on the one hand, this hasn't been an easy year: time was short with too much going on, still no agent or pub offer, hubs bounced his second job three times which tended to unsettle our finances, the laptop has started having issues, menopause brought my weight loss to a screeching halt for most of the year, and making my goals...HA! (yea, didn't make even one of them this year....)
but....
hubs mother came out for five days last month, and we had a wonderful time. she got to see the kids and grandkids, taste saxy's food, eat at one of the restaurants he works, and we all generally had a great time. she is such a sweet lady.
this year we finally got back on insurance, i got back on my bp meds, and while it wasn't all good (we still have bills), it was good enough. word is the gop will make every effort to repeal the a.c.a. at least in part if not in whole, which will probably screw us in that regard again, but we had something for awhile, got our checkups, and got on meds for at least a year. this upcoming year, the new insurance isn't nearly as good as humana, but i can't afford the premium increase to stay with humana. we'll just have to hope we can get meds covered again and that, other than the first check up, we don't need to see a doctor any other time in 2015.
weight loss or not, i'm healthier than i've been in over a decade. and stronger. and a lot of the aches and pains i accumulated during the unhealthy years seem to be rolling back: my back is better (and i was able to do christmas this year without 1) getting too tired, and 2) pain--NO pain even doing the mountain of dishes), i can walk further and faster, and so much more. my body shape is changing, my clothes fit differently...those that fit, anyway. i've been testing being off the iron. when we go in for the checkup, we'll see if i still need it. and in a strange twist, while my middle girl starts eating more meat, i'm eating less. i'll never be a total vegan, but between finances and the cruelty involved in meat production, i'm likely to continue eating less. the sugar is still a problem (and all things considered, will probably always be my biggest struggle), but the salt intake is way down. i rarely pick up the shaker once the food is on the plate, and i used to do it all the time.
we have a new x-kitteh, gambit. when he arrived, he was probably 8 pounds. now he's a whopping 11 pounds and still growing. because of his tendency to escape, we finally got him collared and he has a tag with his name and our phone number on it. he's been wearing it for a month, maybe a month and a half, and we've had to loosen it twice.
he's also not very cooperative when it comes to pictures. lol
we may have narrowed down to what hubs wants to do if/when he decides to venture out on his own as a chef. there's always a good chance it won't happen at all, but we have something to aim for and read up on and prepare for in case it does. and yes, me and my cupcakes will be a big part of that. ;)
major help from middle girl's bf may have helped us get a handle on bug-pocolypse 2014. and help from the in-laws gave us a christmas this year. a good christmas: oldest managed to find a compromise and came over for brunch (i guess her boy insists on spending christmas day eve with his folks, which is fine, it just meant she kept trying to get us to go or not see us since somehow every other year doesn't work/happen, and no, we have our traditions up here--brunch may end up being a new one to accommodate her family) and everyone else stayed with us for dinner. unfortunately, jewel was sporting a bit of a fever, and froggy (who needs a more goth nickname to suit her) bailed right about dinner time and didn't get back until jewel had left.
but brunch was good, with lots of food, jewel's gifts to everyone (this is the first year she got to spend to buy what she WANTED to get people rather than just what she could afford, and her joy was so wonderful), and laughter. youngest grandbaby loved her toy vacuum (it was a noise maker) and made it clear she was oh so not interested in the dress she also received. taz is THRILLED with the wii and the lotr game that was one of two that she got him for it (with another game he'll be thrilled about on its way from linnorm). phoenix picked up a coca-cola ornament for saxy, and jewel picked up up a "spice" shelf that turned out to be more of a bookcase....
this is okay: my gift will be stackable spice jars that will make that top half work more as a spice rack. ;) and as you can see, it ended up actually being amazingly helpful with organizing the kitchen a bit more. almost everything has space in a cabinet or cupboard somewhere now. ALMOST everything. lol it also allowed us to take the less sturdy "shelving" we had in there (which was a mix of crates and some not so stable stackable shelves) and move it into the dining room, giving us a place for all his physical cookbooks plus a few other things. now no more digging in the big box in our room when he wants to go through cookbooks. cooking magazines, yes; actual cookbooks, no. so her "spice" rack ended up being a most useful gift! (and will eventually be at least half a useful spice rack once we get the spice jars i'm ordering next week.)
as for me, she gave me a $50 amazon gift card and helped me pick out a belly dance dvd and skirt. plus i added a book to the pile. i've been wanting to learn belly dance again for awhile (tried it when i was muuuuch younger but didn't stick with it), but these are items i kept putting off in favor of equipment like weights and things like protein powder (which i will probably stop buying) and grains that aren't available or affordable in our local stores. hubs has insisted i use some money to buy my gift from him, and we decided on tron: legacy since it's one of my favorite movies.
but most of all, we're in a much better place in a lot of ways: hubs is working, and almost everything in the first paragraph of this entry has a solution: hubs has settled into a new second job he likes (well, as much as he can like having to work a second job, anyway), i'll be revising one book and looking at self-pubbing while sending the second out to small presses (and when i get some new books finished, i'll look for an agent again), i'll be replacing the laptop with the tax refund even if it means limiting or getting no clothes in the appropriate size, and knowing what stalled me out for 9 months and adjusting accordingly seems to have helped get me losing again. as for goals,well, okay, didn't make them this year...still have some new ones for next year. we have some sorting out to do on the money, but i've got a plan of attack to get things caught up and stable again.
so, things are good...i'm content with where we are, happy with how the holiday went, and looking forward to next year. hoping for a better year overall.
now, anyone got some extra time they can send my way? because that's going to be the hardest thing to get under control: it's still going to be too much going on and not enough time to do everything on my to do lists. but if that's the toughest thing that's a constant, i can live with it. ;)
fyi: i did manage to put together a new layout for whysper for next year. it'll be ready january 1, as always. ;)
word of the moment: cauline
growing on a stem especially on the upper part of a stem ("Cauline leaves"); producing a well-developed stem above ground
