As requested by various people (NAMING NO NAMES), here's a table of contents for this entry:
1. Brief introduction
2. Review of my mental health in 2009 (warning for srs bsns and sentimentality)
3. Broad-brush review of my 2000-2009 (warning for further srs bsns)
4. Recap of the new year festivities
5. My new year's resolutions
6. Close

1.
OK, it's time for one of those 'hey, it's the end of the year, let's have a srs think about things' entries.

So, I'm feeling pretty positive now we're moving into 2010 (and not just because of the snow outside!)

2.
My 2009 was a mixed year. I started out in a pretty bad place, mentally. It's not something I've really brought up on this blog because of TMI, SRS BSNS, and 'oh man, this is boring'. But, well, the story is: I started suffering from pretty bad anxiety at the end of 2008. (You can thank my MA disertation for that orz) And while it only threatened to be debilitating on a couple of days, it was still pretty constant.

I didn't get better as quick as I thought I was going to get better, and Christmas 2008 and New Year 2008/9 were not really much fun at all.

But do you know what? All I really needed was time. I have slowly improved throughout the year, and Christmas 2009 feels a world away to how I felt in Christmas 2008. I'm not free from my anxiety by any means (and when I think about things, it was probably always there, even before 2008, I just didn't have a name to put to it) but I'm pretty sure that I'm going to keep getting better as the year goes on.

At this point I'd like to give a big shout out to all my friends and family for helping to take my mind off things so wonderfully. I had a lot of fun in 2009, I really did. And a special shout out to Auto, Orange and Typo. I have loved talking to you guys, so much. I really think meeting you was one of the turning points of my recovery.

HERE'S TO A GREAT 2010!

3.
As for the whole last decade, it's been a pretty interesting one. It's probably the same for all of you who are around my age, but this decade, the 'noughties', is the one that really made me who I am today. I was 16 in 2000. Now I'm 26. And I have done so much.

At 16 I was still suffering from the throes of pubescent uncertainty, going to school and living with my parents. But as the years went by and I was finally able to kick the hormones, I came to a realisation about who I am, and I reached a point where was actually pretty content about that.

I left home in 2002 to go to university, which is the most life-changing and best thing I've ever done. Then, through the rest of the decade I accumulated 2 masters degrees, a smattering of full-time jobs, and finally, my very own sofa.

I have lived in Bath, London and New Fucking York. And now, as the decade has come to a close, I have moved back to my home town, surrounded by my family, but now financially independent, renting a place on my own and a changed person.

I like that kind of symmetry.

In summary: woo! \o/

4.
Now, enough of the boring stuff. Here is a list of what I done for the new year:

- I went to Chippenham to see Siân on New Years Eve. It really was one of the best NYEs I've experienced. We played Cranium (which is lots of fun) and then played a game with a cereal box (which is fun but painful) and then played a game about vaginas (which is fun if you are sober enough to remember lots of words XD)

- Then, the next day, Nick, James, Linda and Steve came back to visit my new pad, which was cold, but it was very nice to see everyone. There was plenty of eating and walks in the frost, with a trip to see Mr Downey Jr and Mr Law in a film about Mr Holmes and Mr Watson, and don't forget the highlight of James going blind while driving around a roundabout \o/

5.
My new year's resolutions:
1. Learn Latin
2. Enrol on the scheme to become a registered archivist
3. Draw more (at least once a week?)
4. Write more
5. Make at least one person happy each day (stolen from my resolutions from last year because it is fantastic)

6.
<3 to you all!