I have made it to 2025! Hooray!

2024 was a quiet year for me. No family crises, no personal crises.

My healthcare coverage through COBRA was only good until the last day of 2024, so back in November I signed up for coverage through healthcare.gov. On December 23rd I received my new insurance card. Whew, what a relief! I will be able to afford my healthcare for 2025 after all!

A few personal achievements in 2024:

• I got to see my second total eclipse of the Sun.
  
• I celebrated my 60th birthday.
  
• June 6th marked the fifth anniversary of my cancer diagnosis, so I have beaten the official odds.

The medications I take are keeping my prostate cancer quiet. The side effects are no fun. I am coping. My overall mental and physical decline continues, but I'm not dead yet.

Every morning when I wake up I remind myself: today is a bonus day.

All broader societal issues aside, 2024 was a mixed year for me. I finally managed to move back to Michigan, something I’ve been working towards for years. The cat of my heart died, and a month later I still find myself getting teary eyed from missing him. He had hyperthyroidism and kidney disease, and he beat the life expectancy of a cat with both by a couple of years, but I’d still have liked more time. Javier has stepped up with the cuddling and staying out from under the bed for extended periods of time, which has been helpful (so I thank Amyth for that, wherever her spirit may currently reside).

I’d been burning a lot of mental cycles working out how to get back home, so I’m hoping I can convert those to something new and interesting. I moved the Monday before Thanksgiving, so that and then all the Christmas stuff and New Year’s have had me in a sort of liminal space. No idea what my day to day is going to look like, aside from work. I guess it’s a chance to build new habits and whatnot. Some of them might even be good ones. I have a line on a community garden and an astronomy club, and over the summer I’d like to take sailing lessons. All assuming things don’t get too dire. My hope is that the grifters in charge get so busy with infighting and backbiting that their worst impulses can’t manifest.

Hmm. I feel like nothing happened in 2024, but I know that's not true. I went to Philly several times. Had drama when our usual March dance event turned into a Fox News drama and scary threats. Went to JZ's memorial and got to see lovely Buffistas. Was initially in great shape, doing CrossFit and then personal training, and on the study drugs. Once off the drugs, promptly gained 15 pounds, and eventually paid for Zepbound. Haven't lost that 15 pounds, but haven't gained any more either. Going to work on that in 2024. Went to a family reunion of sorts in Colorado for my aunt and uncle's 60th wedding anniversary, and got to visit my friend's new place in Denver. Went to a dance event in LA, which was mostly great though a few ups and downs. Visited friends in DC and went dancing. Sadly then in November the year took more of a downturn. Found out all in one week that: the local ballroom I dance at is closing, two of my dance friends who were #relationshipgoals broke up, America re-elected Trump, and my bestie had cancer. Whee. Luckily she was able to get surgery pretty promptly, and still (eventually) joined us in Palm Springs, which she is the organizer of. The first week was v chill, with just two of us, but then there was her, plus a fun group of her new friends from Denver, and then for Christmas some old Seattle friends. All in all still a lovely time. But not sure about 2025--I had lunch with a friend today and she asked what I was looking forward to in 2025 and I had to think for a bit. I was planning a trip with my friend in February, but we canceled due to the whole cancer thing (she starts chemo in a couple weeks). Otherwise I'm not sure that I have any big plans for 2025. Get through it? Hope there are some good surprises sprinkled in there? I do have some nice ongoing routines (dance, trivia friends, etc) and hoping to put a few more in place, but still feeling apprehensive of the new year and not sure what I even want to plan, to look forward to.

the worst things that happened to me were job stress and a broken ankle. I had a long rehab/healing for the ankle. My sister and sister-in-law stepped up after the ankle break and took good care of me. so, while it was literally a pain, I got through it ok, (in unrelated news, I am old, and my bones aren't all that strong.) The work stress passed and got better. It was stressful at the time it was happening but it always passed and I got better at not making mistakes.

So far, 2025 sucks worse than anything that happened in 2024.