w00t w00t booyah

2010, you were very pretty. Very pretty indeed. In some places, horrifying.

For those of you playing at home, here's last year's post to refresh your memories.

I'm pretty satisfied with the results - I intentionally low-balled last year's predictions because 2009? Was made of flames, shards of broken glass and pure terror. So I hit everything pretty much on the head without trying hard, really.

The recap:

I think we won't see much action on Sierra's adoption, though we will likely get a firmer grasp on the when and if as the year progresses.

Dead in the black. The only thing still up in the air right now is if we can keep our file active as we borked getting the updates in on time - if we don't, we have to refile on our side using Hague paperwork as opposed to being grandfathered under pre-Hague regulations. If we remain in the game, it's still a year and a half, possibly two - STILL. China only got through less than six months of LIDs this entire year - this year starts out June of 2006. We, for the record? Are LID 2/27/07. When you only get through 3 - 5 days every 30-50 days, that's still a bit of a wait.

Xander will continue to adapt to us as his family, and us to him. I expect everything in the book. I am likely not going to see everything, though.

Also, just as predicted. We're still made aware every time we try to stay out of routine very long, just how huge the transition to him - and we all pay, trust me, in frustration, anxiety and anger. But every time we challenge it, and come out on top? It gets better. In all honesty. It just gets easier, better all the time.

Mom - I hope she makes it to see Sierra come home. It's a day to day thing - but she's far more stable than she was even two years ago. As long as she's happy, I hope she hangs in there. It is what it is, and I am content.

More stable, even when once or twice this year some blood work or a bug made us wonder a bit how things were going. Yup. She's still doing well. I have to keep it out there that this is all borrowed, bought, negotiated time - and it's not forever, but. Today? It's good and I'm okay with that.

I need to make a huge effort to be a better friend this year. Return calls, write thank you notes and try to make time without involving the kid to spend time with them. I am getting not-so-subtle cues that I'm a bore and a trial lately. Guilty as charged - I'm hip.

I think about this daily. And I do what I can. But the fact that the Christmas cards are still not out is proof of the pudding - life continues to use me like too little butter over too much bread. I try to be my best every time - and some days, I'm better than others. This, like most things, remains a work in progress.

I want to find a way to get an automatic dishwasher in - if I can do that much, I can ride out the wait to rehab the entire house. As it is, we'll have to move everything out of the little house into proper storage as it continues to deteriorate. There's no choice in the matter anymore.

We had the money. For about 24 hours and then Jim's car blew the head gasket. That's where the dishwasher went. It looks like a driveable car, but it's a dishwasher - just squint a little.

Tie a big knot in it and hope we continue to survive this recession in one piece. We have been VERY fortunate.

We're both working harder, having taken on more responsibilities at both our jobs. We're hanging in there. Jim is making more (yay Union Contracts), but I haven't seen a raise since I went permanent with the company in 2009 and I don't expect one anytime soon. I'm still looking at ways to rein in any unnecessary money leaving the house - but so far, so good. And I think we're going to see the economy get better this year (it's actually been getting better, it's just not translating into a lot of jobs yet) - it's just a matter of waiting it out.

Whipped cream - a trip outside of the obligatory one to Kentucky this June. Hawaii would make me very happy. Japan would make me ecstatic.

We made the trip to Kentucky. Just. There won't be another one for the forseable. Hawaii? Japan? That would require money, and most of this year there wasn't any. The universe laughs at me.

So, let's throw some darts at this year and see which ones stick.

If Mom leaves this year, the dynamics that will change within my family of origin will be earth-splitting. Even if she doesn't, I expect some things will resolve, morph a bit and could either improve dramatically or hit the toilet.

As we continue to adapt, us to Xander and Xander to us, some attention will be paid to the amount of weight we both put on while trying to wheedle him to eat more, and more often. Both of us put on thirty pounds each, easily. It took me nine months to take that off before, I know I can do it again - getting Jim to play along? May not be nearly as successful.

I've been thinking a LOT about Ranma: Motherhood (both in a 'YEAH I WANNA GET SOMETHING DONE' and a cringing, more than a little embarrassed 'there are a LOT of things wrong with this, not the least of which is that this is fan fiction' - and have not found five minutes to actually, yanno, stop and WRITE part of it. Something else will have to give way for me to get that time, but damn if I know what it's going to be. But I want to fix what's broken with this ditty and get it done.

I hope we continue to wait for Sierra. But today, it's not a sure thing at all.

I'm going to see my friends up north more often. So be it.

We are going to formalize the godparent committee, on paper, in legal form, as part of our wills.

I am going to do whatever I can to get to Hawaii this year. It's the 10th anniversary, and it deserves something special.

