2008: fired

[sprinklethief]

the year started out promising. i was fresh out of my very first spinal fusion surgery and very hopeful. i was gonna heal up and be all better, jump back on the bmx, back on the skateboard, just being active and happy. i had no idea that it was going to ultimately take me over 3 months (4 - 6 weeks MY ASS!) to even be able to walk without a cane.

all and all january was a fucked up month for everyone close to me. my best friend lost her father and i watched helplessly as her "friends" disappeared one by one. i tried to do all i could for her, but i could not even fathom the pain she was feeling. i did all i knew how to do and that was just be there, talk it out with her, let her vent and just try to guide her through this black period of her life. i feel she emerged a VERY strong woman and handled it much better than i imagine i would, and i'm very proud of how she dealt and continues to deal with it.

on a similar token, my father's youngest son (that kid is NOT my brother) attempted to kill him again. seriously, what kind of human being can kick the shit out of a crippled old man who can't even defend himself? even more, what kind of parent can sit there and cheer him on?! joey, my brother and myself all sprung into action and we moved him up here, fully furnished his home, and supported him. it seemed to be a foreign concept to him, to have so many people deeply care about him and go out of their way to help and comfort him. it was within this time that my dad decided to adopt my friend who lost her father. any time i talk with him i have to give him the update on his "other daughter" lol.

january did have an upside though - i got my very first surprise birthday party, complete with a custom cake with grim from billy and mandy on it. i also got a negative cancer result from a cervical biopsy, which is probably the best birthday present i could have ever gotten.

joey got laid off from his job where he made over $18 an hour. after a while he found a decent job and got laid off from that one too. then he found another one that laid him off a few weeks later. and now, as of tonight, he is laid off from the 4th job. all because there isn't any work.

i had to withdrawal from school in both spring AND fall semesters because of spine problems. at least i survived summer semester. maybe i should try to find a grad school that does quarters instead of semesters.

joey and i went through some serious tests of our bond. there were times that i really thought we were going to end, but something told me to hang on (well, xflute_goddessx flat out told me to at some points, lol). now, here we are, finally over the tough parts, and we're back to our giddy disgusting selves. i seriously don't know what i'd do without him. i don't know how i could have survived this last bout of depression without him either. he really is my other half, there is absolutely no doubt in my mind.

i had a really rough time with depression this year because of financial uncertainty, the amount of pain i was dealing with, the fact that i had to put graduation off an entire year and feeling very isolated. i struggled pretty hard with aspergers this year, feeling like i spoke a different language altogether for the first time since i was a teenager. i can't explain it, but i just felt the difference between myself and regular people was gleaming. a few of the girls at work told me that they didn't understand my jokes because they were too smart, and as most people would take that as a compliment, it actually embarrassed me. i regressed accordingly which added to my depression track.

i've been sick off and on most of the year. first it was the respiratory crap from the mold that was growing in my ceiling due to the unfinished roof of our apartment complex. then walking pneumonia, then MRSA, then another staph, different sinus and tummy crap. not a fun year health-wise. crap tons of insomnia, metal crap, yuck yuck yuck.

money has been tight pretty much the entire year. despite this we still went to go see dethklok and gwar, both of which were awesome shows.

we adopted three homeless kittens at different points in the year. first came nadjia, a one-eyed long hair lilac point siamese. they say she lost her eye due to a puncture from being attacked, but the eye she *does* have is the most crystalline blue i've ever seen. next up was dexter - a white kitten with random gray spots. his fur is really sleek, and he is a complete doofus. then was a kitten that was born over the spring to one of the stray cats we feed. as the weather got colder i didn't want to leave her out there since she was so little. her name is samhain, and she is a classic calico. she enjoys walking on your head while you sleep and biting toes. miette had surgery to remove some mammary tumors and did very well, every single cat in the household has gotten sick in one way or another periodically throughout the year. orion was a big goof ball as usual.

i finally got to meet joey's son this year, and we took to each other right away. i love that little guy so very much. he's my buddy. i try to include him in whatever i'm doing, asking him to close the fridge, or pick something up i dropped and he loves it. he's very loving and happy, the opposite of me as a kid. i hope it stays that way.

my neck problems escalated very quickly toward the end of the year. in august i woke one day to not being able to move my left arm at all and having mind-bending pain shooting up into my skull and down my arms. i tried to laugh it off once the pain became a little more tolerable. i was all kill bill with yelling at my hand to move. i thought it would pass like it usually did, but it didn't. it got worse, much worse. no one wanted to listen to me because i wasn't crying and being all big baby about it, but when i finally got an MRI they scheduled me for surgery the day the doc saw it. the spinal cord was severely pinched and was doing nerve damage the longer it stayed that way, so i caved in and agreed to it. i got cut open and had my second spinal fusion on the 11th.

there's a lot more negative that happened this year than positive, but hopefully it's going to contain itself to 2008. i don't think i can mentally withstand another year like this, i really don't. so here's hoping to a much better year ahead. for all of us.