While I was ahead of the curve with Christmas preparations (cards, buying gifts, decorating –okay, the tree never got decorated but it was up by the first weekend in December), I am behind the curve when it comes to New Years. Somehow it snuck up on me. Part of this might be that I worked the week between Christmas and New Years. I think I have only done this one other time in my adult working life. When I was a kid Christmas vacation seemed so long! But now that weekend between Christmas and New Years just flies by.
So I wanted to take the time to reflect on 2007. Here were some of the highlights:
Getting engaged - my fear of becoming a spinster is not going to come true! Being engaged is a weird position to be in – I am not single, yet I am not married. It has been an interesting ride and we are near the end.
Finishing my fellowship on the Senate Finance Committee – Unfortunately when I look back at 2007 this took up the majority of the year. I wasn’t able to take much leave during this time which basically meant I worked 8 straight months (gasp!). This was an extremely difficult 8 months for me. I began the fellowship at the beginning of the year and finished at the beginning of August. This was the most challenging job I have ever had. And when I say challenging I don’t mean the good challenging. I didn’t like the work (because I didn’t have very much to do), I detested the commute (about three hours a day), and people who work on the hill are just different. They didn’t like to say good morning or good night and it was the land of short men. I can honestly say I was taller than at least 50% of male staffers who worked in the Senate.
But I can still say it was a great experience. I learned a lot about Congress and the relationship between the executive and legislative branches. I learned that I am a very results oriented person which is not a good fit on Capital Hill. And I learned a lot about myself, my work ethic, and the type of life I want to live. I also learned the power of positive thinking. I didn't always think positively and had plenty of pity parties but it was still a good exercise in positive thinking.
Two weeks vacation in August – after working long hours on the Finance Committee for almost eight months it was so nice to regroup and just spend time at home. During this time my sister came to visit and it was probably one of the best visits we have had since I left MT in 2000. While my sister and I talk almost everyday on the phone we have a very hot and cold relationship. It is not uncommon for us to get in a fight and not talk to one another for weeks at a time. Inevitably, whenever we see one another this happens. But this visit was different. I think I am just beginning to understand her a little better. In most areas of our life we are completely different. This has made it hard for me to relate to her on certain issues but I think little by little we are trying to respects each other’s differences.
Thanksgiving Weekend Travel – Adam and I flew to Missoula for Thanksgiving and the trip out there took us 12 hours! While I never want to relive something like this, the highlight was Adam and I worked so well as a team. This was the second time we were faced with something that had the potential to send one of us off the deep end and we found a way to make the situation bearable and sometimes even funny. The other time was when we went to Destin, Florida for a wedding. Destin is a very touristy town and the hotels are not your typical hotels. Most have a three night minimum stay. Our hotel room was absolutely horrible. It was on the ground floor with neighbors that looked suspicious (at least to me) and there were bugs in the bed. My first reaction was to call my mom and cry. But Adam and I worked together, got a different hotel and learned a valuable lesson in reserving hotel rooms and working together as a team. Thanksgiving weekend was another example of how us working together as a team made everything so much easier to deal with.
So that is a quick recap of my year. Thankfully I can say each year seems to get better!
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