MetaTalk Love-In No. 3

November 22, 2015 10:08 AM

It's deep in fall and it's dark and gray in the Northern Hemisphere. Remember this post? Let's do it again. Bring the awesome!

I'll start - this year is far less of a shit storm than it was for the past two years and like last year, my daughter is cast as a Holly Tree in the local production of the Nutcracker. I've signed up again and this year I've been cast as The Butler. Still anonymous, but somewhat more specific. I'm doing far less dancing and much more comedic stage acting. For grins, I've been growing my beard out which I will shape into mutton chops for the performance and I bought a pair of 1880's vintage pince-nez off eBay for the character.

posted by plinth to MetaFilter-Related at 10:08 AM (189 comments total)

um, I've actually-gotten all my secret-quonsar gifts and even ordered the wrapping-paper in which to wrap them and also have local-newspapers on standby if that is not enough?

also planning to rent a car so I can see my Me-mere for thanksgiving?
posted by dorian at 10:13 AM on November 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

Yay, love-in! Of which, here's the original post back in 2013 for anyone not following the chain.

This is not actually an accomplishment of any sort, but I was at a party some friends threw last night and a couple introduced themselves and their names were Serena and Kyle and I immediately tried and failed to land a Catwoman joke, so that's what I've been up to.
posted by cortex (staff) at 10:13 AM on November 22, 2015 [12 favorites]

Somebody got me the 18 CD Cutting Edge '65-'66 Dylan box set, which I have opened but have yet to play. For the time being, I just sit and stare at it.
posted by y2karl at 10:15 AM on November 22, 2015 [7 favorites]

Comrade Doll and I are celebrating the new job I got (in small part at least, thanks to help from this AskMe) by spending Christmas in Puerto Vallarta. So that's making the snow here today less depressing.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:21 AM on November 22, 2015 [5 favorites]

Let's see--I managed to write the two book chapters I said I would for my sabbatical and am putting the finishing touches on a couple of articles.
posted by thomas j wise at 10:21 AM on November 22, 2015 [7 favorites]

What if you have no awesome to bring and are cold and miserable, and just wish the aliens would arrive with their death ray already?
posted by marienbad at 10:22 AM on November 22, 2015 [10 favorites]

What if you have no awesome to bring and are cold and miserable, and just wish the aliens would arrive with their death ray already?

Then I will drink a shot of palinka in solidarity with your underwhelming day.

Please do not abuse this. I have shit to do today.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 10:25 AM on November 22, 2015 [13 favorites]

I'm sitting here wrapped in a very cozy afghan with a book and two purring cats and all three of us are watching about a dozen little birds make piglets of themselves at the bird feeder right outside my living room window. After going through a rough couple of weeks I could not be more content right now! Thanks for giving me the excuse to remind myself of that!
posted by bookmammal at 10:28 AM on November 22, 2015 [8 favorites]

I have four days off in a row next week! That thought is getting me through the latest round of grading.
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:36 AM on November 22, 2015 [8 favorites]

My three-year-old Thanksgiving cactus seedlings are blooming so hard right now.
posted by Spathe Cadet at 10:41 AM on November 22, 2015 [10 favorites]

I started making my own kombucha and I'm having all the tenderly-nervous new-parent feelings about my scoby, who is so far pretty damn hardy. I think her name might be Denise?

Also I have a whole weekend off with no traveling to do, my building has an endless supply of very hot water for showers, Alabama Shakes apparently have a new album out, and it's not snowing yet.
posted by nebulawindphone at 10:45 AM on November 22, 2015 [6 favorites]

I changed my cat's food and her coat actually went more shiny.
posted by colie at 10:49 AM on November 22, 2015 [23 favorites]

I just got back from a hectic two-day trip to new york city. I almost decided not to go, because of all the threats and danger and scary reports. I think I fell in love with a million people in 48 hours. I saw a young black man help an old chinese woman carry her bag down the subway stairs, complete strangers joke and laugh and share at a long table over breakfast, michael jackson songs on a steel drum causing an entire subway platform to start dancing - young couples, an old gentleman, a mother and child - I know it's overly sappy, but I was overwhelmed by how much goodness I saw. My heart is still overflowing.
posted by umwhat at 11:02 AM on November 22, 2015 [33 favorites]

... Also, I made the most incredible homemade cream of chicken/wild rice soup yesterday. It's so good that I had some for breakfast this morning.
posted by bookmammal at 11:10 AM on November 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

A bit more than a year ago, we moved from a house that was too big and becoming financially unsustainable, into a condo that was priced low enough for us to do a bit of financial retooling, so that we could start living more in accordance with our goals. A big part of that is that we're going to be doing more travelling. I want to thank metafilter particularly for bringing the musical "Hamilton" to my attention, because one our planned trips is to go see the show next fall.
posted by Ipsifendus at 11:12 AM on November 22, 2015 [10 favorites]

I just bought my first smartphone ever, since I came across a pay-as-you-go one for less than ten bucks. I would like to thank the drug dealers, intelligence operatives, and terrorists of the world for buying so many burner phones to only use once and driving the price down.
posted by XMLicious at 11:18 AM on November 22, 2015 [25 favorites]

Bought a huge cat tree for our kittens and they love it; also, meeting their kitten-y needs, and seeing them grow in confidence and skills. We also just did a homebrew and it was fun.
posted by joseph conrad is fully awesome at 11:19 AM on November 22, 2015 [11 favorites]

I finally found myself a project to keep busy with, which is documenting vernacular home architecture in a streetcar neighborhood in my city primarily built between 1900 and 1930, and researching the history and development of the area, because WHY THE HELL NOT. I have located the smallest single family home in the city, am trying to photograph homes in every color of the rainbow (but am stumped by purple right now), and I'm hunting for accessibility renovations. I have managed to rope a reference librarian in who is helping me hunt for HOLC maps that will let me identify the redlined areas of the neighborhood.

Also I am just 4700 pages from my 60,000 page reading goal for the year, so I think I'm gonna make it!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 11:20 AM on November 22, 2015 [27 favorites]

After dragging myself through a couple of crappy years one day at a time I finally got to a place where I could start looking forward again and looking after myself. So since the Summer I've managed to lose 30lbs (halfway!), got a pretty nice haircut and stopped dressing in rags fished back out of the laundry basket. (These are not major achievements in the grand scheme of things, I know, but this time last year they were kind of unfathomable).

I posted some music to an actual public place (sort of) in collaboration with someone way more talented than me which was the fulfilment of a lifelong dream.

And also I learned how to make the World's Best Fudge which I can't eat much of due to the whole losing weight thing (but which I forced myself to sample purely for Science). So all in all it's been a pretty good year.
posted by billiebee at 11:23 AM on November 22, 2015 [31 favorites]

So this year I stood in for my boss while he was away for a bit. I guess I did well enough, because I got converted to permanent in that job and my former boss got a different one. They guy I had stand in for my vacancy got made permanent there, then I got him promoted again to be even with me now. All my people in supervisory positions are home-grown from within, not forced on me, and doing great which I'm super proud of. We've gone from the workforce attitude of "refueling? ew, why would I want to do that" to people regularly coming to me asking how they can get moved into my branch.

I have a secret method, though.
posted by ctmf at 11:24 AM on November 22, 2015 [5 favorites]

I got married this year, moved to a new state, started a new job, and finally got my blog about Chinese students in America up and running. I posted about it to Projects, and people who are not my family members are reading it!
posted by chainsofreedom at 11:41 AM on November 22, 2015 [8 favorites]

I am finally home after spending four days at a beige and boring airport hotel in a skeevy neighborhood for work. I have the kettle on and my dog is resting her chin on my knee. My biggest worry right now is how to move her without disturbing her when the kettle starts to whistle.
posted by mochapickle at 11:43 AM on November 22, 2015 [5 favorites]

After about 12 years of puttering around in various community colleges, I finally transferred to a university this year. Woo! This is probably the biggest step I've taken in... a long time. I have so much school spirit all of a sudden.

I also just got a job in the university library. I told them I was thinking of getting an MLIS after graduation, and their reaction was to say "oh, this is a great department to work in if you want an MLIS! Half the office is former grads! We have great benefits!" And it's one of the largest university libraries in the country. So I'm tentatively excited on the one hand, and not trying to get my hopes too high on the other (because libraries, right?). Now that I've written about it here, I've more or less guaranteed that it won't work out, because I assume that's how this sort of thing works - if you talk about it, it won't come to pass. But I'm excited, at least for now.
posted by teponaztli at 11:49 AM on November 22, 2015 [17 favorites]

After working on a bunch of books in the past few years that didn't sell, I made some career changes. I left my old agent, found a new one, got a job ghostwriting porn so I could have regular writing income (which frees me to write projects that are weird and meaningful for me). I'm working books I like, no longer feeling frantic and neurotic about my career prospects, and considering self-pubbing some porn of my own because it's fun and I like writing it. It feels nice to be in a really good place with words, even if I don't have a big flashy book deal to announce.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 11:51 AM on November 22, 2015 [24 favorites]

Our scaredy cat Wodan, the one from this Ask, is now relaxed enough to come and sit in my lap and snuggle up to me, several times a week. He always looks so happy when he does that. Widest kitty smile you've ever seen.

And my partner, Mr. Too-Ticky, who had a stroke last autumn and completely lost feeling and control in his right arm and leg, is now doing so well that he's back at work. He can walk and ride his bicycle, he can climb ladders, write and type, and solder tiny stuff*; true enough, he has a limp and he cannot run or drive, but it's already pretty fucking great and I'm ridiculously proud of him. And so, so happy that he's still the grumpy greybeard that I know and love so much.

I didn't do much work this year. Better luck next time.

I did manage to switch from Win7 to Linux Mint over the last two months and I'm loving it. So much that I'm now helping others install and use it, at my local hackerspace.

Lastly: in the spirit of Sint Nicolaas, I have just given two suprise gifts (a laptop; a big bag full of groceries and produce) to people who could not afford to buy those things and it makes me all glowy inside.

