2011 in Review

It is the time of the year for one of my favorite traditions: the “Year in Review” post. This year was certainly not what I expected it to be. There were a lot of twist and turns over the course of the year. For once, that was a good thing. Sure, the year wasn’t perfect, but perfection is not a necessity. So, without further ado, here is the year in review.

January: The year got off to a little bit of a rough start, as I had my first bout of illness since mid-2009 (a doozy of a cold). It was a fairly snowy month filled with a lot of subbing at Century. It was during this time subbing that I realized that Century was by far my favorite school to sub. I had the opportunity to once again go to Rosemont for a teacher fair, and all it amounted to was a wasted Saturday. By far the highlight of the month was the Seahawks’ playoff upset over the Saints.

February: I don’t know what it is about my Februaries, but they rarely are eventful. Maybe it’s because February is such a short month. Who knows? I subbed, shaved off my beard, and felt pretty depressed most of the time. That was it.

March: This month is really when the year started to turn around. I worked a lot, which was good from a productivity and monetary standpoint, but I also got to enjoy two amazing days with friends. On the last Friday in March, I went with Dan and Andy on a mini-road trip to Decatur to see my favorite band (The Graduate) in concert. It was an amazing show and I got a chance to talk with the guys in the band afterward. I also picked up two new band shirts (which are among my favorite articles of clothing). The following Monday, Rob and I went to see WWE Raw at the Allstate Arena. While the in-ring action was nothing to write home about, seeing The Rock (or The Dwayne as I like to call him) is always awesome.

April: My birthday month is rarely a bad month. I was able to once again watch WrestleMania with my Uncle Jerry and Aunt Lisa. As usual, I had a good birthday filled with all sorts of nice messages and gestures from the people who matter to me. I began to work on improving my teaching materials in the event that I got an interview, and during that process I was able to meet with a principal who gave me a number of valuable resources to aid me in my quest for a teaching job.

May: I finally got an interview for a full-time teaching position. The interview went as well as it could have possibly gone. The interviewer interrupted me on a number of occasions to make a remark about how much she liked my answer. Things were looking good. Unfortunately, due to some district politics, the rug was swept out from under me and the position “disappeared”. While I do make my best effort to live my life devoid of expectations, I would be lying if I said I hadn’t gotten my hopes up. It was very deflating, but I resolved to not let it keep me down.

June: When that door closed, another opened. While it was not a full time teaching position, it was still a pretty amazing thing. I was able to gain employment as an instructor at Huntington Learning Center in June. Though this month was not spent doing much work other than training, I quickly realized that this job was easily the best job I have ever had.

July: This was another excellent month. I was able to really dig in and get settled in the Huntington job, and Rob and I were able to get together to see another WWE event. This event was undoubtedly the best event of the year, and we had AMAZING seats thanks to good shopping by me. I also had the opportunity to go to Six Flags with Heidi and Andy, and though we were stuck on top of the American Eagle for an hour on a 90+ degree day, we still had a good time.

August: As the summer came to an end, I still was without a full time teaching job. I was not as bummed as in years past, however. I had the Huntington job and subbing was about to resume. I also had the unexpected pleasure of the opportunity to meet and have lunch with Staci. It was a great day with a pretty awesome person. At the end of the month, I attended the farewell concert for The Graduate. Though it was a bittersweet occasion, it was still a great show and I got a great spot right in front of the stage (where I can be seen on multiple occasions in The Graduate: From the Ground Up).

September: I got used to a new routine. Huntington transitioned to night hours, and I got back into the swing of subbing. Thankfully I have had the privilege of doing 90% of my subbing at Century, and it truly has subbing exponentially more enjoyable. The month was not entirely great, however. I stepped on the scale for the first time in nearly two years and was horrified to find out that I had gained over half the weight I had lost in 2008. I should’ve realized it when I looked in the mirror and when my pants began to fit more tightly, but I didn’t. I resolved to get down to my Driver’s License weight (183 lb) by December 31.

October: This was another enjoyable month, as redundant as that is getting to say. I began to work out like a machine. The weight began to literally sweat off me, and I began to feel (and look) good again. I began the month with a fun trip to Michigan City, Indiana with my parents and my sister and ended the month with an impromptu trip downtown with Heidi and Andy to buy a pea coat. The chance to meet Jannelle in person unfortunately fell through, which was disappointing. All in all it was still a good month.

November: It is a great feeling to accomplish a goal. It is an even greater feeling to accomplish a goal in half the time you expected. My extremely strenuous cardiovascular workouts resulted in the 183 pound goal being met well before Thanksgiving. It allowed me to stress out less (even as I eventually lost 13 more pounds) about what I ate and branch out in my style of workout. This was also a productive month at work, as subbing calls remained consistent and Huntington allowed me to begin doing some 1-to-1 instruction. Thanksgiving was very enjoyable (certainly far less stressful than Christmas), and a Black Friday trip to the Grand Luxe downtown was a great time.

December: The year ended on a high note. Both jobs kept me sufficiently busy and well-compensated monetarily. I had the opportunity to see some friends that I had not seen in a while. I began to take up running. In fact, I just got home from running my first 5k race in 24 and a half minutes. Let me type that again in italics. The guy who three months ago weighed 205 pounds and had a muffin top runs now, and runs well enough to beat 75% of the other people in the race. It blows my mind. I look and feel so much differently than I did in September. Christmas wasn’t all that great, but hey, you can’t win them all!

I learned a lot about life and myself this year. I did many things this year that I probably would’ve thought impossible at other points. I made new friendships, lost some friendships, and rekindled friendships I thought were dead and buried. I gained weight, and lost it. I lost some opportunities and gained others. The year was full of great moments with the people I care about. I did not accomplish all my goals, but I do aim fairly high, and there is always next year.

If I were to grade my last few years in football terms, 2009 was a year full of high expectations and a hot start (4-0), only to bottom out and finish 5-11. 2010 was an absolute stinker all around, a 2-14 team. This year has not been all that different than the 2011 Seattle Seahawks. Though there were no expectations, the year has been much better than expected, and best part of all is that the groundwork has been laid for a very bright future. I give this year a 10-6 record.

Thanks for being a part of this year. I really have enjoyed it, and I look forward to a great 2012. Stay tuned to this blog in the near future for some pretty big news moving forward. All the best!