Been a crazy year, and I probably won't have a final verdict until some time in January.

There was Arthur's kidney transplant and the adoption of Joey, the donor. Sadly, we lost Marie, but she made it to a ripe old age of 16. Sadly, I had to stop volunteering at the animal shelter because we don't want to risk transmitting infections to the immune-suppressed Arthur. Which also throws my post-retirement plans into confusion.

Work has been extremely busy as my boss is pushing me forward, thinking I might have a chance at a promotion. (I'm cooperating. But he's more optimistic about it than I am. We'll know more about who's right when annual evaluations come out, probably in January but possibly before the end of the year.)

Hubs seems to have settled in to retirement, finally. Now I need to keep him on his meds and make sure he gets enough sleep.

This year has been interesting, that's for sure. I lost my wallet in NYC and got it back, and going through that made me suspect that I might actually be an adult. I finally got to do some sightseeing in SF. I climbed a volcano in Ecuador. My dad had another heart attack. I hung out with people a lot and cooked a lot and walked a crapton of miles. I finally saw Eddie Izzard live. I started taking online classes, which has made my brain happier. And pretty soon I'm probably packing up my life and moving to the Bay Area after 8 years in Chicago. Provided that someone will hire me before I flip out like a mammal.

So far the end of 2014 has been full of pain, anxiety and frustration.

Last month I had my teeth cleaned for the first time in several years, they were like - everything looks structurally sound. Then 3 days later my molar broke - I had a cavity. They tried filling and then said I needed a root canal then that wasn't going to work so they pulled it. It took, basically a whole month. I have severe dental anxiety so it wasn't the easiest of times.

Now I have a flare up of painful bladder syndrome and keep having to leave because it's too painful to walk, stand , bend or realy sit.

On the other hand, I moved from being on the phones at work to being on the sales floor. I've done mostly okay but missing work hasn't really helped. But I got a good review at my yearly and a small raise.

I went home during the summer.

Will and I are still togehter and still just doing our thing. I haven't been knitting but I've been playing around with collage and art a bit.

I'm also seeing a therapist who I adore and a shrink I hate. I'm trying to work on that.

I guess the biggest thing for me this year(although I'm still writing, that hasn't broken through all that much, but I do think I'm on the right track with it, which is good)is that my volunteer commitments, always a factor around election season, have become less anonymous and more responsible since I started doing stuff for PDA. In some ways I do the stuff that nobody wants to do, but maybe I'm better at it, or at least not overscheduled as many of the organizers are(I round up a lot of the numbers for donors and on the phone lists, which seems to be a hated chore for some yet no big deal to me personally, but I kind of like it when they thank me as though I pulled someone's ring out of the toilet.)I do some social-media things, so I'm on a team for almost the first time ever. Oh, and I got retweeted by Clay Davis.

I survived the year. Calling that a win.

I finished getting my package together for my Buffista giftee! This is most impressive to me.

I don't know who pinch hit for me last year. It was a year ago on the 2nd of December that I had a massive seizure that put me in the hospital for a while and in bed for quite a long while. I remember little of that month. Some wonderful secret santa here filled in for me and gifted. I was so grateful.

It was rough for a few months, and the year has been extremes of business, parenting, and various stresses. BUT I took the list of things I was supposed to do to heart.

Sleep - I absolutely get at least 8-9 hours a day. If I wake up early, like today 5am, then I go for a walk or read for a couple hours and either go back to bed, or make myself nap later.

Stress - I just refuse to. I drive A1A along the beach and not the highway. I close my computer at 10pm, at least for work stuff, but most of the time just close it. I've stopped watching so much news and watch recorded comedy or soaps or light stuff. There are a lot more little things I am doing in this area because it is a biggee for health.

Alcohol - That was a tough one. I REALLY like my wine, but since I got back to Florida I have done away with even my single glass for the most part. It is now a rare treat instead of a regular one. In accordance with the research and recommendations I have adopted a natural herb solution to kick back at the end of my hectic days.

Bottom line, I have recently gone off the medication I hated so much and have not had a seizure in over a year. None since the initial bad one. Now I need to lose that 40 pounds I put on in the last year. I think the medication caused that one. I was starving all the time on it, and I am not since I went off. So encouraged.

Thank you Buffistas for being all you are to each other and to me.

eta: I got my Buffista number for a post number, how cool is that?

I can say a lot of things about 2014. And since it was the year on which I finally got to meet some Buffistas in person, I decided that it makes it a good year.

Where the fuck is our "like" button?

Wow, Laura, I didn't know you'd been through all that. I"m so glad that everything you are doing now seems to be working for you health-wise.

Thanks, -t. I didn't know how much I talked about it here. It was a most horrific month or so! I do feel like I have taken charge of my health now. Really the weight is the only big thing now, and that should be easier to get under control now that I am not starving! Rx solutions and me just don't get along.

After I have been off medication for another couple months or so I will have the doctor do another 24 hour EEG and hope to get an all clear. Fun stuff, walking around with dozens of wires glued to your head for 24 hours! When I had the test done last year it happened on the exact same day that I had to move out of the house I had been renting for 4 years because it had been sold. It was a complete horror being all doped up on seizure meds, and not clear headed enough to realize the cough medicine I was chugging for a persistent cough was making me that much more dopey. And moving my household. It was overwhelmingly awful.

But in the Spring I said enough and began cutting down on the meds. Cut way back on my work load. Spent a long summer in the mountains relaxing and reading lots of fiction. Then back in Florida I stepped it up more by going off the meds completely and being insistent on not overdoing.

Granted my not overdoing is still working at least 12 hour days, usually 7 days a week. But I do take more breaks and do more of the things I enjoy. Cooking more. Reading more. Refusal to get caught up in family drama. I'm feeling pretty optimistic.