2005/01/01

2005/01/01 First Diary Entry in 2005

It is 6 p.m. now and I am sitting at the dining table typing my first diary entry in 2005. Yesterday, there was a “Noon Year’s Eve” for family and children. I took off from work earlier around noon and sat on the bench in the street enjoying my polish sausage sandwich. It was a nice, warm sunny day. I counted down with kids and their parents at 12 p.m. Happy 2005!!

In the evening, I still believed the old tradition that we need to clean up the house before the New Year. So I spent some time cleaning up the house and washing the dishes. As for count-down event, although I was worried about going out alone late at night, I checked the live local news and decided to join the crowd. I walked down the street and saw many people line up to get a glass of beer or a funnel cake.

Walking around the street aimlessly in the last few hours of 2004, I found that those Starbucks employees are the only people I know at that time. Since I was a loyal customer, they know me by my name, too. But obviously, they were really busy. I watched them over the window and decided to head towards the other side of the street. Music was loud and some people were dancing happily on the street. I took some pictures but then felt a bit uneasy to stand on the street alone. I called a few friends and happily, Pan picked up the phone. It was nice to have someone to say Happy New Year to. No worry, with the loneliness, I still had my smile on in the first minute of 2005.

I went to bed late but woke up this morning with the first beam of sunshine and said Happy New Year to myself quietly. I started to bake a carrot cake and did my laundry. The carrot cake mix went out pretty well. I enjoyed it with some milk. I played the CD that I borrowed from the library, Ella Fitzgerald’s jazz music. Suddenly, I realized that jazz is not the type of music when you feel lonely. Honestly, I felt quite empty recently but I told myself things will turn better after I settle down at the new place where I plan to move in soon.

I have already got several plans for my new life – Chinese calligraphy, hand-craft, painting, baking and exercising so I am pretty looking forward to the changes of pace. However, I know that life has changed a little bit too fast for me to catch up from the second half of 2004 – internship, moving, last quarter of school, job hunting, working from home, going back to Taiwan, working at Chicago, graduating from school, relocating to Charlotte, house-hunting, new colleagues and environment and lastly, all those friendship and emotion binding. I guess I am quite overwhelmed by these fast-changing life events.

With the coming of 2005, I pray for being happy, healthy and wise. In other words, as the old saying goes, early to bed and early to rise – my 2005 New Year’s resolution.

Happy New Year! I am so lucky to have you as my friends and family.

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