I saw this meme making the rounds a couple of months ago and marked it to do at a later date because I didn't have the time then. My usual partner in crime, jalabert, is visiting our other partner in crime, opinionatedmuse, in Ohio this week and Joe is out of town so I'm left at loose ends. Thus, the really, really long meme of extreme navel gazing. Boring, really, so I've hidden it behind the LJ cut.

20 years ago...
1986 - A very good year. 20 years ago I was in Cambridge, enjoying my first time away from home while I took some summer classes. I studied marine biology and neurobiology. I had my first real boyfriend. Heh - I impressed him because I was the first female he'd met that summer who was taking all science courses. Were we geeks or what? For the first time, everyone around me was as smart as I was and there were plenty who were way, way smarter. Good times. It was cool to not be the dorky geek, although that never really bothered me. Certainly not enough to change.

15 years ago...
1991 - Big changes. Finished up my independent research thesis on identifying faunal remains from a prehistoric site we'd dug we'd done in West Texas the year before. Dr. Susan MacIntosh was back and teaching for the first time in 3 years. I went back to take both human evolution and human osteology from her. I learned more from her in 2 classes than I had in almost all my other classes combined.

Oh my god - human osteology was damned difficult but I loved it. We had weekly lab practicals where various fragments of bone from archaeological sites were passed around and I think it was 3 minutes we had with each bone to I.D. it, side it, possibly sex it (if it was pelvic), and identify two or three marked features. Not so easy to learn 206 bones in 15 weeks - especially when we learned on medical specimens rather than archaeological ones. It's MUCH harder to recognize and side a fragment of a tibia than it is a whole one. That's the only university course I took, though, where I walked away with a marketable skill in my field.

Became a professional archaeologist for real. For the first time, I put my Marshalltown trowel to use full-time.

10 years ago...
1996 - Oh boy. Museum flunky at the MFA Houston.

I wanted to work in an archaeological museum and I'd gotten experience in curating, cataloguing, and talking to the public when I worked in Wyoming during my summers, so I'd gone to the MFA to get experience on the business side of coin. I was responsible for licensing museum images and arranging professional photo sessions of the museum's acquisitions. This made sense because I knew exactly squat about copyright law and professional photography. Talk about a learning curve. Loved copyright law but hated the politics of the museum.

We moved to our current house. Joe and I moved back into Houston-proper from the northern suburban hinterlands. I'd gotten a lot of culture shock going from Montrose to Bellaire to The Woodlands. *shiver*

5 years ago...
2001 - Hmm. Not a good year.

Bush sworn into office after a presidential election marked by severe election irregularities.

My wonderful dog, whom I'd adopted on my 20th birthday, died after a struggle with osteosarcoma. Joe and I did, however, adopt our two rescue dogs almost immediately afterwards. I still miss my baby but the boys bring me a lot of happiness.

500-year flooding in Houston when Tropical Storm Allison hit Houston. Twice. To quote Wiki about the rainfall, "...6.3 inches (160 mm) fell in just one hour, while 28.5 inches (724 mm) fell in only 12 hours. The six-day rainfall in Houston amounted to 38.6 inches (980 mm)...Two-thirds of the bayous and creeks in Harris County experienced 500-year flood events. Houston, which typically receives 46.07 inches (1170 mm) of rain in a year, experienced 35.7% of its expected total in the first nine days of June."

In this picture, that 18 wheeler is floating. You can see a sign indicating a bridge clearance of 14' 4" and you can see that the water comes to about the bottom of the bridge in the background. When the waters receded, the floating 18 wheelers were deposited on top of cars caught in the flash floods. In hindsight, I think it helped us understand in a visceral way just how much New Orleans residents needed our help last year. I like to think it made us more compassionate and better able to respond.

I don't think there's any forgetting the Al Qaeda attack on the U.S. There really is no positive I can find in it yet. It hasn't united Americans (e.g., gay marriage votes) and I don't feel as if we're pursuing those responsible or working as effectively as we should to prevent future attacks.

