Kicking and Screaming

It's no secret that there are some rather interesting things taking place in my life right now. And by "interesting," I mean foreign and difficult. There are days I'd rather drive my car into a telephone pole than get out of bed. (Although how one would go about driving a car into a telephone pole without first getting out of bed remains unknown). I'm in the midst of a hard-core rebellion against adulthood, and it's quite simply driving me nuts.

But for every tangle I've encountered on this wicked, twisted road to "growing up," I've discovered new morsels of hope and strength. It's kind of like I'm living my life in a Super Mario Bros. vidoe game, where you obtain a new power after accomplishing some fantastic task such as stomping a mushroom or killing King Koopa. I haven't quite encountered the King yet, but I'm working on stomping the hell out of those mushrooms.

Steve and I attended the first birthday party for the daughter of a great friend and on the drive back we were talking about our lives a year ago compared to now. I asked him if he thought he was a different person now, and of course he asked me the same. I couldn't really come up with any answers other than the obvious: living in a new place, working at a different job, blah, blah. I could've added that I weigh about 15 pounds more but who really wants to talk about that?

I thought about it long after the conversation ended and I realized that I actually have changed in the last year -- and some of those changes are pretty important. So here they are, in no particular order:
-- Started graduate school. After nearly one year, I still have a 4.0 grade point average.
-- Started a new job. Two new jobs, actually. Same company, different roles. Found out today my role will be changing yet again ... this time we hope for the better! Details to follow.
-- Permanently moved away from home. Yeah, I'm only two and a half hours away from the place I left my heart, but STILL.
-- Met and developed good relationships with two of Steve's sons. This was huge for me. K1 and N were here for the summer, and I can't even begin to tell you what an emotional roller coaster that was. It was intimidating, terrifying and hella fun and when it was all over with, I didn't throw up. Someone give me a cookie.
-- Finished another year of successful tongue biting around pseudo in-laws. Another cookie, please.
-- Finally learned to maintain a positive attitude. Well, I'm working on it, anyway. Some days are better than others.

I've learned so much about myself and this world in the past year, and I'm grateful that I've finally reached a stage in my life where I can see the the hope shining through the bad stuff. I'm very thankful for the people and things I have in my life, and I'm looking forward to writing a post like this next year, full of additional accomplishments and blessings.