And all y'alls awesome is awesome. Yay y'all!

*Not at the same time.
posted by Too-Ticky at 11:52 AM on November 22, 2015 [36 favorites]

My spouse finally finished a year of cancer treatment a couple of weeks ago and things look good! Also, we welcomed a new niece into the world yesterday!
posted by kamikazegopher at 11:54 AM on November 22, 2015 [40 favorites]

As of tomorrow, I will have survived the first block of medical school (anatomy and biochemistry). It has been far more work than I ever imagined (and I imagined it would be very, very hard) but I'm having such a good time, and I have made some really good friends.
posted by ocherdraco at 12:00 PM on November 22, 2015 [40 favorites]

Yay to everyone and especially Too-Ticky and her recovering greybeard. Verder zo!

Let me see...to begin with the most important, food: yesterday we took one day off of our no-alcohol-low-carb regiment and had homemade apple pie (with some home-rendered, super nice lard and farm-bought apples), and had a spot of Whisky of the expensive kind with it, and that was such a treat. Today, my in-house co-mefite made Marcella Hazan's Very Simple leek and chickpea soup, which includes 75 grams of grated Parmiggiano, so nothing to worry about.

Then, the weather has been extraordinarily kind to us this fall, which really makes a difference (in a west-coast area with western winds and western moisture, and situated in the north for the special lack-of-light-effect), so I still can think in non-swearwords at the end of November, which is exceptional.

Between paid-for translating and not-so-paid-for research, and slightly better paid-for music gigs, I managed to prepare the program for, and record, a CD-length program of harpsichord music last June, and now a friend is helping me find someone to publish it properly. Yay friend.

In terms of sustained family pride, my daughter, who won the Dutch royal prize for young artists last year, got nominated this year again, didn't win the prize, but it's a great thing anyway, and makes me happy because I sort of had given up on believing that fine arts generate any money for ordinary people, like, at all.
posted by Namlit at 12:19 PM on November 22, 2015 [14 favorites]

Two days ago I finished my personal Thanksgiving project: I stuffed my car with all the food I could get in there (and let me tell ya, you can get a lot into a PT Cruiser!) and they had to use three shopping carts to haul it all away down at the food bank. Feelin' pretty proud of myself for that one!

On the down side: Julen was nice enough to post a nice mention in the Quonsmas signup thread about me offering to do Santa Claus for one of you Northern Virginia MeFites, but none of you bit! Phooey. Oh well, the offer's still open if we can make our schedules match.
posted by easily confused at 12:21 PM on November 22, 2015 [8 favorites]

My wife and I purchased our first home in October. This is very much my wife's accomplishment, as she handled almost all of the paperwork etc. while I started my first semester at a part-time college teaching job and another part-time online job. Last but not least, our son is wrapping up his first semester in preschool.
posted by audi alteram partem at 12:21 PM on November 22, 2015 [5 favorites]

Aand: Billibee hit the button for my 5000th received favourite. Now ain't that especially great?
posted by Namlit at 12:22 PM on November 22, 2015 [8 favorites]

I have survived and am surviving a very difficult 18 months. It's not nearly as flashy or impressive as everything else posted here, but it's enough to eke out a few drops of pride and self-congratulation.
posted by mudpuppie at 12:32 PM on November 22, 2015 [55 favorites]

I somehow helped pull off a large literary festival in the midst of Chicago's biggest snowstorm in 120 years! Attendance was good, most of the volunteers and speakers showed up, and no crazy person yelled at me for something I had nothing to do with (the first time in the three years I've been doing this). Also for the first time...I got to see one of the programs I planned.
posted by carrienation at 12:32 PM on November 22, 2015 [13 favorites]

(And now I wish I could delete my comment. Flipside, I don't get paid & have also survived a absolutely, positively shitastic two years. And in three years, no one has so much as given me a free book, so....)
posted by carrienation at 12:40 PM on November 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

Nothing very exciting by my wife and I just had a nice walk across the river to eat brunch at a french restaurant and then decided to walk off the meal by taking the long way home across a different river and then through downtown to check out the Christmas shops in Market Square. It's a chilly but beautiful fall day here and the city looks great. We each hit 10,000 steps at about that time so we wimped out a little and took the subway home. Can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than strolling around the city with my sweetie.
posted by octothorpe at 12:46 PM on November 22, 2015 [9 favorites]

on march 1st, I left my 12+-year relationship & 7+-year marriage and moved to los angeles solo to date women.
the hard parts aren't over but the hardest parts are, I think. somehow I survived them, and he and I are still friends (for now, anyway), and this other side's a little lonely but I'm more happy than not -- and so, so proud I made it.
posted by changeling at 12:56 PM on November 22, 2015 [38 favorites]

I now have a job with vision/eyecare coverage that will pay for a set of eyeglasses and I'm getting absurdly excited about finally having glasses again, after relying exclusively on contacts for the last three years after my last pair broke. Two and a half weeks until my appointment!
posted by jaguar at 12:59 PM on November 22, 2015 [16 favorites]

My daughter graduated from high school and has started college and is in a good enough place, all things considered, that I'm fairly certain that she'll reach her 18th birthday which is 5 weeks away. There were times when I--and I say this in all seriousness and not as a joke--was not at all confident that she'd make it this far. They say the Peace Corps is the toughest job you'll ever love, but I think they say that because most Peace Corps volunteers haven't experienced parenthood yet.
posted by drlith at 1:04 PM on November 22, 2015 [20 favorites]

I have an interview tomorrow and managed to get all my glitter nail polish off and replaced with a professional pinky beige without messing any of them up. I know very little about the job I'm interviewing for (I'll find out tomorrow morning from my recruiter), but I hear that it involves a salary so it sounds pretty ok to me. (I've already planned out my celebratory/ameliorative Tuesday by finding a theater where I can see the new Hunger Games movie for just shy of $4.50, and after that I'm stopping by a shop to get the last item for my Secret Quonsar gift.) As soon as I'm satisfied that my nails are dry I'm finally going to put away the suitcase I've had out since I got home from a trip in mid October. 👍
posted by phunniemee at 1:05 PM on November 22, 2015 [9 favorites]

While you lot are putting on the layers for winter here in the Southern Hemisphere we are removing our clothing for summer. The cat has not been trapped in the roof since April and my hands have stopped shaking enough for me to take some decent pictures which have been exhibited. Falo mais Portuguese agora e menos portinol. Its my 65th this week and I think I have a few more years in me yet.
posted by adamvasco at 1:08 PM on November 22, 2015 [13 favorites]

(changeling: I remember that question! And I remember reading it and really hoping that things would turn out well for you, and it makes me really happy to hear you're doing okay.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 1:08 PM on November 22, 2015 [4 favorites]

I am halfway to being an RN, and doing nursing related volunteer work that I adore. Thanks metafilter, for helping me out with the logistics of applying to school and convincing me I could do it!

Also, thanks to a chain of events that started from mefi, the author of my favorite obscure YA novel tweeted at me and told me I should write fanfic for it. I may literally be the first person on the Internet to write this fanfic, which is a bit intimidating, but since I have the author's explicit encouragement I basically have to try, yes?
posted by ActionPopulated at 1:14 PM on November 22, 2015 [14 favorites]

(YES. But I'm pretty sure I've voted on this already.)
posted by nebulawindphone at 1:16 PM on November 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

My year has been pretty intense: I got a new job in a part of the country I never thought I would live in, for slightly more money (but a lot more stability, which can be hard to find in my field). I'm still figuring out if I made the right decision, even though my old employer laid off most of the best people working there just months after I left. I'm still not in love with the place, but I have met some really good people and am learning things I wouldn't have been able to learn at my old job. I spent part of this weekend shooting some video for my first major project at work, and it went great!

I've also started being more serious about drawing and putting the work that I do on Instagram and other social media, even though I have a lot of anxiety about "showing off." I stopped drawing in my mid-twenties because I thought I wasn't any good. I started again a few years ago, and now I do it everyday. I finished a project I thought up a few months ago this morning and now plan to get it printed.
posted by heurtebise at 1:17 PM on November 22, 2015 [7 favorites]

Well, in October my latest grandbaby was born (a girl named Ruth. Baby Ruth!)

That makes four grandbuns total, two boys, two girls. (The girls are in Texas, the boys, to include The Original Grandbun, are here in town. And every one of them is smart and good looking.)


Meanwhile my real estate career consists pretty much of selling VA repossessed houses. Which can be fun and profitable, and I deal mostly with other agents, which is a blast because they are mostly all fun extroverts.
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 1:36 PM on November 22, 2015 [14 favorites]

After more than 2.5 decades of being eligible for it, I finally manged to get a drivers license. I've made it through more than a year of my husband living and working in a different city - despite a lot of gloom and doom from people.

Also, there's a really pretty sunset outside right now.
posted by sciencegeek at 1:37 PM on November 22, 2015 [14 favorites]

Oh yeah, one of my other "achievements" this year was being diagnosed with a severe mental illness, but I don't talk about that as much. I only mention it now because I tend to discount that this could have been a factor in, say, why it took me 12 years to get to a point where I could actually pass my classes and transfer to a university.

Sorry, I now have two comments talking about me, and I feel uncomfortable with that, but there were these two threads about affirmation, and in both of them I held off from mentioning mental illness, even though I guess that's the real story. Like, I'm not happy just to have gotten into college, I'm shocked that I did it in spite of everything else.

