Once again, I'm a slacker - it's been two years since my last Christmas letter. But I actually have some pretty good excuses this time. In the last two years, I've been unemployed, went to Taiwan and South Africa, got a new job, bought a Mac, and my boyfriend and I moved in together. All good stuff.
So let's start things off with my unemployment:
You may recall from my Christmas 2005 letter (which I think I actually sent March 2006) that I quit my job at a daily newspaper to spend a month in Taiwan for free through this Rotary program called Group Study Exchange.
Long story short, I adored Taiwan. I wrote lots of emails home about it and posted them to my blog if you're ever interested in hearing more (see March 2007, "Taiwan nostalgia").
Then I came home in April '06, unemployed. Contrary to what your employers would have you believe, unemployment is AWESOME. I was very productive, too. I cleaned my entire apartment, I mooched food from my family, and I was a bridesmaid in my cousin's wedding. So I got a lot done and had a lot to do. It felt good.
Money was a problem, however. Mostly because I was running out of it. So I got myself a job at Sposto Interactive, a web advertising and design firm. I've been there more than a year now, working as a copywriter and project manager. It's a pretty fun place to work, and by far the best job I've had so far in terms of salary, benefits and flexibility. So I'm grateful for the job, but I have to admit, unemployment is way more fun.
I was working at Sposto about three months before I started getting restless, which worked out because it's also about the time I had the opportunity to go to South Africa. Kevin (my wonderful boyfriend of two years) decided to apply to the Rotary Group Study Exchange too, and they sent him to South Africa for the month of September. So I flew down in October to meet him and we spent two weeks there together. It's an amazing place. My beautiful and immensely generous friend Mia let us stay with her in Johannesburg and she took us to all sorts of places around Jo-burg. We also went up to Kruger National Park, and I saw LIONS and GIRAFFES and RHINOS and BABOONS and all kinds of crazy animals.
Another place Mia took me to was Boikarabelo, an AIDS orphanage and village about an hour away from Jo-burg. Most of you have heard all about it from me before, so I will just say that I was so completely touched by this place that I came back and told my bosses (the Spostos) about it, and the Spostos said we could build them a wicked cool website for free so the orphanage can get donations. Now I want to get lots of people to donate because they need lots of help. You can check out the Boikarabelo website we made at www.boikarabelo.org. You can donate there, too (hint, hint).
And then, just when you thought I couldn't possibly put myself in any more debt, I bought a Mac! A MacBook laptop to be exact. Oh, and it's sooo beautiful. There are no words to truly express the love I feel for this machine. It completes me. Just like it completed my credit limit.
Speaking of things that complete me, Kevin and I moved in together in August '07. We share a small, one-bedroom apartment, but it's nice. And guess what? He is STILL madly in love with me, despite my nagging! But of course, I am still madly in love with him despite his complete disorganization and chronic lateness. We're pathetic really, all lovey-dovey and gross. We're almost obnoxious, but not quite. We at least have the decency to gag at how pathetic we are.
So there are my 2006 and 2007 in a very large, very wordy nutshell. I have no big plans yet for 2008, but you never know. Believe it or not, I actually almost paid off my debt from the last two years, so you know, I'm already thinking about what I can do to hit my credit limit again. I'll keep you posted.
I hope you all are doing well and enjoying life and the holiday season, wherever you are in the world.
Happy Holidays to all and a very Happy New Year too!
With love and affection,
~mandy
No comments:
Post a Comment