1. Graduated from Cornell. Twice.
2. Visited Boston for the first time, and subsequently moved there (with no job!).
3. Lived in the 3 new states (Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Connecticut)
4. Spent 5 months in an internship (errr…. co-op) I hated, and then didn’t go back for the last 3 months.
5. Had 25 different roommates in 10 different residences (wow).
6. Started my first full-time job, where I’ve been for almost 23 months now.
7. Purchased my first car, which now has 63,000 miles on it and was paid off in April!
8. Went on fraternity trips in St. Louis, Syracuse, Rochester, Knoxville, Pittsburgh, Montreal (sorta) and Charlotte, most of which I’d never been to before.
9. Visited New York City for the first time, with several subsequent visits, and decided I hated it.
10. Experienced the death of my dog of 13 years (Chloe) as well as the process of finding a new puppy for the family (Maggie).
11. Attended the weddings of 1 high school friend (Jaime & Jeremy, where I was in the wedding party) and 2 college friends (Adam & Catherine, Jaclyn & Steve).
12. Bought my first pieces of furniture, and learned how to finish some of them myself.
13. Learned how to knit. And if you talk to me (or read this), you know I’m obsessed!
14. Purchased my first airline ticket (until I graduated from college, they’d always been purchased for me).
15. Experienced illness (my aunt) and tragedy (my grandmother) in my family.
16. Attended a funeral for the first time since I was 3.
17. Was taught how to play poker, and realized I had a bit of a knack for it.
18. Turned 21, took wines and subsequently became a wine snob.
19. Attended the following concerts: Stone Temple Pilots, Incubus, Ani DiFranco (11/20/02), Bela Fleck, Aerosmith and Lenny Kravitz (11/12/05), Bon Jovi (12/9/05), and Billy Joel (1/19/06).
20. Went to my first professional hockey (New Jersey Devils), baseball (New York Yankees), football (New England Patriots – preseason) and basketball (Boston Celtics) games.
21. Did my time in the line for Cornell season hockey tickets, qualifying me to be a part of the Lynah Faithful (twice).
22. Bought or received the following devices for the first time: cell phone (LG), DVD player, laptop (HP Pavilion), mp3 player (4G 40GB Ipod), Mac computer (Mac Mini).
23. Tried skiing, paintball and snowboarding for the first time (skiing and paintball I have since done additional times).
24. Dressed up as the following characters for Halloween: Jessica Rabbit, a black cat, a vampire and Pippi Longstocking.
25. Held 8 different jobs (Clinton House, Pitney Bowes, CTA, NYPIRG, Premier Title, Brookstone, OR&IE TA, Cymfony), including the one I’m at now.
26. Returned to Chicago/Romeoville for 8 visits.
27. Started saving for retirement (by putting a meager 4% into my 401(K), but hey, it’s something) and opened my first savings account since high school (which I sometimes keep money in).
28. Followed the news on several U.S. and national tragedies, including September 11th, the tsunami and Hurricane Katrina, praying for all of those affected. I still remember exactly where I was and how I heard the news about 9/11.
29. Donated my hair (12 inches, once).
30. Received my first business cards (and not for Cymfony, though I have those, too).
31. Stayed overnight in another country for the first time (and it was just Canada – Montreal and then Toronto – how pathetic).
32. Bought my first DVD, and right now I can’t even remember which one it is.
33. Played chess for the first time with another human being – the computer programs where I randomly click on pieces don’t count (how sad is that?).
34. “Starred” in my first “movie” – The Goldfish Project. Hehehehe. (Anyone who hasn’t seen this yet and would like to should let me know – I’ll show it to you.)
35. Smoked my first cigarette (which still depresses me). Actually smoked pipe tobacco first, followed either by a clove cigarette or a cigar (which may or may not have been Cuban – I really don’t remember the first time I tried a cigar) and then finally a real cigarette.
36. Discovered Raspberry Lambic with my then-roommates. It’s now become somewhat of a nostalgia thing, but may become a more frequent thing now that Susan knows how readily available it is.
37. Went to the 2004 Democratic National Convention, where I heard Theresa Heinz Kerry speak, as well as Senator John Kerry accept the nomination for President.
38. Became a night owl. And then went back to sleeping when it’s dark and being awake when it’s light (sorta). I miss those late nights.
39. Visited the following states for the first time: Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut (already stated, sorta, since I’ve lived in these ones), Maine, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, Rhode Island (if the airport counts).
40. Lost my keys too many times to count. Most of the time I found them again, at least (I wonder if that car key is still floating around Cambridge somewhere).
41. Changed the look of this page I HAVE NO IDEA how many times, but never changed the name.
42. Got into 4 car accidents (2 in one day), received 1 speeding ticket and 1 additional moving violation (definitely looking for these things clearing my insurance at the end of the year).
43. Allowed no less than 23 people to drive my car. Scary.
44. Subscribed to podcasts. Yes, they are both knitting podcasts right now.
45. Ate a whole lobster for the first time in my life (at the clam bake for the Cymfony summer outing a month after I started).
46. Bought my first mp3 (I’m pretty sure it was an .m4a file from iTunes, but same thing).
47. Experienced, and recovered from, two distinct periods of depression (not clinical depression, mind you, just times of being depressed).
48. Had my life changed, for better or worse, by the company that I keep. Some people I already knew; some I hadn’t even met. Some are still in my life; some are not. All have left their mark. I’ve had a lot of help realizing what, and who, is important in my life. And there’s a lot of learning left.
49. Realized that the times I love where I live the most are when I’m traveling on the Red Line, over Longfellow Bridge, staring out towards Back Bay. Every time I think, I need to come back, WALK over this bridge, and take a picture, so that I may remember how this makes me feel for the rest of my life. Haven’t done that yet (the picture taking, at least, I did the walking 9 days ago).
50. Laughed a lot. Cried a lot. Hopefully laughed more than cried.

- Lizzardie, at 10:40 PM Post Link