Welcome to the Teens!

So this is my obligatory Happy New Year post (or Bonne Annee en francais).  2009 was a wonderful year, in so many ways. I spent six months pregnant and six months with an absolutely amazing baby girl.  Our lives have changed in so many ways.  I think you don't realize how self-absorbed you are until you have a helpless baby who needs you for the most basic things in life -- nourishment, shelter, clothing, and love.  And I think I finally understand what all those cliches are about when they say that you will never be the same again, that a baby will change you, that it's the hardest job you'll ever do but the most rewarding, that you'll never love anything or anyone more.  And those cliches are all true.

Oh and apparently, we have just started a new decade. The way I see it, 2010 is the end of the first decade of the 21st century (we didn't start with a ZERO year did we? when we count we go 1 to 10, 11 to 20, etc.), but I guess no one else sees it that way.  What did I do to ring in 2000? I was 18, almost 19 and was home from my first semester of college at UC Berkeley.  I'm pretty sure I spent the night over at my friend Ilene's, but I can't for the life of me remember what we did that night.  We may have watched Beaches.  I do know that I had a job during my five weeks off from school at the Hallmark in the mall.  The only time I've ever had a minimum wage job.  I truly believe it was the most exhausting job I've had.  Standing up all day, smiling at harried Christmas shoppers, and organizing greeting cards.  All for $5.25 an hour.

What did we do to ring in 2010?  Chris, Charlotte and I went over to our friend Robbie's new house.  Charlotte slept in the Pack N Play in the bedroom, Chris fell asleep on the couch, and the rest of us ate food, played games and drank champagne.  Very low key, but fun regardless.

I was just thinking over the past ten years and all the amazing things that have happened.  I started college (in 1999), I traveled (to Italy! to France! to Spain! to Canada!), I graduated college, I moved to Sacramento, I met Chris, I got my first job, I lost my first job, I moved into my first apartment by myself, I moved in with Chris, I got a Master's Degree, I worked for a Member of Congress, we bought a house, we got engaged, we got married, we learned how to Scuba Dive, we traveled (to Australia! and France! and St. Lucia!), I quit a job I hated, I started a job I love, we became a family.

The "oughts" were pretty great.  Of course, there were definitely some pretty low points, but overall, I'd say it's my best decade to date.  Then again, I don't have that many decades with which to compare it, seeing as how I'm turning 29 on Wednesday.  Here's to the "teens" being even better!