I can’t really tell you how I feel about 2008.  I don’t think I was really ready to let 2007 go, but not for any particular reason.  The year was pretty shitty, July 13th aside.

I’ve been very happy lately.  And it’s freaking me out.  I was convinced for at least the past four years that I have mild SADD.  Now it’s looking like maybe I’ve been just in a foul mood for months on end?  Or perhaps the days upon days of ever-lovin’ sunshine are doing their job?

(Although if I had any say in it, I’d endure a little meloncholy if it meant Florida would see rain.  We are eating dust at the sanctuary every tour time as people drive up the road.  Ick.)

While I am only making one resolution this year*, I do have a few hopes for 2008.

For one, I would like a little more stability.  I know I would like to move on from the condo at some point in the future, but I don’t see 2008 as the best time to do it.  The real estate market is horrible, and we’re just not that desperate.  After moving to the apartment in 2006, then back to the condo in 2007, I’m done with labeling boxes, “Pillow, Bathroom Cabinet, Steak Knives, DVDS, Cat”.

2008: The year when all of our crap stays in one place.

Not to be hypocritical in my 08 dreams, I am also looking to shake things up a bit this year.  I feel the part-time job, part-time school, part-time volunteer gig has run its course.  The trick is, I have no clue which direction I want to take myself in.  I could look for full-time work.  I could just as easily decide to bite the bullet and apply for real-true school - a graduate degree - and focus on that.

Usually being undecided about shit like that drives me insane.  But strangely, I have a feeling that in the next few months things will take place that will make the decision a no-brainer for me.  

2008:  The year when I stop having to bring out a flow-chart when people ask me, “So what do you do?”

I would also like 2008 to be the year of better health, no dead pets, and dusting off my passport (weak dollar be damned!).

*My only true resolution is to recycle more.  In December I came to a boiling point with my local recyling center where they had changed around all the bins - excluding several key elements I had in my car at that moment.  I was so mad I did not let my doctor take my blood pressure 30 minutes later.  After Christmas, I went online searching for the end-all-be-all of recycling in Pinellas County and received a pleasant surprise.  The county is adopting new recycling methods.  Now there will be just “Countainers”, to include the previous-not-accepted tin cans, and “Paper”, which may be defined as cardboard, mixed paper, newspaper, what-have-you.

I have not actually returned to the center to see this grand idea in action.  But I decided that since they were making an effort, so would I.  This year, I resolve we will have less trash.  We will even save glass and recycle at the center down the road a bit since our center still doesn’t.

It may sound small, and perhaps too granola-y for some, but I’ve always recycled in that lazy when-the-bin-is-full-I-just-put-it-in-the-trash-because-hey-at-least-I’m-recycling-SOMETHING kind of way.  It’s something I want to change.

What are your resolutions?  Your hopes?