Maybe I should sum up...
Jan. 4th, 2012 10:31 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mousmeSince I didn't post here much during the year, I guess maybe I should try to recap the last year a little bit, see what sticks out in my mind.
January
A quiet start to the year. I had all sorts of plans, only some of which came to fruition. I did a lot of writing ~100k worth, which is the most I've ever managed, including NaNo of 2006. I got up to the Fearsranch for a weekend, hung out, helped![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
fearsclave to cook moose. I also acquired an iPhone, my first cell phone since 2002.
Capricornucopia was a raging success, in spite of most of the Usual Suspects not attending due to weather.le_maistre_e did her usual takeover of the proceedings, and we all spent the evening howling with laughter and consuming yummy food. Best Capricornucopia ever.
February
I hopped on a plane to L.A. for my first ever fan convention of Supernatural. It was nothing like the only other convention I'd ever been to —World Con— and was both awesome and chaotic and filled with neat people. As luck would have it, I ended up with a seat right next toelsewhere_kels, who is a good fandom friend of mind. Total happenstance, but it was very fortuitous and made the con experience a ton of fun.
There was more writing, though not as much as in January.
March
March was dominated by work, essentially. The cats discovered what I assume must have been a nest of voles behind the dishwasher, because I got gifted with a couple of dead or soon-to-be-dead rodents by some very proud-looking kitties. Eventually the voles either gave up or the cats got better at eating them before I got there, because I never saw any of them again.
I also still did a fair bit of writing that month.
April
April was my second trip of the year, to Rome. Again, ostensibly for a SPN convention, but the con was just a bonus and I ended up enjoying the experience in the city about a million times more. Just gorgeous. The writing took a hit because of my trip, but it was well worth it.
I came back from Rome in time to find out that I dropped the ball on a parking ticket and got my driver's license suspended, which in turn got me in trouble at work. I fixed it all within a few days, but it was very stressful while it lasted.
April ended on a really sad note when I finally decided that my Gretzky's quality of life had deteriorated to the point where I couldn't justify letting her suffer any longer. So we went to the vet one last time where she went quietly and painlessly over the rainbow bridge.
May
In May I discovered that a technicality excluded me from getting a permanent position at work. It sucked.
What sucked more was the federal election, in which I got a government I didn't want. A pretty interesting election nonetheless, given that the NDP became a force to be reckoned with, at least just this once. Still, it came at the cost of a four-year majority for the Harper government, which is not what I would like for the country.
June
In June, I worked some more. Lots of work. Bleh. Mim and Papa went to Paris, and I spent most of the time either working or making lame attempts to see people.
July
I reconnected briefly with the Vermont crew andbodhifox, although I did not end up humping the Camel.
July was marked by the announcement by my landlords that they were selling the building I'd lived in for six years. After an initial reaction of panic, I set to work and discovered that I was eligible for a mortgage. I then spent the next few weeks house hunting and dealing with people intruding at all hours in my personal space. It was all made a lot harder by the fact that I was mostly working night shift the whole time.
I made friends with my real estate agent, Ryan, though, who was referred to me byle_maistre_e. He is good people, and advised me really well.
August
In August I kept looking at houses, and eventually put in an offer on one of the early houses I'd seen in July. I was still working night shift, and we discovered some extra water/plumbing problems where I was living that necessitated a lot of extra workmen in and out, and thus made me miss even more sleep.
My offer on the house was accepted after a bit of bargaining back and forth, and I got most of the paperwork dealt with right before I was meant to leave for Vancouver, for the third planned SPN convention of the year.
Three days before I left I had coffee with S. for the first time, and we really hit it off. I spent the next day atsilly_imp's party barbecuing in the rain and reconnecting with people, and on the Monday I jumped on a plane to Vancouver.
VanCon was great. I spent several days exploring the city withelsewhere_kels, with whom I shared a hotel room the whole time, and we had a really good time at the convention in spite of a few convention-related snafus.
September
In September I reconnected with S., and things got a little more serious. I went back to work after a two-week vacation in August, and slowly started settling back in, only to realise that all the issues I'd been so happy to leave behind were still firmly entrenched.
The month went by ridiculously fast, marked by hours and hours of packing. The highlight, of course, was when George developed a kidney stone and had to be hospitalised at the vet's for three days, costing me close to $800 that I couldn't afford.
We signed more paperwork for the house, leaving only one last bit of documentation to be signed in October.
October
We signed the last bits of paperwork for the house on the 12th, and on the 15th I moved in. The housewarming/Hallowe'en party on the 31st was quite a success, if I do say so myself.
November
In November there was work. Work, and some unpacking, and then more work. I got a weird review at work: apparently I'm really good at my job, but I need to lose the sarcasm and all body language that might be construed as being negative.
December
Unsurprisingly, December was also marked by work. I did decorate for Christmas and got my first natural Christmas tree since 2006. The cats didn't knock it over, which I took as a win. S. and I spent a very nice quiet belated Christmas together on the 27th, and she also visited me briefly at work on the 31st in order to ring in the New Year.
Conclusion? 2011 was a roller coaster year, filled with stresses both good and bad. Here's hoping that 2012 will be quieter.
