Rabbit to Dragon
Dec. 31st, 2023 08:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluealoeYet another year gone. They seem to go by faster and faster every year. 2023 was definitely a mixed bag; lots of bad things, but also lots of good things, and definitely some very hard things. The thing the overall theme of the year was "Emily does hard and scary things."
The Good, the Bad, and the Difficult:
-We finished our first full year living in the house, and took care of a LOT of projects around the house. We took down the shed, got the water tank situation taken care of (finally, after a lot of headaches and wrangling with the contractors), got the windows repaired/replaced, had the septic system serviced, did a ton of yardwork, and organized and set up my craft room/home office. Oh, and Rory replaced a kitchen faucet and fixed a leaky bathroom faucet. I'm vey proud of him! Owning a home continues to be a giant pain, and I can't say I recommend it, but it has been nice to have our own place and not have to answer to a landlord.
-In February, Rory's two favorite horses both died very suddenly, on the same day. Even though they weren't our horses. Rory worked with them every week, and I can't express how deeply he had bonded with them. He really did lose his best friends. That cast a shadow over the entire rest of the year. Falcor and Joritt, we love you and miss you every single day.
-The Ringo situation. It's very long and complicated, but the short version is that we had to find a new home for our cat Ringo. It broke our hearts, but he was getting aggressive toward Rory, and it was clear we couldn't meet his needs. But the good news is that he's now living with my mother-in-law, and doing amazingly well. Getting him there was an adventure (I flew 4000 miles with the cat under the seat in front of me), but it was worth it. The two of them adore each other, and almost all of Ringo's behavior problems are totally gone. It's clear he was meant to be with my mother-in-law. It was an incredibly long, stressful, and heartbreaking road to get there; I think I cried more in August than I have in my entire life. But we got Ringo to where he needed to be, and I don't feel like the year and a half we had him was a waste. He was meant to be with us for that time, to get him ready to go live with my mother-in-law.
I still miss him a lot, but we get updates and pictures regularly, and he's still part of the family. I feel sad and somewhat guilty that we couldn't provide him environment he needs right here; he had to go 4000 miles away. But in the end we got him to where we needed to be.
-Leopold is ECSTATIC to be the only cat again. He's much more playful, affectionate, and energetic. It's very clear he wants to be the only cat in the household. He's still very bonded with Rory, but he tolerates me too. :)
-In March my sibling and I went to Wisconsin to visit Gary. It took a huge amount of coordination and planning, and there were some hiccups along the way (Seattle airport, I hate you with every fiber of my being!), but it was definitely worth it. I'm really glad we were able to see Gary again. We also got to spend a night with our aunt and uncle, and heard some amazing stories about Dad.
-In July my sibling and nephews vcame to Alaska, and we got to spend a lot of time hanging out. Then we went to Tanana for a day. This was incredibly difficult for me, and required a lot of self-reflection and sorting through painful memories and complicated feelings. Being there was really tough, but overall it went well, and it was worth it. Definitely the hardest thing I did this year.
-In June Rory's family came to visit. Six people in our small house for a week...I do not recommend it. It also happened to be the week I was teaching space camp at work, so I was exhausted and stressed out. But considering the circumstances, it went really well, and everyone seemed to like Alaska.
-More travel: we went to Anchorage for my 40th birthday and saw a touring Broadway production of Hamilton and went to the zoo. Then we went to Seward for a couple of days and hung out by the ocean. In September I flew across the country with Ringo and stayed with my mother-in-law for a couple of days. And in October I went back to Anchorage for a day for a work conference. Lots of little trips!
-Work is going pretty well. I planned and ran a lot of events, including two weeks of space camp, and I'm getting along well with my supervisor and co-workers. There's things I don't enjoy, but mostly I get to do work I think is meaningful, and I'm glad to have some sort of stability there.
-I had to get a new phone when my old one decided to turn itself off and on again every two minutes. That made it very hard to use. It was three years old, so I guess it was time for a new phone, but it was still annoying, especially since I was going out of town the next day.
