I’m glad 2005 is over.
Looking back, it wasn’t a bad year for me personally. Home life has been great and we’ve been able to spend a lot of quality time with our friends. Work has been good – and rewarding. But there has been so much negativity last year, and maybe it is my fault for focusing on it, but it has been brutal on me emotionally and on my spirit.
The Boxing Day Tsunami, which was actually at the tail end of 2004, still weighs heavily on me. It’s difficult for me to comprehend why so many people continue to talk about Katrina and Rita, which killed around 1,000 people, when the tsunami killed a quarter of a million people and left millions homeless. Yes, the Gulf Coast is in our country and physically much closer. I’ve visited New Orleans many times, and it is a city that I love to visit, but I can’t get over that people seem to place a higher value on the lives of people living in this country versus the lives of humans over there. Sadder still is that most of those in Katrina’s path had a warning and, although there are exceptions to be sure, the tsunami came with no warning at all. People talk everyday about “never forgetting” September 11 or Katrina but the tsunami seems a distant memory for most.
Besides the storms, the Constitutional Amendment election in November continues to weigh heavily on me. I still can’t believe the number of people who didn’t get up off their asses and vote. It has taken me longer to get over it than I thought – although I am getting over it and moving on. Nevertheless, there are certain people that I won’t talk to anymore – and some who I wish I didn’t have to talk to. I don’t have any respect for them because I feel that they don’t have enough respect for themselves (in the case of gays & lesbians that didn’t vote) or for gay people. Personally, James and I put a lot of time, money and energy into the campaign against the amendment and so many people we know did not seem to care. I’m usually positive about most things and can get up quickly but for some reason this one just knocked the wind out of me.
I’m a political junkie and one of the things that is really bothering me of late is the intensity of the “us versus them” mentality of partisan politians on both sides of the aisle. I don’t like partisan politics. We are all Americans and we are all in this together, although we have different ideas of how things should get done. However, as of late, the obvious corruption of the people currently in power is apalling, and the things these people are saying in an effort to throw people off the trail is abysmal, and frankly it is pissing me off. The American public deserves better and I don’t think we should have to stand for it for one more minute. I have a lot to say on this subject and perhaps I’ll elaborate soon.
I was off work for the last half of December, (saved up vacation time) and I needed it. Unfortunately, I spent a lot of that time doing things that had been piling up on my “to-do” list. I never did really get into the Christmas spirit. We put our tree up about a week later than usual and the lights went up on the house about a week later. Usually all done the weekend after Thanksgiving. The house lights were only turned on once – a fuse blew and I couldn’t find a replacement and got tired of looking. I squandered a lot of my time sitting in traffic running various errands.
Christmas at my parents’ was pleasant, but I was a bit bothered by my brother’s visit. He sort of dropped out of contact about 18 months ago. It’s been 2 years since I’ve seen him and last we spoke, I was always calling him. Then my calls didn’t get returned anymore so I quit calling, figuring he needed some space. My mom told me he was coming for Christmas, and I was hoping to hear from him before then but I didn’t. So, I called him at work the day before he left just to say hi and tell him I was looking forward to seeing him. I figured that would make it less awkard when I saw him, and that was true. But, he never said anything about why he dropped out of contact and there may be no real reason and to me it is a bit insulting to just show up and act like nothing ever happened – I feel I’m owed a justification of some sort, or at least an acknowledgement and perhaps an apology. I think he could have found the time to do that during his visit.
The time between Christmas and New Year’s was better – a bit more relaxing and got some things done around the house. My office is in a bit better shape although it doesn’t actually look it – things are more organized and I threw a lot of things out. We got some art up on the walls – that is probably the accomplishment I am most pleased with. One of our Blue Dogs now hangs on the wall.
The best part of December was that we spent a lot of time with our friends and that was nice. Our Fifth Annual New Year’s Eve party was really a lot of fun, made so by those who attended. I really needed that, so thanks y’all 🙂
So with the new year, I finally feel like it is a fresh start and that all this silliness can be put behind us. I’m looking forward to having more fun with my man and my friends this year and hopefully a full week-long trip to a magical little island that lies about 89 miles north of Havana.