2010 In Review
As it happens with everyone and every year, the last day of the year (in this case 2010) is when we look back on the year and judge it. Maybe someone says "shit, that was one god damn fantastic year!" or may "thank god it's over, let's not repeat it this coming year please." My guess is that for most of you it's scattered around in the middle of the two. I started my own looking back on the year in hopes for something to write. After taking out the glaringly obvious thing (OMG! I have MS!) I found that there is little I remember about 2010. Yes, you could chalk it up to my health issues taking up so much of my energy and time as I waited to be diagnosed and learn how to deal with the long term issues of having multiple sclerosis. But honestly, what was there in 2010 that was positive that happened in 2010? This is when I wished I kept up my journal a bit more. It's so much easier to remember when you've got "notes" to look back on. Never fear, this isn't going to be some gloomy New Years post (I've noticed there's a lot of those), I did find some things to be happy remembering. (For the two of you who don't know, DD is my nickname for my gal)
10 Things That Happened This Year
(Of course in no particular order...what? Oh. Umm, there is an order. My bad.)
10. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Old news. Big news. Kinda sad and scary news. How could I not put this on the list? It was huge and took up so much of my time and energy I almost wanted to name 2010 "The Year of the Disease." I already posted a lot about this here so I won't go into everything again (though I do have some updates for another day). The reason it's at the bottom of my list is that while I will have this and have to deal with this my whole life, I don't want this to be the only thing that I remember from 2010. It's going to be part of my life every year so while it came to light this year, it's something that can be on this stupid list every year. Boo. I scoff in your general direction MS. SCOFF I TELL YOU!
9. I learned to spin yarn this year. I bought myself a drop spindle from FreckleFace Fibers on Etsy (thanks again for the tip Heidi!) for my birthday. Talk about fast addiction. I have spun a bit on it. I had joined the Tour De Fleece but couldn't finish because about a week into it I had a bad flair up and couldn't use my left hand (I ended up having to get an IV drip of steroids for three days at the hospital) but I did end up spinning again and rediscovered how addicting it is. I love it. I will post pics of the yarn I've spun another day. I'm also spreading the addiction. Mwahahahaaaa!
8. I got DD hooked on baseball. Yup. I got the nerd into sports. I taught her how to keep a scorecard and that was all it took. It gave her something to do. It made her learn what was going on in the game. I got to tell her all sorts of nerdy facts about the game. We ended up going to a LOT of games this season, well over 20 games. We now have season tickets to the Single A league here in Augusta. Score! (Side Note: OMG, I've created a monster. Now she's recording game highlights on the MLB channel and wants to learn to play catch. If we survive the catch teaching I will post about it.)
7. Photography business. Kinda. I got everything started. I have about 40 pictures to sell. Found a good place to get prints. I have a new Canon Rebel 2Ti camera with two good lenses. I've got a business license... but I haven't actually started selling anything yet. I'm waiting for a business account. I'm going to try to drag DD there to get it done.
6. Audiobooks. I've been listening to audiobooks for at least 20 years. Hell, I had some books on record I would listen to... yeah, that long. But before 2010 it had been a few years since I actually listened to one from beginning to end. I was just too busy with school and work, not to mention I didn't want to carry the CDs around with me (I was afraid I was going to lose them with all the public transportation I would take and how forgetful I am). Then I moved out there. I had time, I was bored, and then I found the library. Yay audiobooks. But I still didn't listen to them a whole lot. Maybe two since I moved out there. But I got a call from my dad asking me if he could use my library card for out here. Umm... what? I figured it was a bit of a trip for a book so I asked him why. Apparently Georgia has a site where you can "borrow" audiobooks from their library and download them to your computer. You never have to go to the library, don't have to worry about them being overdue (they expire and turn themselves in). The Georgia library I have a card to had a book he had been looking for that was never published in the United States. Without thinking, I gave him my library card number and password. I have not been able to use my account since. So what did I do? I stole DD's account for my own use. Mwahahahahaaaaa! On my own I now have over 70 audiobooks on my external hard drive. I even bit the bullet and bought myself an Audible.com account (which I LOVE). Then for Christmas my dad sent me a 2 TB external hard drive with over 2,000 books. Oh hell yeah! My plan is to listen to at least 1 book a week next year. That should be interesting considering a short book, to me, is 10 hours long. Mostly they are around 16 to 25 hours. I should totally be able to get an average of one book a week done.
