Goodness me, the end of January already?  Well, since my last post, I have been requested to talk about myself (how dull), so let's see what's the haps.  Not a whole lot, Christian and Jenny came back for another workshop weekend, which was quite productive.  I think I only skipped one class, the beginning lindy (should probably know that by now), and I took a private with them, so I think I learned plenty with them.  They taught the Tranky Doo routine, more STL Shag (awesome!), how to practice alone, and we fixed my swingout (again); staying low, keeping my arm a little less extended, and hooking my triples in front of the swivels.

Yes, I speak dancer.

Christian and Jenny are just lovely people to hang with.  I hauled them back to Troy's for my lesson, and later went to dinner with them, as well as Eric and Ben.  That was good times, plus barbecue was nom.  I think I'm getting pretty good at this dancing thing, and I'm quite looking forward to Heartland.  I'd love to be in the Miss Heartland contest, but I'm not too confident in my entry.  We'll see.  It'll be fun either way.

I've also been given a more active role in Jitterbugs now being the Volunteer coordinator.  I think Nate and Christy are okay with how I do things, I have no idea what the volunteers think, but no one's complained yet.  We shall see on that one too.  It's not as scary as I thought it would be.

Work is still kind of just work.  I had my evaluation, I did fine.  People think I should've been rated higher, but honestly, I have a better job now, I'm getting paid better, people are satisfied with my work, I really have no complaints.  They're eventually going to move my desk, and eventually I'm going to have walls, and there will be new duties and responsibilities, but no one's in a huge rush.  Oh, and I get to meet with my scary vice president on Valentine's Day, joy of joys.  Hopefully I won't take anything she says personally.  I'm trying to rise above that if I can, but it's a work in progress.

Someone did mention the other night how girls didn't know anything about swingouts, which did get harshly under my skin, and I did want to punch him.  But I didn't and he wound up apologizing, as he should have.  You shouldn't generalize about people like that, and he has no right to do so, because that would imply he dances with all the girls, and I don't like dancing with him because he acts like a creep.  And I know what's going on in a swingout.  Twit.

But anyway...

Last weekend there was dancing, practicing my Christian and Jenny advice, getting cranky because I was hungry, ice skating in some very chilly weather, and late night shenanigans.  It was fun, but next year, I will eat in advance and wear much warmer clothing.  But it was a good cause, and the Thriller Dance on ice was impressive, and watching Dena, Clint, Adam, and Eric do the Shiver skate was pretty fun.  They are braver than I, and probably have better circulation.  Boy, I was cold towards the end.  We went to Village Inn post skate and warmed up, and then I went home and wisely took muscle relaxers before sacking out.

Saturday I went to the zoo with Cecily, and despite it being January, it was a pretty nice day outside.  It was a pretty cool zoo, and I'll have to go back when it's not under construction to see the rest, and when Cecily and I haven't been up till 4 the night before, but the parts I did see were great.  I was a little shocked at the open water features in the Kingdoms of the Night exhibit (hello, open pool of water in the dark?  Safety hazard!) and the animals that were allowed to wander (lots of birds, the ducks were cute though), and how many tigers the zoo has (and the stoner jaguar, what the what?).  We saw the desert, the swamps, the big cats, the primates, and the jungles.  We ate lunch in the cafe that overlooks the jungle and watched the white handed gibbons play.  We also discovered why tapirs are not normally viewed standing up (it's like a fifth leg!).  But we had plenty of giggles.  I liked the orangutans and the wallabies a lot.  We also saw an aardvark and an armadillo, and more than enough snakes (eek), and some really big fish.  With an f, not a ph.

After the zoo we went over to Adam's for a viewing of Sherlock Series two.  I only got to watch the first episode, but it was pretty epic.  They are almost too clever for their own good, but I had a blast.  Then I headed over to Matt and Vivian's for their appetizer partay, which was fun AND I cooked something for it.  Spinach artichoke dip, not bad if I say so myself.  Which is good, because I have plenty o' leftovers.  The crab rangoon won, but even I have to agree with that.  Plus lots of hors d'oeuvres apparently come covered in bacon.  That's all right with me too.  There were further shenanigans plus THE BABY!  She's so cute, she can hold her head up now.  I got to hold her a little while, and then got shafted because Lisa didn't get to hold the baby because she'd been sick all this time, so therefore she got the baby the rest of the time.  Whatever.  I got to hold her when she was six days old.  I managed to make it home not long after midnight, and then slept till noon the next day.

Sunday I had many goals, but no energy, so I did laundry and gassed up my car, and left it at that.  My weekends have been quite activity filled lately, and I think that the end of January 2012 may be shaping up better than the beginning of January 2012.  We'll see.  Less than six hours left.

I also think my life would be much improved if I kicked every morning off playing "The Circle of Life and "Sister Suffragette".  Thank you, Disney on Pandora.

