Despite the recent unfortunate circumstances, 2000 has been an amazing year for me.

I got my green card. The one thing that ensures I won’t get kicked out of the country, unless I do something illegal of course. Ever since I got a job, I’d been working endlessly to get this small, and not green but white card. Thanks to my amazing and patient lawyer and loads of luck, I am now the proud owner of a plastic that says I am a permanent resident of the United States thanks to my Extraordinary Ability in the field of Information Technology. A huge ordeal that took me over three years of blood and sweat is finally over.

I changed my job and my hours. If I had to describe my last job in one word I would most definitely choose “pain”. There are many others that leap to mind but that is the most prominent one. Thankfully and luckily, after I returned from my business trip and got my green card, I found the balls to finally get myself out of this emotionally abusive relationship between me and my job. Now, I work three days a week at a job I adore and I didn’t even have to change firms.

I lived and worked in Japan for six months and learned Japanese. I don’t like being alone. I didn’t know a word of Japanese and the Japanese, for the most part, don’t speak much English. All my friends recommended against this trip. But I went anyway. I’m still not sure why. But I am so glad I did. If nothing else, I learned that I can be on my own. Important life lesson.

I started volunteering weekly. I’ve wanted to be more active with my volunteer efforts for years. I’ve also wanted to practice and master sign language. I put these together and started volunteering at the New York Society for the Deaf. I learn something new each week and I love meeting different people.

I got Laser Eye Surgery. This was unplanned and not an active wish but it changed my life drastically. It was one of the most painless, speedy and amazing operations of my life. it had no after effects, no pain and outstanding results. Last time I could see without my glasses, I was ten years old. This is beyond incredible.

I did so much more. I quit Diet Coke. I started exercising five times a week. My relationship with Jake improved tenfold. I started my second novel. I started writing this website. I kept up my reading and classes. I learned more about art. I made new friends. I celebrated my nephews’ first birthday and my mother’s fiftieth. I felt happy.

It wasn’t all good, of course. It had its bad moments. I lost a friend. I didn’t lose weight. I’m still unsure of my career path. I should be eating healthier. I slipped two discs on my back. And I’m sure there were many other painful moments that I cannot now recall.

But to be fair, I’d have to admit 2000 was good to me.

As for 2001, all I want next year is to be a better person, inside and out.

Previously?

I celebrate New Year’s. I mean really celebrate it. I make resolutions, I stress about what to wear, where to go, what presents to get. I want everything to be perfect.

As you might have already guessed, everything goes wrong. Two years in a row, Jake and I spent the stroke of midnight in a fight. No bubblies, no laugher, no pretty dresses, just screaming and tears.

After the disaster of last year, I decided that from now on, Jake and I were to spend New Year’s out of town. I figured, and he agreed, that if we leave town, I won’t be stressed worrying about everything being perfect and will be delighted just to be out of town.

So we made plans. First it was the Galapagos, then Cuba, and then the Bahamas. After they all fell through, we finally settled on a trip to Savannah with Jake’s family. The location didn’t matter to me, I just wanted it not to be New York.

When I got real sick at the beginning of December, I panicked about the planned vacation. The doctor told me to relax and that I’d make it to my vacation no problem. So I skipped everything to ensure I’d get to go on this vacation. I didn’t go to my volunteer job three weeks in a row, I missed Jake’s family’s annual Christmas party, I spent endless hours on my couch, getting bedsores just so I could make it to Savannah. This New Year’s would be fun, even if it meant ruining December.

Two days before our trip, I felt 1000% better. I could sit, walk and stand without much pain. I was ready for Savannah and I knew it was ready for me. We took the train from New York to Boston (where Jake’s parents live) and celebrated Christmas with them. On the morning of the 26th, all of us went to the airport. My back had started aching slightly but I figured I’d keep up my exercises and rest a lot and things would be fine.

Well it didn’t turn out that way.

The morning after we got to Savannah, I woke up with acute pain. Jake and I walked around for an hour and pain shot up and down my legs. In the last month, the one thing doctors had asked me was whether the pain went down to my legs and it never had. They kept saying that as long as the pain didn’t go down, I was fine. And now it was going down. All the way to my toes.

We went back to the hotel and after several hours of sleep, the pain wouldn’t stop. Finally, I called my doctor and he says my MRI results are back and I have two herniated discs on my back. He said if the pain is back I should come back home and have bed rest for a few days. He goes, “You can get up to go to the bathroom, but no moving otherwise.” Gee. Thanks.

Lumbar 3/4 and 4/5. Two discs for the price of one.

Jake and I take the 6:30am plane back to New York. I spend all Thursday in bed. Today I went to my physical therapist and pain is attacking my back, my legs, my knees.

Here we are, two days before the year is over and I am to lie in bed for twenty minutes and walk around the house for twenty minutes as I alternate between having heat and cold applied to my back.

Happy New Year.

Previously?