Karl, always wonderful to see you!

What's up with you?

Without trying to sum up three years in a single post, I'll try to hit the high points.

Work: Been working in the same tech startup since Feb of 2009. It drives me a little nuts, but it's been steady.

Home: Moved from San Bruno (of the famous fireball fame) up towards SF a bit, but not into the City proper. We've been here a year or so, and it's working out pretty well.

Family by blood and marriage: Lisa's grandmother passed away last year, and her stepfather has late-stage liver cancer. We're coping, but it's been a rough couple of years. Lisa and I celebrated our 11th anniversary this year, and we still like each other. So we keep on keeping on.

Social life/family of choice: Our little tribe keeps growing by the oddest means imaginable. We're all taking care of each other as best we know how, practicing love every day, sharing our joys and our sorrows, and trying to learn from our mistakes. Reminds me a lot of the Buffistas, actually, which is most of the reason I'm contemplating a return to posting.

Further discussion in Bitches, I think, since this thread is due for shutdown in a few days.

Update on the last year at Chez Tea. Previous delurkings may be found here billytea "Delurking 1: Because we don't always check our e-mail." Oct 3, 2009 3:36:42 am PDT and here billytea "Delurking 1: Because we don't always check our e-mail." Oct 31, 2010 9:57:46 pm PDT, and for myself, things aren't much different. Still happily married to Wallybee, still the proud father of this little fellow: [link] He's 2.5 years old today. To date, I don't think he's thrown a single tantrum. He gets upset at times, he cries when he doesn't get his way, but there's never any anger in it. Nothing gets thrown, hit or kicked. Very good-natured little boy.

I'm still pursuing a Master of Finance, about halfway through (planning to defer for next year). Still working at a small investment advisory firm. It's a great job, really. I get to do the things I enjoy, I work from home one day a week, they respect my work and my contributions. It's been a good week too. For the last twelve months, I've been constructing a sophisticated asset allocation model for the firm's portfolios. This week it finally all came together. We're finally ready to begin production.

Wallybee's work situation has been more volatile. This time last year, she was working part-time as a union organiser in addition to her interpreting work. The union job turned toxic not long after; she got caught in the middle of some office politics, and wound up filing a formal complaint about her treatment. She left in the middle of the year, and now divides her time between interpreting and caring for Ryan. (She's also spent time on the Interpreters' committee, and has been making some efforts to persuade interpreters to unionise.)

Wallybee's parents were out here from March to September. They're back in China now. We're currently thinking that we'll visit China in April or May, and all come back together (visa permitting).

All in all, it's been a good year.

So, my update:

In November of last year, I went to Paris for three weeks and though it sounds delightful, it really wasn't, for many reasons. The biggest one being that it was clearly The Begining of the End for my boyfriend of 4 years and me. That came to a quiet close in March/April and we still remain friends, for which I am grateful. But, still, hard.

In February I found out that the pain and "frozen shoulder" I'd been suffering for 10+ months was caused by an eagle's beak-sized bone spur on my right rotator cuff. And I'd also managed to tear the meniscus in my right knee.

Before I could have the surgeries, my ex-housemate and good friend Charlie needed to be moved from the peninsula to Alameda, as he could no longer afford to rent the biggish house we had on the peninsula all by himself. He wanted to also be closer to me and the Wigglebutts (he walks them a few times a week). So we had to clean out the old place, find him a new place, move all of his crap and then really deep clean the old place. That man is a slobby packrat and it was a 3-bedroom house so you can imagine the work. How we managed to do it all with me hobbling around on a bad knee and only one arm working, I'll never know. But, we got him moved, just in time for...

Knee surgery the first week of April, and shoulder surgery the first week of May. It was good for me in a lot of ways, one of them finding out which friends of mine can really come through for me when I need it. It also taught me to accept care, which isn't easy for me.

I was back at work 5 days after the shoulder surgery and basically worked every single day straight through (including weekends, of course) to the end of July on my company's "supplemental new drug application" for using our capsaicin-based patch (currently used for post-Shingles pain) on sufferers of HIV-related neuropathic pain.

Also in July, my landlady offered to sell me the house I'd been happily renting since Feb of 2009. So July was spent in a whirlwind of 10-hour days at work, and getting the financing and inspections, etc for buying the house. I closed escrow on Aug 1 and then immediately spent every spare moment (a la sarameg, d, erin_obscure, to name a few....) fixing up stuff, overhauling the front and back yards, painting, etc.

About a month after closing, I threw a huge, fun, fancy-ish housewarming party and prepared to revel in all that I'd done by relaxing for a few months and just enjoying "being".