"I'm home!"
The housekeeper, Mrs. Koraleski came out of the kitchen as I put down my bags and started pulling my coat off.  She took my coat from me and smiled.
"So nice to have you home, Miss Violet.  Your aunts have been waiting most anxiously for you.  They can't wait to celebrate your birthday," Mrs. K told me, hanging my coat up and waving me into the kitchen.
"Have they indeed?" I asked over my shoulder, while my stomach led me towards the smell of cinnamon rolls.  Yes, they had been expecting me.
"Is that my little girl?  That stylish young lady?"
My stomach was temporarily waylaid by the sound of my Aunt June's voice.  I smiled at the mature woman of seventy, beginning her years of being known as "cute little old lady", who was wearing a pale blue silk dress trimmed with fine lace, and sock monkey slippers.
"Still your little girl, Aunt June.  I promise."
June Ames smiled her pert little smile.
"Don't be so silly, Violet.  You're 22, you swear, you drink, you wear impractical underwear, you are hardly a little girl.  But you still come home for your birthday to spend time with your decrepit aunts, so I appreciate the efforts," she said, teasing me.
I grinned.
"Where else would I spend my birthday?"
"With your sophisticated college friends, of course, like other girls your age."
I shrugged and resumed my journey for cinnamon rolls.
"My friends can hang out with me later.  They know this is tradition."
Aunt June laughed softly from behind me.
"Such a good girl.  Bella tells me she has a special treat for you, just for the occasion."
I raised an eyebrow and swallowed a very large bite of cinnamon roll.
"You guys didn't get me a stripper, did you?" I asked cautiously.  Aunt Arabella, or just Bella, was notorious for that threat.
"Goodness, no, dear.  We have to serve at church this weekend, we could hardly do such a thing in good conscience."
I smiled again and munched away at my snack.
"Not that you won't have a very handsome date for dinner this evening.  We couldn't let you go stag on your birthday, even if it is with just your aunts," June said, dropping the statements like Fat Man and Little Boy on Japan.
And then she whisked out of the room while my mouth was full and I knew I'd have to wait for an explanation later.  Aunt June was crafty like that.  But I didn't mind.  June and Bella had raised me since I was four, and became my official guardians at six.  My father was their younger brother, and he and my mother had no interest in having children, and even when they did they had no interest in raising one.  My aunts came to visit for Christmas and found me cooped up in one end of the house with a nanny who was barely seen.  Aunt June pursed her lips and carried me off to the Ritz-Carlton, and Aunt Bella called Social Services, fired the nanny, and gave my parents an earful.  My parents never took me back, but I was happier with my aunts anyway.  June had been widowed young, and Bella never married, so we became an odd little family, but it suited us.  I couldn't ask for a better place to be than with my two demure little aunts in their stylish brownstone, Mrs. Koraleski the housekeeper, and Mr. Koraleski the driver.
As I finished my cinnamon roll, I pondered what birthday surprise was in store for me.  Aunt June would've only vaguely disapproved of the stripper, and Aunt Bella could be crafty too.  I theorized that my former French tutor would be draped naked across my bed when I went up to my room, and my dreamy British History TA would somehow be using my shower.  My aunts, for all their perceived daintiness, were not above something like that.  But I was sure Renard was married by now (he was too handsome and intelligent not to be), and Oliver was back at Brown, so I didn't theorize too far.

And now the year in review...

Okay, I won't review the whole of 2011, but I will say that the last three or four months were just crazy!  After I got back from PrincessCon SW, I had a job interview, followed by several people saying that if I didn't get it to keep my eyes open.  Incidentally, I did not get it.  However, people were right, and a new job opening came up rather quickly, I got my feedback from the first, and applied for that one too.  Turns out a little practice was all that was needed, and by the end of October I had a new job!  What a load off, with the whole new system platform lying in wait for me and the terrifying prospect of trying to get that up and running before January...incidentally they are still working on it.  My job is very much less stressful now as an analyst.  I do a lot of work with spreadsheets and occasionally answer the phone and look at a lot of data...but I like it.  Eventually I'll probably have more to do, but I'm reveling in it for the moment.  Plus, I really like my boss, my manager, and all the people on the team.  Someday I'll have a bigger desk, but life's pretty okay for the moment.

November was pretty much taken up with the last two weeks in my old job.  I have never worked so hard at the job, and it took a considerable amount of time and work and patience to extricate myself from all accounts and responsibilities.  And of course the only people who complained were my jerk chemical customers.  Apparently we have high turnover in our department.  I wanted to tell the guy that anybody who had to deal with them would be cause to have high turnover.  What a schmuck.  I had lunch with my old manager.  I also completed a couple of major projects for the old job and still got rewarded for it, which was somewhat surprising.  I finished testing the new system according to a list of items that needed to work before rolling out, and personally I thought that more people should have worked on it, and if I could manage to test my biggest most complicated account, they could probably do at least one of theirs.  Whatever, they'll have to deal with it sooner or later, the administration is still determined to have it.  I also finished up my other new system project that was supposed to get my promotion.  I wrote a bunch of help text documents, and then taught a class, and I don't think anybody paid any attention to what I said, or found the documents helpful, but I tried.  And management liked it, so I guess it counts.  In retrospect I feel like I worked really, really hard at a job that did not get much recognition.  I like where I am now much better.  Yay for no more on call work!

Thanksgiving was pretty low key, just enjoyed the time off, and prepped for the Chili Throwdown.  I was challenged to make chili this year, so I found a recipe, and gave it a shot.  Lee made four pies at the same time, which I found impressive and tasty.  That was a grand time.

The sixth of December was not so nice.  I came home and my dad told me that my aunt had died.  I was pretty surprised since it wasn't even hinted at, and it was just sad.  Really, really sad.  I'm going to miss her, and it made me pretty randomly emotional all week, so apologies to anyone who had to deal with me in a moment of unannounced crying.  I try not to do that.  It also made me think about how fragile life is and to enjoy what we have while we can.  Sometimes people tell me I try too hard and that I'm forward, but I've learned that waiting is not always an option, and if you want something, go get it.  It may not work out, and it may all end in tears, but I would rather try than miss an opportunity.  Who knows.

I did feel better when I went to church that week though, the priest was very encouraging about life.  He said rejoice, and I have a lot to be happy about, and many things I'm grateful for, so even when I'm sad or scared or upset about something, I really can't say life is too hard on me.  Things are pretty good.

More later.  I'm still a little low in spirits despite all.  Or because of it.  I don't know.