2015 was a really weird, very full year. The first quarter was one big blur, as often happens when dealing with depression. Did it snow? I think so (?) What did I do for my birthday? Other than completed another trip round the sun, I couldn’t tell you. Am I forgetting anything fun or particularly noteworthy? I assure you that is exactly the case.
We headed out to San Diego to say one last farewell to my step mother as her ashes were placed in her memorial bench. Checked an item off our informal bucket list of seeing a major league baseball game in every stadium, while there. I might end up having a corollary bucket list of home team hats, though I don’t see that happening for division rivals or any New York team.
Basically, after Easter, everything looked up considerably. The countdown to our fifth anniversary trip to Disney for Star Wars weekend consumed all available energy. And it was absolutely mind bogglingly amazing. Great food, great friends, great exhaustion, GREAT MEMORIES. Those big red buttons meant just about every cast member and every character congratulated our marital bliss. Nothing short of wonderful.
I also got to meet my favorite Jedi — cynics, critics, and haters to the left that it’s not the “real” anyone walking around in costume in Disney. Shaak Ti was amazing and I love her forever.
Our neighborhood’s enormous, community yard sale was an unmitigated success too. Many comics were sold, which means those long and short boxes didn’t come back home to our house to take up precious space. The cash they put into our Disney souvenir fund didn’t hurt, either.
Shortly after returning home, our nephew was born — as tribute to our wedding anniversary. Obviously. It was nice of Trey’s sister to do that for us…
Neither of us being happy about our fitness levels and physical appearances and both of us sick to death bitching about it, we came home to getting our shit together and losing weight. Technology and persistence to the rescue there. I’ve lost 16 lbs since those Disney pictures were taken. And I think everyone in our family has a Fitbit now — some having theirs before we became unpaid spokespeople for the things and really wearing them again, others quietly nodding that we’ve joined the fray. Weight Watchers and other community weight loss programs work, folks. I have a lot of thoughts about this change to my eating habits, what it means, and why it’s working. Too much for right now. The one I can tease, though, I’m pretty sure it’s working because it wasn’t a “New Year’s Resolution”. I have “opinions” about the words we use around food, weight loss, and body image, too.
Also, mohawk. After talking about wanting to do it for upwards of a year, I needed to pull the trigger or shut the hell up about it.
There was, of course, that whole three month wormhole I already waxed philosophic at length about.
I took a stab at applying a formal methodology for using my notebook for work and also applied it to non-work, too. Enter Bullet Journal and my trusty classic plain moleskin that’s cataloged work tasks for me for the last 5 years. I’m very dorkily in love with it and it kind of freaks some people out how structured it is. Don’t care!
For the most part, though, I credit Kelly Sue DeConnick’s Tumblr and her Bitches Get Shit Done texts. If you have unlimited texting from your cell carrier (and, honestly, most people do) I can’t recommend it highly enough. FAQ here, fifth Q down. Or, if you are content to be motivated on your own schedule, follow the bgsd archive tumblr, instead. I will be here with directions to the FAQ when you decide having the delightful inspiration kicking down your texting door is what you really want.
Finally, I got way too excited about getting a regular dining room table set (one that isn’t counter-height) and hosting Christmas dinner for my mother and grandmother. With the ways our respective families are growing and everyone else becoming adults, too, we, the former kids, are taking on the hosting duties. For the first time in 6 or 7 years, we woke up on Christmas morning in our own home, opened our presents over coffee, and didn’t run all the way over hell and creation to see everyone in our immediate family within a 50-mile radius in the space of 36 hours. It was great, if bittersweet, but nothing felt rushed about any of the time we spent over the holidays with family. Seriously. Really great.
Dinner itself, was amazingly delicious and made all the more by being an even split effort between me and my husband. He slayed the soup and potatoes, I was master of the roast beast, asparagus, and dessert. Win! I fail at not taking a picture of the table before we all stuffed our faces, joyfully. You’ll just have to visualize it.
So, 2015 was a year. Started off a little dicey, but turned it around to good and straight on to great by the end. Pretty happy with it, all things told. It’s not a competition, 2016, but, you’re on notice, pal, expectations are kinda high. Good luck. Happy New Year, everyone.
