As I write this, it is the first day of the last month of 2008. Seems as good a time as any to assess how our personal lives have gone.
Did you fall in love or out of it? Lose a job? Get a better one? Birth a baby? Lose a loved one? Get married, get divorced, have hot monkey sex with Taye Diggs, or Monica Belucci, or both?
Let’s share.
Hit submit ere I meant to. I blame the Etruscans.
Anyway, here’s me:
I’m not sure whether this year was, on balance, good or bad. My wife had some unfortunate issues with her depression and with sexual harassment; I still feel like I should have done more to help her, or that I should have done what I did do better. But she seems to be past the worst of it, and I think she’s happy.
I left a job I hate for one I like much better, with a generally supportive boss. I sold exactly 0 novels (okay, I haven’t submitted one for publication, so that’s not saying anything), and the short stories I’ve sold has all been to confession magazines (read; sentimental dreck I would probably deny authorship of unless under oath).
My favorite aunt died. A woman in my diabetes-support group died of renal failure; I like to call that the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. My father, however, remains reasonably healthy.
And my son’s half-sister dumped her loser boyfriend moved in and has decided to start calling me “Not-Quite-Dad.”
Anywhistle, that’s just me. Anybody else?
The year’s not over yet but it’s been a shit year. I was going to sell my house and move in with my aunt but it took months for my Deputyship to be granted and house prices tanked. Then, after substantial redecoration, we discovered Dry Rot. The quotation process took months because we have to satisfy the Court and the infestation is extensive. They finish this week. My father had a stroke. I’m unemployed and my funds are dwindling. The Credit Crunch means that not only will my house not sell but I’d likely be left with negative equity. Fortunately I had a significant deposit. And because of the Dry Rot, we’re going to have to sell my aunt’s house, and because of the Credit Crunch she’s not going to get as much for it.
These things are sent to try us. I’m not dead yet.
It was not a happy year for us, healthwise. At the end of 2007 we had just learned that my wife was pregnant, and we were ecstatic. But she miscarried in January. Then the same thing happened in the summer – pregnant in May, miscarriage in July.
Ed
2008 has been arguably the best year of my life. I got married, bought a house, and got a dog – all for the first time. I’m also up for tenure at my university, which so far looks to be going well. Money’s tight, but I’m so happy, I hardly care.
I started the year dropping off my husband at inpatient drug treatment. The insurance company sent a letter every three days approving the three days that just passed. They approved 28 days in all. It didn’t stick.
I had him served with divorce papers in June, but he refused to leave the house. I left his stuff on the back porch 3 separate times when he pulled his 3-5 day disappearing acts, but he managed to break in to the house each time. Jewelry missing, bringing the kids around other women, his mother being the typical hispanic-my-son-is-perfect, I finally told him the weekend after Halloween that if he tried to come back into the house I’d call the cops. To which he replied, ‘I haven’t beaten you, they can’t do anything’. Which is technically true, but he didn’t call my bluff. 3 weeks of Jerry Springer embarrassment, and he’s accepting some boundaries. Still waiting on the judge to rubber stamp the divorce, but the house id clean clean clean, even though I’m still finding remnants in strange places.
My corporation has been trying to sell my publishing company, even to the point of financing a shitload of the money, and hasn’t approved a buyer yet. We’re hoping that a venture capitalist doesn’t buy, they’ll cut workforce even more. So I just keep paying down those credit cards, and saving even more (3 mights a week without meat).
On the other hand, I have reconnected with some old friends over the past year and they’ve seriously allowed me to lean on them in the form of lending an ear. The babysitter that started while husband was in inpatient is a very nice sweet lady, (even though she has to deal with my 3 boys), and I’m grateful to have her. All kids are relatively healthy, and I hope to get my ass a little bit healthier because the thought of my kids returning to live with my husband and his mother scares the living shit out of me.
This year has been good for us. Paid off the house, my husband retired, I’ve been working 60-80 hours a week for the entire year, and in an effort to give back a little, we’re volunteering with the local homeless shelter.
Everyone’s healthy, our parents haven’t had to move into an appliance box due to the market woes (so far), and my son and his girl/kids are very happy.
It was a pretty good year for us. We’re happy and healthy and I still have my job.