5. I've got some friends out here! Yay! That's right, I made friends. For some this may cause some confusion. What's so great about that? A lot is great about that. It's always been hard for me to make friends. I don't think I'm some troll, but I do have a hard time putting myself out there. My hermit tendencies aren't from some over whelming need to be alone most of the time, it's because I get too shy to go meet people. So the having people to hang out with and generally laugh with (okay okay, and sometimes at), has been a wonderful thing for me this year. Not only did I make friends around here, I had online friends visit. How awesome was that? Completely!
4. Getting my meds. Wow, who would have thought trying to get on treatment for something would be so much work. With a lot of running around, making calls, trying to figure out money matters, and all the stupid red tape that comes with being uninsured trying to get help, I'm surprised we both don't have white hair and a nervous tick. Though there is something sexy about hearing DD get all pissed off on my behalf. Rwar.
3. Postponing wedding. I know, not a very happy thing for DD and I but a much needed thing. Although the wedding wasn't scheduled until May of 2011, but it was in 2010 that we decided to push it back a year. With all the craziness in our lives (DD going to class, the MS, the fact it is a long distance planning thing, and a lot of other little factors) we decided to postpone the wedding. We didn't want to do it. We talked about it a lot, we tried to find way around it, but it all came down to that it would be just too stressful to try and pull off in 2011. Yay for procrastinating for another year. Erm, I mean...no, I mean yay procrastinating. Woot!
2. Mom visiting me out here in Augusta. You guys have no idea how much I loved this. I got to show her were I live, around the city, where DD works (kinda, I took her to Fort Gordon), and all sorts of things that make up my life here. We got to even go on an overnight to Savannah. We talked a bit about me having MS and tell her what it is that DD and I were/are doing about it. The visit calmed both her and my dad's minds about what was going on out here and that I was okay. This was also the time I got to drag DD to her first baseball game (we got tickets cause my Mom loves baseball and thought it would be fun) and got her hooked. I'm very close to my mom so it was exactly what I needed after everything that had gone down. I hope to get her out here again in 2011. That would be great.
1. Now what could possibly top my mom finally making it out here finally? I came out to my dad. Yup. Finally told my dad I am with DD. I had been putting it off for a long time (it was one of those, everyone but him knows thing). My mom and little bro had been telling me things that Dad has said or mentioned and they both kept encouraging me to tell him. I stalled. I kept stalling. So finally mom said that I had to and I agreed that I had to. Then one week I decided I was going to tell him. I was talking on the phone with him and chickened out, he had passed the phone to mom and I told her I chickened out but will soon. I ended up calling right back. I should have known that I would say something stupid. After all I told DD that I liked her too by asking her if she was sure she could live with a SpongeBob collection. Lame. So how did I tell my dad? I said I had something important to tell him... then I was all "uhh..." and "umm..." then just said in a rush "I''m involved in a romantic relationship with [instert my gal's name]! eep!" Yes. I actually said 'eep' without realizing it. His response? "Well duh!" I ABOUT DIED!! He told me that he was happy I found someone who supported me and someone I wanted to live my life with, that life is too long to live it alone. He was glad I told him and he wants me to be happy. I nearly cried. I have no clue what I said and then I hung up. Holy shit. I think this calls for cursing so I'll say it again. Holy shit. I talked to mom the next day and asked her how it was at home and she said that right after we had hung up he asked her if he said the right things. Mom: "Did you mean what you said?" Dad: "Of course I do." Mom: "Then you said the right things." This still makes me want to cry. It took me WEEKS to get over the high of this conversation. I really do have to thank Mom and my little bro for getting him ready for this, I think having them to talk to (for a long while) before me telling him helped. Also, I think any lingering doubts and problems were swept aside when I had to tell him earlier in the year that I have MS. It's interesting what doesn't matter anymore when that happens. So something good came out of getting that. Heh.