I want to make this into a statement for other people who are struggling, but I don't think my story is THAT important, and I really don't know what to say. It's just that I think it's a huge accomplishment to be surviving, and I hope people understand what I mean by that.
posted by teponaztli at 1:45 PM on November 22, 2015 [43 favorites]

Nice to see you back at MeFi, St. A.
posted by ctmf at 1:50 PM on November 22, 2015 [5 favorites]

Teponaztli, from one Mefite to another, I'm proud of you and happy to read what you've written here. Well done, and I hope it just keeps on getting better and better!
posted by heyho at 1:53 PM on November 22, 2015 [7 favorites]

We are learning to skijor with our bonkers 2-year old mutt. Yesterday we had a ton of fresh snow (we have already had more winter than we did in all of last "winter") and we all- especially the dog- had a great time and nobody broke anything and the balance finally tipped from terror into fun for the humans involved. Everyone on the trail was amazing and friendly. We dropped the dog off and went for a ski ourselves on free freshly-groomed lighted trails after sunset and felt grateful to live in a place where that's possible. Came home and made miso soup and ate fresh poke from the Asian grocery and it all felt kind of miraculous in a small cozy kind of way.
posted by charmedimsure at 2:03 PM on November 22, 2015 [5 favorites]

I have extended my vodka-free streak to 2 years, 225 days and 17 hours. The current self-improvement project is to stop eating so much damn sugar. I feel like I've swapped a drinking problem for an eating disorder.


but Ben and Jerry's Triple Caramel Chunk is totally better than Tito's any day
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 2:08 PM on November 22, 2015 [20 favorites]

It's been nine months and three days since I had a cancerous tumor removed from my right breast and just shy of six months since I finished chemo. I still have 93 days (but who's counting?) before my final antibody treatment next February, but I am officially Not Bald anymore, and my eyebrows and eyelashes have just grown back after falling out for the second time, and part of me is starting to believe it's *possible* I am not going to die of Stage IA breast cancer. Just a small part, though, and only sometimes - but it's progress.

It's been a hell of a year, and I'm glad it's almost over. Real glad.
posted by something something at 2:13 PM on November 22, 2015 [50 favorites]

joseph conrad already did mine, but yes: we grew our foster kittens into our adopted cats and it has been a hell of a fun -- and sometimes exasperating GO TO SLEEP YOU GOOBERS IT'S 1AM -- ride.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 2:13 PM on November 22, 2015 [8 favorites]

Also I finally watched Gilmore Girls this year! Whoot!
posted by something something at 2:19 PM on November 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

One year ago we didn't think my father had esophageal cancer, just a bad case of acid reflux. Six months ago he had diagnosed cancer, his chemotherapy was interrupted by a heart attack probably brought on by his chemo drugs. I got to drive him to the hospital at 3 AM, figuring it was safer staying below 90 mph (yay Southern California freeways) but wanting to get there as fast as possible.

That was followed by six weeks of my sister and I swapping taking care of him as the (new type of) chemo and the radiation wore him down. Last month the follow-up 'scope couldn't find any trace of the tumor and the tech said that if he hadn't been told to look for it he wouldn't have thought there had ever been anything there. He's on blood thinners and while the beard seems to have come back the pubes, he reports, have not and that's the only lingering effects we're aware of and I can go back to getting irritated with him for being hyper-critical and not worrying that he's going to die. As experiences with cancer go I know we got off soooo lucky, but it was a hell of a way to spend a summer.
posted by benito.strauss at 2:22 PM on November 22, 2015 [24 favorites]

More of a gratitude post, but last weekend our sweet boy cat, Rupert, got terribly sick. Rupert seemed completely joyless and nothing interested him, including us. He abandoned grooming and all of his rituals, e.g., running through the house in the middle of the night tossing his favorite toy, a purple and green octopus, until ending the game by dropping it into his food bowl. Scary diagnostics and three days in the emergency veterinary hospital 90 minutes away led us to fear that he suffered from lymphoma. Rupert was obviously miserable and in pain and Mr. Carmicha and I began to discuss our criteria for euthanasia.

Luck finally went our way and we got a definitive diagnosis: pancreatitis and IBS, but without the fatty liver complication we worried accompanied his refusal to eat or drink anything significant in 5-6 days. We elected to install a feeding tube to get him over the hump and brought him home yesterday. It's been great: easy to feed him, ensure he's hydrated and administer his now complicated drug regime. And Rupert's personality has returned, including his penchant for long soulful nuzzling sessions.

Last night, at 2:00 am when I was administering the overnight feeding, I found the octopus sitting in Rupert's food bowl. The feels! The feels!!
posted by carmicha at 2:38 PM on November 22, 2015 [28 favorites]

I bought an apartment in Seoul, traveled a lot, had tons of work success, and surpassed a net worth milestone that is very meaningful to me.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 2:55 PM on November 22, 2015 [8 favorites]

For the first time in ages I managed to make my Christmas pudding on Stir-up Sunday. If anyone would like to make a wish for the coming year, you're welcome to have a virtual stir.
posted by atropos at 3:06 PM on November 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

once again i am pleased to report that i have not fatally stabbed anyone this year
posted by poffin boffin at 3:08 PM on November 22, 2015 [29 favorites]

alas there are still 6 weeks to go
posted by poffin boffin at 3:09 PM on November 22, 2015 [16 favorites]

"have not fatally stabbed" is not the same as "have not stabbed" and I am concerned.
posted by billiebee at 3:21 PM on November 22, 2015 [22 favorites]

Some people just have pleasure in reporting.
posted by Namlit at 3:23 PM on November 22, 2015 [1 favorite]

I finally broke up with academia. It's not me, it's you.

Also, there's a good chance this year will end the pattern of "Each year a close friend will die."
posted by Beardman at 3:28 PM on November 22, 2015 [12 favorites]

From the Dept. of the Mundane Miraculous: The hens I was gifted have begun to lay. My husband and I artificially inseminated two pigs today (wish us luck: if it worked, there will be piglets!). The sourdough bread I make just keeps getting better. The annual lighting of the wood stove has come: there will be warmth.
posted by MonkeyToes at 3:30 PM on November 22, 2015 [17 favorites]

I made eggnog last night. 2 cups of whole milk, 1 egg, 1 packet of pink artificial sweetener (pink packet, not pink sweetener), 1 whole clove, grated nutmeg, ground cinnamon. Stick blender. It was pretty good. I have a faint, faint memory of homemade eggnog from 50 something years ago, not being quite sure I was happy with the texture. The texture was fine in this new batch. When I buy eggnog, I cut it with milk, somewhere between 4 to 1 and 8 to 1, so this was a little richer than I usually drink it. I may try three cups of milk next time.

We just had our second snow here on Friday and I'm already tired of winter. Thinking of moving to southern New Mexico or southwest Texas. I retired this fall, so I don't have to worry about looking for a job wherever I decide to go.
posted by Bruce H. at 3:43 PM on November 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

After two+ years of medical limbo, my last surgery in September + a final clean biopsy last month = tentative optimism.

Also, I successfully made gingerbread, for the first time, on Friday! (Smitten Kitchen's Gingerbread Snacking Cake, with tweaks stolen from the comment section.) I'm going to go make tea and have a slice of it now.
posted by Iris Gambol at 3:43 PM on November 22, 2015 [10 favorites]

I'm almost to the three year mark on escaping the 9-5 routine and surviving, (if barely), as a writer.
posted by mordax at 3:44 PM on November 22, 2015 [15 favorites]

I'm stuck in the house with a busted foot, off work on injury/sick leave as a result, my long relationship might be ending, my partner is away for work at the moment, and it's snowing, but I have Ken Burns Baseball, and hope.
posted by avocet at 3:49 PM on November 22, 2015 [9 favorites]

I was blessed with a shiny new niece this year. She sleeps a lot and is very smiley. So far all indicators suggest that she will be as awesome as her older sister.

Professionally 2015 was... challenging and confusing. Not sure where I am or heading, I'm hoping that 2016 will bring some clarity and deeper meaning.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 3:51 PM on November 22, 2015 [3 favorites]

I didn't post earlier tonight because, well, I live in Denmark and it's dark and snowed a bunch this weekend when I was going to go grocery shopping via bike so I didn't, plus my stupid stove isn't working and I live out the suburbs so getting to a restaurant isn't trivial in the bad weather. And I was just in Germany last week so I'm almost out of food. Almost all of my emergency food requires the stove to cook.

But-- then I discovered the *oven* is working. And managed to put together some frozen chicken breasts, potatoes, and a few somewhat mushy persimmons into a passable meal. I'm not sure it counts as 'hygge' to light a candle over such a (solo) dinner- but I'm feeling pretty good about it anyhow.

(I seem to recall last year's victory involved food too..)
And I have a plan for tomorrow-- it turns out I also have ingredients for sugar cookies...
posted by nat at 3:53 PM on November 22, 2015 [13 favorites]

Why isn't there a Ken Burns documentary about basketball? Gimme a break Ken Burns.

Anyway, my kid is great. Today she learned to say "thumbs up!" for the first time. Even though she can't raise her thumb. So it looks like she's doing a black power salute. She's the best & halfway to being president.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 3:57 PM on November 22, 2015 [10 favorites]

In August, I visited London. It was my first international solo trip, and it was the best! And I did it with the help of ask mefi. I'm not really a last minute, spontaneous kind of person, so it felt kind of crazy to be making arrangements mere days before my departure, but it was so worth it. A+++ would do again.
posted by litera scripta manet at 4:01 PM on November 22, 2015 [8 favorites]

This month marked my first anniversary since I quit smoking cold turkey after 27 years. My life is so much better without nicotine. When I first quit, I was afraid I would miss cigarettes forever, but I don't miss them at all now. In fact, I think about them so infrequently that I was feeling a little sad I didn't have any sort of interesting acomplishment to share until I remembered that I had quit.
posted by double block and bleed at 4:04 PM on November 22, 2015 [26 favorites]

I already got my Christmas tree up, lights strung! (Alas, no ornaments quite yet, but baby steps, folks, baby steps :)

And in case we don't speak, I am wishing you all a warm, safe, and happy holiday season!
posted by foxhat10 at 4:05 PM on November 22, 2015 [3 favorites]

Oh, also, this year I got to take on newer, neater, better compensated responsibilities at my current job so that's pretty great. And overall, my life is more or less together, and more often than not, I'm pretty pleased with where my life is and where it's headed, so that's really awesome too.

