Ringing in the New Year

[bookofmirrors]

I thought I'd make a post today... partially 'cause I haven't in so long, and I'm way overdue for an update, partially 'cause I'm just waking up to my last day off, and it might be a while before I can post again, and partially 'cause I'm hoping the superstition about what happens on the first day of the year sets the tone for the whole year holds true. Later, I'm cleaning the house and doing laundry, while setting the intention that it's the result of those things that will set the tone for the year, and not the acts themselves. BlckwngdOrcl will help, of course, but he's still sleeping. It was something I wanted to do together today, though. I suppose I do want that aspect of the act itself to set the tone - working together for improvement in our environment.

Last night, for the first time in 3 years, I had New Year's Eve off. So, rather than being at work, I floated back and forth between the party at ngtflyer's (Rose Quoll used to have a Lego icon that was perfect for him, but it's not there anymore. :( ) place and the home of WalkingBear, Strega42, and EvilOverqueen. When 2008 rang in, I was surrounded by friends, old and new. This makes me very happy.

Shortly before we left, verdecat (no green cat icons either, sadly) did a tarot reading for my husband, and was then inspired to have each of us choose a card from the major arcana to represent the coming year. I got The World, and BlckwngdOrcl got The Sun. This bodes very well for both of us, and the complementary nature of the cards made verdecat comment on more than one occassion. (Note: The links I used were just the first ones that came up on Google, and I liked them. They aren't from the deck she used, and the symbology of her deck was different.)

So, yeah. This year started off well.

Several things seem to be starting off well this year. A few exceptions, all of which are fixable:

At the recommendation of a holistic vet, we switched our cats over to a wet food diet, mostly to help Murke's constipation problems, which have sent him to the vet to be disimpacted twice, among other things. I got the most highly recommended food (I'd used the dry version before), and took the list of ingredients to my regular vet (who had recommended the holistic vet when I'd asked about it), and she thought that it would be fine to switch over, but cautioned that she didn't think it would necessarily be safe for Smithers, who has a history of crystals in his urine (which is why I switched from that brand to begin with, although at the time I'd been mixing it with another brand). So, in my infinite wisdom, I figured that, it's an all natural raw food diet - what could possibly go wrong? Three days, and Smithers was starting to exhibit signs of problems again, so I took him to the vet yesterday. They didn't find evidence of crystals, but apparently there wasn't enough urine in his bladder to tell for sure. There was blood, though, so we post-haste switched back to the prescription diet. Problem is, the cats don't appear to actually like the canned version of it. Well, we'll figure something out. In the meantime, both Smithers and Murke are on the road to recovery.

Apparently, there's something in our garbage can which has attracted the attention of the local ant population. Easy enough to fix, but dammit... I really need to talk to the ants. I spoke to them as a species once, just to get a feel for them, but I really need to politely ask them to not come into the house.

The Beastie still doesn't have a job. Of course he laid off the job search over the past couple of weeks. No one pays attention to hiring then, anyway. He's starting to look again next week - if anyone knows of anything, pass it on to him. I feel like it will go well, though. And, the tie-in to this is that money is a bit tight, but again, this is fixable, and I have confidence that things are looking up.

On the positive notes with which to start out the new year:

For Christmas, in addition to what I thought were way too many other gifts, considering, I got the only thing I said I really wanted - a Vita-Mix. Pam has one of these, and I've wanted one for years, so I finally said that that's all I wanted. In short, if you don't follow the link, it's a blender from hell, with which I can make a lot of really good-for-me healthy food, and reap the benefits of such. I haven't made a New Year's Resolution per se, but there are definitely things I want to strive for, and better health is one of them. Sadly, I carefully packed it all up at my parent's house and brought it home, but left the recipe book. They're on the website, though - I just need to get ingredients. I'm looking forward to it, although my mother (correctly) pointed out that it sounds like a B-52 when it runs, and I have a few concerns about that in an apartment environment. Either way, way looking forward to it.

Speaking of the apartment environment... our complex was once again purchased by a different parent company. We went yesterday to pay the rent and introduce ourselves to the new owners, Connor Properties. This was partially to just say hello and get a feel for them, and mostly to make sure they knew about the unique nature of our lease, and that they would continue to honor it, not just until it ran out in the summer, but for one more renewal before we moved. They were a little shocked at the clause we had, but said they would honor it, and let it go quietly by come lease renewal time. I'm glad, because much as I'm eager to move, I really prefer our current timeframe versus having to do it a year early.

My boss/client is hinting pretty strongly that he's going to retire this year. This means I won't have to work at the office anymore, which will no doubt make us both happy. I don't enjoy that environment, and I could do so much more with a different job/schedule, and would probably make more money in the process, all of which would allow me more time to pursue animal communication. I really feel like that's what my card was saying, and I'm very pleased. I'd still work with him at night, which (more or less) pays for my Core classes. We both enjoy that much more than the office environment, although that's the main reason for my lack of a social schedule.

I set some things in motion to connect with resources and like-minded people in the Champaign-Urbana area, so that we won't be completely in the dark when we go there. verdecat turns out to have grown up there, and warns us that the job market is BAAAAD there, even for nurses, since they have their own steady stream from Parkland, the local community college. I'm not particularly worried, though, since I intend to be doing animal communication full-time by the time we move, and geography is irrelevant.

My parents will be visiting again in February, on their way back from a Florida vacation. Hopefully I can spend more time with them this year.

In spite of it being messy right now, the apartment, with very few exceptions, is pretty much exactly as it should be. There are a few things from Ikea that would make it perfect, but other than that, it's just right. :)

In general, me and mine are healthy.

This is the last (required) year for my Core classes. I still haven't decided on whether or not to take the fifth year, but I will have technically completed the coursework by this summer - anything else is gravy, and completely my choice, which is a good position to be in.

I could go on listing the good things in my life. If nothing else, it's certainly a good way to put things in perspective and start the new year off on a positive note. But, honestly, it would take too long. I can't leave this listing, however, without commenting on my relationship with BlckwngdOrcl. This past year has been full of extremely high highs and extremely low lows, but I have to say that even the lows were the most profound growth experiences, and ones that I (we) chose for ourselves, knowing full well how hard they would be, but also knowing full well how much we could gain from going through the experiences. I've not regretted any of them (although sometimes hindsight has been required for that perspective!) and wouldn't trade them for the world. The 7th anniversary of our first date is coming up on Sunday, and I still feel the same perfection in our being together. Even moreso.

I look forward to facing the future together.

Comments

[abovenyquist.livejournal.com]

I lived in Chambana for three years (1998-2001) when I was a postdoc at UIUC. It's a really nice city; it was a lot of aspects that I miss quite a bit.

[bookofmirrors.livejournal.com]

Loved it there when I went to college. :) What did you think of the job market when you were there? What was your field?

[abovenyquist.livejournal.com]

I was a postdoc in electrical and computer engineering; I worked in the Coordinated Science Lab. Since it was a postdoc it was an inherently temporary post, so I never particularly looked for jobs in Chambana since I wasn't planning to stay there; I sent applications for faculty positions all over the country, and wound up at Georgia Tech.