The bad:

• GF's dad was diagnosed with leukemia
• GF was laid off

The good:

• Good health insurance is had by all
• Savings account is healthy, so not too stressed in re: lay off
• New nephew
• Enjoying grad school

Um, I have a lot of things to say about 2006 -- none of them very complimentary, by the way -- but I want to say first, an anonymous Buffista (at least I *think* it's a Buffista, and you'll see why) sent me a gift package of Lush Snow Fairy today! No signature, though, and no way to discern an address since it was shipped by Lush to me.

I have never tried Lush things! I am a Lush virgin! So you can imagine my excitement! (DH just asked what "Lush" was, and I told him it was a cult and not to worry his handsome head about it.)

Thank you so much, anonymous Secret Santa!

::beaming and considering skipping dinner to take a bath instead::

Posting while excited leads to typos. Sigh.

Bad things.

• My grandfather died.
• Lactose intolerance so the cost for milk has doubled for the same amount. Fucking hell.
• I think I have slight bi-polarity issues. Hopefully not though.
• Moved and "finished" university.

Good things.

• Lots of new friends, which felt kind of weird.
• Closer to old friends. Very important.
• Moved and "finished" university.
• The band is sort of alive again. Soonish anyway.

And no, Studio 60 can't be on the list! That episode actually made me look forward to Christmas again.

The weather is on the list though. It's winter and where's my snow? I demand snow, I need weather changes in my seasons -- except perhaps for the summers, less heat would be nice.

2006 has been better than ok really so far.

Some years it is the unexpected things which make or break the annum. Not this year. In January of 2006 I had three huge questions that would tip this way or that and would determine the year. Would my book pitch be accepted? Would my job go away? Would we have a baby? These are the three things that defined my year and as the final score was Book Yes, Baby Yes, Job No, I am fairly content to accept that ratio of good to bad.

It would be nice to have money again, though. Also it would be very nice to transition to a place where writing was enough of an income source that I could get away with working part time. I will be bending my will to that end in 2007.

You know what I'd like to put ON THE LIST? Holiday planning.

I'm certainly not one to go to an extreme amount of effort, but I do like to do some things that require effort, time, and care. But it seems that all too often (especially this year) that things get pushed back and corrected and easy-ed up because there's just. not. enough. time.

I know that it's a silly thing, but it makes me feel horrible when I have to punt and get a store-bought gift when I had planned for homemade, or get cookies in a tube instead of making my own. There's nothing wrong with what I end up doing, but I feel like a failure. And I'm not having any fun, which is what the holidays should be about

So, I put it ON THE LIST. ::stamps not-so-tiny foot::

I will be bending my will to that end in 2007.

I know this isn't an advice thread, but David, I highly recommend John Scalzi's blog -- he's got some solid advice on making a living doing freelance writing, even if some of what he's writing isn't what you would be writing. He's an SF writer, although he also does dvd and game reviews and a lot of nonfiction.

I have Christmas presents pretty much assembled and wrapped, with the exception of the ONE RELATIVE WHO READS THIS BOARD.

Grrrr. Idea fairy, where are you?

2006: re Bitches, Dec, 16. 2 am.

2007, let me be less stupid.

Ok, peeps. This is kind of the opposite reason for this thread, but I've got a SERIOUS case of the Holiday Bah-Humbugs, and I'm looking for some cheering up. Does anyone have a heartwarming holiday story? Anyone? Bueller?

Yesterday I went to a holiday party where at the end of the night, we all pooled our money and donated a cow, two sheep, 4 months of fresh water, and an emergency toilet through Oxfam Unwrapped.