Five Goals For The Coming Year
I'm not saying New Years resolutions (though they are) because those get broken so easily and with calling them goals I can add or subtract as needed (or by what ever level of laziness heh).
1. Lose some weight. I, unfortunately, gained a bit of weight over the summer (after losing about 15) due to the fact it was too hot for me to do much. No, not the normal "oh god it's too hot to move" thing that everyone experiences. I mean the "it's so hot that my MS is acting up and putting on clothes is very painful." That's one of the crappy thing about MS. It gets hot and nerves tingle and hurt. I'm going to be prepared this coming summer. I'm saving up to buy a RPCM Cool Vest but not in pink. That will help me stay cool so when I use the treadmill I don't overheat to the point I can't stand (which was happening this past summer). Also it will help me be out and about outside without getting over heated (I seriously moved as little as possible this summer).
2. Finish on average one book a week. Some weeks I'm sure I'll get two done so that will make up for the books that take me two weeks to finish (thinking of listening to "And Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand and it's over 65 hours long). I can do this. I'm going to keep track of it on Shelfari. Books I've started listening to in 2010 won't count to my 2011 list.
3. To be able to inject myself with my meds. This is a big deal for me. I hate needles. This shot sometimes hurts and sometimes hurts A LOT. Right now DD is giving me all my shots (I get one each day) and it's a struggle for me not to just hide all the syringes. I will admit, it's more a matter of pride that I don't run away from it. I hate that I'm scared of a stupid pointy metal thing. Even if I only do it once or twice this coming year, it will be a big thing for me. I'm very lucky that DD doesn't mind at all giving me the shots. It's something that she can do for me since there is so much she can't do. I also read that if you have someone who can do that for you if you have trouble with it, to let them. Since I have that person (how awesome is DD?), this is a personal goal.
4. Finish at least one of the three stories I'm writing. I'm a slow writer. Always have been. So I want to finish one of the stories I've started, hopefully two, and maybe a couple of little short stories.
5. Update this stupid journal more than once a month. Seriously. I'm going to do this. I will do this. I'm so gonna fail this one aren't I?
Things I'm looking forward to in 2011? Many things! Season tickets to the Augusta GreenJackets (the Single A baseball team here), going more places with my new fancy camera to take pictures, selling my pictures, learning to play my harmonicas better (yes, I have more than one), and what's so cool... Knitting Jenn is visiting in time for Stitches South! Yes! Knitting Jenn is visiting FOR A WEEK! Weeeeeeeee! Ahem. Yes. So I'm excited for her to visit. Written out, 2011 looks to be much better. I'm hoping it is.
10 Things That Happened This Year
(Of course in no particular order...what? Oh. Umm, there is an order. My bad.)
10. I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Old news. Big news. Kinda sad and scary news. How could I not put this on the list? It was huge and took up so much of my time and energy I almost wanted to name 2010 "The Year of the Disease." I already posted a lot about this here so I won't go into everything again (though I do have some updates for another day). The reason it's at the bottom of my list is that while I will have this and have to deal with this my whole life, I don't want this to be the only thing that I remember from 2010. It's going to be part of my life every year so while it came to light this year, it's something that can be on this stupid list every year. Boo. I scoff in your general direction MS. SCOFF I TELL YOU!
9. I learned to spin yarn this year. I bought myself a drop spindle from FreckleFace Fibers on Etsy (thanks again for the tip Heidi!) for my birthday. Talk about fast addiction. I have spun a bit on it. I had joined the Tour De Fleece but couldn't finish because about a week into it I had a bad flair up and couldn't use my left hand (I ended up having to get an IV drip of steroids for three days at the hospital) but I did end up spinning again and rediscovered how addicting it is. I love it. I will post pics of the yarn I've spun another day. I'm also spreading the addiction. Mwahahahaaaa!
8. I got DD hooked on baseball. Yup. I got the nerd into sports. I taught her how to keep a scorecard and that was all it took. It gave her something to do. It made her learn what was going on in the game. I got to tell her all sorts of nerdy facts about the game. We ended up going to a LOT of games this season, well over 20 games. We now have season tickets to the Single A league here in Augusta. Score! (Side Note: OMG, I've created a monster. Now she's recording game highlights on the MLB channel and wants to learn to play catch. If we survive the catch teaching I will post about it.)