January
A quiet start to the year. I had all sorts of plans, only some of which came to fruition. I did a lot of writing ~100k worth, which is the most I've ever managed, including NaNo of 2006. I got up to the Fearsranch for a weekend, hung out, helped
fearsclave to cook moose. I also acquired an iPhone, my first cell phone since 2002.Capricornucopia was a raging success, in spite of most of the Usual Suspects not attending due to weather.
le_maistre_e did her usual takeover of the proceedings, and we all spent the evening howling with laughter and consuming yummy food. Best Capricornucopia ever.February
I hopped on a plane to L.A. for my first ever fan convention of Supernatural. It was nothing like the only other convention I'd ever been to —World Con— and was both awesome and chaotic and filled with neat people. As luck would have it, I ended up with a seat right next to
elsewhere_kels, who is a good fandom friend of mind. Total happenstance, but it was very fortuitous and made the con experience a ton of fun.There was more writing, though not as much as in January.
March
March was dominated by work, essentially. The cats discovered what I assume must have been a nest of voles behind the dishwasher, because I got gifted with a couple of dead or soon-to-be-dead rodents by some very proud-looking kitties. Eventually the voles either gave up or the cats got better at eating them before I got there, because I never saw any of them again.
I also still did a fair bit of writing that month.
April
April was my second trip of the year, to Rome. Again, ostensibly for a SPN convention, but the con was just a bonus and I ended up enjoying the experience in the city about a million times more. Just gorgeous. The writing took a hit because of my trip, but it was well worth it.
I came back from Rome in time to find out that I dropped the ball on a parking ticket and got my driver's license suspended, which in turn got me in trouble at work. I fixed it all within a few days, but it was very stressful while it lasted.
April ended on a really sad note when I finally decided that my Gretzky's quality of life had deteriorated to the point where I couldn't justify letting her suffer any longer. So we went to the vet one last time where she went quietly and painlessly over the rainbow bridge.
May
In May I discovered that a technicality excluded me from getting a permanent position at work. It sucked.
What sucked more was the federal election, in which I got a government I didn't want. A pretty interesting election nonetheless, given that the NDP became a force to be reckoned with, at least just this once. Still, it came at the cost of a four-year majority for the Harper government, which is not what I would like for the country.
June
In June, I worked some more. Lots of work. Bleh. Mim and Papa went to Paris, and I spent most of the time either working or making lame attempts to see people.
July
I reconnected briefly with the Vermont crew and
bodhifox, although I did not end up humping the Camel.July was marked by the announcement by my landlords that they were selling the building I'd lived in for six years. After an initial reaction of panic, I set to work and discovered that I was eligible for a mortgage. I then spent the next few weeks house hunting and dealing with people intruding at all hours in my personal space. It was all made a lot harder by the fact that I was mostly working night shift the whole time.
I made friends with my real estate agent, Ryan, though, who was referred to me by
le_maistre_e. He is good people, and advised me really well.August
In August I kept looking at houses, and eventually put in an offer on one of the early houses I'd seen in July. I was still working night shift, and we discovered some extra water/plumbing problems where I was living that necessitated a lot of extra workmen in and out, and thus made me miss even more sleep.
My offer on the house was accepted after a bit of bargaining back and forth, and I got most of the paperwork dealt with right before I was meant to leave for Vancouver, for the third planned SPN convention of the year.
Three days before I left I had coffee with S. for the first time, and we really hit it off. I spent the next day at
silly_imp's party barbecuing in the rain and reconnecting with people, and on the Monday I jumped on a plane to Vancouver.VanCon was great. I spent several days exploring the city with
elsewhere_kels, with whom I shared a hotel room the whole time, and we had a really good time at the convention in spite of a few convention-related snafus.September
In September I reconnected with S., and things got a little more serious. I went back to work after a two-week vacation in August, and slowly started settling back in, only to realise that all the issues I'd been so happy to leave behind were still firmly entrenched.
The month went by ridiculously fast, marked by hours and hours of packing. The highlight, of course, was when George developed a kidney stone and had to be hospitalised at the vet's for three days, costing me close to $800 that I couldn't afford.
We signed more paperwork for the house, leaving only one last bit of documentation to be signed in October.
October
We signed the last bits of paperwork for the house on the 12th, and on the 15th I moved in. The housewarming/Hallowe'en party on the 31st was quite a success, if I do say so myself.
November
In November there was work. Work, and some unpacking, and then more work. I got a weird review at work: apparently I'm really good at my job, but I need to lose the sarcasm and all body language that might be construed as being negative.
December
Unsurprisingly, December was also marked by work. I did decorate for Christmas and got my first natural Christmas tree since 2006. The cats didn't knock it over, which I took as a win. S. and I spent a very nice quiet belated Christmas together on the 27th, and she also visited me briefly at work on the 31st in order to ring in the New Year.
Conclusion? 2011 was a roller coaster year, filled with stresses both good and bad. Here's hoping that 2012 will be quieter.
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no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 08:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-01-05 04:40 pm (UTC)"We" signed paperwork?
Date: 2012-01-06 06:40 am (UTC)"We" who? You & George?
Congrats on S & the new house (for which I need the addy, remember).
But most of all, my condolences about Gretzky. I didn't know. ((( P h n e e )))
I am still grieving Gem (November 30) and can't think about it without choking up.
no subject
Date: 2012-01-06 01:06 pm (UTC)Address will be forthcoming.
It was sad about Gretzky, but she was no longer happy. It was the right thing to do. I'm sorry about Gem, too. :(
Gem & Gretzky
Date: 2012-01-09 12:34 pm (UTC)Thank you, honey.
Oh, and re "we" -- I get it, it's the royal-canadian-mounted "we."
What's the deal with the dead teen in the Queen's backyard? I'm so sorry for her family.
EDIT: Nevermind, got it. Cute kid, awfully sad.