textualdeviance (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
textualdeviance) wrote2011-01-01 12:02 pm
textualdeviance) wrote2011-01-01 12:02 pm
Entry tags:
Annual Life Tally
As in the past, my annual tally of the year gone by, and a look ahead to the year to come.
Career:
-Did a stint with the video team (which was interesting for about the first few weeks, then became exceedingly dull) and then took my break a bit early, starting in April. Had the whole summer off (yay!)
-Rejoined the entertainment team in October, which has worked out quite well so far. It's still boring button monkey stuff quite often, but I'm doing different enough work that it's somewhat more interesting.
-Did a piece for our geek media wing, and hoping I get a chance to do more of that soon.
Family:
-Had a terrible falling out with my parents, with the net result of basically ceasing contact in April. It's been frustrating and heartbreaking at times, but in some ways, it's a good thing, because I finally feel like I'm establishing proper boundaries and getting away from the near-constant drama that's endemic to my bio family in general.
-Lost our dear Familiar. Down to only two furbabies (Otter and Penny) now, which feels really strange. Aside from the ~6 weeks after we lost Punky (before we got Otter) this is the longest we've only had two in 15+ years.
-Celebrated 15 years of dating, and 13 years of marriage. We were chatting about this recently: Realized that our relationship has spanned an entire wave of technology. I got my first cell phone shortly after we started dating, and he introduced me to HTML and Win 95 then, too. My, how things have changed...
Friends:
-Had several lovely get-togethers with local peeps (and their adorable children!) Still want more, though!
-Didn't scare D away, yet!
-Made some lovely new fandom friends!
Domestic:
-Installed A/C in the spring. Expensive, but worth it because the way the house is built, it's easy to overheat in the summers.
-Mucked around with the back yard, including installing a kitchen garden. It didn't go as well as I wanted it to--we had some sort of critter infestation that chewed up a lot of the plants I wanted to grow--but we did have a good crop of strawberries, blueberries and tomatoes, and some lovely herbs.
-Spent a great deal of the summer kicking back in said yard, watching the local avian population greedily descend on our bird feeders. So many lovely ones! Oh, and we also saw a lot of other critters: Squirrels, raccoons, bunnies, and also a bobcat and something we think was a fisher or a weasel.
Travel
-Had too little free cash (yay, bill paying) to afford to do much, but we did manage a weekend jaunt to Vancouver (where we saw the frabjous T.) and hit Dragon*Con/Atlanta for the first time (which was insane, but worth the chaos.)
Misc.
-Got in another 22,000 words on my novel (total about 35,000.) It's actually starting to feel like a real story, now. And thanks to all the other writing I did (fic, mostly), I got rid of enough bad habits that it's in better shape overall, too.
-Killed a lot of time that would otherwise have been spent agonizing over lack of cash by going eyebrows-deep in a new fandom. First time in 6 years I've done that, and it's been a great experience so far.
-Also killed time by catching up on some other shows/movies, and watching new seasons of some of our favorites. Yeah, it sounds pathetic, but with little energy/money for other things, parking in our theater is a good destressing thing.
-Taught myself video editing and some Pshop tricks. Not hugely gifted on either thing, but I'm a lot more confident with it, now. Plus, it's fun.
Career:
-Probably do a few more pieces for our geek site, which should be fun. Getting bylines like that is a big deal for me, and I think will help me progress overall.
-Might get a contract extension after this one ends at the end of the month. Hope so, actually, because we're almost done with the bill payoffs, and ready to start socking away cash for the adoption. Not sure what may happen after that, though.
Family:
-With any luck at all, have a small human in my house by the end of the year. I've been saying this now for the last three years, but I'm hoping this really does happen this time. If not... Well, I'm not sure how much longer I can keep waiting, to be honest. If this doesn't pan out, I may give up.
-We might also add another furbaby when I have my next contract break and therefore the time to raise one. Otter is still very playful, and I think he needs a younger companion to keep him from harassing Penny so much.
