Everybody else is doing it, why can't I? Several diarists/bloggers have posted year-end retrospectives today, so in the spirit of shamelessly stealing a good idea, here you go:

January:
I recover from a luxurious two week vacation. I start my second semester at school and decide to take only one class. I take up knitting and make it through a few classes before giving up because I’ve got too much else going on.

February:
My grandfather dies and Cory gets an awful case of strep throat which means he can’t go to the funeral in Turlock. I drive down with my brother instead. It is a very, very cold day.

We go to see Sleater-Kinney and I start a months-long obsession with Lolita.

The nightclub fire tragedy in Rhode Island means I work a 14-hour day. When I finally get home that night I am too tired to go out with the rest of the gang to a great/scary dive bar. It will be just one of many missed social opportunities this year.

March:
I buy a new car and on the very same day Amanda Davis dies. These two things will now forever be oddly linked in my brain.
Oh yeah, and the U.S. goes to war.

April:
I enjoy my status as one of the top Google searches for Meg White Boobs. I interview Rachel Weisz who is not very nice. We attend a memorial reading for Amanda and the basketball playoffs start.

May:
John Cusack pisses me off. I go to my to first Kings game and my playoffs obsession continues. I also finish my class with an A and the comforting knowledge that I can put Lolita to rest for a while.

June:
Liz Phair pisses me off. I start an independent study class that I won’t finish until December and read the new Harry Potter book in a 14.5-hour marathon. I interview Pamela Anderson, but Jeremy Sisto stands me up - which is a real insult after having to sit through Wrong Turn. Punk.

Cory rubs elbows with Mike Bibby in the magazine section at Virgin Records.

America’s Next Top Model becomes my new best friend.

July:
A trip to the Grand Canyon has to be cancelled after my cat gets sick and we need to spend a lot of money at the vet -- and a lot of time giving her medicine.

I become hooked on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and HBO’s Project Greenlight and watch a lot of TV.

August:
We go to the Playboy Mansion and get drunk making fun of the bunnies.

I watch the entire Tim McGraw: Driven VH-1 special.

Cory and The Haints play four shows at the True Love.

I start my third semester of grad school and become a recluse once more.

September:
I get a camera phone. We go to Michelle & Richard’s wedding in Monterey and have a blast helping them celebrate a wonderful day.
Both Johnny Cash and John Ritter die.

October:
We go to St. Louis to see the Ghoulies open for Chuck Berry and I’m treated like a potential terrorist at the airport. Elliot Smith dies, Arnold is elected governor of California and I think about having a nervous breakdown.

The new Kings season starts and for Cory’s birthday we go see George Jones in Reno.

On the first cold day of the year we turn on our heater and shut it off after about an hour because it’s emitting a really strong gas odor. Later that night I wake up about 2 a.m. and realize we’d only turned it down –the house reeks of gas again. Sleepily, I shut it off. A few days later a heating repair guy tells us that because of a crappy roof repair job that contractors did this summer, one of our vents is clogged and when we turn on the heater it fills our house with carbon monoxide. That lovely scent of gas turns out to be a life-saving side effect. We’re thrilled to learn that we were thisclose to dying.

November:
Tom and Rachel’s wedding in Monterey is too beautiful for words. I have way too much work and school stuff, fret a lot about my writing and become super-obsessed with Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping and don’t blog very much.

December:
I decide to try and blog every day for the month as part of Holidailies and am surprised that a) not only do I do it -- but b) I actually enjoy the effort.

I wrap up my third and hardest semester at Mills by finishing two term papers, one short story and several assignments. I finally finish the independent study that I started in June.

Christmas hangs over me like a heavy, suffocating avalanche. Once again I contemplate a nervous breakdown. I bake more cookies, candies and breads than can possibly be consumed by friends and family and their friends and family.

I finally dig the new Shins record.

Cory’s grandmother dies.

I consider asking Cory if we can run away from home when the next holiday season comes around.

Cory plays his first show with Baby Grand.

I swear off New Year’s resolutions and try to enjoy the moments of peace that are few and far between.