December 31st

I am sitting here with a bleach-blonde pixie cut, a full-time employee of a company, in an apartment that I enjoy, This is so very far from where I started this year, and I feel incredibly happy and lucky to be where I am.

2018 brought a lot of wonderful things into my life, some big and some small. I went to some amazing concerts (Dessa, Nightwish), tried all sorts of new cuisines (who knew there was Indian food that I like?), and met a ton of really awesome animals. (One of whom lived with me for two weeks - I miss you Kiwi, even though you gave Cas fleas.)

I went to two weddings this year, which also involved me going home to Minnesota for a few days. The trip was hectic but really wonderful.

I left my jobs with the Mouse and with Wag to pursue full-time employment, and received a promotion within a few months of starting.

After thinking about it for many months, I did go ahead and chop off all my hair again. It feels very good.

I made the big decision to taper of my Klonopin - which I am still doing, but I am down to 1/4 of a tablet per day instead of two full tablets in a day.

I moved from my old apartment into a horrendous sublease, then into a really great apartment that is both close to my job and close to lots of things I like doing.

And with regards to this blog, I blogged every single day this year. I'm proud of that.

I think I mentioned this briefly before, but 2019 is going to be my last year of daily blogging. This doesn't mean that I'll never blog again, but I don't feel like it needs to be a daily thing. For one, daily blogging isn't necessary or necessarily a good fit with my lifestyle. A lot of the time, my day consists of going to work, coming home and eating dinner and maybe hanging out with a friend of watching something on YouTube. That's not a bad day, but it's also not necessarily something I feel the need to document. I think after 2019, I will see how I feel about blogging occasionally. Maybe weekly, monthly, or just when something of note happens. But that's to see in another year.

Additionally, after completing one more year of blogging, I will have blogged daily for ten years. That is an absolutely incredible amount of time, and I often can't believe I've done it and I'm still doing it. So really, it's a good place to stop. I started this blog in January of 2010 and I have grown and changed so much since then. This year especially has been incredibly formative and good, so I am leaving 2018 on a positive note.

I know in the past I have set resolutions for both myself and this blog for the coming year. I don't have anything specific for 2019 - honestly, I just want to be healthy and happy. That's my goal. This might involve working out or seeing a therapist. Maybe it will involve other changes too. I want to be open to change, but also appreciative of where I am and what I have. I'd like to go to new places and try new things. I also want to continue to give Cas lots of cuddles, and blog about it all the time.

Thank you to everyone who reads this, or who has ever read my ramblings. Often this blog is a shout into the void of the internet, but at the end of the day, my opinion of this blog and what I do with it is the most important. It's my life, and I like to look back on it. Sometimes I want to kick myself for the short entries or vague posts, but in this day and age, I'd rather undershare than overshare anyway.

A very happy New Year to you, and to myself as well. Let's make 2019 absolutely magical.