Another year has passed and I have realized that last year was the first year in quite awhile that I lived in the same state (and for that matter city) for an entire calendar year. Still, I couldn’t avoid all moving last year as I did move out of the apartment and in to the house with Denise. And sometime I’ll even finish up making that move… there’s still a small collection of things at the apartment.
All of 2006 was spent working at the brewery, and while like any job it has some days where you just want to be anywhere else, it has been a great place to work. It’s the first job I’ve held where my stress levels haven’t shot through the roof, and instead of just thinking about making it through day to day I actually think about what the future holds. I honestly have no idea how long I’ll be here – but if I do leave it would be because I was leaving the state all together, and not because I was pursuing another career interest. I really do feel that no matter where I end up I want to continue working with a brewery. Surprisingly working at one has reduced my alcohol consumption – though I attribute that to far less stress than I’ve had at previous places on employment. Sure, there are some things I miss about working in IT, but I don’t miss the several drinks I’d have to calm my nerves, and then the several bottles of pepto or tums I’d go through a month at work to keep my stomach from eating itself. The pros were few, the cons were many, I wish it hadn’t taken getting laid off to realize such things, or that I’d have to spend a couple years of wandering to fall in to something I enjoyed, but in the end I pulled through. Between being willing to do what it took to get by, having loving parents, and very supporting friends I was able to trudge along.
2006 was a good year. It had moments where I wanted to explode (my truck still doesn’t work), but overall it was filled with good things. Most of the things were just little things that conspired to make me smile, but there were a couple of big events that propelled this to being the best year I’ve had in quite awhile. It was a year that gave me hope, and in this world hope is a scarce thing.
I feel good about myself and where I’m at. I still have occasional moments of wanderlust where I just want to run away to someplace new. However I no longer want to run away because I just can’t take it anymore… it’s more like I want to run to something new. Yes, I still have an obsession with New Mexico and I really want to make it back out there.
So there it is, thoughts about the paths I took in 2006. Maybe next I’ll ramble on about where I see things going. Perhaps I’ll even be so bold as to make a couple of predictions. I’m excited, I’m optimistic, I’m a little scared… but it’s the good kind.
Cheers!
Just a Man with a Mash Paddle 