-Health stuff: Overall prety good, though I did get a weird infection in my finger. It's never a good sign when your finger starts turning green. Luckily antibiotics took care of it. And -I ended the year with a toothache. Not what I wanted for the holidays. I'm scheduled to get a root canal next week, and I have antibiotics and painkillers, so I'm okay, but it's still frustrating and painful.
-I finished a lot of craft projects, including several cross-stitches. I found a book of Bob Ross cross stitch patterna which I've been having fun with. :) I'm still working on a very complicated cross-stitch pattern a friend gave me, it's coming along but I keep having to take breaks. It's by far the most complicated cross-stitch I've ever done. I also completely reorganized my craft room and sorted and labeled my embroidery thread, so I'm counting those as creative projects.
-I finished watching Castle, watched all of The Fosters, caught up on Murdoch Mysteries, Heartstopper, and The Owl House, and am now working my way through Monk. We saw Elemental in the theaters; it was another great Pixar movie (unfortunately it was marketed all wrong, it was advertised as a love story when really it's about growing up with immigrant parents). We also played through both Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle, video games from the 80s and 90s, and throughly enjoyed them.
-I was a repeat guest on Productivity Alchemy, which was a fun experience.
-I also did a bunch of little things this year that don't seem like much, but to me they were difficult. I scheduled a haircut without being reminded to, voluntarily bought new snowpants, and ordered new clothes. All very basic adulting tasks, but they're all things I hate doing, so the fact that I'm pushing myself to do things that I find difficult is meaningful.
Things I wanted to do in 2024:
Keep working with Rory on communication and relationship skills: We did really well at this. There are some hiccups, but we're both committed to working on our relationship and working through hard stuff. I'd say we're in a good place.
Things I'd like to do in 2034:
-Keep working with Rory on communication and relationship skills.
-Read 24 books.
-Try making one new recipe each month.
-Physical activity three times a week.
-Go to hunting camp.
-Call Gary at least once a month.
Goodbye to the year of the Rabbit, and welcome to the year of the Dragon. I hope it's kind to us.
The Good, the Bad, and the Difficult:
-We finished our first full year living in the house, and took care of a LOT of projects around the house. We took down the shed, got the water tank situation taken care of (finally, after a lot of headaches and wrangling with the contractors), got the windows repaired/replaced, had the septic system serviced, did a ton of yardwork, and organized and set up my craft room/home office. Oh, and Rory replaced a kitchen faucet and fixed a leaky bathroom faucet. I'm vey proud of him! Owning a home continues to be a giant pain, and I can't say I recommend it, but it has been nice to have our own place and not have to answer to a landlord.
-In February, Rory's two favorite horses both died very suddenly, on the same day. Even though they weren't our horses. Rory worked with them every week, and I can't express how deeply he had bonded with them. He really did lose his best friends. That cast a shadow over the entire rest of the year. Falcor and Joritt, we love you and miss you every single day.
-The Ringo situation. It's very long and complicated, but the short version is that we had to find a new home for our cat Ringo. It broke our hearts, but he was getting aggressive toward Rory, and it was clear we couldn't meet his needs. But the good news is that he's now living with my mother-in-law, and doing amazingly well. Getting him there was an adventure (I flew 4000 miles with the cat under the seat in front of me), but it was worth it. The two of them adore each other, and almost all of Ringo's behavior problems are totally gone. It's clear he was meant to be with my mother-in-law. It was an incredibly long, stressful, and heartbreaking road to get there; I think I cried more in August than I have in my entire life. But we got Ringo to where he needed to be, and I don't feel like the year and a half we had him was a waste. He was meant to be with us for that time, to get him ready to go live with my mother-in-law.
I still miss him a lot, but we get updates and pictures regularly, and he's still part of the family. I feel sad and somewhat guilty that we couldn't provide him environment he needs right here; he had to go 4000 miles away. But in the end we got him to where we needed to be.
-Leopold is ECSTATIC to be the only cat again. He's much more playful, affectionate, and energetic. It's very clear he wants to be the only cat in the household. He's still very bonded with Rory, but he tolerates me too. :)
-In March my sibling and I went to Wisconsin to visit Gary. It took a huge amount of coordination and planning, and there were some hiccups along the way (Seattle airport, I hate you with every fiber of my being!), but it was definitely worth it. I'm really glad we were able to see Gary again. We also got to spend a night with our aunt and uncle, and heard some amazing stories about Dad.