Probably most importantly, as of tomorrow, I will have been sober for 4 years and 8 months. Pretty sure none of these other things would have been possible without that.
posted by litera scripta manet at 4:06 PM on November 22, 2015 [21 favorites]

I moved from Finland to Iceland with girlfriend and five-month-old son in tow. I also started a new job. And my first solo book of poems was published. That was all meant to be spread out over one month, but all happened in one week. It was some week. The new job is a bit overwhelming at times, but I feel like I'm getting to grips with it.

Also, I had a meeting with my editor and the novel I've been working on for half a decade is finally in near-publishable shape. It just needs few months' work or so and then it should be ready.

Girlfriend and son have adapted well to life in Reykjavík. It's been super wonderful to introduce our little boy to family and friends here in Iceland.
posted by Kattullus at 4:15 PM on November 22, 2015 [27 favorites]

I managed to eke another couple of gigs out of my cheap Indonesian Washburn knockoff guitar before the spreading crack finally takes the headstock off, which is good because I cannot envisage ever being able to afford to replace it, and I don't have any gigs scheduled between now and when major surgery takes me out of contention for doing about the one meaningful thing I have left in my life anyway.

Hurray!
posted by Dysk at 4:26 PM on November 22, 2015 [9 favorites]

I completed the fieldwork for my dissertation this summer! I managed to get malaria a second time - but this time I figured it out and got treated right away! I have 500 pieces of monkey poop in a freezer right now just waiting for me to analyze them! I even have some money with which to do the analyses!

The best thing that happened recently is that the wife of a friend I made in Cote d'Ivoire was pregnant while I was there. They were deciding on names for their future kid - if it was a boy, they were going to name him Michael Jordan, and if it was a girl, they'd name it after me. Well, SUCK IT, MICHAEL JORDAN because there's a tiny Ivorian girl named Erine wandering around Western Cote d'Ivoire and she is adorable.
posted by ChuraChura at 4:41 PM on November 22, 2015 [56 favorites]

I got my first real freelance GIS job and I'm procrastinating on it by reading metafilter! Wheeeeeeeee!
posted by everybody had matching towels at 5:12 PM on November 22, 2015 [8 favorites]

I have 500 pieces of monkey poop in a freezer right now just waiting for me to analyze them!

I soooo want to have a beer with you sometime.
posted by mudpuppie at 5:15 PM on November 22, 2015 [10 favorites]

My art is being favorably received, and I'm working as a contributing editor for a magazine and my work received high praise today. In a happy relationship, and having daily epiphanies about my dysfunctional childhood that are leading me to set healthy boundaries with my family. That one is in large part due to my MeFi family, so thank you!
posted by Beethoven's Sith at 5:25 PM on November 22, 2015 [12 favorites]

OK, I managed to keep my shit together despite Alzheimer's and related drama kicking my family's collective ass. I also turned in my grant on time this week.
posted by Sophie1 at 5:28 PM on November 22, 2015 [17 favorites]

Quick update-

why have sugar cookies tomorrow, when you can have them today? yes, it's 2:30 am, but so?
posted by nat at 5:44 PM on November 22, 2015 [13 favorites]

I've spent the past three years learning how to drive, after really bad trauma/anxiety/depression made it really hard for me to continue having regular practices. Today, my best friend took me out for our second practice together and basically helped me in tons of ways that my other driving instructors were too negiligent to pay attention to. I am sooo happy and feeling so much more confident and closer to getting my license! I refuse to get my license until I get super proficient.

Also, celebrating my extended anniversary of my ex getting out of my life for good, and thankfully using that experience to comment on AskMeFi. It's been 4-5 years, hooray!
posted by yueliang at 5:55 PM on November 22, 2015 [14 favorites]

I've been thinking to myself over the last few days that I need to clear some space amid all the stress about all the things we haven't done and sit down to talk with my partner about all the things that we have done. We fixed a retirement investment screwup. I wrote four short stories and have been subbing them (even if none have been published yet). I participated in two writing workshops and found some great people to hang out with online. I've got enough hours at one teaching position lined up that I can leave the other for a while. We finally visited the Pacific Northwest (thanks, AskMe!) and met a bunch of longtime online friends. We did some home security stuff (thanks, AskMe!) and I got a haircut (ditto) and I'll get a new phone/lightweight laptop soon (ditto) and I haven't found a therapist yet, but I did start the process (ditto). And we have a plan to help us relocate somewhere (the timescale is freaking me out--too slow--but it's better than nothing). I had a Halloween costume that didn't disintegrate. We did some good cooking before we got overloaded with work and stress. And I think there will be more if we sit down and think about it together.
posted by wintersweet at 6:07 PM on November 22, 2015 [8 favorites]

oh, and I signed up for Yuletide for the first time ever! Next year, Yuletide and Quonsmas? WHO KNOWS
posted by wintersweet at 6:08 PM on November 22, 2015 [2 favorites]

I soooo want to have a beer with you sometime.

say no thank you if you are offered any ice cream though
posted by poffin boffin at 6:15 PM on November 22, 2015 [9 favorites]

My book was published this year and people are actually liking it!
posted by Mchelly at 6:20 PM on November 22, 2015 [18 favorites]

It has been nearly as interesting a year as the last two years have been--although thankfully a good deal more positive. (Since 2013, my apartment burned down, then the roof of my new apartment fell in a little bit, then my car got totaled, then there was a SWAT team called on an apartment in my complex for legitimate scary-violent-behavior, also I spent a year battling four separate insurance companies about who was going to pay for my medical bills after getting X rays and a CAT scan post car accident. I also divulged my partner of three years' existence to my parents, married my partner (yay!) and then went back to our separate countries (not yay) and embarked upon the huge scary immigration process. Then I had a huge fight with my parents about how they were treating said partner--it was, shall we say, really not good--and quit talking to them for six months, during which I got a couple of manipulative-but-weird packages. It was not a great couple of years. Also: grad school. It's kind of sad when you go "the most stable thing in my life right now is my PhD program.")

...so last January I moved! And we finished the immigration process and my partner moved in with me and it's really great! (With them came Peter, literally the first cat I have ever lived with for longer than two weeks, and he is indeed a pretty great cat. That lap purring thing you lot all talk about on the internet is A+.) And I patched up relationships with my parents and developed a much closer relationship with my sisters and went back into therapy and on antidepressants and that helped too! Also I am learning not to take any bullshit about my life choices and letting my real self out everywhere I bother to show up and that is a good thing. Boundaries with family are really hard but I'm trying to figure out where to draw my lines in the sand and defend them.

And after two years of trying to build acoustic chambers and convince myself that my dissertation is even worth doing despite fiercely believing that it needs to be done, my boss finally told me that he thinks I can wrap up my first chapter and start writing it up for publication this spring. Those damn little mice sang their hearts out for me in exactly the way I needed them to and I feel like I can finally trust my science and like I'm making progress on experiments again.

And! And! I quit lurking and signed up for a MeFi account a year and a month ago, and that was definitely a good decision on my part. Oh, and we adopted the world's most demanding, ugliest, stubbornnest little blind kitten. (Yes, that one.) It's been a week and he is settling in and putting on weight and trying his damndest to cause kitten mischief, which is a great sign.
posted by sciatrix at 6:39 PM on November 22, 2015 [42 favorites]

Also, Chura, clearly Erin is the best name for any child. *solemn nod*
posted by sciatrix at 6:40 PM on November 22, 2015 [4 favorites]

Dysk, *hugs* if you want them.
posted by jaguar at 7:20 PM on November 22, 2015 [5 favorites]

It hasn't been the best year for me; nothing specific - in fact, probably a few things I should be happier about than I am - but I feel very blah, very down, very much in a slump. I don't know why, and I can't seem to break out of it.

That being said, I got to go on a trip to Churchill, MB last weekend to see polar bears in the wild, and it was awesome. I'm still culling/working on the photographs, but here are a few of the ones I like already:

Mom & cubs 1
Mom & cubs 2
Out for a stroll
Pause
Closing in
Close up
Wanna play?
Nice to meet you
Taking a stand

Anyways, it was amazing and that plus another experience last week (doing some art as part of a team retreat day) have me feeling better about things, even though I'm left with a feeling that I should maybe go try something else in terms of career/life.
posted by nubs at 7:41 PM on November 22, 2015 [16 favorites]

I think the thing that I am most proud of this year is that I have stopped thinking how much I would rather be dead. That although I still have some crappy or unpleasant days, moods or events, I have remembered or rediscovered that overall, life is still worth it on the whole. And joy! How good is joy!

I'm also in a very unexpected and yet very wonderful new relationship, which of course has a direct bearing on the previous achievement. Also new this year is my kitty Milo, who continues to amuse and irritate me in the way of kitties. I am very grateful for him, and the new relationship both. And as we come to the end of this year, there is the possibility that next year I may be working in a completely different place, which would be really wonderful. So, not such a great start to my year but I think it is looking up.
posted by Athanassiel at 7:55 PM on November 22, 2015 [24 favorites]

I did not fuck up and kill anybody at work. I did not drop any phones into the ocean as I did last year. Also not repeated: I did not drop a microscope slide into my bra and cut a nipple.

Some asshat shitforbrains broke my knee, my leg, and a few ribs at work due to violating a major safety rule and I got to fire him on the spot.

Everybody who loved me at the beginning of the year still loves me. I'm very grateful and amazed that I did not drive them away.

I ate a lot of fruit pie for breakfast while standing in the kitchen in my underwear. I managed to call the dentist on my own to make an appointment not once but twice so my husband did not have to do it, although he still had to call for pizza delivery, some of them while we were apart in different states. But that means I have something to work on for next year. Goals are important!

