Friday, December 28, 2012

Kheri ya mwaka mpya

Apparently, that's how you say Happy New Year in Swahili.  I know it's not officially the new year yet, but by the time it is, I will have gone back to work and will likely have forgotten about my year-end post.  Since this blog has become the only way I can remember anything that happened more than a month ago, I once again document a successful completion of my New Year's Resolution.

Go some place I've never been before...

  • I think Africa qualifies.  Actually, I'd been to Morocco, but the Kilimanjaro trip was on a whole other playing field.  See previous blog posts for details, but I think we got a pretty good Tanzanian experience for only having been at a hotel in Arusha and on the mountain.  We learned some key Swahili, got a few lessons about the culture and geography, ate some local food, and enjoyed/tolerated the trip of a lifetime.

...And try three new things outside my comfort zone.

  • Wiffleball- I know this doesn't sound like a big deal to anyone, but my wiffleball memories are 18+ years old and all bad.  I didn't have a single positive wiffleball experience in elementary school, and I hadn't played since then.  But a friend needed another player, and I figured it couldn't be any worse than I remembered.  It was actually a blast, enough so that I signed up again for this coming January.  I still am pretty terrible (it's so not the same as softball), but it's a good crowd and player-friendly rules, and we go out for happy hour after the games.  So, not a terrible way to start the year.
  • Kayaking- I'm not talking like sitting in a duckie (think single-person white-water raft) and floating down a river, nor am I talking lake kayaking (which I think I've done at the reservoir).  I'm talking full-on wet exit, white-water boat with a skirt, wetsuit with a dry-top and booties, terrified I might get stuck in the boat and die kind of kayaking.  There was a groupon for a lesson at the reservoir and I thought I would humor Marijo and see what all the fuss was about.  I believe my text to her midway through the lesson said something like "next time, we pick something you hate and make you do that." It wasn't really that bad.  We had awesome instructors, and I successfully "mastered" the wet exit and got 80% of the way through the T-rescue technique before lightening shooed us off the water.  I was okay with not finishing the other 20% because that involved actually letting go of the rescue boat and hanging out upside down in the water.  You aren't meant to be upside down in water.  Enough of that. I was proud of myself for trying, and not surprised in the least that I would perfectly content to never try it again.
  • Dancing- Again, I'm not talking free-for-all at a wedding reception.  I'm talking lessons.  My relaxing trip to South Carolina to visit my aunt turned into a stress-fest when she conned me into attending her dance lesson and then conveniently decided to pawn her instructor off on me for the final thirty minutes.  I don't dance with other people.  It makes me tense up, which makes me a terrible follower and makes me even more self conscious.  I want to be able to dance, which is why "dance lesson" made an early appearance on my 30-before-30 list, but I don't think I'd survive another lesson.  Eduardo was great, and patiently walked me through shag and west coast swing.  Aunt Julie got the whole thing on video which is even more mortifying.  But I survived to tell about it, and that's really all that matters.  This one, I would try again, in very extenuating circumstances.
  • Other notable events of the year include in no particular order: first participation in organized Ultimate Frisbee league, Urban Assault Ride, first Avs game, refinancing my mortgage, Jury Duty, awesome birthday trip to Portland, first pharmacy presentation since the end of my residency, USWNT soccer game vs. Australia, getting my front yard landscaped, first concert at Red Rocks, a couple trips to Missouri (KC and STL for sib visits), etc.  All in all, despite my overwhelming feeling that I'm in the exact same place at the end of 2012 as I was at the end of 2011, I know that's not true.  It was a good year, and I'm expecting great things from 2013.

2 comments:

M Zap said...

Totally forgot about trap shooting! Not necessarily outside my comfort zone, but still an awesome outing.

Jim Z said...

...and now add...beating the heck out of your dad with a scoped rifle at 50+ yards out. :-)

I reserve the right to make this blog as worthless to read as I feel like, and also to write as infrequently as I deem necessary. Just thought I'd let you know since I finally decided to share my blog.