Emi's Journal

Well, seeing as it’s the eve of a new year (and decade for that matter), I feel obligated to come up with this post. So let’s see how much random stuff from this year I can remember, and cram into this post, before I get tired of typing.

January: Went to Diamond Lake with the club and walked on the lake! Also visited Crater Lake. I also turned 18 this month. Took a class where I got to shoot lots of fun stuff, including a net gun! Also got my birds. Shawn just reminded me we went to the Columbia Gorge for a weekend.

February: Did anything at all happen in February? I don’t remember. Was TWS state in February? I think it was. Yes… It was.

March: I got my driver’s license in March! Finally! Also finally figured out that I was anemic, and started taking iron and feeling normal again. Hooray! Also got laid off from my job of 2.5 years. Got another job lined up for spring term.

April: I also don’t remember anything about April. Was Easter in April this year? Yes… Yes it was. So candy. Lots of chocolate that I couldn’t eat. And jelly beans that I could.

May: We went to Ape Caves with the club! I also captained our Relay for Life team. Went to Summer Lake with a class and had a lot of fun birding. And…. This is the month I had my first ever “real” job interview, and got hired too!

June: And… Laid off again. Before I even started, this time. But then I got a data entry job to finish out the month. Got to do some field work too! Bought my new laptop, and got my iPod Touch too! Got to shoot an AR-15 (among other things, but the AR was my favorite). And this month concluded my third year at OSU.

July: July 4 in Creswell, which is always fun. Then I got a great internship for the summer! Set up camp in Florence for the month, and even brought Ret! Culverts, culverts, culverts, and other fishy tasks.

August: More fishy fun in Florence, and later, Newport. Moved in to Hatfield and had the best 5 weeks ever. This month also contained the Coast Fork Cowboy Festival.

September: A couple more of the best 5 weeks ever. Really sad to see it come to a close. Went to Monterey for the national TWS conference, which was pretty amazing. Saw sea otters! Started back at school for a crazy crazy term.

October: Oh, October…. Wow, what a month. Trip to Newport with the club and got to sleep in “my” bed at Hatfield! Parents got married. Had to wear a dress… :/ Besides that, it was a good thing. Dad’s Weekend shooting with the club! Went to Mnt. St. Helens again with the club and reconnected with some people from my past. And of course, Halloween.

November: Mostly stressing about biochem. Also Thanksgiving. But mostly stressing about biochem.

December: Survived biochem. That’s a biggie. Tree of Joy in Creswell, family Christmas, Christmas, and now New Years Eve. Oh yeah, my first football game ever…. Civil War! I also have a neurologist now, and we’ll see where that leads next year…

So… What did I forget? It’s been a long year, and yet it flew past. It seems like just yesterday I was turning 18, celebrating my driver’s license, meeting the crew in Newport… Despite a few downfalls, it’s been a great year, and it seems that everything has worked out for the best. I look forward to seeing what next year brings. Goodbye 2009, hello 2010… Welcome to the future.

Well, Christmas has again come and gone. I don’t feel like I got into the spirit as much this year… So I feel like I missed out on something. Granted me not being “as much” in the spirit is probably more like a normal person being in the Christmas spirit, but whatever.

Despite that, it was a great Christmas. Tree of Joy was amazing this year (over 300 gifts for 140 kids in 50 families). The family Christmas was great, as usual. And I got some good stuff. Christmas day was good too, as was Christmas dinner…. :p

I think the doctor appointments are kind of what put a damper on things. We were hoping to get my wrists taken care of over break. And after being told I am the “posterchild for carpal tunnel syndrome”, it sounds like the official verdict is not going to be CTS. Which means no surgery, which I suppose is a good thing, except that surgery would fix it if it were CTS…. As it stands, we don’t know what it is, and consequently don’t know what to do to make it better. And I’m getting tired of getting people to help me open jars, doors, etc. I’m too stubbornly independent for that. I should get the official test results tomorrow, so we shall see what they say… The neurologist desperately wanted to connect the CTS-like issue with my nystagmus, which was kind of funny until it got annoying. Possible, I suppose, but it seems unlikely.

But as this year comes to a close, I know I have a lot to be thankful for. Is it really almost 2010? Weren’t we just freaking out about Y2K like… Yesterday? And I’m going to be 19 in a month. That’s pretty weird too.

And now it’s 1 in the morning and I’m trying to somehow mash “the” and “morning” into one word that starts with “mt”, and am starting almost every word with the letter m, so perhaps I should sleep… And perhaps does not have a g in it.