I told a surprising number of fart stories on Metafilter.
posted by barchan at 8:02 PM on November 22, 2015 [30 favorites]

Got a fucken Vitamix and joined the #cult
posted by Joseph Gurl at 8:30 PM on November 22, 2015 [4 favorites]

we adopted the world's most demanding, ugliest, stubbornnest little blind kitten

OMG Matt Meowdock has a Tumblr! I was wondering after that AskMe how he was settling in.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 8:38 PM on November 22, 2015 [4 favorites]

I'm always impressed by the accomplished people here.
posted by Dip Flash at 8:56 PM on November 22, 2015 [3 favorites]

> I even have some money with which to do the analyses!

I read this as you have some monKey with which to do the analysis and I was SUPER impressed!

Even though it is only money and not monkey I am SUPER impressed. And nthing would love to have a beer some time with you, with or without monkeys.

All y'all are amazing. Love this thread.
posted by rtha at 9:09 PM on November 22, 2015 [3 favorites]

Friends of Great Salt Lake asked me about putting my painting on the cover of their fall newsletter, so it is on there. It has been a very quiet year but internally eventful. I have kept my neighbor alive for more than a year now. A canyon to the east of here, has kept me alive for a year. I have a geranium still in bloom, I liberated from a store, with money, in spring of 2007. I am rich in geranium. I get to see my daughter and grandson at Christmas. I took Proust back to the library, as good as he is; I just couldn't care about his lucid observations. I got so many quinces this year, so butter, marmalade, and slices. Slices are great over vanilla frozen yogurt. My big thing of the moment is to go look tomorrow, and see if the beavers take down this immense tree in the night. I just noticed today it is almost gnawed through. A stream where I shoot surface and reflections over and over, has just suddenly been subdivided by beavers. They are radically altering the area. They are amazing, but probably doomed. Best to all who struggle and those who go with the uncertain flow.
posted by Oyéah at 10:21 PM on November 22, 2015 [14 favorites]

My daughter who is on the autism spectrum successfully graduated from kindergarten and is now a first grader! We've gone from non verbal when diagnosed 4 years ago to gifted and reading at a 4th grade level and won't shut up!! My first grader is happy, healthy and doing so well and I am so proud of her! So proud that I've finally caved in and someone will be getting that American girl doll she's been coveting for a while at Christmas!
posted by ramix at 10:51 PM on November 22, 2015 [26 favorites]

I saw fury road ten times in the theater and despite the fact this year has been more of a financial disaster than usual I think that makes the year not all bad. Plus I learned about fan fiction.
posted by stet at 10:51 PM on November 22, 2015 [9 favorites]

I left my marriage and kept my kids. I kept the tiny non-profit I started over a decade ago running through some of the worst and hardest days, and reworked everything from scratch. I don't think anyone knows exactly how much work went into this and how close it was, but we got through to funding and staffing for a family crisis center. Last week, one of our clients abandoned her ten month baby girl at our office. Just walked in and waited until no-one was looking and left the little girl in our daycare because she knew that she would be safe there. We'd already had several plans in place for the little girl because we've been working with her, so we had emergency foster care arranged, and as of now, she's back with her mom and some temporary support while we help her make a long-term care arrangement. She had sold her younger daughter recently, and was scared she would end up selling this child too, and - things are messy, and her life is so complicated, and I got to help build and keep running a place where this woman could come and ask for help and know that she would be heard. I love my job, and I love that I got to be part of this.

And I learned that I get to do that and at the same time, I can go home on shorter work hours and hang out with my kids and bake cookies and read books, because I don't have to set myself on fire to keep the world warm. Thanks to ask.mefi for advice at times too.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 10:56 PM on November 22, 2015 [33 favorites]

I have spent the last few months gleefully realizing that I want life to be better, not over. I have made real friends, including some so close I stayed out as late as I could last night talking about everything under the sun.
I'm temping, which is not lucrative, but what I need and can do right now, and I'm currently loving my position in an elementary school. I do not like children, but apparently talking to them is really magical?! I had no idea.
I'm going to NYC again for New Year's, and I just visited in September, too. So grateful for planes and my very best friend who lives there.
And today my neighbor knocked on my door with donuts he had bought me. Just because.
posted by missmary6 at 11:18 PM on November 22, 2015 [17 favorites]

Moved cities and moved careers. The last one is the biggest thing for me - I spent ten years working in academia, loved it, never wanted to do anything else with my life, and had semi-internalised that awful academic thing where anyone who leaves for a different career does so because they just weren't bright/dedicated enough to cut it.

But. Stuff changed. And when the end of my postdoc contract was coming up I thought "I am OUT" and applied for other things instead, and now I work in government doing something completely different, and it is amazing and I love it and I am so so happy. I had not realised how much my last job had been grinding me down until I left; it feels like a great crushing weight has been lifted off my life. And the work itself! It is interesting, it feels worthwhile, I get to write things for ministers and go to Parliament for meetings, and okay there are some moments right out of a The Thick of It script, but overall I get to feel like I am helping to get good things done, even if only as part of a very small cog in a very big machine.

Plus: when I applied for this, it was on the understanding that it would mean a significant pay cut from my academic job for the next four years, plus being moved to London at some point. Since starting in September I have learned that a) the pay will now go up after two years rather than four, and b) I won't have to relocate at all (due to having a small child) so I can stay in Edinburgh for the whole four-year scheme, which is amazing news.
posted by Catseye at 1:35 AM on November 23, 2015 [15 favorites]

Prolly gonna get invited to play in a very cool music festival in NYC this May and some shows in LA and SD right after. Really happy about that.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 1:38 AM on November 23, 2015 [7 favorites]

So much happy here - hugs and love and congratulations to everyone!

I've schmooped before about my wonderful man (who schmooped in last year's thread) but we have just started booking things in for our wedding next year and it is such awesome fun, and I can't wait to marry the best man I've ever met. 18 months ago I wouldn't have guessed in a million years that I'd be writing any of that - it still feels like any moment I'm going to wake up from the best dream ever.

Also, our hamster has stopped chewing the bars of her cage since we got her a bigger one, so that feels like an achievement in ham-parenting.
posted by greenish at 2:47 AM on November 23, 2015 [12 favorites]

I got a new job as the director of a university press. It's pretty awesome, but after living in the country for 25 years, the most challenging part was moving to the middle of a city of 2,000,000. My family and I have adapted to it quite nicely, but the access to hundreds of great restaurants caused me to gain over 30 pounds, of which I've recently lost 12.

I also started a new imprint here that focuses on books about the region. The first book under that imprint will come out in August, and then three more will come out in September. Publishing books is my dream job and I've never enjoyed a job more, in spite of the long hours and seemingly endless challenges.
posted by Toekneesan at 3:43 AM on November 23, 2015 [19 favorites]

In May I finally got a permanent job after too many years of temping. But then a couple weeks ago, after too many months of living in denial, I accepted that I hate that job. But I was also brave enough to talk to my boss about it, and identify how I wanted to fix that - by looking for another job within the same company.

And miracle of miracles, she is supportive and even said she'd help.

The new hurdle is picking the writing back up, after too long having set it aside to concentrate on crisis-mode survival. The fact that hot flashes are kicking my ass and interrupting my sleep is making this tougher, because my brain is in a fog and I'm not thinking as clear as I have done in the past and the words come HARD. But even here - my attitude is to be stubborn rather than hopeless; I've started sending some things out to a couple online markets, and the first to respond did so with a rejection, but they strongly implied that it was just that one piece they were rejecting and they want to see more.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 3:44 AM on November 23, 2015 [11 favorites]

I'm getting married in two weeks! And you're all part of the reason why that's happening, because reading MetaFilter (and particularly AskMe) over the last 6 years has really taught me how to be a healthier, happier person. So when the right guy came around a couple of years ago, I was finally in a happy, confident place (instead of constantly feeling like I wanted to crawl out of my own skin), and I knew what a good relationship looked like (not from experience, mind you, but from hearing other people's stories on AskMe). So I knew what I was aiming for and I had all of these tools and tricks I'd learned from MetaFilter: about how to take care of myself and how to deal with uncertainty and how to communicate well. And I had AskMe as a resource when I needed help or reassurance. All of which helped me build a really lovely relationship with him. And now we're getting married!
posted by colfax at 5:04 AM on November 23, 2015 [31 favorites]

I got a poem accepted by a cowboy poetry publication, and last night received word that Modern Drunkard Magazine, which has published my poetry before, is publishing a bunch more.

I also wrote a play about Buffalo Bill that was produced at Omaha's magnificent children's theater, despite the fact that the theme of the play was how one faces one's role in genocide, and how you then explain to your daughter that death comes for us all.
posted by maxsparber at 5:12 AM on November 23, 2015 [20 favorites]

After 15 years my wife and I finally screwed up the courage to abandon New York City forever, and we're increasingly feeling like it was the right decision.
posted by saladin at 6:28 AM on November 23, 2015 [8 favorites]

I finally went back to my old university in Sydney after 7 years, it was really good to see old friends and familiar places again. Also went snorkelling in the Great Barrier Reef. The pretext for visiting Aus was a conference, and I have to say that this was the first talk ever that I finally felt comfortable and not nervous about speaking in public.

Also my second short story got published (Fantasy & Science Fiction) and garnered a honorable mention in both Ellen Datlow's and Gardner Dozois' anthologies.
posted by dhruva at 6:45 AM on November 23, 2015 [12 favorites]

This year I started a new job and moved to a new house. The job is going well and the house feels like a home. I will not be starting any new jobs or moving again anytime in the future - it's so nice to finally feel somewhat settled.

I also started Yoga Study and discovered (to my delight) that I have plenty of comrades who also do not fit the lithe-bendy-former-dancer-20-something Yoga Teacher stereotype. I was glad to be proven wrong, wrong, wrong when I thought I would be surrounded by Barbies. Yay!
posted by Elly Vortex at 7:21 AM on November 23, 2015 [6 favorites]

I will drink beer with everyone!
posted by ChuraChura at 7:22 AM on November 23, 2015 [9 favorites]

My sister and her two noisy dachshunds moved in with me and now I live with a little family. My tiny dog is faster and smarter than the sausages and is queen of the dog kingdom.

