that my first week back from vacation happens to coincide with the busiest week at work.

I am a terrible schmoozer. I love my job to bits, but I hate schmoozing so much it hurts sometimes. But I keep trying.

September: Oh, you guys. This is going to be a good one.

ServerSeed STILL SUCKS.

October: It’s fall, and you know what that means – new TV shows!

I still love Life, still love Pushing Daisies, and wish like anything the WGA strike ends soon.

November: Another one of those “NaBloPoMo Begins!” posts.

Oh, man, by November 3rd, if I read one more of those “Here’s my first NaBloPoMo post” posts, I thought I was going to stab out my own eye. But I was just as guilty as the rest.

December: This is the fifth (FIFTH!) time I’ve tried to post today.

For various reasons, the weeks after Thanksgiving all the way up to Christmas were really, really tough around these parts. I tried to keep my spirits up, and usually the “fake it til you make it” approach to being cheery worked. But some days were harder than others. Luckily, the though times are behind us, and 2008 looks to be full of promise.

Wow, that was kind of fun, actually! Way better than dwelling on specific accomplishments, and more just looking at the year as a whole.

I hope you all have a safe, happy and healthy 2008!

My Tagger:
Dawnie – did you know she just ran a marathon recently?  Yowza!

1.  I can blow a bubble, but I can’t snap or pop my gum.
2.  I still haven’t hung one picture in our apartment, and we’ve been there 7 and a half months.  Sad.
3.  I still type two spaces after a period or any sentence-ending puctuation.  I can’t help it.  I know it’s old-fashioned and outdated and completley unnecessary when not typing on a typewriter, but I had a very, very, VERY strict typing teacher in high school.  It’s ingrained.
4.  Needless to say, I learned to type on an acutal typewriter, not on a computer.
5.  Remember that Necco Wafer?  I threw it away TODAY.  It has been in the same spot all this time.

I have no idea who to tag, so go for it if you feel like it!

Pink Flamingos Invade Downtown

If you looked at Grant Park today (as well as other parts of downtown), you’ll notice that it has been invaded by 10,000 pink flamingos. While I was hoping for an elaborate turf war between SAIC and Columbia College, in fact it’s… a promotion. AirTran Airways is now flying more routes to Florida.
BrianFeb 28City Life/Cultural

If you click the “10,000 pink flamingos” link – that’s me! I took that!

All told, 2005 was an up and down year for me. We had some very low lows, but they were balanced by some high highs. The up and down made it a year to remember, more so than an even-keeled year would have.

1. What did you do in 2005 that you’d never done before?
I signed up for and participated in three 5k races. I am not athletic by any means, so doing this was something extremely out of the ordinary. What amazed me about doing it was how exhilirating and fun it was – especially when they were over.

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I didn’t really make any resolutions last year, other than my 25 in 2005 list. For 2006 (in addition to my 26 in 2006 list), my resolution is this – I want to remember my worth. I can’t think of a better way to put that, but I think that says enough.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Not this year – although I did read a whole lot of pregnancy/baby blogs (congrats, Beth, Chris & Mia!).

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No one close to me, however we did lose a remarkably talented and spirited woman I work with this year.

5. What countries did you visit?
Florida. That’s a whole other country to this northern girl.

6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
More bookshelves for our home office. Acutally, a tidy home office would be nice.

7. What dates from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
September 3rd – I asked for help, finally, and received it. It’s made an incredible difference in my life.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Not stressing the small stuff all of the time.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not running a full 5k (I finished them all, but had to walk). That really bugs me.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Just the typical colds and flu, with a couple of stomach viruses thrown in to make it interesting.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Pokey, my used clamshell iBook.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
All of the volunteers who helped others this year.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Dubya.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Food, sadly.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Visiting Co-Emp, Christmas – all of my vacations, really.

16. What song will always remind you of 2005?
“So Says I” by The Shins

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? happier
b) thinner or fatter? chubbier (not “fatter”)
c) richer or poorer? a wee bit poorer, but with prospects

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercised, so that it might become second nature and less of a chore.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
I wish I’d seen more of my value in day-to-day life. So, I guess the correctly worded answer is “Undervalued myself.” Or something.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
I’ve talked about this at length, but to sum up – Mr. Martini and I spent Christmas together. At home. It was wonderful.

21. Did you fall in love in 2005?
I amazed myself in that my love for someone could grow stronger when I didn’t think it could.

22. How many one-night stands?
None.

23. What was your favorite TV program?
Veronica Mars and Battlestar Galactica

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
It takes a LOT for me to “hate” someone – so much so, I can’t think of anyone that fits that description.

25. What was the best book you read?
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – I laughed, I cried, I can’t wait for the next one.

26. What was your greatest musical discovery?
The Shins I’m editing this one to say instead: pandora.com. So much fun to make the radio stations, especially on a dull afternoon at work.

27. What did you want and get?
A happy Mr. Martini.

28. What did you want and not get?
Something I’m still working towards, so I’m not going to jinx it.

29. What was your favorite film of this year?
I saw some good movies this year (Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire, The Chronic(what?)les of Narnia) and some not so good ones (Star Wars, Episode Something Something) but by far the film that was the most fun and way better than I thought it would be was “The 40 Year Old Virgin.” Hilarious!

30. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I actually documented my birthday with a photo entry. As for my age, there’s a funny story about that.

31.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A cleaning service – that way my off hours could be spent doing things I want to do, rather than cleaning.

32. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
All I know is I have an embarrassing number of 3×1 ribbed turtlenecks from the Gap. I love me a poorboy sweater, what can I say.

33. What kept you sane?
Knitting – learning something new that gave me a creative outlet has helped me tremendously.

34. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I have a major girl-crush on Angelina Jolie. And Ewan McGregor, of course.

35. What political issue stirred you the most?
Katrina. Definitely.

36. Who did you miss?
Co-Emp. But luckily I did get to visit her this year, which was a lot of fun.

37. Who was the best new person you met?
Not to be all “mutual admiration society,” but Dawnie and L from Lakeline. I’m so glad they took the first steps to meet, because I love getting together and hanging out with these two incredible ladies who really are fun, and know what they want from life. They rock.

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005.
Not to be so damned hard on myself.