Looking back, and forward

I saw this on another blog (which, of course, I can't find again), and liked the idea. It's perhaps a little self-indulgent, but after all, so is this blog.

10 years ago: 1996. I was living in Charlotte, NC. I had just moved in to share a house with a friend, where I was very happy. She and I were very compatible housemates, without being joined at the hip. We had similar ideas about when windows should be open or closed, and how frequently cleaning needed to happen, and we both cleaned out the lint trap on the dryer every time. Don't discount little stuff like that, it's far more important in a housemate than agreeing on religion or politics. (I wonder, if she hadn't died in 1999, would I have moved back north?) My cat-from-childhood, Honey, was alive and purring. I was working at Barnes & Noble, doing receiving (hiding in the back being the only way I survived retail as long as I did). Overall, it was a good time in my life.

5 years ago: 2001. Just after the terrorist attacks, I was still very jumpy. Still in Charlotte, but starting to think about moving north again. Out of retail, I had one of those get-me-a-job-that-isn't-retail jobs, where I liked the people around me and my immediate bosses, but above that, not the greatest company to work for. It was a time of transition for me.

1 year ago: 2005. I was in a new job that I had a very good feeling about (and rightly so, as it's turned out). Back in Massachusetts for a couple of years, resettling into winter weather (ugh, that's why I moved in the first place). Thinking about restarting the condo search, which was suspended before it got started when my last job announced the site was closing and you're all going to be unemployed.

1 month ago: Mid-November. Driving myself crazy with packing at home, working on catalog at work. Crazy time.

Yesterday: Sort of normal life. Worked, went to Walmart after work to buy shoes (actually, they're ankle boots; I bought a pair last week in black, and they're so comfy, I went back for the brown), got Chinese take-out, did laundry. Nice and normal, with plenty of kitty-cuddles.

Tomorrow: Literally, more of yesterday. Metaphorically, who knows? I'm in a very happy place right now, and hope very much to be as happy in the future. If I make my list and find the real Mr. Right, that would be great, but if not, you know what? That's okay. I'm good.