Dear 2008,

Can you be better than 2007? Or at least the past four months of 2007? Which I hate with the passion of a thousand red-hot suns, and here's why:

1) I had to break up with boyfriend, with whom I was in love, because he pretty much treated me like shit.
2) My roommate has Issues. We'll just leave it at that for now because in the grand scheme of things, this is a minor point. But it involves a failure to pay bills on time and an inability to put dirty dishes in the dishwasher.
3) One of my best friends? Yeah, her boyfriend was killed in Afghanistan. Cue last minute trip to Salt Lake City and much drinking and crying.
4) I had the horrible experience of being the Other Woman. Seriously, why would I meet my soul-mate only to find that he is engaged to another woman? Fuck me.
5) I get my job duties changed with nary a warning, and start getting way more stress and more white hairs. I'm too young for white hairs.
6) My ex? He gets killed in Afghanistan less than two months after his friend, my friend's boyfriend, gets killed. It's literally one of the worst experiences EVER.

So. Now. It's about a week before Christmas, I'm drunk on sangria and champagne and trying to avoid breaking down into tears every five minutes over this whole thing. I get to try and find last minute tickets to Louisiana the week before the yearly celebration of the birth of the little baby Jesus. For a funeral. That's right, I gotta take leave of my job and head straight to the heart of Cajun-country to bury a man who taught me more about life and living than anyone I've ever known.

So, 2008, if you could not suck so bad as 2007, I'd REALLY appreciate it. I know in theory you already hold more hope than 2007 because I might get to go to Switzerland on a business trip (best idea ever!), but really, I'm not asking for much. Fewer deaths of my near and dear, fewer reasons for me to go to my gyno and ask for Paxil or Xanax for my fake anxiety attacks (okay they aren't fake, but I'm not agoraphobic, I'm just stressed). That's all I ask. Plus, I'll be officially entering my mid-20s-- there's no pretending I'm still in my early 20s after next month-- and frankly, I can't afford to be such an effing mess. So sack up and be a good year for me, the last year before I start my third dozen years of life.

Begging you with what little pride is left in my soul,
R