Magic Beans

Monica: (About the credit card company on the phone) Look, they just wanna see if you're okay.

Rachel: They wanna know if I'm okay. Well, let's see, the FICA guys took all my money, everyone I know is either getting married, or getting promoted, or getting pregnant, and I'm getting coffee! And it's not even for me! So if that sounds like I'm okay, okay, then you can tell them I'm okay, okay?

Monica: (She pauses. On the phone) Uh, Rachel has left the building, can you call back?

It was one of those days. Luckily, when I turned on my car radio, the Friends theme song was playing, and I realized that, like Rachel, I will be fine.

I've got magic beans.

*I realize drawing comfort from Friends episode is pathetic and heretical, but I take inspiration where I can get it.

In lieu of a Christmas card

I have never sent out a Christmas card for a couple of reasons:

• The first is that I am single, and I often assume that no one wants a Christmas card with just me on it.
• The second is that I think it is hard to write a Christmas card without taking yourself too seriously, and opening yourself up to the mocking and ridicule of the people you send it to. A few years ago, my friend Tracy was telling me about how her brother and sister-in-law decided to write a Christmas card in third person (which, often, they are), and have the non-existent third-person narrator talk about all of the things he/she was doing, like bungee jumping, writing a novel, etc. It made for a confusing card for all of their relatives, but it was a good example of a Christmas card that didn't take itself too seriously.
• Third, it takes an enormous amount of effort for me to mail anything.

So, I thought I would put up this blog post recapping my year, for anyone who is interested or bored or whatever:

• 2010 has seen just about everything in my life change. I finished up a 24-year career as a student, only to find myself back at my alma mater working as a professor. To say it's not what I thought it would be is a huge understatement.
• I left Texas and moved back to Utah, and now live ten minutes away from my sister and her family. I miss Lubbock more than I ever thought I would. I recognize that the next step in my life required leaving, but I'm surprised at how much it felt like home when I left.
• I wrecked my Toyota in November (no one was hurt, but my car looked bad). They totaled my car, which was surprisingly emotional for me, as that car has been with me since I was working on my master's, has made moves to Seattle and Texas and back, and sustained several mysterious dents that I never wanted to talk about. After a lot of unpleasant dealings with insurance companies, I now have a Mazda3. It's pretty and fast, but, mostly, I'n excited that works.
• It was a year for finishing things: my dissertation, my Martha Stewart cupcake project, and the Top of Utah Marathon. However, the realization of one's goals is never the end. This next year will find me continuing to bake, trying to run, and attempting to get my dissertation published so that I can keep my job.
• As 2011 begins, I am wondering what it will bring, and, more importantly, what I will do with it. The reality of having a grown-up job is setting in, and I am still trying to figure out how that fits with who I am. It seems like a high-class problem to be worried about doing what you love, or what you are supposed to do. I'm pretty sure my pioneer ancestors didn't worry about that.

As with any letter, I hope this one finds all of you safe and well, and that 2011 brings you closer to God, your dreams, and the people you love. I don't do a great job of keeping in touch with people, but know that you are often in my thoughts and prayers.

Megan