We're not going to make many changes as far as jobs go, if we are very fortunate - it's working as it is, and I don't need to rock the boat.

Garden in the back, hopefully with more variety of things - I managed some VERY nice tomatoes this year, but that was about the extent of it. But I did grow actual edible food back there. It can be done.

Okay, pie in the sky:

We find a way to fund the rehab and get started.

2011, so far? You are peaceful and accommodating. I'll take it.

2010 - thanks for everything. No, really. Thanks. I will probably miss you a lot.

2010, you were very pretty. Very pretty indeed. In some places, horrifying.

For those of you playing at home, here's last year's post to refresh your memories.

I'm pretty satisfied with the results - I intentionally low-balled last year's predictions because 2009? Was made of flames, shards of broken glass and pure terror. So I hit everything pretty much on the head without trying hard, really.

The recap:

I think we won't see much action on Sierra's adoption, though we will likely get a firmer grasp on the when and if as the year progresses.

Dead in the black. The only thing still up in the air right now is if we can keep our file active as we borked getting the updates in on time - if we don't, we have to refile on our side using Hague paperwork as opposed to being grandfathered under pre-Hague regulations. If we remain in the game, it's still a year and a half, possibly two - STILL. China only got through less than six months of LIDs this entire year - this year starts out June of 2006. We, for the record? Are LID 2/27/07. When you only get through 3 - 5 days every 30-50 days, that's still a bit of a wait.

Xander will continue to adapt to us as his family, and us to him. I expect everything in the book. I am likely not going to see everything, though.

Also, just as predicted. We're still made aware every time we try to stay out of routine very long, just how huge the transition to him - and we all pay, trust me, in frustration, anxiety and anger. But every time we challenge it, and come out on top? It gets better. In all honesty. It just gets easier, better all the time.

Mom - I hope she makes it to see Sierra come home. It's a day to day thing - but she's far more stable than she was even two years ago. As long as she's happy, I hope she hangs in there. It is what it is, and I am content.

More stable, even when once or twice this year some blood work or a bug made us wonder a bit how things were going. Yup. She's still doing well. I have to keep it out there that this is all borrowed, bought, negotiated time - and it's not forever, but. Today? It's good and I'm okay with that.

I need to make a huge effort to be a better friend this year. Return calls, write thank you notes and try to make time without involving the kid to spend time with them. I am getting not-so-subtle cues that I'm a bore and a trial lately. Guilty as charged - I'm hip.

I think about this daily. And I do what I can. But the fact that the Christmas cards are still not out is proof of the pudding - life continues to use me like too little butter over too much bread. I try to be my best every time - and some days, I'm better than others. This, like most things, remains a work in progress.

I want to find a way to get an automatic dishwasher in - if I can do that much, I can ride out the wait to rehab the entire house. As it is, we'll have to move everything out of the little house into proper storage as it continues to deteriorate. There's no choice in the matter anymore.

We had the money. For about 24 hours and then Jim's car blew the head gasket. That's where the dishwasher went. It looks like a driveable car, but it's a dishwasher - just squint a little.

Tie a big knot in it and hope we continue to survive this recession in one piece. We have been VERY fortunate.

We're both working harder, having taken on more responsibilities at both our jobs. We're hanging in there. Jim is making more (yay Union Contracts), but I haven't seen a raise since I went permanent with the company in 2009 and I don't expect one anytime soon. I'm still looking at ways to rein in any unnecessary money leaving the house - but so far, so good. And I think we're going to see the economy get better this year (it's actually been getting better, it's just not translating into a lot of jobs yet) - it's just a matter of waiting it out.

Whipped cream - a trip outside of the obligatory one to Kentucky this June. Hawaii would make me very happy. Japan would make me ecstatic.

We made the trip to Kentucky. Just. There won't be another one for the forseable. Hawaii? Japan? That would require money, and most of this year there wasn't any. The universe laughs at me.

So, let's throw some darts at this year and see which ones stick.

If Mom leaves this year, the dynamics that will change within my family of origin will be earth-splitting. Even if she doesn't, I expect some things will resolve, morph a bit and could either improve dramatically or hit the toilet.

As we continue to adapt, us to Xander and Xander to us, some attention will be paid to the amount of weight we both put on while trying to wheedle him to eat more, and more often. Both of us put on thirty pounds each, easily. It took me nine months to take that off before, I know I can do it again - getting Jim to play along? May not be nearly as successful.

