I feel weird sometimes saying that 2016 was a dumpster fire, because in truth, my immediate important things are good. My family is healthy and together, we love each other, and we are comfortable and have things we enjoy doing. While my two remaining in-laws had a massive heart attack and cancer respectively this year, they both seem to be fine now.

But.

Not only did some of the public deaths hit me hard (it was the death of the 20th Century in many ways), I lost several friends in horrible ways. One died in Afghanistan. One died in her sleep, leaving two small children orphaned. And one, who had been a good friend for years, murdered his 3yo daughter, set his house on fire, and shot himself.

I lost friends in non-death ways also. My work partner made some professional and personal choices that left me unable to remain her friend, and I dropped ties with other friendly acquaintances over online behavior and/or politics.

And, while I finally was able to leave Booz Allen and become entirely self-employed, the client situation shifted as well, leaving me working for a Trump wanna-be and seeing everything I've built for the last 8 years get trashed.

2017. Bring it. I teach "fail fast and fail forward" - failure will happen. The goal is for that failure to not be the last thing we do. If possible, it should help us be better going forward.

2017. Bring it. I teach "fail fast and fail forward" - failure will happen. The goal is for that failure to not be the last thing we do. If possible, it should help us be better going forward.

Excellent!

2016 was mixed for me. There were no close family deaths this year, which was a nice change. And I got a nice new nephew-in-law when my niece got married in April. Work went well, and I even got a raise (thanks, Obama). But the whole election season hit me hard. As Theoden said in The Two Towers, what can men do against such reckless hate? There are thousands of people who support Trump because he's a racist misogynist, and hundreds of thousands who are willing to let the racism and misogyny go, as long as we knock down poor people some more and give rich people tax breaks. I don't like knowing that about my fellow Americans.

Anyway, it gives me more incentive to move closer to family (as did my sister's health scare over Christmas). Whether that comes in the form of MI, IL, or northwestern NY will depend on job openings. And if Trump does a 180 and turns out to be made of orange awesome, well, I'll be happy and relieved, and still closer to the family.

Moving my LJ posts to Dreamwidth opened my eyes to a stark reality. For at least a dozen years I have been bemoaning being overworked and out of shape. Enough already. Do or do not. There is no try.

Gina! I finally checked my mail today and got your package. It is awesome! I don't know where to start with how much I love everything. Especially the Doctor Who stuff: a package of ankle socks with different motifs (Daleks, Cybermen, and more); a TARDIS tea infuser (I've been dying for one!), a mug that when you pour stuff in one picture disappears on one side and another appears on the other--I've got the disappearing/reappearing TARDIS--but this one is the Weeping Angels! AHHHHHHH. It's awesome! And then two bags of tea from Adagio: one that's Lord of the Rings themed (by one of my favorite fandom blenders; I have two of their teas in my cupboard right now) and one of chestnut, which is one of my very favorite flavored teas, especially in winter. And, lastly, a mug from the Christkinldmarket in Chicago. It's all so amazing. THANK YOU! It's the most wonderful way to ring out the old and ring in the new.

Edited to add: Santee, your package went out on Thursday UPS ground.

Excellent! I'm glad it got there so quickly! I didn't quite have the spoons to get it shipped before Christmas.

Sincere thank you to all Buffistas who sent me cards this holiday season, and earlier in the summer in case I didn't say it then. I'd mention everyone by name but I fear I'd accidentally leave someone out. I loved them all and they made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Moving my LJ posts to Dreamwidth opened my eyes to a stark reality. For at least a dozen years I have been bemoaning being overworked and out of shape. Enough already. Do or do not. There is no try.

Similar experience here. I'm astonished in a not-good way how many years I've been saying the same things. Time really does run together for me, I guess. But it needs to stop. I need to pay attention to my life and what I'm doing, beyond just my work. Do or do not. There is no try.

(That quote was on my BFF's bedroom ceiling as a teenager.)

I went to my sister's for New Year's Day brunch and picked up a card and package.

I got Elf-ed with chocolate and magnets!

And my secret santa DebetEsse sent a gorgeous card from Hawaii with word that she had donated to Planned Parenthood for me and sent a lovely magnet as well! Thank you, that's the best give ever this year!

Theodosia or Paula - one of you is my marvelous gifter. ONE OF YOU!

I received a copy of Christopher Moore's Sacre Bleu but I don't know if it was a santa or a straggler from the FB book pyramid scheme. Either way, I'm glad to have it!

2016 was a big year. I turned 60 and that seemed to kick off a lot of soul-searching, which led to a lot of changes. A lot of them were very good: I started doing stand-up, which I am really liking. My nephew got married to his way cool girlfriend in April and my whole extended family was there. We finished redoing our bathroom and have started a giant culling of stuff, to get rid of all non-loved and needed things.

Some changes were not good--The country's right wing shift is horrible for all of us. My mom's and my FiL's health continue to deteriorate. I gained a LOT of weight, I think due to the struggle of realizing that I not only kinda hate my job--I hate being in HR. After a lot of discussion and thought, we decided the best course of action will probably be moving to the Detroit area (most likely Ypslanti or somewhere else around Ann Arbor). The DH can continue his writing easily, and we can buy a place which is MUCH more affordable, which will allow me to work as a substitute teacher, and possibly try to get a provisional cert to become a fulltime teacher. We are going there at the end of the monthto scout out neighborhoods and unless it's radically different than we think it is, the move will happen in the Spring.