Ehab, whereabouts in the country do you live? Just curious. Moving to a permajob sounds exciting, and I'm super jealous of Copenhagen and Berlin!!

I, um, still do the same thing I did last year, but for a different company. I still live the same place, and have the same roommate (and quite enjoying it--will be sad when she moves out in just under a year!). We got a cat (technically hers) who is huge (17.5 pounds) and very needy. I still travel a lot, but mostly to LA these days. ...that's about it exciting in my life.

I live in El Cerrito in the Bay Area.

The term permajob sounds terrifyingly permanent.

Thanks for the b-day wishes, all!

ehab, nice to see your pixels! Don't worry about being lurky, we all go through phases where life allows us to play more and others where it pulls us away. I'm in a bit of an away phase right now, too, but I know I'm always welcome when I come back. It's the Buffista way.

Happy birthday, Sail! And I'm glad to hear about the many good things in your life.

ehab, c'mon back whenever. It's all good.

Hi lurkers, delurkers, and nonlurkers!

I post so rarely anymore that I almost feel like a lurker, so my year:

The big news is that Hubs has retired on disability. After much drama (which he'd probably prefer I not go into detail about), the final approvals came in late in the summer.

At the beginning of the year, my closest friend at work became my supervisor. There are awkwardnesses. But overall, I think it's a positive for my career. Not just having a friend in management, but someone who's interested in developing the careers of his subordinates generally.

Still volunteering at the animal shelter on weekends. DCistas interested in adopting a cat or a dog are invited to check us out.

Not a lurker, but I support them in email.

I feel I am not around as much, but that is the reality of me working.

Good year - hard May and June with mac, but the end result has been a much more stabalized kiddo and less medication.

Still not loving Texas, but resigned and working on finding my people within my little world here.

I'm worse than a lurker at this point. I've been reduced to just lurking in the right hand threads. I only subscribe to 7 threads, including this one, and still the unread numbers are overwhelming. So I am jumping to current in each of them in another attempt to stay in touch.

At least I see a bit of news from time to time on Facebook. I go in there more regularly to lurk because my family members are there. If I have not found you for some reason please friend me. The last name is Holt for those of you not in the know.

My last year has been filled with stress on the work front. Lots of boring to everyone including me details, but the short version is the government has said that my customers get a chunk of cash if they meaningfully use my software and they all want the money. They don't want to actually do the work so I have to be all whip cracking with my doctors, which doesn't come naturally. I can't visit with the patients and document as required, but apparently it is now my job to make my doctors do their jobs. But it is happening.

My boys are now 18 and 20, which is exciting and horrifying on many levels. They both get to vote for the first time this year helping to swing Florida in the best direction. They are healthy and could cause me a lot more stress than they do. I certainly misbehaved more at that age, but this would not be a perfect measuring stick I suppose. I have a much smoother relationship with them than their father does, but I think that is likely a father/son dynamic that is natural.

My mom is 91 now and doing quite well. I am very grateful for her and also blessed that she has my step-father to dote on her every moment of every day. They had their 25th anniversary this past summer and are as cute as honeymooners.

My husband is still a total keeper. Working and living together for 24 years now. He is as stressed and overworked as I am and since we share all the same work and home stresses he at least understands my state.

Here's hoping for a bit more free time to participate in the board more, and participate in life more. You are in my thoughts often.

As you're in ours, Laura. One of us, lurker or not!

Em, hi. I've gotten pretty lurky myself the last few months. It's cyclic, and I'll come back around to being talky meat.

Still in PNW, still loving it a lot. Missing my little family and friends, writers and spiritual circles from NC. I haven't quite found equivalencies here, but I'm working on it. H and I haven't split yet, despite decades together, so I guess we're sorta stuck with each other. I'm writing again, if most of it is in the under-bed file on my hard drive. Taking a mild interest in photography, dilletante, at best, no competition at all for Scola and dcp.

Daytrips to BC, up into and over the Cascades, and around the bays are our frequent delights, and we hope to get over to the Olympic penninsula to see Big Trees and actual ocean, and possibly whales, before another year goes by.

I'll let you know if that happens.

I chime in from time to time in Bitches, Natter, and Supernatural, but while I'm not exactly a lurker, I also don't feel like I'm exactly present, either.

I'm still in St. Louis, and am still very much in love with my job (project management) and my neighborhood. Right now, I'm embarking on some major home renovation projects, so I may show up a bit more in Bitches as I need to rant/vent/panic as things go on.

I still have Jeeves, my lovable orange kitty. He turned 14 this year, but other than some stiffness in his hips (and a tendency to become constipated), he's doing fine. He's still full of bouncy energy, as he proved without any shadow of a doubt at 3:30 this morning.

In terms of major life changes, I've managed to get back into my artwork in a big way, mostly working in pastel, but with some colored pencil and pen-n-ink on the side. I can't really say why I quit drawing for over a decade, but it has been marvelous to get back into it. It's been good for the brain and for the soul in so many ways. Plus, it's been fun to dabble on the artistic side of fandom. For those who are curious, some of my recent stuff can be found here.