Jul. 12th, 2009 06:01 pm
The House of Crazy
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textualdevianceNow that we have a pending offer, I figured I'd take a few moments to think about all the time we spent in Chez Fou, and the big events in our lives in the nine years we were there.
I haven't had a lot of direct emotional attachment to the house itself, but the time we spent there definitely was eventful. In addition to the big stuff--9/11, market crashes, Katrina, two wars, three presidential elections, etc.--there were a lot of major events for us personally.
2000
Our friends Chris and Diana lived with us for several months, and I spent a lot of time babysitting their adorable little daughter Zoe (whom I miss very much)
We had a great deal of ugly poly drama with a couple we'd been close to for years (close enough that they were part of the reason we moved out there in the first place.) An icky breakup happened that August.
My grandmother (dad's mom) died, and we flew to Minnesota for her memorial service
Fammy joined our household
Flew to Denver to visit my friend K, whom I hadn't seen in years.
I wrote a lot of reviews for Gamezilla, and started writing for the Seattle Gay Standard
Played a heck of a lot of Asheron's Call
2001
I finally cut my hair, after six years of letting it grow out.
Had a fun trip to Vegas with C&J and went to Hawaii for the first time
Returned to WDW for the first time since our wedding
Had a great time putting on HMS Pinafore with the chorus
I saw FOTR, discovered slash and subsequently lost my mind. I started BEI just after Christmas that year.
2002
BEI took off like a shot, and all things LOTR started consuming my life. This included a trek to Astoria with some soon-to-be notorious fandom people.
Went to the first TORN Oscar party, and was gobsmacked to be in the same room as several actual Oscars (and their winners!)
Had my first Comic-Con experience. Whoa. Vast rivers of geek, as far as the eye can see.
Went to Toronto in November for an LOTR exhibit, and stopped by Niagara Falls on the way. It was very cold!
Bought both of our cars--my RAV4 and M's Audi
2003 (Let's call this The Year of Major Drama)
We first found out Dale was sick in Feb. when he came home from his mission.
Went back to Hawaii--Oahu this time and also back to Vegas again.
Did another round of TORN parties and Comic-Con, this time with fandom pals in tow, and also went to Palm Springs for an ROTK premiere.
Went to NYC for the first time to cover an event for the site. It was overwhelmingly huge.
Had fun with another chorus show--Iolanthe. Was later elected chorus president, but that didn't turn out great (long story). I left shortly after that.
Had a big scare when my dad was getting diagnosed with COPD.
My grandfather (mom's dad) died.
Was rescued from all of this stress by having the lovely![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
havdrake move in to babysit us. Still miss having him around!
2004
Went back to NYC for an LOTR marathon thing at Lincoln Center. M came with this time.
Went to the last TORN Oscar party, which was a blast and a half. Did Comic-Con again, this time for the Lost premiere, and went to another con in Denver.
Started morphing BEI into E & D sites, and started up Lost Multimedia and my film awards site
Finally got properly treated for my sleep apnea, and endless periods, which made a world of difference.
We finally lost Dale that August. We needed to get out of Dodge to get our heads back together, so a few weeks later, after a couple of days in LA (where I needed to cover an event), we went back to Maui. It was a very peaceful, restorative trip.
After spending a few months with a great therapist, I made the big decision to dip my toes back into the school thing.
2005
Very eventful January: My last real fandom go-round with the gang in Pasadena for ORC; my last grandparent--my mom's mom--died in January, and I started my first class--the first college class in seven years.
Did another term with chorus, where I met a lot of awesome new people and had the joy of singing Rutter again.
My friend K moved from Denver to here, which reignited our friendship
Went to Austin for SXSW Film/Interactive, which was fun, even on my own. I enjoyed the interactive panels more than the movies.
havdrake moved out to be closer to work, and I moved my home office into his old room (this was not a small task!)
I spent the summer buttoning up and closing down all my sites, which was sad, but it was time to do it.
Spent ~10 days driving around Alberta. Was very impressed by the Rockies, but not so much by the WEM.
Given the success of my January school experiment, we packed me up and sent me to B'ham that fall. I angsted heavily about the first several weeks (largely because most of the paper's editorial staff that term were assholes), but soon settled in, and ended up feeling very good about what I was able to accomplish there.
2006
School, school and more school!
