Tom of the blazing smile and the quick info and the spectacular pictures which he shares with us all. You are, as Tep said, amazing. And an invaluable part of this community. I've had the amazing good fortune to meet you in person. But more than that, I've known you as a Buffista for several years. And even in your conversation on the board I can tell you've made enormous strides.
The post you just made? You couldn't have posted that year before last, nor last year either, I don't think. You're incredibly brave, incredibly strong, and I'm very very glad you're here.
And on top of that, you're just plain nifty.
Quite nifty. It was lovely to see you in New York, and I'm glad you came.
Tom is great and I am lucky enough to get to spend time with him more often than most.
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My 2004 started with a lot of promise, or at least the hope for a lot of promise. It did not live up to expectations which is disappointing, but not the end of the world.
I am hoping for a calm 2005. There will be certain unavoidable life changes, but I do not plan to move and the adoption stuff will be on hold for a while.
I hope you all have healthy and peaceful new years.
t joins the Tom-love
It's always marvelous to see Tom, even though I never seem to find the time to talk to him much, Buffista gatherings being what they are (boisterous and chattery, among others).
2004 didn't suck. Wasn't great, but it didn't suck. I went to Hawaii again for the PFH, but this time I got to do a little traveling around the islands -- saw the North Shore, and the volcanoes on the Big Island, and ate greaet sushi with a friend who happened to be there at the same time.
Saw the Zmayhems get hitched and had a great weekend with Buffistas, snarked through Troy with Meara and Nutty. Got a raise, bought a new watch, saw my brother get married at the best wedding EVAR (sorry, Hec and JZ), spent a lovely week in Jackson Hole.
Finished the PFH. Got a new furnace and new chimney and new car (and now have no money, oy). Turned 40. The earth did not collapse.
Lost an old family friend, gained a new sister-in-law. Planning a long trip to New Zealand with some dear friends.
Yeah, there are things which could have been better. My mother's health is not good and not improving. The election results were disappointing. I'm out of shape, not writing what I'd planned to this year, watching too much tv, not getting out enough.
But all in all, I can't really complain; my family is mostly well, and mostly healthy, I'm still employed. I have a dog and a house and too many books waiting to be read. And I have the invisible people in my computer, who are marvelous, generous, witty souls.
From 2005 I want more energy, more discipline, and to finish some of the projects I've been working on for far too long (both work-related and other). For the world -- well, that's a long list. I'll spare you all.
saw my brother get married at the best wedding EVAR (sorry, Hec and JZ),
Can't imagine how this is possible since there was no drunk Nutty at your brother's wedding. The entertainment value of a pixillated Nutty Vee cannot be overstated.
So, 2004. Began with my husband miserable at work. Continued with a three-month-long job hunt in which the interviews began in January and an offer wasn't made until late March. (Same job.) In February, my husband and son both got lingering coughs; my son's was later diagnosed as asthma. In March I got a lingering cough, which was later diagnosed as pneumonia; I was hospitalized three days.
Also in March, my father was diagnosed with a recurrence of colon cancer; for at least a month, it looked as if this time it was going to be fatal. He underwent chemotherapy. The tumor turned out to be a primary duodenal cancer instead of a metastasized colon cancer. My father then underwent the Whipple surgery, one of the longest surgeries still performed, in which they open you up, shuffle your internal organs around, and redeal.
It takes a long time to recover from pneumonia; in September I was still needing afternoon naps most weekends. During the summer and fall, I also had a serious migraine flare-up, with 15+ episodes in a month.
Much to everybody's surprise, my father made a spectacular recovery from the cancer treatment and came to visit us this fall. As far as we could tell, he wasn't curtailing his usual activities (including eating) one bit, although he did tire easily.
Then there was the whole election thing. Our son had bad school problems, which led to many parent-teacher visits. So many that my son called home last month and prefaced the call with "Don't worry, I'm not in trouble."
In 2005, I pray for peace, both local and global. Here's hoping we all experience it.
Man, your eyelid didn't even make it onto your list of lowlights, Betsy.
If it's okay, I'm going to have to focus what -ma I've got handy on your eyelid getting better because twice-weekly pain sessions sounds stressful.
The entertainment value of a pixillated Nutty Vee cannot be overstated.
Waitaminnit. Okay, I mean, beyond the obvious and documented, what did I do?
The entertainment value of a pixillated Nutty Vee cannot be overstated
That's true, but then you didn't have the Grand Teton as a backdrop to the ceremony, or a 90-lb Irish Wolfhound mix as a member of the wedding party. *g*
Different weddings, both marvelous.
