Highs: Got a new job that I feel confident at. I have supportive bosses and supervisors and it has really helped me feel great.
I bought my first brand new car.
Lows: I am still traumatized by how I was treated at my last job. My dad got diagnosed with dementia. I broke two bones on two separate occasions and am buried in medical bills.
Post by pinkdutchtulips on Dec 30, 2021 12:34:52 GMT -5
High - I left private practice to manage the arb/med practices for 2 retired judges. I wasn't looking to leave but the option to work at home with Miss R struggling academically at home was too great to pass up. We went to Hawaii (Maui) for a week in February! The first 'family' vacation w J, the kids and I We got a new puppy, Ellie2 the beagle, in August. I forgot how much our home missed having a dog. For the first time in my adult life, I feel financially comfortable. It's not MM comfortable lol, but single parent living in a vhcol area I can afford my bills and put some aside for retirement AND savings comfortable. Miss R and I are fully vaxed with boosters on order! J celebrated 5 years cancer free (a major miracle in and of itself for brain cancer survivors!) and he and I celebrated our 4th anniversary. Miss R started back to school in-person, masked and vaxed! J's son L's little league team had an undefeated season.
Low - We lost my cousin, my mom, J's 11yo lab, another cousin, J's grandmother, 2 more cousins, and lastly Miss R's dad this year. Thankfully no one passed away from covid but all were sudden and unexpected nonetheless. Miss R struggled academically and mentally this year. The return to in-person schooling has led teachers to believe that we have an ADD-I/ODD dx on our hands - finding the medical professionals to formally dx this so we can start some kind of treatment is at best. Until we get that dx and begin treatment, life at home and school is tenuous at best. Covid hit our house before either of us were eligible for the vaccine.
Looking Forward - Miss R started intervention classes and is making some progress, those classes are continuing into the new year. Finally getting Miss R's battered mental health under control and that elusive ADD-I/ODD dx. J and I celebrate a 5th anniversary in September - no rush to marry but would like to eventually move in together. He celebrates a 6y cancer survivor anniversary in May. His dad is chairing his Relay for Life team if the proposed event goes forward in August (iffy at best given the health concerns of participants understandably). Lots to look forward to <3
Highs -vaccines for my whole family -buying my peloton -Vacations to Northern California and Key West -renovation of our kitchen -financially we were able to get ourselves to a place where we only have our 15 year mortgage of debt. And a sizable savings account as cushion. That was a huge undertaking from where we were even 5 years ago.
Lows -professional burn out for me. But perhaps that will be resolving with a new job soon
Looking Forward -A new job? -basement renovation -Hopefully taking the boys to the ocean and also to Disney in 2022.
- My family getting the vaccine, especially when my youngest with asthma got hers this month. - H completing a super challenging, 6-month bootcamp for data science and getting some great opportunities that make him happy. - Joining a writing group of eight very talented women, led by an author I really admire. - Making the effort and growing a few long-distance friendships that had fallen by the wayside. - My oldest kid coming out as lesbian and genderqueer, and us growing closer as a result. - Getting to spend an entire week alone at a resort. - My H continuing to be a rock star husband.
Lows:
- My MIL dying without any of us being able to be with her. - My oldest suffering severe anxiety and depression at times, although at the moment that's better. -Feeling really discouraged about the state of the world, mostly due to the fact that Trumpism is still a thing.
Looking forward to:
- Continuing to revise my novel, and planning to start a new one next fall - Trip to the Southwest in June, our first family trip in two years - Trip to see my college BFF in March.
