Out with the old, in with the new . . .

It's NYE, which causes most of us to sit back and reflect on the year that has passed. There have certainly been highs and lows. I started the year working more than I ever thought I could. I basically lived in a new city (Midland) which is not something I would have chosen to do on my own. I got involved in some new social organizations (Slipper Club and Lee Park Junior Conservancy) where I met some great new people. I got a promotion (without the pay, but such is the times I guess)! I finally attended the US Open and had an amazing time with a good friend. I met a pretty nice guy who made me happy for a while and reminded me that you have to date a lot of frogs to find your Prince. Speaking of Frogs, my TCU Horned Frogs had a PERFECT SEASON which I got to experience first hand. I reconnected with some old friends. I had more health problems this year than any time in my life – strep, bronchitis, my first surgery, allergies, asthma, etc. 2009 had lots of ups and downs, and I can’t say I am sorry to let it go. I have some ideas of New Year’s Resolutions that I will post tomorrow (after I eat by black-eyed peas of course). All I can say is that my outlook on life is going to change in 2010, and I am going to leave my current heartache and the person who caused it in this decade.

Friends, raise your glass to 2010. May it be your best year yet!

Christmas Blessings

I must admit that I was a little worried about Christmas this year in the Hunt House. It seemed nothing had been going my way for a while, and it wasn't looking like things were going to change. My sister called me Thursday morning in tears. Without going into details and boring everyone, let's just say that emotions were running high in our house and there was a lack of full disclosure of information to my sister. With Christmas Eve Day starting this way I just knew it was bound to take a turn for the worse. But . . . I was wrong. This was one of the best Christmas' I can remember. Everything went perfect! I got to spend the day with my parents, sister, and both grandmothers. Everyone was in great spirits. We ate some yummy food (including a layer cake I made after screwing one up big time the previous weekend - see picture)! It was a White Christmas which is very rare here in Dallas.

I must say that my favorite present this year was being able to spend this time with my grandmothers. We have always spent Christmas with Granny (paternal grandmother) as she lives in Ft. Worth, but this year we moved Grandma (maternal grandmother) to Dallas which meant she got to spend the holidays with us. I am realizing that the time I get to spend with them is very important. They are both in pretty good health for their age, but it scares me to think that they won’t be around forever. Both have very different personalities and come from different backgrounds, but they are the ones who raised my parents to become the amazing people I know today. I know I got a lot of my outgoing personality from my Grandma who I don’t think ever met a stranger. And my knack for numbers comes from my Granny who always reminds me that when she did payroll by hand at the Swift factory she got it within the penny (which for all you auditors is immaterial). Who knows what I would be like if it wasn’t for these two incredible ladies in my life.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas! (I know I did.)

It's going to get better . . .

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind" - Dr. Seuss.

If you check my status on Facebook, you know that this has been one of my favorite quotes recently. It reminds me to just be myself because people are either going to like me or not like me and there is nothing I can do to change their mind. I am just me!

Recently it seems as if nothing has been going my way. First it was always being sick to my stomach, then finding out I had to have surgery, followed by a break up, and topped off with the realization that I would spend over half of my year working out of town. This seems like enough to make me crawl in my dark closet and just hide out until 2010 when I could have a clean start, but with the help of some very good friends (love y'all), I have decided to attack all of these things head on. Why wait until 2010?

The surgery fixed my stomach and has made me full 100% better. It is amazing how one extremely inflamed gall bladder can make you feel so crappy. I signed myself up for the work travel when I decided to do oil & gas and agreed to go to Midland. Who knew it would require me to spend so much time there? I will just have to take it one day/week/month at a time.

That leaves me to the break-up . . . Break-ups are never easy, especially when it was not your call. I won't lie and say it hasn't been hard, because it has been. It came a few days after he returned from overseas and things seemed fine. It happened the day before Thanksgiving and five days before my surgery. It happened via a text message, which seems pretty standard for our communication. There was no conversation as to what really happened or if I did something wrong. It was over, just like that. I have been trying to make sense out of all of it, but have come to realize that I will never understand it and that he will never be able to explain it to me. Every relationship teaches us something about ourselves and what we want from another person. We tried the not talking, and then I gave up because I still wanted to know what was going on in his life. Now, I have realized you have to take some time a part because every time we talk and he shows some emotion I am sucked back in to thinking we can go back to what we had. But we can't; we are over. So to you, sir, I wish you all the best.