I really don’t know what to say anymore. This year has had its up and downs, and it’s finally getting closer to it’s own closure. I’m just about always at a loss for words when it comes to writing this thing, so I’m just going to attempt putting my thoughts down on here, no matter how disjointed or cohesive they may be.

The year, started out as any other crappy year of the last decade (all of them). Working a dead-end job. Didn’t do anything for NYE, and definitely did not have any fun. Actually, I went to bed early, if I recall correctly. Auld Lang Syne be damned.

February, I believe, is when we were hit with a rather devastating ice storm. I’m not going to mention more about this since, IF anyone reads this, most likely they went through it as well. Oh, yeah. And before I forget, I got my cat, Pixie, on Valentines Day. The ONE day I despise most.

Sometime in March, I got extremely sick one Saturday evening. It FIRST started at Johnny Bs after supper. Chronic stomach pain, and a mad-dash for the restroom. Felt a bit better after that, but was still queasy for the remainder. Of course, it wasn’t over. Later in the evening at Bacchus, I had developed a major headache toward the lower back of my head, at the top of the neck. Not an hour after the headache started, I left early due to the excessive pain. After arriving home, I decided to lay in bed. Not 20 minutes after laying there, my body was becoming stiff and no longer limber, sore, and absolutely pained. Around 2:30 that night, I developed an extremely persistent and painful cough. All of this culminated on Monday when I finally started vomiting and completely unable to move, eat, or even rest. After doing some research, I had exhibited MANY signs of the H1N1 influenza virus. Obviously, I finally got better and got rid of that damned cough.

A few weeks after, me and my friend, Duane, decided head to Lexington for a night of partying and possible debauchery. Matt had JUST bought a house a few months ago, and he invited us to come up and party. That night was first of many visits, mostly due in part to a Finnish girl, and visiting my friends. Subsequently, I spent several weekends in Lexington to spend time with Matt, and Niina. Unfortunately for me and her, she had to return to her homeland in May, and hasn’t been back since.

Summertime was fun with the weekly Sunday outings to Windy Hollow to swim. It was a great time and all, except for the fact that it caused my sinus and inner ear infection that I couldn’t shake for almost 3 months. What started out as an assumed problem with a wisdom tooth or cavity was actually something I could consider FAR worse. I have NEVER ever been in that much pain. I can tolerate a lot of pain (such as being on fire, falling out of a moving truck at 50 mph, getting run over by a 4-wheeler, etc), but for my jaw to hurt so bad I am crying? That’s more pain than I’ve ever had in my life. I suffered throughout that pain for 3 months, and at first, Tylenol or aspirin would stop the pain. Eventually though, it became so bad that medicine wasn’t working, and I couldn’t even sleep, eat, or drink without hurting considerably.

Finally, in July, everything came crashing down. I got laid off from my job at Unilever. Sure, they refused to hire me, and I found out EXACTLY why, but I’m not legally at liberty to talk about it due to some of the information provided. I saw it, at first, as an opportunity. I set up everything so I could move in, temporarily, with Matt and the guys in Lexington, and attempt to find a job. After setting up several interviews, I continued to get turned down for jobs. Leading up to November, I finally thought I may have found a job. One problem, though. They REFUSED to hire me, because I was going to be in a wedding on one of their “training days”. W.T.F… They couldn’t just delay the training until AFTER the wedding? No, of course not. So I spent the next month leading up to the wedding, stressing out over going in to “interview” for the job which they told me I should get when I walk in. That was a fucked up situation.

In between July and November, I somehow managed to go to several concerts. I went to see Rev Theory and Shinedown in Louisville for free during the Kentucky State Fair. A short time later, I wound up going to Chicago to see Willie Nelson and Dave Matthews Band with Jeff, Katie, and some other awesome people. Just days later, I won a free ticket and VIP pass to see In Flames, Between the Buried and Me, 3 Inches of Blood and The Faceless. Got to meet In Flames, and got a bunch of shit signed. Twas awesome. Then a few weeks later, my roommate won free tickets to see Five Finger Death Punch, Shadows Fall, Otep and 2Cents at the same venue, and gave me one. That was a great show, too.

Now, back to November. The weekend of the wedding, I was stressing. Starting to run low on money, needing a job immediately, I had an interview the Friday before my friend’s wedding. Friday: Interview. Saturday: Wedding. Saturday night, me, Jeff and Drew went down to the Royce with our cameras and equipment to prepare for a big event the next morning. Owensboro, with TLC filming for a show, was imploding the Executive Inn on Sunday morning. After a few hours hanging out at the Royce, we finally went outside to set up our cameras and equipment. We took many shots in the final hours and moments of the Big E. The rest of the morning, after the implosion, included a trip to Windy Hollow Restaurant for breakfast and to look over the photos and filming we did.

That very next day, Monday, came a big surprise for me. It was, by far, the best day I’ve had in YEARS. I got called back, and offered the job! This is where I want to thank Nathan, Jeff, Drew, Katie, Courtney, Ross, Steve, Nick and everyone else that supported me! I finally got a job to use my degree and skills 2 years after graduation from Murray State University.

Speaking of graduation, yesterday happened to be the exact 2 year anniversary of my graduation from Murray State University.