I'm going to quote, of all people, Mayor Wilkins (yes, from Buffy) to sum up what 2010 was like for me:

"There has been achievement, joy, good times...and there has been grief. There's been loss. Some people who should be here today...aren't.

"But we are."

And that's about it. It was hard, and the irony of me ending the year with a lung disease isn't lost on me.

I look forward to a better 2011.

{{{Maria}}} so much love to you.

2010 still has me by the scruff of the neck, and isn't letting go anytime soon, so I'm not really ready to tie it up in a post. But one good thing I did this year was start posting on this board again after a long hiatus. It's good to know that you all are still here and just as wonderful and witty and wise as ever, no matter how long I go between posting regularly. I am very grateful for you all.

The end of 2010 leaves me on a more secure note than the end of years previous. Still got problems, but at least I'm getting paid. Can't get much more verbose than that. Grateful for what I have, grumpy about other stuff.

Much love to you both, Maria and Steph.

amyth, I'm so glad you have your wonderful neighbors to support you, and you know I'm here for you however you need.

::smishes Kate::

I'd like to be less itchy in 2011. I've had poison ivy or hives for about 2.5 months. It's a small thing, but damn it's annoying and I'd like to stop including antihistamines in my daily pill regimen.

2010 has really been a mixed bag for me. The first half was pretty routine and unexceptional, especially in retrospect, and then all the health stuff hit and pretty much turned everything on its head. It's been scary, and sucked, and forced me to put a lot of plans on hold and miss things, but there have also been some good things and ways in which I have been incredibly lucky.

It's too early to say for sure, but every indication is that the cancer got caught really early, before it had a chance to spread, so hopefully this treatment series will be the one and only. Also, no thyroid cancer.

I have a lot of really awesome friends, both here on the board and off, who I've been able to lean on a lot. I've gotten closer to my sister, which I'm pretty sure wouldn't have happened if it were for the cancer.

I still have a good job with pretty awesome insurance, so I don't have to worry about money on top of the health concerns. Getting sick has also shown me a new and different side of the people I work for, which has been a big help in a several different ways.

Finally, just to end on a shallow note, I still have my eyelashes and enough of my eyebrows that I didn't have to learn how to draw on new ones, so no scary clown lady face for me!

Not ready to do a year end closer, but I wanted to mention that msbelle was a secret Birthday fairy and is not only the Nicest, but also the most Awesome!

This year was all about change for me. Not all good, or maybe I should say easy, but the big things are the ones I hold onto: Sara and Ben are happy and healthy and in much better schools, Jake is making some shaky progress toward maturity, S. and I still like to be with each other more than anyone else, and we're in a much better place, geographically, and able to spend much more time with my family.

Next year is going to present some challenges, but also some awesome opportunities. I'm grateful for what I have, and the chance to do some things better, and I'm always so very thankful to have this place as a touchstone on a daily basis. You people have given me so much -- support, encouragement, hope, friendship, laughs, recipes, porn, and really questionable links to very wrong things. I can't imagine 2011, or any year, without you.

Oh my goodness, I forgot that this year brought me Frankie, the most unexpected doggie! I love him to bits and can't imagine my life without his silly snorfling underbite.

I'm sitting here listening to a recording of the Medical Mission Sisters, from the 1960s or 1970s. It's all scratchy, and I wish I could get new, but it's beautiful music, all folksy with lovely tunes and fun harmonies, and it brings back wonderful memories.

For me, 2010 has been the same mixed bag of good and bad as most years seem to be. I love my job, despite budget and other woes, but my fibromyalgia seems to have come back with a bang, and together with other health issues, my body feels pretty crummy much of the time. We've lost too many good people, especially recently, but my sweetiepie kid from church who joined the marines seems to be doing well, even though I'd druther he weren't in Afghanistan.

However, the biggest change in this past year, is that despite ups and downs, overall I seem to be able to handle life with more equilibrium. For example, I've been terribly bothered for years by noises that others seem to take in stride (the drip drop of the heating system, neighbors' music, and the like). This doesn't bother me nearly as much now, and when it is annoying, I've developed pretty effective coping mechanism. It's not perfect, but so far it's good, knock on wood!

Like the rest of us, my parents are aging. I worry about my dad, who is still great fun but is finding it hard to get around. I wish we lived closer to each other, but don't want to give up my life where I am now either. It really would be lovely if we could have a device to keep those we love close without giving up our independent lives. Miracleman, where's our transporter?!

I've always had a rough relationship with my mom, but we had a huge blowup when she said some almost unimaginable things to me. It was so bad that I was afraid it might be a sign of some sort of dementia or the like, and also wasn't sure if I would be able to maintain communication. After great advice from some people that I trust, I decided that the only way to salvage the relationship was to get advice from a counselor. It was wonderful! She gave me some fantastic, practical tips, and now my mom and I are communicating again, albeit with some strict, well-defined boundaries. I'm still concerned about possible physical neurological issues that might be affecting her personality, but I'm really not sure what to do about that at this point. She has done this to more than me, so I don't think that the problems are just at my end, but she does fine with most, so it's not clear cut.

The cats are wonderful, and doing well. The goddaughter and her mom don't follow my advice as gospel truth (really!), but they're wonderful too. Although I don't have a partner or children of my own, and that does sadden me, I'm blessed to have fantastic children and adults in my life.

Reading over the other summing posts here, I'm sad to see the difficulty and loss, but am heartened to see that some have had pretty a good year despite difficulties. I've seen years here when those with good years were almost sheepish to post with all the woe others had faced. I don't mean to minimize the heartache; there has been too, too much for too, too many, and I want to hug you all and make it all better. It's nice to see the joy, too, though.

Hmm. I seem to have made up for my year of lurkiness in one fell post.

eta, not as long as I thought.

Sending good vibes out to so many. It's been a hard year for so many buffistas.

Most of the good parts of my year could be personified by DH and the kids. Most of the bad has been my MiL's worsening health.