3 years ago...
2003 - Visited Vancouver for the first time ever. Fell in love with the city. Vancouver in October was overcast and misty but I'm a fan of rain so it was glorious! Joe and I spent several days walking around town, playing tourist and then I spent a day geeking at the UBC Archaeology Museum while he was working. Went to Virginia for a family wedding and enjoyed a couple of side trips to Williamsburg and Kitty Hawk. Last time I saw my grandmother in sufficient health to travel with her wheelchair. She danced (a tiny bit) at the wedding.

Met jalabert, opinionatedmuse, and superl99 in person in scenic Ohio for the first time after spending lots and lots of time online with them. superl99's parents kindly hosted jalabert and me. Fortuitous because meeting Tom was a privilege. We took a side trip to Indiana one day to meet other online friends and visit museums. Sheltered in a Starbucks while weather sirens warned of a tornado. Had an excellent time.

1 year ago...
2005 - A mixed bag.

The good? Attended two Stargate cons: Dallas and New Jersey. Met lots of great new people, fellow Teryl Rothery fans, in Dallas (reconnecting with two of them, katiedammit and abydosdork, here on LJ) and got to see friends I'd made the year before at the NJ con. Hi, selmak, majorsamfan, and triciabyrne1978! Also? Got to visit with friends afterwards. mcroft and immlass hosted me, took me to museums and lovely local restaurants. We toured The City, taking pictures of NYC architecture, the WTC site, and generally having fun. jalabert accompanied me on my marathon visits to the Met and Cloisters. Toured scenic western NJ as well, visiting graveyards old enough to have Revolutionary War Vets buried there. Met my good friend and fellow Michael Shanks enthusiast Mick in person. Had a couple of lovely dinners together and he took me for a ride on the Toys 'R Us ferris wheel in Time Square. Good Times.

I visited my grandmother, whose health was again failing. It was very hard to see her suffering but I am so very grateful I did. All that NJ/NY fun was immediately after my grandmother's funeral. Flew straight from Florida to NJ. So, for all the fun I was having, I was really rather shell-shocked. It's a good thing I took so many pictures because I don't really remember very much of it. :|

So far this past year...
Lots of weird family things. My father died after a protracted stay in the hospital. I met four siblings for the first time. Learned I have a niece and nephew. Met an uncle for the first time. Met my father's mother for the first time since I was 10. At my grandmother's funeral the year before, it became clear that I'm related to probably half of St. Augustine. Adding them to the family I added this year, I think I've expanded my universe of family by a fctor of 10. It's a little overwhelming at times.

I met msjudi and vibrant_daphne in person. Attended the Pride Parade for the first time.

I've started playing with Photoshop and have discovered that it's tons of fun.

Yesterday...
Wednesday - was nothing special. Survived a 3 hour lunch meeting. Usually Wednesday nights are when my brother comes over for dinner but he's moving this weekend and was busy with packing and generally preparing to move. Joe flew to California to attend the snooty car show held in Pebble Beach. A week of car geeking for the man. He's in heaven. :)

Today...
Thursday - Hmm. Nothing of note today. Joe is out of town and my usual playfriends, jalabert and opinionatedmuse, are visiting in Ohio again so I'm on my own and boring my f-list with looooong memes... ;-)

Tomorrow...
Friday!! Woot! Everything looks better on Friday. :)

In the next year...
I need some goals, don't I?

Mostly, I'm hoping to get through it without any more family deaths. I've been averaging one a year for the past four years and that's more than enough for me. I have two trips planned for NJ - one in mid-September for the wedding of a good friend I've known since high school and another trip to the NJ Stargate con. I'm looking forward to seeing friends when I'm not shell-shocked. Also? I have big plans to visit the Brooklyn Museum. the Egyptian and Assyrian collections are rumored to be stunning. :)