Friends:
-Hoping to meet more of my fandom peeps at some point this year, though that will necessitate a very long plane ride and enough time/money for a proper trip.
-Might start doing movie and/or game nights here at the homestead.
Domestic:
-Make another kitchen garden attempt this summer. Have learned enough to probably do it right this time. May put up a small fence to keep the mammals out, and figure out/curtail what was chewing the leaves all to bits this time (probably slugs.)
-Do more cooking! I love my kitchen, and haven't spent nearly enough time really putting it through its paces.
-Finally get the last bits of the moving-in thing done. Yes, we still have packed boxes here and there, and a few little repairs needed. We also need to finish furnishing our offices and the parlor.
-Get M's geek cave in the garage set up, finally.
Travel:
-A UK trip, maybe? That's the big thing I want to do--and have been wanting to do so for years. The fandom thing is just gravy on that. There's a con in May that I think some of my Primeval peeps may be at, and that's what I'm aiming for. Dearly hope that time/money pans out for this, because it'd be a helluva present for my 40th birthday!
-Alternatively, we may do Comic-Con and/or D*C again this year.
-Low chance for it unless money is plentiful, but I'd also love to do a fall New England thing and/or or a cruise
Misc.
-Finish the novel! Yes, really. At least in rough draft form. I want to get that sucker done and shopped to agents soon.
-Try to be more active. I'm fairly good about managing my various health problems as well as possible, but this one is the thing I have the hardest time doing. I'm usually so tired and in so much pain that being active at all is something I dread, but I need to do something, even if it's small, besides sitting on my tail in front of some screen or other. I did have a lot of fun last summer traipsing around looking for birdies, so I'll probably do more of that when the weather warms up. I may also try to find a pool to go to. I love swimming, but I hate locker rooms and crowded pools (and thus will avoid this until the Resolution Rush has passed.)
-Read more, now that I've inherited M's old Kindle
-Catch up on some of my favorite video games. Wanna do more Rock Band and dink around in LOTRO, at least.
Career:
-Did a stint with the video team (which was interesting for about the first few weeks, then became exceedingly dull) and then took my break a bit early, starting in April. Had the whole summer off (yay!)
-Rejoined the entertainment team in October, which has worked out quite well so far. It's still boring button monkey stuff quite often, but I'm doing different enough work that it's somewhat more interesting.
-Did a piece for our geek media wing, and hoping I get a chance to do more of that soon.
Family:
-Had a terrible falling out with my parents, with the net result of basically ceasing contact in April. It's been frustrating and heartbreaking at times, but in some ways, it's a good thing, because I finally feel like I'm establishing proper boundaries and getting away from the near-constant drama that's endemic to my bio family in general.
-Lost our dear Familiar. Down to only two furbabies (Otter and Penny) now, which feels really strange. Aside from the ~6 weeks after we lost Punky (before we got Otter) this is the longest we've only had two in 15+ years.
-Celebrated 15 years of dating, and 13 years of marriage. We were chatting about this recently: Realized that our relationship has spanned an entire wave of technology. I got my first cell phone shortly after we started dating, and he introduced me to HTML and Win 95 then, too. My, how things have changed...
Friends:
-Had several lovely get-togethers with local peeps (and their adorable children!) Still want more, though!
-Didn't scare D away, yet!
-Made some lovely new fandom friends!
Domestic:
-Installed A/C in the spring. Expensive, but worth it because the way the house is built, it's easy to overheat in the summers.
-Mucked around with the back yard, including installing a kitchen garden. It didn't go as well as I wanted it to--we had some sort of critter infestation that chewed up a lot of the plants I wanted to grow--but we did have a good crop of strawberries, blueberries and tomatoes, and some lovely herbs.
