Annual wrap-up: 2008

2008 has been a moody mistress. She's given us some incredible highs and some gut-wrenching lows, and damn near everything in between.

In January, we faced extensive family turmoil, as well as the passing of my Father-in-Law. If not for the fact that I had looming deadlines for applications, and had to keep checking on the progress of certain documents, I would have been running entirely on auto-pilot throughout all of the events. In fact, apart from being quite ill in January and February, I was on auto-pilot all the way through to March. I was working at a job I didn't care for, and being constantly drained by the sadness over B.'s situation, Harry's death, and the strain of waiting for news about Grad school acceptance.

On March 13th, I received word that I was accepted to the MPP program at SFU. Naturally, this news cause jubilation and fear in me (yes, at the same time), and that stress I felt before the news gave way to stress about being good enough to fit in! As if that was not enough to shake me out of the doldrums, Miss. M. came to spend her spring break with us, and we had a lot to see, do, buy, and say. It was clear that we were heading towards some kind of major change in her life, and in April, it came; by the 30th, she was back in Burnaby to live with us.

Also in April, I made the life-altering decision to go ahead with the corrective laser surgery on my eyes, sort of as a wedding present to myself. I knew I was taking a chance, but even during my slow and painful recovery, I didn't regret my decision. The result is that I now have 20/15 vision, which is better than normal. I'd recommend it to anyone considering doing it, because it's been a great result for me. At the very least, I recommend going in and getting tested to see if you are a candidate!

May was a frustrating month, waiting for my slower-then-normal recovery process to end, and trying to adjust to life with a teenager. In addition to this, the rush was on to kick the wedding stuff in to gear, and yes, to those of you who received invitations, you can now look back in awe of the fact that I was filling in each of the kanji symbols by hand while blind. I was still in the early stages of recovery when I was struggling to put together the invitations. :)

Things kicked up again in July, as I finally went back to work, doing temps jobs, which I needed because my time off had started to drain our savings and wedding fund. Time stopped creeping at this point, and started flying, because before I knew it, it was September, and the chaos of starting grad school and getting married converged to create a comical vignette.

I was meeting new people, developing a serious case of economics anxiety enjoying the challenges of Grad level learning, AND rushing to fulfill last minute wedding plans. My valuable advice to one and all: Don't get married and be a Grad student at the same time...it sets you up for falling behind, both in school and in wedding planning. By September 12th, I was glad to see the end of this wedding!

But that was before the chaos of the actual day: everyone deciding that it was a good idea to go to IHOP for breakfast (on a weekend?? Really, people!!), leaving me to run around and handle big tasks alone, running from appointment to appointment, and being late for my own wedding due to traffic. But we managed to get married against a perfect backdrop, and have a great little party afterward.

And where was Miss M. during all of this? Still with living with us, and dealing with terrifically painful dental woes. September was not a great month, as she was starting school at Moscrop at the same time as she was needing a root canal. My poor girl!

Once all of that stuff was over with, it was time to settle in to the school routine, and October was all about school. And then November happened, the details of which can be found here. Again, I reiterate that my profs were incredibly awesome about my absence due to the setback from the spinal tap, and in the end, they bent over backwards to accommodate me. By the time the end of the semester rolled around at the beginning of December, I was caught up in everything except the dreaded economics (incidentally, the only class with a final exam *grimace*). I managed to pass my classes well enough. I'm not totally satisfied with two of my grades, but as everyone keeps reminding me, I've had a difficult semester with a serious medical complication blocking my progress, and I should be pleased with what I accomplished in spite of this.

I also turned 30 in the midst of all of this. I'm not bothered by this in the least, in contrast to all the pop culture references to turning old. To the contrary, I found it an enjoyable experience, as I have never had any expectations of where I would be at this point in my life, so I felt no anxiety about unfulfilled goals.

And finally, Miss M. and her mother decided it was time for her to return to Yellowknife. It's been so tense around here lately, as the three of us have been tripping over each other in our small one-bedroom for 7 months, and Miss M. has been struggling in school. But her coming was good in a lot of ways; it gave her mother some time to get her living situation worked out, and Miss M. has been exposed to a lot of opportunities that she would not have in Yk.

So, as we settle in to finish off 2008, I cast hopeful eyes towards the future, 2009. May it be a year filled with joy, love, and far less chaos, for us, and for everyone!