-In July my sibling and nephews vcame to Alaska, and we got to spend a lot of time hanging out. Then we went to Tanana for a day. This was incredibly difficult for me, and required a lot of self-reflection and sorting through painful memories and complicated feelings. Being there was really tough, but overall it went well, and it was worth it. Definitely the hardest thing I did this year.
-In June Rory's family came to visit. Six people in our small house for a week...I do not recommend it. It also happened to be the week I was teaching space camp at work, so I was exhausted and stressed out. But considering the circumstances, it went really well, and everyone seemed to like Alaska.
-More travel: we went to Anchorage for my 40th birthday and saw a touring Broadway production of Hamilton and went to the zoo. Then we went to Seward for a couple of days and hung out by the ocean. In September I flew across the country with Ringo and stayed with my mother-in-law for a couple of days. And in October I went back to Anchorage for a day for a work conference. Lots of little trips!
-Work is going pretty well. I planned and ran a lot of events, including two weeks of space camp, and I'm getting along well with my supervisor and co-workers. There's things I don't enjoy, but mostly I get to do work I think is meaningful, and I'm glad to have some sort of stability there.
-I had to get a new phone when my old one decided to turn itself off and on again every two minutes. That made it very hard to use. It was three years old, so I guess it was time for a new phone, but it was still annoying, especially since I was going out of town the next day.
-Health stuff: Overall prety good, though I did get a weird infection in my finger. It's never a good sign when your finger starts turning green. Luckily antibiotics took care of it. And -I ended the year with a toothache. Not what I wanted for the holidays. I'm scheduled to get a root canal next week, and I have antibiotics and painkillers, so I'm okay, but it's still frustrating and painful.
-I finished a lot of craft projects, including several cross-stitches. I found a book of Bob Ross cross stitch patterna which I've been having fun with. :) I'm still working on a very complicated cross-stitch pattern a friend gave me, it's coming along but I keep having to take breaks. It's by far the most complicated cross-stitch I've ever done. I also completely reorganized my craft room and sorted and labeled my embroidery thread, so I'm counting those as creative projects.
-I finished watching Castle, watched all of The Fosters, caught up on Murdoch Mysteries, Heartstopper, and The Owl House, and am now working my way through Monk. We saw Elemental in the theaters; it was another great Pixar movie (unfortunately it was marketed all wrong, it was advertised as a love story when really it's about growing up with immigrant parents). We also played through both Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle, video games from the 80s and 90s, and throughly enjoyed them.
-I was a repeat guest on Productivity Alchemy, which was a fun experience.
-I also did a bunch of little things this year that don't seem like much, but to me they were difficult. I scheduled a haircut without being reminded to, voluntarily bought new snowpants, and ordered new clothes. All very basic adulting tasks, but they're all things I hate doing, so the fact that I'm pushing myself to do things that I find difficult is meaningful.
Things I wanted to do in 2024:
Keep working with Rory on communication and relationship skills: We did really well at this. There are some hiccups, but we're both committed to working on our relationship and working through hard stuff. I'd say we're in a good place.
Read 22 books: I read 25. Less than last year, but some of them were quite long.
Keep seeing a counselor and working on good mental health habits: I'm still seeing my counselor and trying really hard to incorporating techniques and strategies she's taught me. I find some of the things she tells me creeping into my conversations with others, so I guess it's working?
Some sort of physical activity three times a week: I'm still doing yoga, and over the summer I did really well at going for a walk or bike ride every day, but that all disappeared when work got busy and the weather got colder.
Go to hunting camp: Nope, life got in the way again.
Visit Gary: I visited in March, and am quite proud that I pulled off all the planning and logistics for it.
Things I'd like to do in 2034:
-Keep working with Rory on communication and relationship skills.
-Read 24 books.
-Try making one new recipe each month.
-Physical activity three times a week.
-Go to hunting camp.
-Call Gary at least once a month.
Goodbye to the year of the Rabbit, and welcome to the year of the Dragon. I hope it's kind to us.
