{{{Beverly and fam}}} Glad you have the grandson handy!
I hope you don't think that I just come over for the spells and everything. I mean, I really like just talking and hanging out with you and stuff.
Willow ,'First Date'
Goodbye and Good Riddance 2025: This too shall pass. Like a kidney stone.
Every year we watch the Charlie Brown special, do the Snoopy dance, and wish everybody a Merry Thanksgivukkahmas in the good riddance thread. Which is this one, in case you were wondering.Take stock, reflect, butch, moan, vent, celebrate. We are all here for it. So long 2025; do better 2026.
-t - Jan 07, 2026 1:18:29 pm PST #36 of 53
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
meara - Jan 07, 2026 2:16:41 pm PST #37 of 53
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*).
Sheryl - Jan 07, 2026 5:21:07 pm PST #38 of 53
Fandom means never having to say "But where would I wear that?"
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...
Susan W. - Jan 12, 2026 7:51:42 pm PST #39 of 53
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights
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.
P.M. Marc - Jan 13, 2026 12:53:29 pm PST #40 of 53
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
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.)
-t - Jan 13, 2026 1:36:03 pm PST #41 of 53
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
Neat! I gotta say, doing the mikvah when I converted was pretty sweet
P.M. Marc - Jan 13, 2026 4:27:53 pm PST #42 of 53
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
I mean, it looks more like a stylish modern above-ground rectangular koi pond than dunk tank, but still.
Susan W. - Jan 13, 2026 7:01:41 pm PST #43 of 53
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights
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.
Trudy Booth - Jan 14, 2026 9:25:19 am PST #44 of 53
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart
I didn't know Episcopalians would fully immerse! ABSOLUTELY go full dunk!
P.M. Marc - Jan 14, 2026 10:40:50 am PST #45 of 53
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear
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.
That would explain why I haven't seen you there! I considered 8 AM so that I'd have the rest of my day free, but that would involve driving while tired, which I just won't do, so 10 AM it is. Clearly, St. A's needs full Buffista coverage. (Buffistas in your congregation? It's more likely than you think!)
Paul's grandmother used to go to St. Andrew's, way back when, but now that she's 100 and no longer drives, I think she just skips church.
(The 8 AM I went to in Spokane was Rite 1, and I swear, it was like a speed run of the Eucharist. The cathedral there is gorgeous, BTW, though next time I'm there on a Sunday, I'm just going to go to the later service closer to our friends' house.)
I didn't know Episcopalians would fully immerse! ABSOLUTELY go full dunk!
The Dean at St. Mark's highly recommended it at the first Inquirer's class. Go big or go home, I say!