I've been thinking a LOT about Ranma: Motherhood (both in a 'YEAH I WANNA GET SOMETHING DONE' and a cringing, more than a little embarrassed 'there are a LOT of things wrong with this, not the least of which is that this is fan fiction' - and have not found five minutes to actually, yanno, stop and WRITE part of it. Something else will have to give way for me to get that time, but damn if I know what it's going to be. But I want to fix what's broken with this ditty and get it done.

I hope we continue to wait for Sierra. But today, it's not a sure thing at all.

I'm going to see my friends up north more often. So be it.

We are going to formalize the godparent committee, on paper, in legal form, as part of our wills.

I am going to do whatever I can to get to Hawaii this year. It's the 10th anniversary, and it deserves something special.

We're not going to make many changes as far as jobs go, if we are very fortunate - it's working as it is, and I don't need to rock the boat.

Garden in the back, hopefully with more variety of things - I managed some VERY nice tomatoes this year, but that was about the extent of it. But I did grow actual edible food back there. It can be done.

Okay, pie in the sky:

We find a way to fund the rehab and get started.

2011, so far? You are peaceful and accommodating. I'll take it.

2010 - thanks for everything. No, really. Thanks. I will probably miss you a lot.

Welcome to the 2009 recap - and predictions for 2010.

I'm pretty pleased, overall. I wasn't far off.

To refresh your memory, here's the original post.

And here we go into the guts of the thing.

- Xander comes home, and we get him settled into routines of home, daycare and growing up. We don't end up losing our little minds in the process.

Well, 50% ain't half bad, considering. We have found our little minds again, and life continues. This has been every bit the life-altering experience we were expecting. Thankfully, things are beginning to fall into the places we were hoping for. I can't honestly say they were six months ago.

- We manage a trip of some kind afterward.

We've managed some car trips of less than two hours duration. Anything else? The universe laughs at you.

- Mom may very well leave the building - gotta be prepared.

Not yet. And at this point, if it happens this year? It'll be something we probably already know about that becomes an Issue. Right now, she gets the same colds, flu bugs, etc we all get - they just hit her harder. But she's still here, and she's gotten to know Xander. I'll take it.

- I continue on with new gig, learning more and staying happy. Adding more skills.

Understatement. Boss acquired a new job title, and hence I acquired new duties. All good. Need to step up the learning curve, but with new kid in the house (and being sick most of the time), this hasn't happened fast enough to suit me.

- We find a way to work on the house.

Not a chance. Try again this year.

- I put a garden in.

I actually made this one - I got the garden in, but then went to Taiwan and the whole thing got ignored spectacularly while I got sick, got sick, got sick, got sick and got sick. Jim garden? And chase after kid? Didn't happen. Will likely give it another go, though.

- More work on building financial security. We'll need to, and start getting ready for Sierra.

Adjusting to the load the kid's expenses brought was a very useful exercise - now, to get even better at it. We've exhausted most of our savings, but I'm starting up the 401K again next year and expect to be able to put more money into savings by the middle of this year.

- Go back to that work that brought Jim and I together - and try to get it put together, update it and perhaps even finish it. (After this year's yuletide, I've got the hutspa to say it's worth the effort.)

I think this might just happen. I really REALLY want to. It just has to fall near the bottom of a very long list of Things That MUST Happen First. We'll see. This year's yuletide turned out so well, even though I had next to no time to devote to it - I can't help but think I should go back to this more often.

- Knit something awesome.

Have the yard, tools and patterns. No time. Next!

- 50 more books.

I lost track and fell asleep reading too many times. Will give this another try this year. Oh, and buying that many books? Cracker, you crazy.

So. What shall we put into this time capsule for me this time next year?

I think we won't see much action on Sierra's adoption, though we will likely get a firmer grasp on the when and if as the year progresses.

Xander will continue to adapt to us as his family, and us to him. I expect everything in the book. I am likely not going to see everything, though.

Mom - I hope she makes it to see Sierra come home. It's a day to day thing - but she's far more stable than she was even two years ago. As long as she's happy, I hope she hangs in there. It is what it is, and I am content.

I need to make a huge effort to be a better friend this year. Return calls, write thank you notes and try to make time without involving the kid to spend time with them. I am getting not-so-subtle cues that I'm a bore and a trial lately. Guilty as charged - I'm hip.

I want to find a way to get an automatic dishwasher in - if I can do that much, I can ride out the wait to rehab the entire house. As it is, we'll have to move everything out of the little house into proper storage as it continues to deteriorate. There's no choice in the matter anymore.

Tie a big knot in it and hope we continue to survive this recession in one piece. We have been VERY fortunate.

Whipped cream - a trip outside of the obligatory one to Kentucky this June. Hawaii would make me very happy. Japan would make me ecstatic.

The rest - we'll see.

See you all next year - 2009, you're all through. GET OUT.