New Year's Post!

So I know it's been about a millenia since I've posted on this poor, long-forgotten blog. But I have traditions to keep. So, in honor of Arianne and Manny C. (who are probably the only ones who have ever kept up with this blog to begin with), here is my annual "List of Things I've Learned This Year"!

1) Job satisfaction is so much more important than higher pay checks. I should know-I've worked for a pittance for the past year, but I love my job so much I can't bring myself to care.

2) Once you set your mind to it, you actually can pay off debts. Even when you're poor. It just takes a LOT of discipline to not spend your extra money on frivolities and send it to Visa instead.

3) America makes you fat. New diet, here I come!

4) Despite the fact that it made me fat, I really do belong in the States. Don't get me wrong-I wouldn't trade my experiences in the UK for anything, and am so grateful for the friends I made and lessons I learned there. (Could've done without the swine flu, though.) But my real home is here, with my family and the people who've known me for years and love me in spite of it all. :)

5) Babies are SO CUTE. Ainsley, this one's for you. I'm going to spoil you ROTTEN in February.

6) Friendships change. But that doesn't mean they have to end. Just let them evolve, and everything will turn out exactly the way it should.

7) Stuff is just that-stuff. It's material, and not worth crying over.

8) I don't need a PhD to be smart. Yes, I'd love one, but it's not worth another 100k in student debt just to feel like I have a brain. To shamelessly quote Good Will Hunting, I can get the same education "for a dollah fifty in late chahges at the public library". If I want more knowledge, I can take responsibility for that myself.

9) A lot of tourists are really stupid.

10) So are customers. I think everyone should be forced to work in customer service at least once in their lives just so they understand the crap we go through.

11) Relationships take work, and compromise. But that's OK. It's when you stop working and compromising that you should be worried.

12) I no longer recognize anyone on MTV. I think that means I'm officially old.

13) Living near your family? Not actually a bad thing. As an adult, I still have all the independence and autonomy I practically demanded in my late teens and early twenties, but I also have the support of my family and can see them whenever I want.

14) You don't need a lot of friends to have a full social life-a couple of close ones will do just as well.

15) Sometimes it's OK to blow off your responsibilities to dance to Newsies and eat ice cream.

16) Real Christmas trees are a lot more difficult to deal with than I remember them being.

17) Winter. Sucks. Ass.

18) There's nothing so comforting as having someone by your side who will always support you and take care of you. Whether it be a significant other, a best friend, or a sibling, it's the most important thing in the world.

So there you have it-my list of 2010 life lessons. Feel free to share yours in the comment section!