Best of the Year NYE

I was going to write about music for this one, but music can take a sidestep. The best thing about this year, the absolute best thing is that we're all still alive. In my little household of strays, we all lived through this year. Trust me, it's been touch and go several times.

I am very grateful for the home I have. I am grateful for the cats that live with me and the kind and gentle person that got them to trust him enough so that they would join our household. I am grateful that my home is one of peacefulness. I'm grateful for the strange little society we have built around us. I'm most thankful of all that it will continue into another year.

YAY!

Best of the Year 5

I was going to write about all the good books I read this year, but my mind is elsewhere. Someone I care about very deeply is having a hard time and is in the hospital. I'm worried about him and can't really focus on this post.

So....yeah. I read some really good books this year. I'll try to talk about them later.

Best of the Year 4

I'm probably not going to give this the justice it deserves, because a lot of stuff is going on here and I'm worried about folks. I'll try my best.

So this year I got closer to my nephew. We started playing games online together and talking about them, which, of course, lead us to talking about other things. It's been neat.

A lot of people say the best way to relate to a kid is to find stuff they enjoy and let them tell you about it. I remember this being true when I was younger and it seems to be true now as well. I'm glad I'm getting to have this experience with him. We're about equal on  games, honestly, which is also nice.

Best of This Year 3

You know, I made a list when I was thinking about this whole End of the Year project and actually wrote down "I feel more confident with my craft." I'm not sure that is true. I'm still somewhat unsure of EVERY project I do.

That being said, I did learn some new techniques this year. I think I finally mastered the 'one line to the next line' on crocheted hats and that is seriously a big step for me. I've made some very wonky hats. I think my knitting is better, if only because my stitches are more consistent and I know I'm basically doing everything wrong. Seriously, I've been knitting the wrong direction this whole time.

I think I also have to add my crafting communities here as a 'best of' for the year. These communities are positive and inspiring and great to have. It's so neat to watch other people posting about the beautiful work they're doing.

Best of the Year 2

Note: Okay my roommate is very sick which means it is possible that I will soon also be very sick. This plan of mine to do the end of the year thing may not work out. Hopefully it will, but we'll see.

Anyway:

The second thing that was really good this year is the fact that I've gotten closer to my dad. This started out as a weekly call in the Fall of 2018 because I was worried about his emotional state after his dad died.

Now I call him about twice a week and we talk for around an hour. He's opened up a lot. I've heard stories from him I've never heard before. I now know more about his life and my family than I ever did. I'm very happy about this.

For a long time, it felt like there was a wall between my dad and me. I think my mom built that wall because she was always good at making people think the other person didn't like them. I should have known better, but it's difficult when it's the person that birthed you who is poisoning the well.

That's changing though. My dad and I are close again. I'm so happy about that. It's a  very good thing that has happened to me this year.

The Best of this Year: 1

There was a moment in the earlier part of the year when my household had a crisis. I was alone and I needed help and transport.

On very, very short notice, my best friend and my dad dropped what they were doing and came to my assistance. The whole situation was still difficult on me physically and scary on a lot of levels, but I know I got through it because these two people held me together. They kept me calm and secure and helped me to feel safe.

I am so deeply grateful to both of them for helping me with this situation. I feel blessed and loved because of it. Even though what was happening at that time wasn't easy (and I wasn't even the main one involved in it), it was do-able because people love me. This stands out as the first amazing thing about my year.

The Holiday

Christmas is over. It went well. I am unbelievably tired. I'm in a lot of pain. I'd like to not leave the house for a week or so. Maybe not even then. I need to sleep for a long time.

It's time to start focusing on the end of the year stuff. Even though I spent a good deal of this year depressed and uncomfortable, I made some good decisions and had some wonderful experiences. I'll be writing about those as the year closes. I'm looking forward to that.