New Year's Eve 2006

December 31, 2006 - The last day of the year - and I can't wait to say goodbye to '06.

Looking back, I wouldn't say 2006 was a really bad year - but the way that this year has ended has pretty much erased any good will that had accumulated over the past 11 months. It was a year of more changes, more growth, and more challenges. It was also a year of tremendous sadness and heartbreaks.

So I looked back at my New Year's Eve 2005 post and see if I had set out to do everything I wanted to do in '06. Here was what I wrote back then:

Looking forward to 2006: well I guess my job is more stable now that I'm no longer on contract - at least now I know I have a permanent job! So what would I like to do in 2006? definitely would like to travel more, take a couple of courses or two (cooking class is on top of my list now), gain weight (man, that should be my priority eh..), read more often, and experience more of what the City has to offer =) Would be nice if I could save enough for a down payment by the end of the year too...

Let's see here - well in '06, I switched jobs (found a better one + a promotion too); I definitely traveled (Europe + NYC + the occasional weekend trip); joined the gym and did a 10K run; I took a course (European architecture); read slightly more I guess (5 books? i know i could read more!); and did try to check out the city as much as I could! So I guess I did a lot of what I had hoped to do in '05...

I think I will blog about what I want to do in '07 later - but I have a few things in mind. The first of course is to get over and move on from all the shit that happened this month. =S

As for how I'm celebrating the new year? sadly, just like how I welcomed '06 last year: home, bored, alone. So that's the one thing that I haven't achieved, as I recall from last year:

Another new goal for 2006: countdown at Times Square in New York City next New Year's Eve! but I guess a more realistic one would be: err..try not to be alone on New Year's Eve...

Goodbye '06, and everything that goes with it. So many dreams, so much promise - but you turned out to be a bust after all.

[edit: I was pretty depressed when I wrote that - so now that I've had time to calm down, I have to say that 2006 was not all doom and gloom. It was a great year in terms of personal growth and I really did a lot of what I had set out to do this year. I am looking forward to '07 - and I think I know what I'll need to do to make the most out of the new year =)]