A new year
I made it through 2007. What a year. I never want to have that year happen again.
I love my wife, she's wonderful, fun and amazing at times, and she made life worth living last year. It was the only thing that made some of it bearable.
I can only hope that the new year holds promise of good things, financial recovery, improved health, happy times and a better understanding of how to keep my wife happy.
It hasn't all been bad, but there's been some pretty rough sailing at times.
Our Family:
What I don't love is the hell we have had to go through with both being depressed, both hating the holiday season, dealing with bills for medical expenses, vet emergencies, a car that's not working right, overdue utility bills, having our water shut off without realizing the "Expiration Date" went by for paying our late bill and so many other things. So much has happened that was embarrassing, painful, hard to deal with and completely out of our control. Now we need to finish paying for the hospitalization I had in September and for all the office visits, tests and surgery for my wife. Thankfully, we've been covering it a bit at a time, and it hasn't overwhelmed us.
Our Pets:
Our loss of Hokuto was very hard last year, and depressed us both. When I lost my Dad a couple of years ago, I was relieved to know that his suffering and pain had come to an end. I will miss him. When we lost Hokuto, it was a shock, painful and disheartening. It took me quite a while to let go of my guilt and accept the facts that we noticed her losing weight, but it was almost over night that it became life threatening, and there really was nothing we would have been able to do about it. Now, I just miss her, even though she was evil incarnate in some ways, in other ways she was such a cute ferret, who loved to play and socialize with our other ferrets.
After that there were the vet visits and hospitalization/recovery for Yuhi, finding out Kokie is also in need of surgery, having Seishirou become so ill he needed to be hand fed special food and medicated for ulcers, it has been difficult at best. And now after Seishirou seemed to be recovered, we had to visit the vet hospital again because he's been sick and had green stool from a post medication bacterial infection. Aaaargh, our poor sweet boy is soooooo sick. We both feared we were bringing yet another ferret in to be put down, or at least find out he was not going to recover. At least he's gained weight since our last vet visit, and is going to get better. The vet gave us Amoxi instead of Pred so, he's in for more unhappy sessions taking ground up pills, pastes and drinks. At least he likes the Pedialite we are using to boost his liquid intake. Dehydration is potentially fatal for ferrets.
Our Home:
We had a heck of a time with all the water soaked books and other personal items in our basement laying out to dry in our living room last winter and into the spring, attempting to keep things healthy. Buying a new Dehumidifier, an air filter and keeping up with the dirt, mold and dust has been frustrating. We don't seem to have the motivation to clean up the "Mess down there" just yet, but we'll do it, it's just going to be a "bit at a time".
They painted the exterior and have done a lot of "Gussy Up" type things on the property. Trees seem to be trimmed, broken limbs removed, and they cut down our choke cherry tree out front between Christmas and New Years, though I have no recollection of them saying it would be done. It was kind of a shock, but when I looked at the trunk, there was a definite need, as the core was rotted. I really hope they don't come up with anything we have to pay for that will add to our existing monthly condo fee. At least the property was looking a little nicer last fall, before the snow covered everything, and the grass turned to muck and slime with ice and snow everywhere.
Note: I HATE WINTER. I used to love the first snow, all white and clean smelling, but now all I see is the bitter cold, the shoveling, the slipping, sliding and falling down, and the interminable closed windows - keeping out the fresh air - not to mention the elevated electric bills for baseboard heating, which eats away at the already limited resources we have.
Our lifestyle:
We have been up late a lot, playing FFXI or WoW and doing a number of things (Pay per view movies, anime, etc.) I would say our time gaming is the only part of our life for which my wife and I have actually felt some degree of accomplishment, success and satisfaction. Unfortunately, there have been tense moments, frayed feelings, angry moments and some frustrating and uncomfortable moments due to the actions and attitudes of people within our guild. I am just thankful that we have not had our accounts hacked as some of our guild has, and have not lost "everything" we worked so hard for.
I have a 70 Human Paladin, a 70 Gnome Warlock, a 64 Dwarf Hunter, and a 60 Gnome Mage with epic mounts, my paladin and warlock also have flying mounts, which took a lot of time and in-game money to achieve. My wife has a 70 Gnome Warlock in "Epics" and two Tier pieces from Karazan drops as well as a 60 Night Elf Priest, both with epic mounts and her Warlock has an Epic Flying Mount, thanks to her own hard work, and contributions from myself and our best friends on game. She's helping me get mine, which will take a while.
Actually, I am not sure who to get an epic flying mount for, as I have 2 level 70 characters, however - the net value to my earnings if I go with my "Farming" warlock is probably going to lead me to buy her training first. She can make her own Turbo Flying machine for a lot less than a "Paid For" Epic Griffon mount. And she is able to "Farm" much easier than my paladin, especially with her Zap-throttle Mote Extractor, which can suck down a gas cloud for 3-6 motes of various types, which can then be turned into Primals (10 motes=1 primal) which sell for a good chunk of in-game cash. This, it turns out, is far easier than killing dozens of elemental mobs with their 10-20% drop rate of motes.
Other thoughts about 2007:
All in all, it was a tough year, with lots of slacking off on my part, I got angry at times, and copped an attitude when I should have listened to others. There were also some painful memories and losses last year, making it an emotional roller coaster ride. Our finances have been tight, with expenses we may need to accommodate by changing our present debit balance (either a higher limit credit card or a second mortgage on our condo).
Staying up late night after night, getting only a few hours of sleep each night has a long term wearing effect on my health, and eating high fat and sugary foods to compensate has made me plump again. I also didn't drink enough water on a daily basis, which resulted in a hospitalization in september due to a collapse. At least I have quit smoking as a result, and don't have any desire to smoke again.