I stopped scary drinking. It has been two years of normalcy.

I stopped talking to the boy who makes me feel bad. Despite five or six years of sad ruminating (and some outright heartbreak) I actually have closure and feel content because of the work I did to feel better. I started off faking it, but now it is genuine.

I decided not to get tested to find out if I will inherit a thing. I feel like I have plenty of life to live regardless of the future.

I have made it a point to participate more on this site this year instead of ONLY lurking, and I have been absolutely overjoyed to find that it makes me love the site even more. The things I learned to do for myself, the way I've learned to live, it is due in large part to learning from you folks.
posted by skrozidile at 7:42 AM on November 23, 2015 [18 favorites]

Man, everyone has such big lives.

I took my 15 year-old daughter to see Frank Iero in San Francisco last night and I think she could have floated home she was so happy. I hung out at the back with the surprisingly numerous parents of other teenaged girls. It was really special to be there with her because I don't think I've ever seen her so excited.
posted by GuyZero at 7:45 AM on November 23, 2015 [9 favorites]

Can we drink beer at your house? I kind of want to see all that monkey poop.

(Also you made me google monkey feces to see what it actually looks like and I found this glorious modified WWII poster.)
posted by barchan at 7:50 AM on November 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

I also started Yoga Study and discovered (to my delight) that I have plenty of comrades who also do not fit the lithe-bendy-former-dancer-20-something Yoga Teacher stereotype.

wait, is this a thing? everyone i know who teaches yoga is in their 60s and so ripped that they look like underground muay thai champions.
posted by poffin boffin at 8:07 AM on November 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

I am 45,112 words, so need less than 5K to win Nano; it says that at this rate I will finish on November 26th so have 4 days grace, which I will need as the Nano Word Count Validator never agrees with my word count, and last year stole 2.5K from my word count - so then I had to hack out another 4K to get over the finish line!

Also, several people from Nano have joined my writing forum, but have yet to post excerpts of their stories - I have posted several, so come and join if you want to see what I have been writing. (link in the Nano meta thread - last comment.)
posted by marienbad at 8:17 AM on November 23, 2015 [5 favorites]

I am now the treasurer of my local knitting guild and I am overwhelmed but I'll figure it out! This has been a kind of intense year (not terrible just... not great?) and the next 6 weeks are so busy I could cry and want a nap, but I'm breathing and have love and knitting so everything will be ok.
posted by bibliogrrl at 8:19 AM on November 23, 2015 [6 favorites]

I've started putting green stuff on my sandwiches. Spring mix, specifically. I still hate iceberg lettuce.
posted by jonmc at 8:27 AM on November 23, 2015 [6 favorites]

I... oh, shit. I take back the kitten thing. Fuck. I'm sorry.

Took him to the vet this morning because he was a bit constipated (after weeks of diarrhea, which we had just resolved) and we were worrying that it might be more intestinal distress. It turns out he had a birth defect in his intestines that means food can't properly pass through it. He's not a candidate for surgery, either, because he's just too damn small.

I'm going home so I can be with him when he's put to sleep this afternoon. Fuck. I wasn't expecting this at all, he's only been home a week, fuck fuck fuck. I'm so sorry for bringing what I thought was a happy moment into the thread, but--shit. Can I have a hug?
posted by sciatrix at 8:39 AM on November 23, 2015 [29 favorites]

all the hugs in the world for you, sciatrix. <3 I'm so sorry.
posted by bibliogrrl at 8:42 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Aw hugs Sciatrix. I put my 17 year old cat to sleep last week.
posted by biggreenplant at 8:46 AM on November 23, 2015 [5 favorites]

The right thing to do is so often the hardest thing to do. Hugs, sciatrix.
posted by MonkeyToes at 8:47 AM on November 23, 2015 [4 favorites]

Oh sciatrix, I'm so very sorry. :( Hugs to you.
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 8:48 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

*hugs* and good thoughts to you and the kitty. I'm so sorry.
posted by jaguar at 8:54 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

sciatrix, I'm sorry. Hugs.
posted by nubs at 8:56 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Very sorry, sciatrix.
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:00 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

some *hugs* for sciatrix. This is a tough one...
posted by Namlit at 9:04 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Sciatrix, I'm so, so sorry. You gave him the very best life he could have. *all the hugs*
posted by Room 641-A at 9:14 AM on November 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

A comic for sciatrix. *hugs*
posted by chainsofreedom at 9:15 AM on November 23, 2015 [9 favorites]

Many, many hugs being sent to sciatrix. . . I am so, so sorry. My heart hurts for you--it never gets easier. I'm sure you gave that kitty a grand home.
posted by bookmammal at 9:29 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

I also started Yoga Study and discovered (to my delight) that I have plenty of comrades who also do not fit the lithe-bendy-former-dancer-20-something Yoga Teacher stereotype.
Elly Vortex, I felt EXACTLY the same way when I started Yoga! It has totally changed the way I view my body and what it can do, and I'm so glad I found the courage to begin. Good for you!
posted by bookmammal at 9:33 AM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

My boyfriend and I got two kittens and life will never be the same again :D

EDIT: just saw sciatrix comment after posting this. shit. bad timing on my part.
posted by monologish at 9:35 AM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

Happy drinks to celebrate with folks with good news, and sad toasts to the losses - big and small - that folks have had. (I had to put one of my cats down earlier this year.)

But this year ... My god, this year. I started the year thinking it was going to be the annus horribilis, because I thought it was going to be the year I would finally have to end things with or at least kick my partner of 15 years out of the house because I had found the end of my rope and it was a very long way behind me. Instead, I found myself in an annus mirabilis of staggering mangitude, because profound changes happened and she is better and I am better and everything is so much better than I thought it could be and now we're engaged.
posted by rmd1023 at 9:50 AM on November 23, 2015 [11 favorites]

So many hugs sciatrix.
posted by billiebee at 9:57 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

So sorry, sciatrix. You did a wonderful thing in taking him in.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 9:58 AM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

Well, in the last year I have: a new daughter; a new house (we actually signed some of the paperwork in the delivery room, tablets and e-sign are great); some old chickens that are new to me; and finally feel like I'm getting caught up on "my stuff that needs to get done" list. This was all tempered by the very recent loss of one of our dogs.

I was going to say that my work's kind of stalled, but my kids are continuing to be awesome people, and that's where I spend most of my time and energy. So success on that front as well.
posted by Gygesringtone at 10:03 AM on November 23, 2015 [4 favorites]

I am so sorry, sciatrix. At least you had each other in your lives for a time....
posted by GenjiandProust at 10:12 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

2015 is the best year I've had since 2006 or 2007. My divorce is almost wrapped up, and I've been bored with my 'dream' job that no longer matches my dreams. I've been planning for a few months to quit in the spring and hike the Pacific Crest Trail in 2016. Along the way I'll try to figure out what career I could be in that better aligns with my values, and decide whether I still want to live in Seattle.

But, they're moving my job across the country in the winter and offering me severance if I don't want to go! So I'll get paid to take February and March off before I hit the trail. I'm going to find a regular volunteering gig, learn a new foreign language, and build a new iOS app.
posted by Kwine at 10:18 AM on November 23, 2015 [10 favorites]

Yeah, so many hugs for Sciatrix - and all of the others who've posted about surviving awful stuff this year.

This Fall I took family leave and flew out to help when my dad was in the hospital and mom couldn't really live independently, and it worked out super well. It was tough in the moment and felt tremendously grown-up in that way where I was stepping up to care for them instead of the inverse. And I got engaged to my awesome guy, bringing joy to us and to my parents in tough times.
posted by ldthomps at 10:19 AM on November 23, 2015 [11 favorites]

EDIT: just saw sciatrix comment after posting this. shit. bad timing on my part.

Hey, it's okay--I'm not sorry you're happy. I'm glad your kittens are doing well and I hope they give you a lot of joy.

Thanks, everyone.
posted by sciatrix at 10:21 AM on November 23, 2015 [17 favorites]

In April of 2015, after 3.5 very long, uncertain years, we completed the adoption of my daughter from foster care. I can finally allow myself to imagine our future as a whole family, without fearing that my daughter wouldn't be part of it.
posted by SeedStitch at 10:48 AM on November 23, 2015 [25 favorites]

My wonderful boyfriend got us tickets to see the stage adaptation of A Confederacy of Dunces, starring Nick Offerman, for this weekend following Thanksgiving. It's been a while since I've been to Boston, so I'm excited about all of that. It's our first time traveling together, so that should be fun/nerve-wracking in a mostly good way, as well.

The best part about this trip is that I've had to plan exactly none of it. I'm ALWAYS the planner, the booker, the do-er, the organizer, the emotional labor-er, and having a partner that on his own, planned a whole trip without asking me to step in, or assuming I would do things? Oh-so-good.

Also, my annual cookie-baking madness weekend is coming up mid-December, where in an absolute frenzy, I bake several thousand cookies and share them with friends and family all over. Sadly, it is past the ship date of the MeFi cookie exchange, so I figured it wasn't fair to send things late.

Here are some photos of past years: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012,. We skipped 2013 because my family moved homes. 2014. I think last year about 3,000 cookies were baked. And it grows every year.
posted by rachaelfaith at 10:50 AM on November 23, 2015 [4 favorites]

sciatrix, huge hugs for you. i'm so sorry.
posted by palomar at 10:50 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

Oh, sciatrix, I am sending major hugs and love your direction. xxoo
posted by Stewriffic at 10:58 AM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

I got proposed to :) And in preparation for the pending nuptials, we have brewed a mango-flavored Belgian strong ale and a porter, and we have also made a merlot (which is not very good so we'll have to serve it later in the day). And I've recently been walking to work and home (3.8 miles each way!), but now it's getting cold that may come to a rather abrupt end... Oh, and as of recently I can say and write the Georgian for "Hello," "How are you?" and "I'm fine," but I can't prove it here because I have no idea how to add Elvish to my keyboard.

