Decade in Review Part Deux

So where were we?  Or more appropriately, when? Oh yeah.

2006
2006 was a big year for me workwise.  I learned to write grants, taught my first classes in my current program, and found out for real that faculty politics make Republicans and Democrats look tame.  Think Japan/Taiwan/South Korea where fights occasionally break out on the floor of the legislature.  And yet I STILL am doing it. You'd think I'd learn. DH rode his bike to work.  We bought dwarf citrus trees and rose bushes for our balcony, and then harvested our first lemons and blood oranges that fall.  I started singing in Caltech's Glee club again.  DH got in a bike accident and then (unrelatedly, actually) got a new bike.  Our next door neighbor had a gas leak when the repairman forgot to hook the line up to her hot water heater, which I discovered by driving into our shared garage.  Thank God there was a gas wrench handy. We started to plan to buy a house.  In October I traveled to Atlanta, where I met the awesome Mullethead, Zonker, and we drove to the wilds of Tennessee to Eric's house for the annual blogmeet.  I met so many of you wonderful folks and had a blast wearing the viking hat and listening to y'all get drunk, and of course, the Elderly Brothers.  Meanwhile, DH got to attend a pair of USC football games, including the Notre Dame game.

2007
The year we became real homeowners!  Starting in January, we began the long process of getting approved for and buying our house, which we moved into in May.  Memorial Day weekend, in fact.  I made the cardinal sin of taking a red eye to Detroit 3 days before we closed (for a conference I was to present at) and missed half the conference sleeping.  Then I booked out of there early so I could be here for the actual closing.  I won't go into all of the asshole tricks that the previous homeowners pulled, nor the unbelievable cheapass shit they thought they could get away with.  Most of that has already been chronicled here. We bonded with the house the day the refrigerator arrived: It was too big.  So we took the handy dandy jigsaw and cut the corner out of the closest kitchen cabinet.  It's my house, I can whack it if I want to, right?  We changed locks and light fixtures, planted flowers, and installed a new sink in the bathroom.  We poured money into fixing the foundation and getting a pointless wall heater removed. We also added on to the family, adopting Princess #2 (who is sleeping next to my feet as I type this!).

2008
2008 began COLD!  We got grandstand tickets to the Rose Parade and stayed up all night before going out at 5 AM to freeze our rears off.  I got lots of awesome pictures, though. Our next project was installing a dishwasher. We ripped out a cabinet we really didn't need (at least not as much as the dishwasher!) next to the sink and installed the damn thing ourselves.  That was easy.  What sucked was having to completely replumb the underside of the sink!  Well, all but the garbage disposal.  I guess it was jealous, though, as it became a casualty of the next earthquake we had, a few months later.  We also replumbed the entire tub/shower since it stopped working the day out-of-town company arrived!  We lost our plum tree courtesy of termites in the roots, and DH borrowed a chainsaw and hacked it to bits. We painted the front room and the bathroom. I started physical therapy, and then graduated to working in the pool on my own. Mom and I worked together on my first batch of jam (nectarine), and we performed the Brahms Requiem in Glee Club.  That was the most amazing performing experience of my life.  Too bad the orchestra sucked. In the fall, I began teaching Cell Biology for the first time.  I went a little nuts on Black Friday, but we totally hit a record number of stores before 7 am, even.  As you can imagine, Christmas was kind of crazy, especially since we were both sick as dogs.

2009
This past year has been all about work for both of us, with one project after another.  While I worked too much, DH installed a gorgeous paver stone driveway in the back yard.  That's really all I can say.  It has been a whirlwind of work and stress and not much else.  I did however, stop for a "staycation" in August.  We went to a lot of Dodger games, including Manny Bobblehead night and the game where the Dodgers beat Colorado to clinch the NL West. Bleacher Beach was the most fun I've ever had at a baseball game.  I started going to the regular gym rather than just the pool, because I was having a hard time challenging myself enough, physically in the water. We went to Disneyland for DH's birthday and had a wonderful time.  We even got "snowed" on.  I've made a ton of jam: Kiwi Pear Lime, Kiwi Strawberry, Apricot (twice), Caramel Pear, Strawberry, Triple Berry (twice), and Fig.   I even made a bunch of tiny jars as favors for a friend's wedding shower! I picked up the crochet hook again, and made a bunch of Christmas presents.

So that's about it, I think. Did I forget anything major?