Spent a summer interning for the Kitsap Sun, which entailed blowing my entire scholarship on an apartment in Silverdale so I wouldn't have to commute across the water every day. Still had some nice ferry rides every weekend, though.
Started finally getting back into more-modern music, thanks to hanging out with college kids all day.
Far too busy for much travel, but we did do another Vegas trip over spring break.
Spent most of the fall toting Kitty Bob to vet appointments, as they discovered a tumor in her abdomen.
Ended 16 years of being veg by starting back on fish and poultry, to try to solve an anemia problem.
2007
Lost Kitty Bob that January. I still miss her sooo much.
M and I celebrated 10 years of marriage. But since I was in the middle of classes at the time, our celebration was limited to a night at a casino hotel north of B'ham.
Graduated and finally came back home and had a fantastic grad party. Spent the next four months in a house-hacking, job-hunting frenzy, and spent way too much money buying Blue Willow on eBay
Got back in touch with my long-lost sister
Finally got a contract job in November.
Sang with what ended up being the last season of chorus before it finally folded.
Started getting concerned about M's mom's health, which has been an ongoing issue ever since.
Our only travel this year was a short trip to San Diego, plus I spent a weekend in SF at a Web 2.0 conference
2008
What percentage of my time wasn't consumed by my job was consumed by infertility treatment (which we eventually abandoned.) It wasn't a horrible experience--mostly just tedious and repetitive, and a little depressing every time it failed.
Manged to fit in a couple of nice vacations--Oahu and Orlando--that summer, and did a quick weekend jaunt to Vegas in December.
Obsessed about the election, and had a verklempt moment or two when it was finally over.
Hosted T-day with my parents, which was a nice visit.
Got a serious domestic bug after my contract ended and actually did some holiday decorating for the first time in years.
Started working on a new novel project
Punky finally succumbed to his kidney/thyroid problems that December.
Spent six days trapped in the house thanks to Snowpocalypse 2008.
2009
Once we'd had some time to grieve about Punky, we decided maybe it was time for a new little furball. So we went to Paws and picked up Otter the Insane One, and spent the next few months devising ways to keep him from considering our ankles to be cat toys.
Welcomed my new niece Hallie (M's sister's kid)
In March, after wrestling with the Shower Project From Hell, we finally said: Fuckit. It's time to move. And here we are! Or will be, once this process is over.
I haven't had a lot of direct emotional attachment to the house itself, but the time we spent there definitely was eventful. In addition to the big stuff--9/11, market crashes, Katrina, two wars, three presidential elections, etc.--there were a lot of major events for us personally.
2000
Our friends Chris and Diana lived with us for several months, and I spent a lot of time babysitting their adorable little daughter Zoe (whom I miss very much)
We had a great deal of ugly poly drama with a couple we'd been close to for years (close enough that they were part of the reason we moved out there in the first place.) An icky breakup happened that August.
My grandmother (dad's mom) died, and we flew to Minnesota for her memorial service
Fammy joined our household
Flew to Denver to visit my friend K, whom I hadn't seen in years.
I wrote a lot of reviews for Gamezilla, and started writing for the Seattle Gay Standard
Played a heck of a lot of Asheron's Call
2001
I finally cut my hair, after six years of letting it grow out.
Had a fun trip to Vegas with C&J and went to Hawaii for the first time
Returned to WDW for the first time since our wedding
Had a great time putting on HMS Pinafore with the chorus
I saw FOTR, discovered slash and subsequently lost my mind. I started BEI just after Christmas that year.
2002
BEI took off like a shot, and all things LOTR started consuming my life. This included a trek to Astoria with some soon-to-be notorious fandom people.
Went to the first TORN Oscar party, and was gobsmacked to be in the same room as several actual Oscars (and their winners!)
Had my first Comic-Con experience. Whoa. Vast rivers of geek, as far as the eye can see.
Went to Toronto in November for an LOTR exhibit, and stopped by Niagara Falls on the way. It was very cold!
Bought both of our cars--my RAV4 and M's Audi
2003 (Let's call this The Year of Major Drama)
We first found out Dale was sick in Feb. when he came home from his mission.
Went back to Hawaii--Oahu this time and also back to Vegas again.
Did another round of TORN parties and Comic-Con, this time with fandom pals in tow, and also went to Palm Springs for an ROTK premiere.
Went to NYC for the first time to cover an event for the site. It was overwhelmingly huge.
