(no subject)

One of the reasons I looked forward to moving to the Seattle area was the chance to see friends more often. Last night was my first chance to put that into practice. kehrli decided to celebrate his winning 3rd Place in Writers of the Future (Yay!) by having a group dinner at Mexico in Pacific Place. The group was a great mix of really close friends, and people I sort of know and look forward to getting to know more.
But the main reason I'm making this post is to talk about the chimichanga, which, well, I've never actually had one. I didn't realize they were actually huge amounts of cheese and sour cream blended with a few shreds of chicken. I was sort of expecting the ratios to be switched. I suspect my body will be demanding nothing but rice cakes for the next week to compensate.

Year in Review

It seems that 2010 has been an unpleasant experience for many people.
For me, it was a definite mixed bag. It was the year that finally kicked me out of the comfy rut I'd been settling into. I was dragged by both positive things (relationships I want to develop) and negative (work going under).

Goodness knows how lucky I've been. After losing my job, I had some wonderful opportunities to hike and spend time with my family. And then I got a new job almost right away, which let me housesit for calendula_witch without stress. And then there was Viable Paradise! But then the job sucked my soul. But I found another new job within months! And here I am, now, really loving the new job, and hoping the potential downsides are all in my head.

I've had a lot of low points this year, and I admit, I'm nervous that there will be more. Fortunately, all those low points have been, almost entirely, very broad--being broke, having the most miserable job I've ever had. There's been a lot of specific high points.

--I sold my first story! And set my hair on fire! In front of dozens of people! That was the centerpoint of my year, and I think it sums up the entire year pretty well. A bit of success, accompanied by the Universe forcibly ripping away things I'd rather not lose, but probably need to trim anyway.

--Lounging in a friend's backyard reading Batman on a warm sunny day. I usually don't notice how happy I am unless I'm quiet and still. This was one of those moments. I was in a completely fenced yard. My friends were inside (their pleasantly air conditioned house) and there was just me, the sun, and reading I'd been meaning to do for months. I don't think I had a job at this point, but I remember marveling at this feeling of happiness that had entirely pushed aside the anxiety. It was also fascinating because I was actually enjoying the heat.

--Zoos! Point Defiance,, Portland, and my friend's wedding at Woodland Park.

--Sitting on the porch at Rainforest.

--Exploring the Juggalo Palace.

--San Francisco!

--The extremely cooperative and beautiful transparent butterfly. This day also featured one of the more down points--me standing at the top of an extremely steep extremely hot talus slope watching my dad struggle up it.

--Housesitting. Pretty much all of it. There were cannons!"


My biggest change, I think, is that I'm reverting back to being an INFP. My emotions are becoming more important to me again.