It was a bad year for the guys who remodeled our kitchen. The plumber had rectal bleeding, the laborer had the runs, the carpenter hurt his back, and the general contractor smashed his hand with a hammer and is getting divorced. I think it was all my fault, too - every time I asked the GC why the work was going so slowly another guy fell ill. I had to fire him to break the string of bad luck.
I lost 30-odd pounds and fought off breast cancer. It’s been a hell of a ride!
Overall - I think it was a good year. Jim had a moderately serious health problem with getting his gallbladder out (he had to have the big surgery, which quadrupled or more the seriousness of everything), which exacerbated his chronic neck problem (one part of your body is out of whack, and it ends up out-whacking other parts, etc), and I am unemployed longer than I would like to be, after leaving a crappy job in July, but other than that, it was a pretty good year. We had a nice vacation in May, seeing cool new things and meeting cool new people, I finished fixing up our yard, we had many fun social occasions with fun people - that’s all good.
2008 treated me like a baby treats a diaper.
Starting with my mom’s death and going downhill from there.
I’m looking forward to a much better year in 2009. 
Fell out of Love, getting divorced.
Fell into love with the greatest woman I could possibly imagine finding. I love her to pieces. Didn’t look for this and didn’t see it coming. Total blindside.
Just need to finalize the big D and get things worked out with the kids and I’ll be a happy camper.
I met a fantastic woman, who, among other things, fulfilled some fantasies that I thought would go unrequited forever.
Her father got very sick, but came out of his surgery with flying colors. (He was released on Friday.
I learned how to ballroom dance.
I took four summer vacations.
I gained some weight back.
I stopped painting for the longest time.
I broke both of my feet.
As my GF would say, it was six of one half and a dozen of another. But far more good than bad.
Started out pretty well; had some nice trips in spring and summer, also moved to a much better place in summer. Then the nation went bancrupt, unemployment’s up from 1% to closer to 10% and I’m one of those.
So now I’m stuck in limbo, trying to figure out how to sort things out.
I deeply regret that a hurricane preempted Vice President Dick Cheney and President Bush from addressing the GOP convention. What the heck could they have said? Would they play the Imperial March for Cheny?
Well, let’s see:
My best friend moved 350 miles away.
I somehow mananged to fuck up my knee and leg this summer to the point that I can barely walk. I won’t even go into other health issues. They’re boring.
Other than that, 2008 was a peachy-keen year. I’m way looking forward to a better 2009.
2008 sucked for the first 8 months - unemployed/ crap contract jobs.
In August everything turned around with a new job, a new workout regimen, and Obama’s election in November almost makes me forget the first 8 months.
The last half of 2008 schooled me like nobody’s business. Between two elections, one of which I campaign-managed, and an enormous contract, I’ve been doing seven-day weeks and ten-hour days just about constantly since late July. I’m about ready to snap.
2008 fucking sucked!! We had been dealing with my son’s cancer and seemed to make some improvements. Then in the first week of June he was scheduled to have his central line removed. We were making plans for the summer which included all 5 children and finally returning to a normal routine. Only what happened instead was they found pneumonia in both lungs and he had to put on an oscillator for 12 days. He came out of that and seemed to be improving, but only slightly. By July we knew, but did not want to accept, that the end was near. On August 1st he died at 1:40am. He was 28 months old. Now I have a job that isn’t that bad but the insurance sucks so fucking much that I can barely afford my asthma meds and that fee for service portion of the job just isn’t panning out as well as I had hoped. So, the first part of the year was the same craptacular shit as the year before and the second part of the year has been pure shit. So, we are simultaneously looking forward to and dreading Christmas. We appreciate and love our 4 children but dreading Christmas without our son. 
God (or whatever) apparently fucking hates me. Nice to know I’m not the only one who thinks 2008 sucked nasty, hairy, infected balls.
I’ve read about 200, 225 books.
I’m preparing to graduate and move out of the house I’ve spent my entire life in next year. I’m thinking about moving to the States, or visiting overseas.
I met up with old friends and made new ones.
I became addicted to chai lattes.
I got a permanent scar on my forearm.
I sat in front of CNN all night as the election results came in.
I got published in a literary journal, but failed to finish my NaNo novel on time.
I watched the lunar eclipse at work.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed for next year.