We may be easing into taking him off of anti-anxiety meds

Great news, msbelle!

As for me, I'm still at [unnamed organization that fishes people out of the water], doing [weird and occasionally ridiculous job that would identify me immediately if I described it]. I should know by November sometime if I'm to be hired as a permanent employee; if not, I'll end up back in private consulting probably.

Not much else has changed in the last year: I still spend a lot of time with family, dogs, and wrangling my aging parents. Really, my one big accomplishment is that I wrote and posted a Narnia novel that I'm really proud of. And my brother opened a restaurant in Chicago that looks like it's going to do well.

If the job situation gets straightened out, I'll get the joy of selling my house so I can move to a neighborhood where people don't dump their fast-food trash in my yard and stuff their empty brandy bottles in my hedge. ::crosses fingers::

I mostly hang in Natter, Boxed Set, Lit, and Fanfic these days.

Hi everyone!

I’m resigned to the idea that I may never advance much further than the de-lurking thread, hence I love it dearly as it allows me to briefly feel slightly less stalkerish and more engaged. I know I de-lurked for the first time when the thread opened, which I think means I’ve de-lurked three times now! Is that right? I pop-up on the rare occasion in the Supernatural thread, and I wish I could keep up in a timely manner to participate in other threads, but usually I catch up after the fact.

As for me, things are much the same. I still have Monkey cat. He is no longer a foster as he was officially adopted (by me) on Valentine’s Day this year. He’s my little hypo-thyroid, allergy and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy ridden Valentine. I haven’t met Bay Area Buffistas (Buffistae?) yet, but I do feel as if I should, if for no other reason than to prove I’m not a sock puppet, or at the very least that I don’t have button eyes.

I still live in the obscure berg of El Cerrito (waves to Fern) and have just landscaped the backyard. I’m trying my hand at raised vegetable beds, just a few, and fruit trees. It will probably be a few years before the trees start producing, but I’m excited at the prospect. So far, weeding seems to be my reward for this project.

My job situation, as a contractor, may be changing to regular employment. I think this is a good thing, but I’m nervous as I’ve been consulting for 15 years and I wonder if I’m cut out for staying in one place. The last five of those, I’ve been an independent contractor which was wonderfully liberating but resulted in an epic tax mess. I have learned keeping my life simple is the only road to sanity for me. LLC companies, paperwork, managing finances, are completely beyond my ken. I am fortunate to have found an excellent tax accountant who is now extricating me out of the mess of my own creation.

I want to say congratulations to Kathy on 190 lbs weight loss! I’ve followed your journey in Natter and as someone who has a lot of weight to lose, it’s been wonderfully encouraging and joyous reading about your progress. I began the year with good progress, but lost my momentum when I had a string of family visits from Europe. It’s time to get serious again. Thanks to the de-lurkers that have posted and to all the ones yet to come!

I love this thread, it’s like a holiday/new year letter to catch everyone up, even the regular posters.

are completely beyond my ken.

And all your Barbies? Sorry, kneejerk, can't help it (RIP, Andy).

Good to see you ehab. It sounds like your life is purring along pretty happily, and that's great to see.

Who me? I'm a fixture. A little less shiny than I used to be, but still pretty sturdy. Still loving the PNW, though missing friends and family back east. Still geeking over eagles and swans and tulips and mountains and the sheer beauty of my adopted state. Still settling in, as H seems to feel that structural and technical fixes to the house matter more than getting those last boxes unpacked. I hope to have banished brown cardboard forever by Christmas. We'll see.

ehap - I used to live in Downey, and often shopped at the El Cerrito Mall. So not that obscure.

Oh and went to El Cerrito Community college for a time.

I have had 3 different El Cerrito addresses in my life. I remember how the El Cerrito Mall used to be and it confuses the heck out of me when I'm in town now. Sure wish that Trader Joes had been there when I lived near Central and Lexington.

Waving hello to the lurkers. Come out, come out. We want to meet you.

I too spend a ton of time in El Cerrito, since Emmett's school is three blocks away from the BART station and I frequently shop at the TJ's in El Cerrito Mall.

Two different El Cerritos. Mine was in greater LA area of S.Cal near Long Beach. So two El Cerritos in California. I wonder which Ehab lives in.

Hah! Typo Boy I was just going to post that Downey is nowhere nearby and that we have no Community College in town. Are you sure you're not thinking of El Centro?

I only ask about El Centro, because I have a yearbook from HS for El Centro, because the printer screwed up our town name. Yes, I still live in the town I was raised in, which is North of Albany & Berkeley.

SuziQ, I miss Capwell's at the Mall. The Mall that exists now is completely odd to me but redeemed by TJs.

DavidS, that must mean Emmett's in middle school now? Despite living in the town I grew up in, not a single school I attended exists in the form it was when I attended. Every single one has been torn down (& rebuilt) for being unsafe. Well okay, my middle school still exists, but no one is allowed inside.

ETA: Typo Boy, Cerritos maybe? El Centro is near Mexicali...

El Cerrito Plaza. Not Mall. Typo tripped me up. I've been to El Cerritos also, but just passing through.

I grew up in Berkeley, moved to El Cerrito, moved to another place in El Cerrito, then to Alameda, up to Washington state, back to Alameda, another place in Alameda, then back to El Cerrito, back to Alameda, into the house some of you have visited in Alameda, then off to Colorado.

Yes, the Plaza.

I too have lived all around the Bay Area, Santa Cruz, and briefly in Portland, OR. I lived in Alameda, in a basement apartment of an old Vic in the Gold Rush part of town. And in Emeryville, in a brief, failed experiment at high rise living.

I've also lived in Berkeley, Oakland, and in a few different places in El Cerrito.

Like you, SuziQ, I moved around a lot without going too far. There was a period where I moved 8 times in two years. Ugh.