I love my wife, she's wonderful, fun and amazing at times, and she made life worth living last year. It was the only thing that made some of it bearable.
I can only hope that the new year holds promise of good things, financial recovery, improved health, happy times and a better understanding of how to keep my wife happy.
It hasn't all been bad, but there's been some pretty rough sailing at times.
Our Family:
What I don't love is the hell we have had to go through with both being depressed, both hating the holiday season, dealing with bills for medical expenses, vet emergencies, a car that's not working right, overdue utility bills, having our water shut off without realizing the "Expiration Date" went by for paying our late bill and so many other things. So much has happened that was embarrassing, painful, hard to deal with and completely out of our control. Now we need to finish paying for the hospitalization I had in September and for all the office visits, tests and surgery for my wife. Thankfully, we've been covering it a bit at a time, and it hasn't overwhelmed us.
Our Pets:
Our loss of Hokuto was very hard last year, and depressed us both. When I lost my Dad a couple of years ago, I was relieved to know that his suffering and pain had come to an end. I will miss him. When we lost Hokuto, it was a shock, painful and disheartening. It took me quite a while to let go of my guilt and accept the facts that we noticed her losing weight, but it was almost over night that it became life threatening, and there really was nothing we would have been able to do about it. Now, I just miss her, even though she was evil incarnate in some ways, in other ways she was such a cute ferret, who loved to play and socialize with our other ferrets.
After that there were the vet visits and hospitalization/recovery for Yuhi, finding out Kokie is also in need of surgery, having Seishirou become so ill he needed to be hand fed special food and medicated for ulcers, it has been difficult at best. And now after Seishirou seemed to be recovered, we had to visit the vet hospital again because he's been sick and had green stool from a post medication bacterial infection. Aaaargh, our poor sweet boy is soooooo sick. We both feared we were bringing yet another ferret in to be put down, or at least find out he was not going to recover. At least he's gained weight since our last vet visit, and is going to get better. The vet gave us Amoxi instead of Pred so, he's in for more unhappy sessions taking ground up pills, pastes and drinks. At least he likes the Pedialite we are using to boost his liquid intake. Dehydration is potentially fatal for ferrets.
Our Home:
We had a heck of a time with all the water soaked books and other personal items in our basement laying out to dry in our living room last winter and into the spring, attempting to keep things healthy. Buying a new Dehumidifier, an air filter and keeping up with the dirt, mold and dust has been frustrating. We don't seem to have the motivation to clean up the "Mess down there" just yet, but we'll do it, it's just going to be a "bit at a time".
They painted the exterior and have done a lot of "Gussy Up" type things on the property. Trees seem to be trimmed, broken limbs removed, and they cut down our choke cherry tree out front between Christmas and New Years, though I have no recollection of them saying it would be done. It was kind of a shock, but when I looked at the trunk, there was a definite need, as the core was rotted. I really hope they don't come up with anything we have to pay for that will add to our existing monthly condo fee. At least the property was looking a little nicer last fall, before the snow covered everything, and the grass turned to muck and slime with ice and snow everywhere.
Note: I HATE WINTER. I used to love the first snow, all white and clean smelling, but now all I see is the bitter cold, the shoveling, the slipping, sliding and falling down, and the interminable closed windows - keeping out the fresh air - not to mention the elevated electric bills for baseboard heating, which eats away at the already limited resources we have.
Our lifestyle:
We have been up late a lot, playing FFXI or WoW and doing a number of things (Pay per view movies, anime, etc.) I would say our time gaming is the only part of our life for which my wife and I have actually felt some degree of accomplishment, success and satisfaction. Unfortunately, there have been tense moments, frayed feelings, angry moments and some frustrating and uncomfortable moments due to the actions and attitudes of people within our guild. I am just thankful that we have not had our accounts hacked as some of our guild has, and have not lost "everything" we worked so hard for.
I have a 70 Human Paladin, a 70 Gnome Warlock, a 64 Dwarf Hunter, and a 60 Gnome Mage with epic mounts, my paladin and warlock also have flying mounts, which took a lot of time and in-game money to achieve. My wife has a 70 Gnome Warlock in "Epics" and two Tier pieces from Karazan drops as well as a 60 Night Elf Priest, both with epic mounts and her Warlock has an Epic Flying Mount, thanks to her own hard work, and contributions from myself and our best friends on game. She's helping me get mine, which will take a while.
Actually, I am not sure who to get an epic flying mount for, as I have 2 level 70 characters, however - the net value to my earnings if I go with my "Farming" warlock is probably going to lead me to buy her training first. She can make her own Turbo Flying machine for a lot less than a "Paid For" Epic Griffon mount. And she is able to "Farm" much easier than my paladin, especially with her Zap-throttle Mote Extractor, which can suck down a gas cloud for 3-6 motes of various types, which can then be turned into Primals (10 motes=1 primal) which sell for a good chunk of in-game cash. This, it turns out, is far easier than killing dozens of elemental mobs with their 10-20% drop rate of motes.
Other thoughts about 2007:
All in all, it was a tough year, with lots of slacking off on my part, I got angry at times, and copped an attitude when I should have listened to others. There were also some painful memories and losses last year, making it an emotional roller coaster ride. Our finances have been tight, with expenses we may need to accommodate by changing our present debit balance (either a higher limit credit card or a second mortgage on our condo).
Staying up late night after night, getting only a few hours of sleep each night has a long term wearing effect on my health, and eating high fat and sugary foods to compensate has made me plump again. I also didn't drink enough water on a daily basis, which resulted in a hospitalization in september due to a collapse. At least I have quit smoking as a result, and don't have any desire to smoke again.