Taking Stock 2009

Before I even start tori for here, I just wan greet una. I feel like I've been away from blogsville for a minute. I mean, I hella used to update like 2x a week and now the tori don change...blame it on time constraints. How was your holiday season? I hope that Santa brought you all that you wished for and more.

Aniwoos on to the short thing of the long thing, I saw this on Taynement's blog and said that I was sooo gonna tiff it, so here I am in all my thievery. Join me as I recap 2009 in a coupla bits and pieces.

Faith
If you read and remember, you will know that I'm very hot and cold with my faith. Today I wanna be a pastor's wife and tomorrow, the inner slutacious bad girl takes the lead. I mean, I started '09 off in hot hot mode, I even temporarily quit drinking and err that was major 'cos I usually never say no to anything that involves the good sizzurp. I actually considered working in church too as I felt kinda ready to take that step. Today, what is the story? I haven't been to church in a minute, have abandoned the concept of paying tithes (but I no fit skip offering sha) and the bad girl is totally dominating the world. I just know that sometimes God looks down at me and sighs...but I think that with religion I tend to be so black and white about things that sometimes I just feel this ridiculous pressure to not do X Y Z 'cos that is not what a good christian girl should do, and I'm learning to not be so hard on myself. Like for the longest time I refused to go to church because I felt that it was pointless if I was still gonna get into the same ol' sin from Mon-Sat, ya dig? So for the 2010, I hope to just take things one step at a time and see how things go with the big G up there.

Family
I have what I like to call a 'very interesting' family, however my immediate fam has always been the constant and I love them dearly. I thank God that 2009 kept my family safe and sound through the ups and downs of the year...especially my parents who live in Port Harcourt where kidnappings have been so rampant. May 2010 bring greater things for us ooo.

Friendship
Ahhh the good ol' friends. I love them folk, I really do. For the most part, everyone remained constant 'cept for one in which the dynamics changed but that was cool with me, it was a long time coming. This year I definitely learned that sometimes the fact that 'we've been friends for X years' does not always cut it if ish is just plain ol' stagnant. A good chunk of my friends are long distance and I would have loved to see everyone more often but we still ultimately got to see each other so that was good. I also met some new folk and I reconnected with others. All in all, I will say that it was a good year for friendships and I truly appreciate and feel blessed by these very diverse group of individuals.

Finances
I have money saved but I could have definitely put more away. To voltron for myself, I splurged on a bit of travel this year. On a better note, I made some grown up decisions concerning my cash money so that was a plus. In terms of debt, I only have student loans + a car note and so thankfully, credit card payments are one less thing to deal with. Generally, the finances in 'O9 weren't too terrible sha but I could have done better.

Education/Career
In terms of the career, I think that I have what most people would call 'a good job' and I don't disagree, I feel blessed to be in my position. The education part na another tori. This year I definitely bounced back and forth between options sotay the thing no get part 2. Let's see... I randomly decided to go for an Msc in Forensic Accounting (I was genuinely interested in the program), applied and got accepted for Fall '09 and then took a step back and decided that it might not be as diverse and marketable if I decided to relocate to Naija. Then I did what I swore I'd never do and actually started considering getting an MBA. My argument for this was that an MBA is very marketable and in some instances is almost as good as having a CPA (in case I got lazy and decided not to go the CPA route), I got a GMAT prep book and had my action plan set. Then... I fell off, lost my motivation and started observing people who took/are taking the CPA exam. Do they have 2 heads? I'm scared of the darn exam but yes we can, abi? So I ditched the MBA plan and decided for real, for real to hop onto 'Operation conquer the CPA exam', after which I could take the CFE and CISA exams and call it a day in terms of certifications, and that is where I currently stand. Don't even think about shaking your head at me... I got this! :-D
Reminds me of how I bounced between Computer Science and Psychology for college major options before finally settling for Accounting. Hahahaha!

Relationships
LOL. People keep asking why I'm single like there's some tree out there where chicks go to pluck hot and sexy men. For the most part I feel like the caliber of men who approached me this year were just not cutting it at all, and I don't even consider myself to be unreasonably picky. It was either that they weren't serious candidates...(just on some plain iti kom kom levels), they appeared to be a little too traditional or I just was not feeling them...zero sex appeal, zero swag (I know the word is overplayed but it is oh so accurate), just generally came off as razz and bush, like abegi we can only have one razz person in a relationship and that will be moi, thank you very much. So for the '09, I was/am quite singular and in all honesty, I can't say that I have any complaints about that status.

Physical Health and Fitness
I guess this will be a good time to confess that I have never been to the gyno for those check ups where they stick a piece of metal up in your goodies *shudders*, nor have I been to see a doc for a physical in errr 9 years *hangs head in shame*... It's so terrible that my friends have often threatened to disown me. Somehow sha, I have remained healthy and free of ailments and things. I'm actually kinda scared to go to the doc sef, in case they discover something. Ignorance is bliss yeah? So I really don't make resolutions but I resolve to finally make use of my insurance and go and see a doc. Why else do they deduct X amount from my checks if I aint making use of it. Smh...
In terms of fitness, I was on some gym steez earlier this year, gymed often, ate right and lost 10-12lbs or more. Then I fell off and gained it back and I was trynna go out the other day and realized that I looked like a stuffed chicken in all my dresses...so err that's definitely not good *makes mental note to hit the gym real soon*. But all in all, I am alive and well so we thank God.

Addictions/Bad habits/Social Life
I'm a shopaholic. That's my sport... to heck with Basketball and Soccer. I have close to 80 pairs of shoes and a ishload of clothes and accessories to show for it. I will say though that I made some shopping improvements i.e buying ish that I really wanted as opposed to buying just because it was on sale or it came in my shoe size and that's major 'cos I used to be so guilty of shopping with no real aim/ambition. I thought I was an internet addict but these days I truly do not have time to even do much 'cept for check my email so maybe not. I thought I was addicted to my Blackberry till I had to go without it for a week and I truly didn't miss it up, so maybe not. I guess shopping = main vice. My social life was good, I mingled, interacted, danced, drank and had a good time but I also enjoyed quite a bit of homebody bumming around in PJ's all weekend type of days so I think that it was a nice balance.

Miscellaneous
All in all, I give 2009 a B+. I might not have appeared to have my ish entirely together but mentally, I felt great! This was one of my most confident years where I just felt like I was generally doing the damn thing. I felt wiser, smarter, hotter, sexier, more intelligent, more secure of myself, more comfortable in my skin. I felt like my relationships improved and in general I just felt like this was a really fun year . As I advance into the new year, I can only hope and pray that by 2010 year end, I will be rating that year as an A+ year.

There you have it. 2009 in a nutshell...and on a final note, I just wanna say a big THANK YOU to everyone who reads and comments, lurks and never comments, the people who deem this blog worthy to be followed, the people who have sent me random emails (they truly make me smile), the bloggers that I have gotten a chance to interact with off Blogsville...who have been so helpful and caring, and my blogsville fam in general. Thank you guys so much for riding 2009 with me. I am so glad that we didn't have to mourn any of our fellow bloggers this year and I pray that as we advance into a new one, God (or whatever forces you believe in) will continue to keep you safe, alive and healthy. May your new year be a great and fantabulous one worthy of a A+ rating.

Much love. We go all jam in the 2010...