I am almost sorry to say it, but I had a decent year! I was going to say "no relatives' funerals," but my mother reminded me that my aunt's memorial was in January (after she died the previous fall). But still, no deaths in the family (after a rough previous year). My job got more interesting again, after a period where I felt underused and possibly under-respected. I took on new roles in my band and at church, and am stretching in all kinds of ways -- leading 50+ people in playing songs, chairing the search committee for our new minister. Sometimes I am tired from all of the stretching! But at least I'm not bored.

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That is wonderful to read, Jesse! May 2024 continue the trend.

We need to share our accomplishments as well as our challenges. Joy is increased when shared, and burdens are lessened.

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Yay Jesse! Misery may love company, but I am extremely glad that at least some people I know had a good year.

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That's awesome, Jesse!

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I am almost sorry to say it, but I had a decent year!

I am glad of it! May everybody have decent years!

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I’m glad someone had a good year!!

My year had ups and downs. I…don’t remember what happened the first half of the year. I went to Mexico with Vortex and Brenda and Maria? That was cool. I visited my parents in January. My mom was supposed to go see her sister but wasn’t feeling well, so didn’t go. At the time that was a whole thing but now I’m really glad it happened, because then Memorial Day weekend she fell down, went to the hospital, and was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer and died two weeks later. It was so fast and it still seems pretty unreal, like maybe I just haven’t called her recently? We are still dealing with trying to straighten out her estate and have told my dad he can’t die until that happens. Nobody expected mom to pass before dad—he’s the one who for 20 years has been pronouncing “well, I might not be around next Christmas…”. And honestly I’d be surprised if he is around next Christmas. He’s hanging in there and my sister is doing a lot of work, but he’s not been in good shape for years. And work has been a nightmare and my boss is horrid and I need to find a new job.

On the good side, I went to the World Cup with a friend as a month long vacation and it was amazing. And I again spent December in Palm Springs with friends, which was a much needed dose of sunshine and companionship and I will miss it in the dark cold Seattle winter. I feel like a lot of my friends stopped wanting to go out or hang out and got very introverted during the pandemic and now I end up v lonesome a lot.

And the weirdest part of my year, I joined a clinical trial for a new weight loss drug and have now lost 60 pounds. I really need to add some muscle weight because a lot of it was muscle, but I have never in my life been this thin. It’s bizarre, and also weird to realize how dysmorphic my body image is, because I definitely don’t look at myself and think thin, even though I know I must be. So I’ll need to deal with that in the coming year—finding a workout that works and trying to be in shape, and figure out what I’ll do after this trial is over and I can’t get the drug anymore.

So basically 2024 is going to be a lot of work, even though I’m run down and tired from 2023. Trying to take the last couple days of the year here and prep and set myself up for success?

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I had a shitty year. My mother went so out of control at me based on, as far as I can determine, seeing my furniture in her house which I was renting and had a lease for, that she threatened to kick me out and disown me. So we bought a house extremely quickly, and while I know we are fortunate to have been able to do that in this ridiculous housing market, and it’s a fine house with a good yard, it meant moving away from my grandparents house and the village I moved to Cape Cod to live in. My mother is now pretending everything is fine but I’m still really hurt by her and dealing with the fact that there’s really no relationship between us that takes me and my reality into account at all. So I avoid her and she acts like she’s the victim somehow.

Then the new boss I helped hire at my job turned out to be completely unfitted for the work and also possibly the worst possible style match for me I can imagine. I spent several months with literally half the staff asking me to somehow save them from my boss, which is not actually something I could figure out how to do because god knows he wouldn’t listen to my good advice even when we got along. This coming week will be my last week at the job I thought when I took it I could spend 20 years and retire in, and I also get to feel like I failed the staff of the library who believed in me. (Yes, my therapist has pointed out that I am not in fact magical, and that talking to HR and the Board of Trustees was about as much as I could reasonably do.)

So I moved my whole family across the country based on a dream of living in a specific town and working in a specific job and neither of those things worked out. Oddly, everyone else seems pretty happy here - I offered over the summer that we could move back to Ohio and they all said no.

Maybe the problem is me? No choice but to keep going though I guess.

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Yay, good year, Jesse! Never hesitate to share the good. I'm with Hec — more good years for everyone.

So basically 2024 is going to be a lot of work, even though I’m run down and tired from 2023.

This is me. I feel like 2024 is going to be a harder version of 2023 in terms of my dad. I'm lucky I have so many good people and reasons for joy outside of that.

Financially, I just want stability. We have been so unstable since Covid because of ND's business, and this is the year that all came to a head. So stability, please. I don't need prosperity (though that would be lovely), but a little more certainly has to happen.

Flea, that sounds awful. I'm sorry. I hope you find some happiness in your new home and village.

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I'm sorry for everyone with stressful years.

Mine was pretty low-key. I got another big raise and celebrated by getting my hair dyed blue and going to NY for a week only to see Broadway shows. Not at the same time. Work was crazy in September and worse in October, when I had to work 7 days a week, 60+ hours a week. It got me four free days of PTO over Christmas. The trip to NY was totally worth it.

I started taking supplements for my migraines, which have definitely lowered the pain level and frequency. Which is great, but also bullshit, because I could have been doing this fifteen years ago. I had tried something similar at point but it didn't work for a couple of possible reasons.

Went and saw friends. Friends came to visit in August, when it was approximately 110 degrees and had been for weeks. My husband's brother and his wife came to visit in October, and that did NOT go well. Fortunately I could genuinely claim to be swamped with work and stay on the sidelines.

I'd like to get out of Texas in 2024.

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My year was stressful. I do not anticipate that things will be less stressful next year. I do not want to taunt happy fun year. So.

Many things suck. My spouse and child do not, though sometimes it feels like my daughter's speed-running some of the more awkward and regrettable parts of my life history. (Not, like, the relationship drama stuff. Just weird crap that I look back on and cringe about.) However, as she and I have discussed, I know she won't actually take my experience into enough account, as one has to deal with their early adulthood cringe behavior on their own terms.

We went to Italy, my first time outside of the US and Canada. One postcard sent from there got to its destination. Perhaps the card sent will one day, too. The thing I didn't mail from Italy, I mailed from Seattle before Christmas. We'll see if USPS is any more reliable than the Italian postal service. One hopes.

I turn fifty next year, and I'm not sure how I feel about that, but hey. It beats the alternative.

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