Had fun with another chorus show--Iolanthe. Was later elected chorus president, but that didn't turn out great (long story). I left shortly after that.
Had a big scare when my dad was getting diagnosed with COPD.
My grandfather (mom's dad) died.
Was rescued from all of this stress by having the lovely
havdrake move in to babysit us. Still miss having him around!2004
Went back to NYC for an LOTR marathon thing at Lincoln Center. M came with this time.
Went to the last TORN Oscar party, which was a blast and a half. Did Comic-Con again, this time for the Lost premiere, and went to another con in Denver.
Started morphing BEI into E & D sites, and started up Lost Multimedia and my film awards site
Finally got properly treated for my sleep apnea, and endless periods, which made a world of difference.
We finally lost Dale that August. We needed to get out of Dodge to get our heads back together, so a few weeks later, after a couple of days in LA (where I needed to cover an event), we went back to Maui. It was a very peaceful, restorative trip.
After spending a few months with a great therapist, I made the big decision to dip my toes back into the school thing.
2005
Very eventful January: My last real fandom go-round with the gang in Pasadena for ORC; my last grandparent--my mom's mom--died in January, and I started my first class--the first college class in seven years.
Did another term with chorus, where I met a lot of awesome new people and had the joy of singing Rutter again.
My friend K moved from Denver to here, which reignited our friendship
Went to Austin for SXSW Film/Interactive, which was fun, even on my own. I enjoyed the interactive panels more than the movies.
havdrake moved out to be closer to work, and I moved my home office into his old room (this was not a small task!)I spent the summer buttoning up and closing down all my sites, which was sad, but it was time to do it.
Spent ~10 days driving around Alberta. Was very impressed by the Rockies, but not so much by the WEM.
Given the success of my January school experiment, we packed me up and sent me to B'ham that fall. I angsted heavily about the first several weeks (largely because most of the paper's editorial staff that term were assholes), but soon settled in, and ended up feeling very good about what I was able to accomplish there.
2006
School, school and more school!
Spent a summer interning for the Kitsap Sun, which entailed blowing my entire scholarship on an apartment in Silverdale so I wouldn't have to commute across the water every day. Still had some nice ferry rides every weekend, though.
Started finally getting back into more-modern music, thanks to hanging out with college kids all day.
Far too busy for much travel, but we did do another Vegas trip over spring break.
Spent most of the fall toting Kitty Bob to vet appointments, as they discovered a tumor in her abdomen.
Ended 16 years of being veg by starting back on fish and poultry, to try to solve an anemia problem.
2007
Lost Kitty Bob that January. I still miss her sooo much.
M and I celebrated 10 years of marriage. But since I was in the middle of classes at the time, our celebration was limited to a night at a casino hotel north of B'ham.
Graduated and finally came back home and had a fantastic grad party. Spent the next four months in a house-hacking, job-hunting frenzy, and spent way too much money buying Blue Willow on eBay
Got back in touch with my long-lost sister
Finally got a contract job in November.
Sang with what ended up being the last season of chorus before it finally folded.
Started getting concerned about M's mom's health, which has been an ongoing issue ever since.
Our only travel this year was a short trip to San Diego, plus I spent a weekend in SF at a Web 2.0 conference
2008
What percentage of my time wasn't consumed by my job was consumed by infertility treatment (which we eventually abandoned.) It wasn't a horrible experience--mostly just tedious and repetitive, and a little depressing every time it failed.
Manged to fit in a couple of nice vacations--Oahu and Orlando--that summer, and did a quick weekend jaunt to Vegas in December.
Obsessed about the election, and had a verklempt moment or two when it was finally over.
Hosted T-day with my parents, which was a nice visit.
Got a serious domestic bug after my contract ended and actually did some holiday decorating for the first time in years.
Started working on a new novel project
Punky finally succumbed to his kidney/thyroid problems that December.
Spent six days trapped in the house thanks to Snowpocalypse 2008.
2009
Once we'd had some time to grieve about Punky, we decided maybe it was time for a new little furball. So we went to Paws and picked up Otter the Insane One, and spent the next few months devising ways to keep him from considering our ankles to be cat toys.
Welcomed my new niece Hallie (M's sister's kid)
In March, after wrestling with the Shower Project From Hell, we finally said: Fuckit. It's time to move. And here we are! Or will be, once this process is over.
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Don't mind me, I'm just being sappy on the eve of my surgery.