Farewell to the 00s

Is this title correct?  I'm not sure.  What did people say during the first decade of the 1000s?

I digress.

But I'm still curious to know.

Anyway, starting a new year never really phases me.  It's just another day.  But it's weird to think about changing to a new decade.  Last time that happened, there was fear of computers crashing, and people were scrambling to stock up on non-perishables in case the world ended.  Ha!  As if food would be of any benefit if the world ended.  People never cease to amuse me.

As a thirteen-year-old, I wasn't too concerned about Y2K, but I do remember that I had to leave my friend T.J.'s New Year's Eve party at 11:50 so that I could be safe under the roof of my parents' home when the clock struck midnight.  I remember it being awfully embarrassing to be the only girl in the 7th grade who wasn't allowed to stay at the party to ring in the new year.

Thanks, Mom and Dad.

This New Year's Eve was nothing special.  I sat on my couch by myself and graded 100 fictional stories written by my 6th graders.  A party animal, I am!

For white noise, I listened as various television networks had their end-of-the-decade countdowns of sorts.  Top 20 celebrity mistakes of the decade, top songs of the decade, top news stories of the decade, and on, and on, and on.  It was actually kind of interesting for me, as the 00s was the first decade that I can remember entirely.  So, I could remember all of the news stories, all of the songs, and all of the celebrity mishaps.

I even stayed up long enough to watch this:


The more that I think about it, the more I realize what a big decade it was for me.

• My family hosted a foreign exchange student from France.
• I got confirmed.
• I finished middle school.
• I started high school.
• I watched as my country was attacked by terrorists.
• I flew on a plane for the first time.
• I lost a grandparent for the first time.
• I graduated from high school.
• I joined the NASC Volunteer Staff.
• I started college.
• I ended up on crutches and in physical therapy due to an ankle injury.  Three times.
• I drank coffee for the first time in my life.
• I got a credit card.
• I lost two more grandparents.
• I found a new church home.
• I mentored a TeamMate until she graduated from high school.
• I voted in my first election.  For a Black president.  And he won. 
• I got kidney stones.  Twice.
• I watched some of my best friends get married and start families.
• I graduated from college.
• I lost touch with some of my best friends.
• I met some new friends.
• I moved into my first apartment.
• I started my first big-girl job.
• I survived my first year of teaching.
• I started a blog.
• I started graduate school.
• I bought a brand-new car.

So, lots of major life events took place.  The 00s was a fun, adventurous, and challenging decade for me, and I have high hopes that the 10s will be just as great.