Post by wanderlustmom on Dec 30, 2021 13:11:47 GMT -5
Highs, our marriage is in a really good place. My husband is happier not commuting and it's been really nice for how we work together. Our teens enjoyed their extracurricular activities and our daughter adjusted well to high school. So nice to see her so happy. Our puppy turned a year old and she's been such a joy We took a lot of nice vacations I won my city championship in tennis and did a good job exercising this year My work was so much better than 2020 I managed my anxiety so well until the last month when our son developed anxiety
Cons, my mom died, went through 15 year of bad health, four years in a nursing home and hospice. It was so emotional getting through all of it and I was doing well until our son (16) started having anxiety a month after she died. He is starting medicine and therapy now but having both of those in the same year is really hard. It's so hard to see a teenager struggle. My anxiety has now ratcheted up and I'm ready to start medicine myself now. I just got over a breakthrough case of Covid and I continue to worry about the pandemic
Looking forward to: hopefully my anxiety and our sons will improve with medicine and therapy hopeful for a Europe vacation in September
Post by HoneySpider on Dec 30, 2021 13:47:26 GMT -5
Highs: -DH getting a new job after a covid-related layoff last year -Moving to a new area and buying our long-term house -DS1 starting kindergarten and DS2 starting preschool -DH getting a new (to us) car
Lows: -Not taking care of myself as well as I should have both physically and mentally -Prolonged issues with the closing on our house due to seller
Looking forward to: taking better care of myself, doing some work on the house, more summer fun since so much got skipped this year between covid & moving
Highs: -DH and me getting vaccinated/boosted, kids have had their 1st shot and all staying Covid free so far -my kids turning 10 and just seeing the great kids they have become -Getting some travel in to Sarasota FL, Vegas, IN for my cousin's wedding and Disneyland -Getting our basement finished and our rickety deck torn out and completely rebuilt -DH getting a sizeable windfall from some stock options from his work and now our only debt is our mortgage, put a lot into savings too
Lows: -partially tearing my Achilles and dealing with pain from that for most of the summer-therefore drastically cutting down my gym time and weight gain -worrying about my widowed Dad a lot-that he's lonely etc while missing my Mom
2022: -looking forward to traveling more - somewhere nice for our 20th anniversary! -kids going back to sleep away summer camp for a week lol -DH starts a new job 1/11 making way more money and it sounds like it will be way less stressful that his current
Highs: -15th anniversary road trip on the California coast -Mini trip driving Route 66 in IL and staying in Springfield -Paying off some credit card debt we racked up when my H was laid off a couple years ago -I got to be a book reviewer for a little newspaper -3 of 4 of us vaccinated -Changed the playroom to a dining room, and had so much fun decorating it (made another playroom elsewhere) -Flew in an open-air vintage biplane to face a fear on my 39th birthday and LOVED it -Got to see ILs after 19 months of not seeing them -Little guy FINALLY potty trained and was able to start preschool and loves it
Lows: -A family member was just diagnosed with uterine cancer -Work was extremely stressful and all-consuming for both of us
Looking forward to: A big trip for my 40th birthday
Highs: We had an amazing 2 weeks in Hawaii in September/October. Vaccines! We are all vaccinated. DD is doing incredibly well in school and I'm so grateful. Watching Kamala Harris be inaugurated as VP with my daughter by my side. We didn't lose power or water (nor did we go on boil water notice) during the insane freeze that hit Texas in February.
Lows: We had to put 2 dogs down this year, one that we've had since she was a puppy. . We spread MILs ashes while in Hawaii. It was nice to put her to rest finally but it's still unbelievable that she is gone. DD told me she can't remember her voice. I hate that she was robbed of time with MIL.
Post by MixedBerryJam on Jan 1, 2022 11:10:32 GMT -5
High: I hate to be Scrooge McDuck but I sold my house for four times what we bought it for in 1988 and nearly twice what I really “expected” in the best case. And the whole process really could not have gone more smoothly. I had nightmares until the sale went through that something like the hot water heater exploding and shooting through the roof would happen but none of it did!
Also high: my kids have launched and are lovely human beings I enjoy spending time with.
I think I’m going to pass on naming a low and revel in thinking about how much I like how things are going.
ETA While I’m avoiding naming lows I guess I can add a” looking forward to “ section. I’m looking forward to traveling again — first will be Venice (before it’s completely gone) and probably Amsterdam for the same reason. But I’m not really planning any international travel until … I don’t even know when. After being stuck this week in the PNW bc of snow I’m just glad to be sleeping in my own bed for the foreseeable future!
Low, I got super sick from basically not taking care of my health in January, spent 4 days in the hospital then 2 months at my mom’s. I still have residual nerve damage to my lower legs but I’m much better and better about eating properly and taking care of my health.
Highs, after 14 months being unemployed I finally found a job I enjoy in July.
I’d posted in late August about reconnecting with an old friend and was a bit apprehensive about giving him a chance. Well… 4 months later and we are still dating. He ended up moving about 20 minutes away. We don’t get to spend a ton of time together but he’s working a new job and hopefully his work/life balance will improve in the next few months. He makes it a point to make sure we talk every day and we spent NYE together which he stated was the first of hopefully many. So basically I gave love a chance and I’m so glad I did. I’m absolutely crazy about him and it’s definitely mutual.
Looking forward to seeing where this relationship goes and to continue in my job learning even more.