Oh and I won a work baking contest with a cranberry pomegranate walnut pie, which I'm still bragging about to people even though it was pretty much beginner's luck on the pie crust combined with the judges really loving over-the-top-sweet baked goods.
posted by solotoro at 11:01 AM on November 23, 2015 [5 favorites]

After a disastrous month-long temp-to-perm job at a law firm downtown (no, not for the lawyer from Spotlight), I landed what was supposed to be a one-week position as a proofreader. That was in September. It's going well here, but I'm terrified of what happens on New Year's.

I also just got past the halfway point in my 52 in 52 ukulele covers series on YouTube, and I'm feeling good that I stuck with it for this long.
posted by pxe2000 at 11:05 AM on November 23, 2015 [9 favorites]

am trying to photograph homes in every color of the rainbow (but am stumped by purple right now)

I've been enjoying that! And it's funny because my small neighborhood has two purple houses, Big Purple and Little Purple.

I started teaching a class at a technical college this year and the semester was marred with a pinched nerve that took forever to unpinch and then a terrible cold/bronchitis. It was some dark-ass times but I've mostly pulled through it and the work has been hard but interestingly challenging and I really like my students. It's been a while since I did something that I felt was a real stretch for me and that's been cool.

Therapy has really helped me get a grip on some stuff that I thought was just "how I was" and it's made me a happier person even though this year has been mostly a string of (non-major, but annoying) health-related maladies that are ongoing. My guy is taking a nap and we just got back from a long walk on the beach and I'm getting a lot better at enjoying what I have and not just finding happiness from crossing things off of a todo list.
posted by jessamyn (retired) at 11:08 AM on November 23, 2015 [23 favorites]

I know this isn't a "thank you call out" thread as such, but I realized I'd be remiss if I didn't say:

To the Mefite who answered my questions about submitting that writing I mentioned upthread: Thank you.

I'm withholding names just in case they don't want a gabillion people reaching out with similar questions.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:18 AM on November 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

The book I worked on as a colorist hit #1 on the NY Times hardcover graphic novel bestseller list in its first week. It was also featured on NPR, which made me feel like a real grownup at last.

Hugs to you, sciatrix!
posted by culfinglin at 11:42 AM on November 23, 2015 [18 favorites]

Hugs to sciatrix and biggreenplant! It's so hard to lose our beloved kittehs, no matter how old nor how long we've had them in our lives. And hugs to whomever would like one, and thank you for sharing your good news, all of you who have had good news to share. May 2016 be brighter and merrier for us all!
posted by Lynsey at 12:03 PM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

I had some big plans go bad because my beloved co-conspirator decided instead to look for someone statistically more likely to be able to gestate a tribe of heroes. That was a couple of months ago and honestly I'm still reeling.

But, like jessamyn above, I can say that therapy has really helped me get a grip on some stuff that I thought was just "how I was". And I've moved offices to a place where I see a heron almost every day. Sometimes two herons, even.
posted by tangerine at 12:18 PM on November 23, 2015 [12 favorites]

I'm getting a lot better at enjoying what I have and not just finding happiness from crossing things off of a todo list.

Truth. Thank you.
posted by MonkeyToes at 12:22 PM on November 23, 2015 [4 favorites]

sciatrix, I lost a most tiny sweet kitty to FIP after only six weeks...it sucks a whole lot, I'm really sorry. Those little kitten things are so terribly fragile.
posted by sweetkid at 12:53 PM on November 23, 2015 [2 favorites]

so many hugs for you sciatrix, I'm sorry that this is happening to your kitty ;_;
posted by yueliang at 12:55 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

I think the interview went really well you guys!

Though I've had bad luck in this department lately so don't want to get my hopes up.

Let's just say I'm cautiously optimistic.

For now.
posted by phunniemee at 1:56 PM on November 23, 2015 [17 favorites]

I survived my first year of teaching, and am feeling more confident and competent this second year. I went to a learn-to-skate clinic in April, fell in love with it, and skated in my first roller derby scrimmage last weekend. I've found an incredible community in roller derby, and am feeling so much less socially isolated and anxious than I was this time last year. I'm also much stronger!

I got a tattoo and am planning another.

My husband got an awesome job after ~9 months of unemployment, and over Christmas we are going on our very first real vacation that doesn't involve visiting friends or relatives.

We discovered that our cat is much less of an asshole if we let him outside, and the incidence of unprovoked attacks and floor-pissing has decreased dramatically.
posted by coppermoss at 2:16 PM on November 23, 2015 [9 favorites]

I am having an amazingly good year on many fronts. This means I spend less time contemplating playing in traffic.

I left San Diego County back in May, something I thought I would never be able to do. I moved someplace cheaper and that is making it easier to muddle through, even though things are still real dicey financially.

I hit 10k karma on hn back in January. If all goes well, in another year or two, hn might have their first openly female member on a bottom rung of the leaderboard.

I am thrilled to hear Mr. Too-Ticky is doing so well.
posted by Michele in California at 2:22 PM on November 23, 2015 [9 favorites]

*hugs* to sciatrix. All I can say is, thank you for making that baby cat's time better, for giving him a warm loving home and cuddles, instead of the cold and fear he knew on the street.
posted by easily confused at 2:28 PM on November 23, 2015 [7 favorites]

phunniemee remindes me, though, of the fact that I have to get new glasses next year.


(and today I got an appointment for a root canal, my first. I guess that's how stuff balances out. Party one day, root canal another. At least, my less-sugar discipline makes me confident it's not a root beer canal)
posted by Namlit at 3:49 PM on November 23, 2015

I was assaulted this year, and in a now deleted for legal reasons Ask, mefites kept me in one piece during the initial shock phase, including giving me permission to not blame myself. It was so kind of y'all.

I tried to cope on my own for a few months and then PTSD came and smacked me down HARD.

I've been on disability from work, at times so over medicated that I could barely walk, and yet so anxious that I was crying literally half the day.

The investigation and my personal injury lawyers are killing me with a clever combo of retraumatizing and totally ignoring me.

A profound fear that I was broken forever came over me. I've dealt with depression and anxiety all my life, and I began to suspect that this might be the thing that made me unfixable. I began to prepare for life without work: managing my expectations for getting foster parent licensed, I filed for bankruptcy & was trying to get in all the medical care I need before I lose my insurance. (Unfortunately lots of the medical care was gyno-urology and I had to cancel the who thing due to screaming NO NO NO during all the exams.)

But then, three days ago, I suddenly realized I was doing a little dance when I was brushing my teeth. I hollered for my husband and told him and he hugged me so hard. He said 'you can still feel sad on the way to getting better, but I think you might be on the upswing.' And I think he's right. So right now, just before Thanksgiving, I have hope that I might be okay again. (Still, crying as I write this, not in the least of because of sciatrix's kitten.)
posted by The Noble Goofy Elk at 3:52 PM on November 23, 2015 [53 favorites]

*hugs* or *high fives* or whatever form of TOTAL AFFIRMATION you desire, The Noble Goofy Elk.
posted by jaguar at 4:10 PM on November 23, 2015 [4 favorites]

I just applied for my first US passport. (Just got citizenship this summer.)

Looking forward to being an ugly american abroad.
posted by Comrade Doll at 4:12 PM on November 23, 2015 [12 favorites]

Stranded with my wife in Miami for her postdoc, it was was a long, lonely, sweaty year. We had no friends there, and I was working from home half the week. With all that time alone, I had no choice but to get comfortable with myself, and I decided transition last October. By November, I was out in public for the first time, shopping and dining at Lincoln Road with my beloved; I was so thrilled to finally be able to try on clothes before bringing them home that I took pictures of myself in the dressing room mirror at H&M. After a miserable Thanksgiving spent with my wife's work friends who didn't know (though our turkey was awesome), I decided that night I was going to go full time. The next afternoon, I stood at the door for over an hour, my poor dog beside me on her leash, working up the nerve to step out by myself.

Now we're back in New York. (Well, New Jersey, but it's actually really nice.) Everyone calls me Isabelle. I can see most of my friends and family whenever I want. The two of us have become fixtures in the Chelsea queer tango scene. I'm being honest about my identity to the friends I'm making. I'm tying to figure out how to be an activist for what I believe in. For the first time in my life, I'm looking toward the future, thinking about what I want to achieve: playing guitar again, writing poetry, making games, thinking seriously about kids and a house and my career.

I have a lot to be thankful for this year, and so much of that was made possible by the community here. It meant so much during a really uncertain time to have a space where I could be honest (and occasionally outright spill my guys) and find validation and understanding. I've also found certain people here who've come to feel quietly like kindred spirits and role models and mentors. You've helped make me a better, happier person. So, you know, thanks everyone.

And for everyone who hasn't been so lucky, I'm sorry, and I hope it gets better. *hugs*
posted by WCWedin at 4:17 PM on November 23, 2015 [19 favorites]

The Noble Goofy Elk, I have been thinking about you a lot since that post. I actually went back to go find that post recently, and I'm happy to hear that it was deleted for legal reasons. You keep doing a toothbrush dance. :-)
posted by chainsofreedom at 4:21 PM on November 23, 2015 [3 favorites]

And Lil Bub is doing an in store at SoDo Silver Platters, Saturday after next.
Oh, be still, my heart.
Or whatevs...
posted by y2karl at 4:41 PM on November 23, 2015 [1 favorite]

So earlier I mentioned that I got this amazing job this year, that I really love and it's been a blast, but after reading about the hardships of others, I'd like to say—please don't feel alone, or envious, or that somehow fate has frowned on you in particular, and others in this thread are doing great. Truth is, I also lost my mom this year, and the most amazing dog I've ever had the privilege to share a life with, and my younger daughter ended up in the hospital for a really horrific reason. I guess what I'm getting at is that life's like that. There are ups and downs, bad inevitably comes with the good. I know your pain is real, and my heart goes out to you, and I'm here for you. I suspect most of us are here for you. I chose to focus on the good because when I think about this year in the context of this thread, I feel very lucky, in spite of the mix this year has been. I put on 30 pounds, not just because of all the great new restaurants in the new city I'm living in, but also because I was scared, and miserable, in a place where I didn't have friends, and suffering from a serious case of imposter syndrome. And I really missed my mom and my dog. I still miss them every day. As my wife wisely noted, I was probably eating my feelings.

