2013 was a good year for me. I got to spend the whole year watching my little girl learn how to do things like walk, eat with a spoon, put away her toys (occasionally), and say things like "Night-night more yellow duck." We didn't have to move at all this year, which was nice, and we were able to see our families a lot. And my choir sang at the Ryman Auditorium! The mayor even introduced us, which is kind of a big deal, since we're a GLBT (& friends) chorus, and he's the mayor of a sizable Southern city.

The biggest change was that, after four years of a job I never loved, I found a new job as a librarian at a private K-12 school. It pays better than the old job, I get summers off, and, most importantly, I'm back in a library, where I belong. I've gotten to teach a few classes, meet some students and teachers, and work on some interesting projects. I've especially enjoyed working with the Lower School librarian, who runs a really great program for the younger students. It's not 100% certain that the school will ask me to stay on next year, but I certainly hope they do! I think it's pretty likely, but who can tell...

So here's to 2014, which will no doubt bring its share of surprises. No matter what happens, I am so grateful to the Buffistas for always being here, and for being my safe space to vent, ask advice, be silly, and share in the joys and sorrows of my friends.

Yay good years!

2013 was good, in a low key way. I got to spend time with my college BFF in Vermont. I spent more time at work doing the things I want to do and less of the stuff that bores me. I got a preliminary ok on doing said job from MI, so I might be able to move closer to family.

I also think some low-level depression may be lifting. I'm getting a bit more energy and inclination to actually get out of the apartment and do things.

I'm cautiously optimistic about 2014.

Hmm.

2013 started with

Bad: Getting dumped

Good: Eye surgery which worked great!

Good: Going to Mexico with Brenda!

OK: Complaining until I got a new project at work

Good: Going to four dance conventions in the first five months of the year

Bad: Only going to one in the eight months after that

Good: Made it out to Montana for 4th of July, hitting my 50th state on an awesome roadtrip with the Roomie

Good: Sister and BIL came to visit and then we hit up a family wedding, then I went to San Francisco with the BFF

Bad; Roomie moved to New Jersey

Pending: New roomie (seems OK so far, but we have spent all of an hour in each other's company!)

Good: BFF got married!

Good/Bad: Did several 5Ks, but fewer than 2012, and didn't run much the last few months of the year, getting lots slower

Bad: Parents are getting older and sicker--mom had heart problems, dad had his eye removed.

...I suspect I am blocking out some awesome and/or awful things that happened, but overall, decent year?

I got a preliminary ok on doing said job from MI, so I might be able to move closer to family.

Calli, that's great news! I know that's something you've wanted to do for a long time.

meara, your dad had his eye removed?? That sounds extremely unpleasant! It must be really hard to adjust to monocular vision after a lifetime of using both your eyes. Can he still drive?

Kate, he can, but doesn't much. He had had eye surgery a while back, and it got infected, so he's been blind in that eye most of the year (he's also diabetic, obese, has high blood pressure and heart issues...), but it wasn't healing right so they ended up taking it out. Which is gross and creepy, but better than being dead? I do worry about how much longer he can be alive, much less independent and such.

Definitely better than being dead! I hope for no more health complications for him this year.

The highlight of 2013 for me was a long road trip through Washington, Idaho, and Montana for my 50th birthday. We went to Yellowstone (bison in the road! geysers!) and we knocked a thing off my bucket list: "camping out" in the back of a pickup truck, in lounge chairs and sleeping bags, staring at the beautiful Big Sky full of stars (Milky Way! shooting star!). It was perfect.

I and my family and friends remain mostly healthy and mostly happy. My mortgage has been nearly paid off, thanks to an unexpected decision by a relative. My job is easing up; I'm once again responsible for only one journal and 40-hour weeks should be possible again. Another cat, finally named Murray, added himself to my household. I've cut my hair short and let it go silver and stopped dieting, and I feel better about myself than I have in ages.

Other than that, 2013 has been pleasantly uneventful. I'm hoping that 2014 brings peace and good things to me and to all of us.

I am battling brain weasels, so it's a bit of a battle to objectively look back at the year. It was a better year than last, I think I can say that.

The best thing I did for myself this year was go to Ireland. I was sinking into a funk and it pulled me out. It also made more more confident about travelling overseas and alone, and now it's something I think about a lot. It was somewhere I've wanted to go since I was a teenager and now that I've been, I don't know why I waited so long. I have another trip to Ireland planned for the fall, but maybe I should go somewhere else too. You may remember that getting there was a bit of an ordeal, and almost more than the trip itself, I remember how helpful and kind people, some random strangers, were. That's stayed with me.

Work continues to be difficult. It just feels like all the positive things we try to do are squashed by higher ups in the food chain. It makes work feel pointless and I feel powerless. On the plus side, after working almost two years with three vacant positions in a team of five, we hired some new people, who are all good eggs. But ultimately, I think I need to move on. Not getting the job in the Hague has made me feel gutted. Not so much missing out on the job itself, but the opportunities afforded by it. But maybe it's helping me realize what I want and need out of a new job.

The prospect of moving overseas has made me face the fact that my parents are getting older, their health is failing. They are also stubborn, clinging to their independence, and in my mother's case, in denial about her declining health. I have a lot of guilt about the lack of involvement I have in their care. Now that I've unpacked that, I'm not sure what to do with it since I live 500 kms away, but it's there.

Personally, I feel at the same time, more comfortable with myself and more insecure than ever. I am being more open, which is hard for me, but I still battle crazy shyness at times. And I find myself bothered by being alone more than I ever have.

I was thinking earlier that, in an ideal world, 2014 would be the year of making the first move, in all ways, personally, professionally, socially. I hope I can stick to that.

I wish you all the best of everything in the new year.

My family is all well - my parents' health is better than it has been in recent years, my brother seems happy, my nephew is a giant (seriously, size 16 shoes). I got to see extended family over the summer (including 6 children I hadn't met before) and it looks like I'll see a few more at a reunion planned for the coming summer. So that's all good.

Work is... complicated. A year ago (when I'd only had the job 5 months) my boss was diagnosed with an oral cancer. In Feb/March he was out for surgery and treatment and I covered both jobs which meant up to 90 hour weeks at times. When he came back it was a tricky dance of trying to figure out how much slack he needed me to take without annoying him and navigating communication difficulties. Things gradually got better until this fall when a PET scan was not good. He's been in and out of the hospital since mid-November (this time it was lymph nodes and thyroid) and I doubt he'll be back to work anytime soon. It feels bitchy to complain since I'm not the one battling cancer, but I really have no way of knowing how long I'll be in this limbo of doing both jobs while only being paid for the lesser job. On the whole, it's not much fun. Plus I like my boss and it sucks to see him suffer.

Right now I'm hoping I won't have to bow out of the shows I'm supposed to design this spring. It's entirely possible that in the coming months I'll have to decide if I want my boss's job and I am so not ready to answer that question.

I am, of course, thankful for all of you and I wish you all a very happy new year!