7. Photography business. Kinda. I got everything started. I have about 40 pictures to sell. Found a good place to get prints. I have a new Canon Rebel 2Ti camera with two good lenses. I've got a business license... but I haven't actually started selling anything yet. I'm waiting for a business account. I'm going to try to drag DD there to get it done.
6. Audiobooks. I've been listening to audiobooks for at least 20 years. Hell, I had some books on record I would listen to... yeah, that long. But before 2010 it had been a few years since I actually listened to one from beginning to end. I was just too busy with school and work, not to mention I didn't want to carry the CDs around with me (I was afraid I was going to lose them with all the public transportation I would take and how forgetful I am). Then I moved out there. I had time, I was bored, and then I found the library. Yay audiobooks. But I still didn't listen to them a whole lot. Maybe two since I moved out there. But I got a call from my dad asking me if he could use my library card for out here. Umm... what? I figured it was a bit of a trip for a book so I asked him why. Apparently Georgia has a site where you can "borrow" audiobooks from their library and download them to your computer. You never have to go to the library, don't have to worry about them being overdue (they expire and turn themselves in). The Georgia library I have a card to had a book he had been looking for that was never published in the United States. Without thinking, I gave him my library card number and password. I have not been able to use my account since. So what did I do? I stole DD's account for my own use. Mwahahahahaaaaa! On my own I now have over 70 audiobooks on my external hard drive. I even bit the bullet and bought myself an Audible.com account (which I LOVE). Then for Christmas my dad sent me a 2 TB external hard drive with over 2,000 books. Oh hell yeah! My plan is to listen to at least 1 book a week next year. That should be interesting considering a short book, to me, is 10 hours long. Mostly they are around 16 to 25 hours. I should totally be able to get an average of one book a week done.
5. I've got some friends out here! Yay! That's right, I made friends. For some this may cause some confusion. What's so great about that? A lot is great about that. It's always been hard for me to make friends. I don't think I'm some troll, but I do have a hard time putting myself out there. My hermit tendencies aren't from some over whelming need to be alone most of the time, it's because I get too shy to go meet people. So the having people to hang out with and generally laugh with (okay okay, and sometimes at), has been a wonderful thing for me this year. Not only did I make friends around here, I had online friends visit. How awesome was that? Completely!
4. Getting my meds. Wow, who would have thought trying to get on treatment for something would be so much work. With a lot of running around, making calls, trying to figure out money matters, and all the stupid red tape that comes with being uninsured trying to get help, I'm surprised we both don't have white hair and a nervous tick. Though there is something sexy about hearing DD get all pissed off on my behalf. Rwar.
3. Postponing wedding. I know, not a very happy thing for DD and I but a much needed thing. Although the wedding wasn't scheduled until May of 2011, but it was in 2010 that we decided to push it back a year. With all the craziness in our lives (DD going to class, the MS, the fact it is a long distance planning thing, and a lot of other little factors) we decided to postpone the wedding. We didn't want to do it. We talked about it a lot, we tried to find way around it, but it all came down to that it would be just too stressful to try and pull off in 2011. Yay for procrastinating for another year. Erm, I mean...no, I mean yay procrastinating. Woot!
2. Mom visiting me out here in Augusta. You guys have no idea how much I loved this. I got to show her were I live, around the city, where DD works (kinda, I took her to Fort Gordon), and all sorts of things that make up my life here. We got to even go on an overnight to Savannah. We talked a bit about me having MS and tell her what it is that DD and I were/are doing about it. The visit calmed both her and my dad's minds about what was going on out here and that I was okay. This was also the time I got to drag DD to her first baseball game (we got tickets cause my Mom loves baseball and thought it would be fun) and got her hooked. I'm very close to my mom so it was exactly what I needed after everything that had gone down. I hope to get her out here again in 2011. That would be great.
