2009- the A(compishment)-List

Prompted by the always-inspirational Ms. Sarah Von, I thought I'd record my accomplishments for 2009. It's been so easy to look at this past year in terms of all the things I didn't get done, but when I sum it all up it doesn't look all that bad:

-Hiked Volcan Pacaya (and thought I was going to die! but didn't!)
-Took and passed my social work licensing exam
-Graduated from grad school for the second time in two years
-Formed and led a support group
-Approved a handful of families to become adoptive parents and helped some of them welcome beautiful children into their lives
-Published my first piece of academic work
-Moved across the country
-Went to Alaska and ate dessert(Baked Alaska!) on top of a glacier
-Organized a Christmas party for 110 of my closest relatives, a conference for a bunch of high-level academics, hosted an Easter brunch, a bachelorette party (with nun drag queen bingo!), and threw myself a great/sad going away party
-Interviewed midwives in Guatemala about their training
-Baked one perfect batch of French macarons
-Rang in the New Year in France and traveled to Guatemala, Alaska, Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, New York, California, and Massachusetts and Panama (by accident)and touristed around the cities I lived in


Here's hoping 2010 is just as full of adventures!

Go home and blog about it

Actually I am home. Watching MTV Cribs for the first time in like 10 years. 50 cent has a stripper pole in his house. I don't know why I've been depriving myself of this stuff for the last decade.

It's hard to know when to take holidays or vacation time when your on vacation all the time (whaa.... annoying yet?). Anyway, I decided to Christmas-ify this evening. Ashley and I went shopping for Christmas card supplies and then went to the Sports Basement- which is a huge discount sports store. Sporting stores and sporting in general usually aren't my cup of tea, but this place totally inspires me to buy sporting equipment- which I hope will lead to athleticism (as long as you have the shoes for the occasion...). Plus they serve hot beverages and I generally find free drinks inspire me to buy stuff. Tonight I'm home writing x-mas cards and drinking hot chocolate. Seems like Christmastime.

This past weekend was my family Christmas party. I organized the most of the shindig and decided that we were going to eat tamales, because they are traditional (if you are Mexican- we are not) and because I had no interest in cooking for 150 of my closest family members. I also apparently delegated bartending duties to a three year-old.



Also last week, I went to New York and Boston on a whirlwind trip. I totally missed out on seeing a good 75% of the people I wanted to in those respective places, but I did manage to travel for over 10 hours per day on 4 of the 5 days of my trip. Manic travel makes me feel like myself again. Photos and stories to follow.

*The title of this blog post is in reference to a night a few winters ago. My friend Mike went to a dance party at the planetarium at the Museum of Natural History. Sarah and I intended on going to meet up with him, but got so involved in pregaming that we never quite made it. Apparently Kanye West came and surprised the party with a secret set. He ended the night by yelling into the audience "Go home and blog about it!"

A Reminder

Dear New York,
Thanks for reminding me how very warm San Francisco is. You really rolled out the red carpet with this 5 degree weather.
All the best,
Eleanor

Brilliant

Three Day Old Curry

Wow, it's been a long(ish) time. How was your Thanksgiving? I'm already on my third night of Turkey curry.

It's interesting to me that my mother won't go out for Indian food, but she has few qualms about turning the majority of a 22-pound turkey into curry and leaving it in her single daughter's fridge. Between this and the stuffing, mashed potatoes and an excess of condiments, I'm in the no food/no space for new food version of rock/hard place.

What else is new? Yesterday I went sailing on the Bay with my Uncle Bob. For as long as I can remember he's had a sail boat in the Bay. When I was a kid he used to let me steer the boat. Yesterday he again let/made me take the wheel. Somehow it was much, much scarier than when I was a child. The whole way out to Alcatraz I was convinced that I was going to flip the boat, though he swore it wasn't possible. On the way back the wind wasn't in our favor and we mostly stayed in place or sailed backward. We picked up my father on the pier near our apartment and he and my uncle tied all the important knots and raised and lowered the sail. My father has always known how to do all kinds of handy things like sail a boat, and fiberglass a sink, and fly fish... Somehow I assumed that I, or at least my brothers, would eventually know how to do all these things. Just as I figured that I would eventually know how to cook meat and grow vegetables, like my mother, despite vegetarianism and urban-dwelling in my formative years. I guess osmosis doesn't work that way.

Wow, that paragraph was all over the map.

What else? I'm still waiting to hear about the dream job. I interviewed a few weeks ago, but haven't heard anything. In this instance I don't think that no news is good news. In any case, I'm honored to have interviewed for something I'm super under-qualified (but passionate) about.

I spent the majority of the morning daydreaming about receiving a billion frequent flyer miles for Christmas and backpacking through Southeast Asia. I even made a dream itinerary and budget. My younger brother is going on his way to Australia and I've decided that we should travel together for a few weeks. When I told him about my scheme to drive cross-country with him he claimed there isn't enough room in his car. He'll have to come up with a new excuse now!