Laura- I got the card you sent! I'm sorry I didn't post earlier, it got mixed up in other mail and then I went and wrote something out and wandered off and forgot to hit post.

I put the seeds in a safe place to try them out in the spring.

Man this was a weird year but overall I think it ended up being kind of good for me? We hard-carried Casper through to a successful high school graduation. I dug myself out of a pretty deep depression hole. I got three job offers and accepted two of them. I netted a $43,000 grant for work on my first try. I worked for people who acted like I was a human being. We got a dog; I realized I am so not a dog person; mr. Flea loves the dog so much and is now leaving the house and walking 4 miles a day for her sake.

The big news is I took the job offer in Cape Cod so in three weeks Casper and I are moving there. Mr. Flea and Dillo will probably follow in June. It’s a big change and a lot if work and I alternate between joy and asking myself what the hell I’m thinking. We’ll see!

Congrats, flea! So you basically came to this conclusion?

flea, that's exciting! We'll miss you, but it sounds like a great opportunity!

So you basically came to this conclusion?

I feel like I should say "Hey!", but that clip makes me laugh every time I see it.

Congrats, flea! How exciting!

I don't really want to look back on this year. There was good as well as bad, but I really just want to put it in a box, put the box in the attic, and be done with it.

Thank you, Buffistas, for being a warm, kind place in the wicked, wild web.

Flea, congrats on your big move. I wish you and your family all good things.

I don't really want to look back on this year. There was good as well as bad, but I really just want to put it in a box, put the box in the attic, and be done with it.

Same.

The big news is I took the job offer in Cape Cod so in three weeks Casper and I are moving there. Mr. Flea and Dillo will probably follow in June. It’s a big change and a lot if work and I alternate between joy and asking myself what the hell I’m thinking. We’ll see!

Congratulations! Let me know where you settle in. We'll likely be in Cape Cod at least once this summer if not twice and we'd love to see you.

Yeah, gotta say, this year kind of blew.

February: Texas froze. We had one burst pipe and never lost power, so we were very lucky, in the long run. It was also the month I managed to get vaccine appointments for me and Husband, so that was good. The second dose in March knocked me down hard, but only for about a day. Oh, I was also in the middle of chatting with a friend when her cat had some kind of seizure and died. (sad animal news)

May: Got some really upsetting family news that I don't feel safe posting about here, but it forever altered the way I look at a close relative. The fallout went on for about a month, and it was awful, and then saw the person in July and had to handle that.

July: In that time period where we thought things were safer, my parents went to Paris. My mother was horrendously sick while they were there (not covid), and my dad got a breakthrough infection a couple of days after they came back.

August: Hurricane Ida. The whole city lost power. My parents were evacuated for a week. I dropped out of my chorus when they resumed rehearsals with no precautions at all.

December: The day after we arrived for the Christmas visit, my parents had to put their 14-year-old dog down. We knew it was coming, but it was still heartbreaking. (moar sad animal news, fuck this year)

And, you know, politics. Democracy and whatnot. Especially in Texas. I would like to get out of here, but where to go. And I'm 90% sure my job would let me be fully remote, but it's still a worry.

On the good side, strangely, is my job. I haven't ever had a really terrible job, but this is just amazing. My manager had no problem with me continuing to work from home, even after the office came back in, because of my migraines. (Right, migraines go on the bad side.) And everyone, like, gets along? And is nice? And helps each other? So I am very fortunate in that respect.

And now, back to the bad, I'm sick with something. It may well be a cold. But I managed to find a testing appointment this afternoon, probably because someone canceled. Who knows when I'll get the results. I also have a psych appointment to look forward to, because my fucking meds need to be adjusted, so right now I'm just snarly and mopey.

Anyway, in the grand scheme of things, I'm still lucky and privileged. I'm just tired.

2021: ltc graduated from the preschool where she spent 4 years, and started kindergarten at a brand new school. She's absolutely thriving there, and it's just wonderful to watch her grow.

I finally got myself on a psych meds routine that seems to be working. Got myself a therapist, lost that therapist when she left the practice and found another therapist without having a complete meltdown in the process. The great uncluttering of our house has been a two steps forward, one step back kind of process, but it's moving along. I read more books this year than I have ever read in a year since I've been keeping track of such things, and I'm trying to watch a little less TV and spend a little less time on the internet.

We've been trying to find a balance in this new reality. We're seeing people more in person since we've been vaccinated, but many relatives seem to have aged more than two years in the same amount of time, and we don't see them all as much as we used to in the before times.

TCG is still working the same job that he has been doing the last few years, and it has been great for him to be so nearby that he can occasionally pick up ltc from school.