1. Now what could possibly top my mom finally making it out here finally? I came out to my dad. Yup. Finally told my dad I am with DD. I had been putting it off for a long time (it was one of those, everyone but him knows thing). My mom and little bro had been telling me things that Dad has said or mentioned and they both kept encouraging me to tell him. I stalled. I kept stalling. So finally mom said that I had to and I agreed that I had to. Then one week I decided I was going to tell him. I was talking on the phone with him and chickened out, he had passed the phone to mom and I told her I chickened out but will soon. I ended up calling right back. I should have known that I would say something stupid. After all I told DD that I liked her too by asking her if she was sure she could live with a SpongeBob collection. Lame. So how did I tell my dad? I said I had something important to tell him... then I was all "uhh..." and "umm..." then just said in a rush "I''m involved in a romantic relationship with [instert my gal's name]! eep!" Yes. I actually said 'eep' without realizing it. His response? "Well duh!" I ABOUT DIED!! He told me that he was happy I found someone who supported me and someone I wanted to live my life with, that life is too long to live it alone. He was glad I told him and he wants me to be happy. I nearly cried. I have no clue what I said and then I hung up. Holy shit. I think this calls for cursing so I'll say it again. Holy shit. I talked to mom the next day and asked her how it was at home and she said that right after we had hung up he asked her if he said the right things. Mom: "Did you mean what you said?" Dad: "Of course I do." Mom: "Then you said the right things." This still makes me want to cry. It took me WEEKS to get over the high of this conversation. I really do have to thank Mom and my little bro for getting him ready for this, I think having them to talk to (for a long while) before me telling him helped. Also, I think any lingering doubts and problems were swept aside when I had to tell him earlier in the year that I have MS. It's interesting what doesn't matter anymore when that happens. So something good came out of getting that. Heh.
Five Goals For The Coming Year
I'm not saying New Years resolutions (though they are) because those get broken so easily and with calling them goals I can add or subtract as needed (or by what ever level of laziness heh).
1. Lose some weight. I, unfortunately, gained a bit of weight over the summer (after losing about 15) due to the fact it was too hot for me to do much. No, not the normal "oh god it's too hot to move" thing that everyone experiences. I mean the "it's so hot that my MS is acting up and putting on clothes is very painful." That's one of the crappy thing about MS. It gets hot and nerves tingle and hurt. I'm going to be prepared this coming summer. I'm saving up to buy a RPCM Cool Vest but not in pink. That will help me stay cool so when I use the treadmill I don't overheat to the point I can't stand (which was happening this past summer). Also it will help me be out and about outside without getting over heated (I seriously moved as little as possible this summer).
2. Finish on average one book a week. Some weeks I'm sure I'll get two done so that will make up for the books that take me two weeks to finish (thinking of listening to "And Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand and it's over 65 hours long). I can do this. I'm going to keep track of it on Shelfari. Books I've started listening to in 2010 won't count to my 2011 list.
3. To be able to inject myself with my meds. This is a big deal for me. I hate needles. This shot sometimes hurts and sometimes hurts A LOT. Right now DD is giving me all my shots (I get one each day) and it's a struggle for me not to just hide all the syringes. I will admit, it's more a matter of pride that I don't run away from it. I hate that I'm scared of a stupid pointy metal thing. Even if I only do it once or twice this coming year, it will be a big thing for me. I'm very lucky that DD doesn't mind at all giving me the shots. It's something that she can do for me since there is so much she can't do. I also read that if you have someone who can do that for you if you have trouble with it, to let them. Since I have that person (how awesome is DD?), this is a personal goal.
4. Finish at least one of the three stories I'm writing. I'm a slow writer. Always have been. So I want to finish one of the stories I've started, hopefully two, and maybe a couple of little short stories.
5. Update this stupid journal more than once a month. Seriously. I'm going to do this. I will do this. I'm so gonna fail this one aren't I?
Things I'm looking forward to in 2011? Many things! Season tickets to the Augusta GreenJackets (the Single A baseball team here), going more places with my new fancy camera to take pictures, selling my pictures, learning to play my harmonicas better (yes, I have more than one), and what's so cool... Knitting Jenn is visiting in time for Stitches South! Yes! Knitting Jenn is visiting FOR A WEEK! Weeeeeeeee! Ahem. Yes. So I'm excited for her to visit. Written out, 2011 looks to be much better. I'm hoping it is.