catherineldf (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
catherineldf) wrote2024-12-31 08:42 pm
catherineldf) wrote2024-12-31 08:42 pm
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The Rest of 2024 in Review
So! I started out 2024 by wrapping a year and a half of effort by me, 2 social workers and a paralegal to get Jana's care funded and Jana moved into a memory care facility in one of the burbs. By that point, she was frequently getting lost, was losing motor skills, had no interest in anything she'd always been interested and was, shall we say, not very in control of anything. 2023 was hideously stressful; I slept very poorly, had norovirus and other fun things. But I got Jana placed in January (HUGE thank you shoutout to everyone who helped me move her in), set up various backup systems and went off to be a Guest of Honor at Capricon 44 in early February. This was a fun trip to Chicago with friends, a lovely time at the con and a thoroughly good trip. So, of course, I contracted COVID on the way back for the first time (lockdown was pretty intense in our household so dodging contagion was made a bit easier).
Fortunately, I was able to get my mitts on some Paxlovid and it cleared up a few days. Only one of the friends I was traveling with caught it and he also had a mild case, so best possible outcomes. But I was down for a bit with the lurgy. It did clear up in time for me to go and cheer Michael Merriam on at his Guest of Honor stint at MarsCon in Minneapolis in early March, so that was fun. But all of it, added to illnesses and job changes impacting other people and my own job change at the end of March meant that we had delays on putting out the new edition of Point of Hopes (Astreiant #1) by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett. And do you know what happens when you commit to releasing a 5 book series, that then becomes a 6 book series in a calendar year, and you have delays? You put out a book a month! Which was...a Lot.
I was still on call for Jana's stuff, not to mention checking on her regularly, working full time at stressful job and trying to manage life on my own for the first time in 28 years. Most of which went better than I feared, but I had to farm out the yardwork to Mother's Earth's Gardens and plunged headlong into Swedish Death Cleaning, the way of life. 5.5 sales later and I have dented the mess in Jana's former studio by a lot and other parts of the house by a noticeable amount. I bought myself a new bed with a state of the art mattress and a frame that raises and lowers to help with my growing back and hip issues. I replaced the dining room furniture with chairs that were'n't falling apart and a table that wasn't too big for the space. I gave a lot of stuff away and made a tiny bit of headway on organizing things.
I also decided that I was going to do one new thing a month and one thing I hadn't done since before lockdown. I finally got my roadtrip to Alma, Wisconsin for a great weekend with friends. I got to go to Iceland (a revisit) and Scotland for Glasgow World Con (first time in Scotland), which was generally a delight except for the part where I was sick for 2 weeks before I left and pretty exhausted for the first part of the trip. But got to meet lovely people, had a great time visiting the Highlands, had fun rooming with Heather and generally enjoyed myself.
Then came back to find that Jana, who had been going downhill fast, no longer recognized me or knew where she was. She had adapting reasonably well, but within a few weeks of my return, we were already talking about hospice. More wrangling ensued, but I was able to get her moved over in the same facility and same room. Then she plateaued for a bit. Now we are apparently in end game, where she's having a series of ministrokes. This, of course, is happening at the same time that my beloved boy kitty, Shu, is having health issues and the day job is on fire. Good times?
But, I have awesome friends and I put out those first 5 Astreiant novels and am working on publishing the brand new 6th one. I'm writing again and working on new projects and a novel. I've gotten to see a lot of things from theatre to places I hadn't been before or in a while. All things considered, it has had some real high points. Now we'll ride out the next wave and see what we can make of 2025, if anything. Many, many thanks for everyone who's helped me get through this.
Fortunately, I was able to get my mitts on some Paxlovid and it cleared up a few days. Only one of the friends I was traveling with caught it and he also had a mild case, so best possible outcomes. But I was down for a bit with the lurgy. It did clear up in time for me to go and cheer Michael Merriam on at his Guest of Honor stint at MarsCon in Minneapolis in early March, so that was fun. But all of it, added to illnesses and job changes impacting other people and my own job change at the end of March meant that we had delays on putting out the new edition of Point of Hopes (Astreiant #1) by Melissa Scott and Lisa A. Barnett. And do you know what happens when you commit to releasing a 5 book series, that then becomes a 6 book series in a calendar year, and you have delays? You put out a book a month! Which was...a Lot.
I was still on call for Jana's stuff, not to mention checking on her regularly, working full time at stressful job and trying to manage life on my own for the first time in 28 years. Most of which went better than I feared, but I had to farm out the yardwork to Mother's Earth's Gardens and plunged headlong into Swedish Death Cleaning, the way of life. 5.5 sales later and I have dented the mess in Jana's former studio by a lot and other parts of the house by a noticeable amount. I bought myself a new bed with a state of the art mattress and a frame that raises and lowers to help with my growing back and hip issues. I replaced the dining room furniture with chairs that were'n't falling apart and a table that wasn't too big for the space. I gave a lot of stuff away and made a tiny bit of headway on organizing things.
I also decided that I was going to do one new thing a month and one thing I hadn't done since before lockdown. I finally got my roadtrip to Alma, Wisconsin for a great weekend with friends. I got to go to Iceland (a revisit) and Scotland for Glasgow World Con (first time in Scotland), which was generally a delight except for the part where I was sick for 2 weeks before I left and pretty exhausted for the first part of the trip. But got to meet lovely people, had a great time visiting the Highlands, had fun rooming with Heather and generally enjoyed myself.
Then came back to find that Jana, who had been going downhill fast, no longer recognized me or knew where she was. She had adapting reasonably well, but within a few weeks of my return, we were already talking about hospice. More wrangling ensued, but I was able to get her moved over in the same facility and same room. Then she plateaued for a bit. Now we are apparently in end game, where she's having a series of ministrokes. This, of course, is happening at the same time that my beloved boy kitty, Shu, is having health issues and the day job is on fire. Good times?
But, I have awesome friends and I put out those first 5 Astreiant novels and am working on publishing the brand new 6th one. I'm writing again and working on new projects and a novel. I've gotten to see a lot of things from theatre to places I hadn't been before or in a while. All things considered, it has had some real high points. Now we'll ride out the next wave and see what we can make of 2025, if anything. Many, many thanks for everyone who's helped me get through this.
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I hope 2025 is a kind year for you.
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