-Spent a great deal of the summer kicking back in said yard, watching the local avian population greedily descend on our bird feeders. So many lovely ones! Oh, and we also saw a lot of other critters: Squirrels, raccoons, bunnies, and also a bobcat and something we think was a fisher or a weasel.
Travel
-Had too little free cash (yay, bill paying) to afford to do much, but we did manage a weekend jaunt to Vancouver (where we saw the frabjous T.) and hit Dragon*Con/Atlanta for the first time (which was insane, but worth the chaos.)
Misc.
-Got in another 22,000 words on my novel (total about 35,000.) It's actually starting to feel like a real story, now. And thanks to all the other writing I did (fic, mostly), I got rid of enough bad habits that it's in better shape overall, too.
-Killed a lot of time that would otherwise have been spent agonizing over lack of cash by going eyebrows-deep in a new fandom. First time in 6 years I've done that, and it's been a great experience so far.
-Also killed time by catching up on some other shows/movies, and watching new seasons of some of our favorites. Yeah, it sounds pathetic, but with little energy/money for other things, parking in our theater is a good destressing thing.
-Taught myself video editing and some Pshop tricks. Not hugely gifted on either thing, but I'm a lot more confident with it, now. Plus, it's fun.
Career:
-Probably do a few more pieces for our geek site, which should be fun. Getting bylines like that is a big deal for me, and I think will help me progress overall.
-Might get a contract extension after this one ends at the end of the month. Hope so, actually, because we're almost done with the bill payoffs, and ready to start socking away cash for the adoption. Not sure what may happen after that, though.
Family:
-With any luck at all, have a small human in my house by the end of the year. I've been saying this now for the last three years, but I'm hoping this really does happen this time. If not... Well, I'm not sure how much longer I can keep waiting, to be honest. If this doesn't pan out, I may give up.
-We might also add another furbaby when I have my next contract break and therefore the time to raise one. Otter is still very playful, and I think he needs a younger companion to keep him from harassing Penny so much.
Friends:
-Hoping to meet more of my fandom peeps at some point this year, though that will necessitate a very long plane ride and enough time/money for a proper trip.
-Might start doing movie and/or game nights here at the homestead.
Domestic:
-Make another kitchen garden attempt this summer. Have learned enough to probably do it right this time. May put up a small fence to keep the mammals out, and figure out/curtail what was chewing the leaves all to bits this time (probably slugs.)
-Do more cooking! I love my kitchen, and haven't spent nearly enough time really putting it through its paces.
-Finally get the last bits of the moving-in thing done. Yes, we still have packed boxes here and there, and a few little repairs needed. We also need to finish furnishing our offices and the parlor.
-Get M's geek cave in the garage set up, finally.
Travel:
-A UK trip, maybe? That's the big thing I want to do--and have been wanting to do so for years. The fandom thing is just gravy on that. There's a con in May that I think some of my Primeval peeps may be at, and that's what I'm aiming for. Dearly hope that time/money pans out for this, because it'd be a helluva present for my 40th birthday!
-Alternatively, we may do Comic-Con and/or D*C again this year.
-Low chance for it unless money is plentiful, but I'd also love to do a fall New England thing and/or or a cruise
Misc.
-Finish the novel! Yes, really. At least in rough draft form. I want to get that sucker done and shopped to agents soon.
-Try to be more active. I'm fairly good about managing my various health problems as well as possible, but this one is the thing I have the hardest time doing. I'm usually so tired and in so much pain that being active at all is something I dread, but I need to do something, even if it's small, besides sitting on my tail in front of some screen or other. I did have a lot of fun last summer traipsing around looking for birdies, so I'll probably do more of that when the weather warms up. I may also try to find a pool to go to. I love swimming, but I hate locker rooms and crowded pools (and thus will avoid this until the Resolution Rush has passed.)
-Read more, now that I've inherited M's old Kindle
-Catch up on some of my favorite video games. Wanna do more Rock Band and dink around in LOTRO, at least.