As the year comes to an end, and I assess the spreadsheet of events, I suppose I'd rather still have my mom and dog, and that what happened to my daughter didn't actually happen. But that was yesterday, and I need to live for tomorrow. I need to be strong for my kid, and my new puppy. I know I wouldn't have survived all that crap, in spite of getting what I know is a really enviable job, if it weren't for the family and communities around me that cared for me and my family. For the simple kindness people showed, and the love I can see is obviously around us. That helped remind me that there are silver linings, and better days to come. This community is one of those places I come to for solace and care. For smiles and support. Where strangers will come have a beer with you just because they daily visit the same website you daily visit. A place that makes me think and feel in ways I don't think or feel anywhere else.

So yeah, professionally this has been a pretty good year for me. But in many other ways it's been a pretty typical year, which is to say, difficult. To this community, and at this time, it's appropriate that I say thanks, not just for this year, but for 11 amazing years (almost 12) of laughs and sniffles, of sorrow and joy, for sharing time, being thoughtful, and helping each other. A good friend of mine recently said "Anyone can fall at any time. All there is to catch us is each other." Thank you, and I'm here with you, and I will be tomorrow.
posted by Toekneesan at 5:11 PM on November 23, 2015 [23 favorites]

My mom, who had a massive stroke a year and a half ago, is researching driver recertification programs now. Because she can fucking walk again!! That is pretty cool.
posted by Pardon Our Dust at 5:26 PM on November 23, 2015 [18 favorites]

My husband and I rounded out our canine family by adopting a ridiculous and ridiculously cute min pin named Taco.

I also discovered that I love archery, and so does my husband and it's a super fun thing to share.

And, the biggest thing -- I recently went out on a limb and applied for a Quality Engineer job, which I had very few of the requirements for. The Quality Manager then announced that he was leaving, and I hadn't heard anything, so I figured it was a no. A few weeks ago, my boss said I didn't get what I applied for, but wanted to know if I wanted to be the Lean/Six Sigma Coordinator (which the quality manager was also doing). That is my passion, and I was handed my dream job. Well.. My dream job is to be a Lean consultant, but this is close enough.

Sciatrix, that is heartbreaking. Hugs to you, and anyone else with painful losses this year.
posted by Fig at 5:42 PM on November 23, 2015 [8 favorites]

My kids are pretty much sleeping through the night now and I feel whole again. The oldest turns five in February and given that I had a difficult pregnancy, I feel like I haven't had time to feel whole (not sick or sleep deprived) in six years. I love my kids but with this new phase I feel like I finally get to enjoy them.
posted by biggreenplant at 5:51 PM on November 23, 2015 [7 favorites]

There's been talk of postcards over in the secret quonsar thread the last several days, which reminded me that I have a neat little set of weird postcards that I've only used, like, five of, and maybe I should send some to people.

SO. If anyone would like to receive a hug in postcard form (note that "hug" will likely be a poorly drawn picture of some kind of animal), memail me your address!
posted by phunniemee at 6:38 PM on November 23, 2015 [9 favorites]

I just got back from successfully best-manning a best friend squarely into matrimony, and didn't beef the speech. Our six-month-old Aus Shepherd puppy is lovely and her hip problem seems to be stable/not worsening.

Not going to visit family or old friends for Thanksgiving or quonsmas this year, which might make for a difficult holiday season, but looking forward to doing those things with SO since we couldn't last year.
posted by a halcyon day at 7:34 PM on November 23, 2015 [5 favorites]

My heart goes out to all of you who suffered the loss of friends and family, be they human, feline or canine. Stay in the love, y'all.
posted by carmicha at 7:52 PM on November 23, 2015 [5 favorites]

I've lost 11 pounds this past 30 days or so. Only about 75 more to go.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 8:05 PM on November 23, 2015 [20 favorites]

Forgot to mention (how could I forget?). Earlier in the year, I made the decision to walk away from a company I'd help grow from a small 7 person shop to a 30 person company. We had gotten purchased and it was clear from our corporate overlords that they were going to turn it into a small shop staffed entirely by offshore labor. The hardest part was walking away from my software magnum opus, but there was no longer a future there.
Mrs. Plinth and I had a race to see who could get hired first - she won. I got hired a few weeks later at 3/4 time and am now 1/4 stay at home dad, which my kids have adapted to fairly well. Mrs. Plinth's work hasn't been ideal, but it looks like she's settling in.
posted by plinth at 2:19 AM on November 24, 2015 [13 favorites]

Also in the last year (and possibly TMI): the miracle of modern medicine has allowed Mrs. Wallflower and I to resume full stack sexytimes. It beats the hell out of sticking a needle in my junk, which was the only thing that worked after my prostatectomy. If anybody wants information about the procedure, feel free to MeMail me.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 10:05 AM on November 24, 2015 [11 favorites]

Yay! I took a new job this year that has done wonders for my mental health. I work less, get paid almost as much, get to do Good Work that I Believe In, and I usually get to go home at 4:30. And the office doesn't expect me to check email at night and they never call my cell phone. After doing work that I didn't believe in for way worse hours that involved sunday conference calls and lots of travel, it's great. And my commute is a 20 minute walk.

Between the newfound weekends and the space between jobs, I was able to ski or snowboard 48 days this year.

My wife also gave birth to our first child, Eleanor. She came nearly a month early, but she is awesome and has huge cheeks now.
posted by craven_morhead at 11:16 AM on November 24, 2015 [19 favorites]

I have landed a project. The contract was signed and sent to me on Friday. Its not very big nor very long but its HUGE in terms of my what I've been trying to make happen for myself professionally for the past year and a half. It took me exactly 11 months of persistence, patience, sweat, tears, angst and perseverance to land it. I'll be 50 in exactly 4 months. There's no more wriggle room.
posted by infini at 12:47 PM on November 24, 2015 [18 favorites]

after reading about the hardships of others, I'd like to say—please don't feel alone, or envious, or that somehow fate has frowned on you in particular,

we have community. we have sanity. and we have hugs for everyone
posted by infini at 12:48 PM on November 24, 2015 [8 favorites]

I got to announce Baby K for katullus and ms K - yay! And hold him (baby, not katullus ;p)
posted by infini at 12:51 PM on November 24, 2015 [12 favorites]

Well and we all got to see you hold Baby K! So a little yay for us too
posted by Namlit at 1:59 PM on November 24, 2015 [5 favorites]

It was a cathartic pictures-or-it-didn't-happen moment
posted by Namlit at 2:00 PM on November 24, 2015 [4 favorites]

After seven years of just plain awful luck, I've had a fucking great year. My best-ever contract position turned into a real job that I'm crazy about, and I finally know what it's like to absolutely love what I do on a daily basis—I thought that only happened for other people. It's an incredible feeling! My position pays well, gives me an office on the 95th floor (yay!)—that I never go to because I moved out of my sunless hole and into a fabulous apartment with a view that I prefer to work from (double yay! for no commute!).

I've just finished paying off several thousands of dollars of debt (loans from people who believed in me even when I didn't, including a friend-for-life-I've-never-even-met-face-to-face MeFite without whom I may not have made it) that accrued during my years of crap temp jobs and intense depression that resulted from temping and feeling underappreciated for years—because of course this was all accompanied by crushing, soul-destroying poverty and all the fun that comes with that. Ugh. But hey, paid OFF, motherfucker! w00t! Soooo yeah, my sweariness hasn't gotten any better, heh.

To cap off my gloriously good-luck-laden year, I can't remember the last time I cried, and I just took my first real vacation since 2007. I did three days in NYC (by myself!) to see museums I've always wanted to see. It was the coolest. thing. ever. I had a total blast and saw some incredible art (oh, man, go to Neue Galerie sometime if that's your thing; it's amazing).

Seriously, for several years recently, I used to want to punch a wall when I'd hear people say "It gets better," because sure, it gets better for some... Then it did get better, and now I get it.
posted by heyho at 11:59 AM on November 25, 2015 [34 favorites]

You guys. This morning I was in the turkey tractor, cajoling the birds into sitting on my outstretched arm. Great selfie idea, yeah? Until two of the camera-shy birds pushed the door open, and walked on out. SHIT. Turkey #1 was persuaded to come back through the door after a few minutes, but Turkey #2 was like "Nope, going down to the far side of the stream to hide under the briars and become one with my environment!" I chased after her and ended up with burrs all over my sweater and wet toes for my troubles. Gave up and ran around for a few hours, rescued the neighbor and her daughter when their car didn't start, got the makings for stock, pulled up in the yard, AND THERE IS #2, trying to get back in the tractor! She flew up under the tractor tarp, and my husband caught her and put her lonely feathered butt back in with her flock. IT IS A GODDAMN THANKSGIVING MIRACLE.
posted by MonkeyToes at 12:50 PM on November 25, 2015 [20 favorites]

heyho: AMAZE! I knew things had turned around for you, but I didn't know it was movie-ending type stuff. Big high five!
posted by ignignokt at 6:27 PM on November 25, 2015 [2 favorites]

Things were Bad, now they're better. I have a very sweet grandbaby and holding a sleeping baby heals a lot of things. I'd like to drink a beer with all of y'all.
posted by theora55 at 8:51 AM on November 26, 2015 [11 favorites]

Today I am feeding a mother/daughter duo, 85/65 who have just enough time to have a few good times. I am talking to the turkey Big Lebowski style, and cursing the recalcitrant oven racks. Yeah we all know metal racks do not have personality disorders, and I will shoulder the blame for my rack dyslexia. Have to make crust now.
posted by Oyéah at 10:48 AM on November 26, 2015 [2 favorites]