You're Up, Twenties

Let's get this out of the way: I realize there was no Year Zero, and therefore decades begin with years ending in 1 and end in years ending with 0, and so technically, this decade actually ends not tonight but a year from tonight.

I also realize that only would a fool would argue against the conventional wisdom that we count decades from zero to nine. In the past I might have been foolish enough to make that very argument,  in this very space. But I'm a decade older than I was the last time it might have seemed necessary to prove my intellectual superiority in that fashion. And 2019 Chuck has come to believe that 2009 Chuck was a bit of a pedant, not to mention a snotty bitch at times.

So I'm here to tell you that tonight we mark the last night of the last year of the 2010s. Come on down, Twenties. Aren't you shiny and new and full of promise?

Care for some soup?

© Lucasfilm/Disney

Things have changed since this night 10 years ago. Back then I had a spouse, a Precocious Daughter in the 4th grade, a house in the suburbs, a couple of paid-off cars, and more credit card debt than I was comfortable with. I've since lost the spouse (and gained a Drummer Boy), PDaughter is now a sophomore in college and has just embarked on her own twenties, and I'm (happily) propertyless. My car is paid off, my debt is retired, and I actually have money in the bank. So there.

A decade ago I had a job I loved, but the company I worked for was dying a slow and painful death due to the Great Recession, which had been grinding along for the better part of two years at that point. That was a tough time. My family was fortunate; we stayed employed and above water during that terrible downturn. Even when my company did inevitably disappear (technically, it was bought out by a competitor), I always had a paycheck. I know many others who suffered financially. It sucked. But recovery came eventually, and I hope it continues, despite the warning bells ringing in the distance.

I feel as if I've done a good many things wrong in the last decade. I won't belabor them - as you shouldn't belabor yours - but I won't forget them, either. They represent things that I hope I can do much better in the 2020s. I plan to give marriage another shot. I wouldn't be averse to being a homeowner again if the right circumstances presented themselves. I might even get to take another crack at helping to raise a small human by becoming a (gulp) grandmother. Although, who are we kidding, I did a pretty kick-ass job with PDaughter, right?

One last thing that happened a decade ago is that I started this little blog. I've neglected it somewhat over the last year or two, and I wish I hadn't done that. I wish I'd had the discipline to write every day, or even every week. Another thing I can maybe do better going forward. But I do want to thank every person who has stopped by here, read my scribbles, commented, commiserated and celebrated with me. I've made wonderful friends here.

Anyway, it's New Year's Eve, I'm home by myself (Drummer Boy has to work, PDaughter is at friend's NYE party), and I'm content. I look forward to the next decade.

And the next election. I mean, seriously, WTF.

Happy New Year, Drunkards. Be safe and well.