And then God said "HA!" and while Tom Scola was visiting, my house flooded from the ancient toilet. Alomost two months of hotel-hopping, living out of boxes and suitcases, missing my dogs (who were with Charlie), working crazy hours on another big project, the house is FINALLY 99% repaired and I got to start moving back in on Friday.

That was a talky summary, sorry. This year has been nuts. I am hoping the rest of it is nice and easy with no more events.

ETA: Oh, and Memorial Day Weekend, I also bought a new car (and kept my old one as a dog-mobile) which I wouldn't have done if I thought I'd be buying a house in July! D'oh. Oh well.

Right under the wire. Hello, lurkers. Stop lurking. Or don't, you know, we're easy here. Given that I'm around mainly in Reality TV and Premium when I'm around at all these days, I may qualify for semi-lurker status myself.

I worked way too much this year. The hard work led to a promotion, more money and more minions, which is a good thing. It also led to less life, which is a not so good thing. I'm hoping to find some balance between the work thing and the life thing this year. We'll see how that goes. I started dating again really for the first time since my divorce and that was weird but I'm kind of remembering that I used to like boy type people so that is nifty. I missed my virtual Buffistas but I got to see some Buffistas live and in person this year so it balanced out. I guess I'll save the rest for Goodbye and Good Riddance.

Man, I love this thread. It's been so great to catch up a bit with some beloved folks. Karl, it's fantastic to see your pixels around these parts again, and Deena, my thoughts are with you. javachik, I am so thrilled for you that you're finally back in your house! And kat, good luck with the dating -- I hope it's more fun than frustrating.

The big change in my life this year is that, after M and I finally went on our honeymoon in July, I got pregnant! I'm at 15 weeks and feeling pretty good. Also starting to show a bit, which is exciting. I bought my first pair of maternity pants yesterday, and now I don't know why I waited so long (except for how I loathe shopping for clothes). They're so comfy!

Hello! I've been reduced to intermittant lurking (with periodic skipping and skimming). My big news is that I'm halfway through cataract surgery - right eye is done, left eye scheduled for next Monday. It's left me unable to read well (oh, the horror!) BUT! when done, I'll be able to go without glasses at least some of the time, if not most. So I guess it's a good thing.

Other than that, my job continues to be hell, haven't been able to clean my apartment (yes, it's a good excuse), I'm freezing (no heat over the weekend and now none at work). So glad to have the Buffistas.

Getting in under the wire, I think I missed last year's de-lurk-a-polooza.

I don't seem to have time to lurk much here, except Beep Me & Press. Sending ~ma to all who need it.

I'm still in El Cerrito (Hi, ehab), although, unlike Emmett, I don't go the the El Cerrito Plaza every day. Work situation is still bad, at part-time, and haven't found another job yet. I keep busy with a lot of political work.

My brother graduated San Francisco State University with a BA in history in May at the age of FIFTY!!! Very proud of him - he's a year younger than me, and about eight years ago, had serious health problems and came very close to dying.

Nothing much has changed in the last two years for me, but hanging on. I can't afford cable or other pay TV, so I don't see much these days.

Good to hear about those who are doing well, and vibing for those who need it. Back to lurking.

Good to see you, Karl and Fern!

GOOD on your brother, Fern! That's great!

I am also squeaking in under the wire. I've been planning to de-lurk here all month, and it's perfectly in keeping with my personality that I wait until the very last day.

Hi, all. I'm Jean. I was a fairly regular poster many years ago, but I could never keep up. I lurk in Natter, Bitches, Literary, and Non-Fiction when the subject is SYTYCD or The Sing-Off. It would feel really weird to de-lurk in one of those threads, because, well, it's weird to eavesdrop on other people's conversations, so I'm grateful for the opportunity to drop the veil in this thread.

I live in Minneapolis with my cats, Leo and Matilda. Two years ago I quit my job to go back to school full-time (studying music), but couldn't afford to keep going, so now I'm just plain old unemployed. Except for the whole lack-of-money thing, it hasn't been a bad experience -- I've had time to volunteer at my church, help out friends, take morning walks, and do a lot of thinking (probably too much). But at this point I'm really tired of unstructured time. I'm also starting to feel really boring because I can't afford to do anything.

I really admire the support you all give to each other, and I'm going to try to actually participate in the conversations from now on rather than just sit on the sidelines. It's not like I don't have time ...

Oh! And for you SYTYCD fans, I actually won tickets to the touring show a couple of weeks ago, and it was awesome. So much fun!