Having 2 parents working full-time, with 2 kids, and no family nearby is fucking HARD, y'all.

Large Son is in 1st grade, and doing well. He does seem to be struggling with self-regulation, but teacher doesn't see anything concerning. He's writing a lot (loves to make signs that tell people what to do. In detail. With 1st grader spelling), which is cool.

Small Son is 2 now, and likes to do everything his brother does. He's started telling little autobigraphical stories, which is adorable. He's still shorter than his 2 friends who are the same age, but also still significantly denser. He loves anything musical, and can sometimes sing recognizable songs. So, dwarf bard.

I am hoping to have a new work situation by the middle of this year, but it's being complicated by at home stuff, as DH has transitioned to an Actual Full-Time Employee Again, rather than a contractor, but this is not coming with an increase in The Monies (with fun bonus "No One Has Time To Do House Things Anymore"). But work sucks, and I'd like to be able to take Christmas Break off more than once every 5 years, so...

DH is home from the hospital. Happy New Year, 2006! You get a second stroke! Two days in the hospital, many tests, and the sum is minimum deficits on the left side (woo! matched pair!) this time, and a long grouchy time until he's cleared to drive again. Having a grandson in the house is a lucky thing. His car is very comfy and the chaufferage is excellent. Also having a person not me (he is Very Large and also A Man) to counter the grouchy is splendid. We all look forward to improvements in 2006's presentation.

{{{Beverly and fam}}} Glad you have the grandson handy!

Oh geez Bev. Glad it’s not worse but sorry it is at all!

Gotta say 2026 is not impressing me so far (*cough*Venezuela*cough*).

2025 sucked a lot for me and mine.

My mom passing is a major reason. Mr. S being at the RTC all year is another. Perimenopause is hitting hard, between the hot flashes and the interrupted sleep every night.

Of course there's all the crap the government has pulled. I did not lose my job due to DOGE shenanigans, but two of my labmates did. Also having to work without pay for over a month was no fun.

There were a couple of good things in 2025. We got to Worldcon in Seattle, and that was fun. We also adopted two kittens in February. They turned 1 in August, and are still very high energy, and very entertaining.

Not liking the way 2026 is going so far...

2025 was mixed. On the bad side, Dylan has now been unemployed for over a year, with ~175 applications sent out and a bare handful of interviews. He's starting to look for freelance gigs in addition to full-time jobs, and he's just finished a quick one and has a nibble for a chance to cover for someone on parental leave. We've been doing OK so far, since the last job threw so many shares of stock at him as bonuses before the layoff, but that nest egg is getting awfully low. My job is secure (as long as the federal shenanigans around research funding don't get radically worse, which I by no means take for granted), but doesn't quite pay enough to cover all our expenses even if we cut out everything extraneous and lived on beans and Top Ramen.

On the good side, Alex is thriving as an art student and starting to figure out adulthood. He's only got two quarters left before he gets his associate's degree at North Seattle College and is eying DigiPen to get his bachelor's, but we keep pointing out that he'll graduate with a lot less debt if he were to choose, say, Washington State or UW-Bothell.

As for me, despite everything, I feel I had a pretty good year. I sold a short story to a good market, I'm starting to find writer community within SFWA, and I'm more established as a lay preacher in my church, so one way or another, I'm telling stories.

Susan, are you still attending St. A's? (If so, are you an 8 AM girly? If so, is the St A's 8 AM Rite 1?)

(I'm not going to talk about last year except to say that, by late December, I was all, "I've been meaning to do this off and on for thirty years. I think it's time to commit to a church. And make my mother roll in her cremation box under the side table by getting baptized." So anyhow, I've been attending a local Episcopal church in a charmingly MCM building, going to the Adult Inquirer's class at St. Mark's, and signed up for the next baptism opportunity. I'm opting to go full dunk tank. You only get one shot at full dunk tank.)

Neat! I gotta say, doing the mikvah when I converted was pretty sweet

I mean, it looks more like a stylish modern above-ground rectangular koi pond than dunk tank, but still.

Yes St. A's and yes 8 AM, but it's not Rite 1. And given my Baptist roots, I definitely recommend the full dunk tank.