I’m sure you’ve noticed by now that we have a whole new look around here. That’s because someone or something happened to the old site and it disappeared. I’m blessed that a friend stepped up and offered me hosting so here we are! As I have time, things will get tweaked and we may even have another new look. That’s 2025’s problem though. Since I’m still in 2024 for another 9.5 hours or so, I want to focus there.
It’s been a rough year. My mental health has suffered. At one point, I had to go off all of my medications for 2 months because I lost my insurance. That’s been resolved, but I’m still struggling to get back into the habit of taking it. We also almost lost our place to live but by some miracle have been allowed to stay here for another year. The house fund that I’d worked so hard to build up has been completely depleted by low project numbers this year. When finances hit other people that trickles down to me and it’s been really disheartening and I’m filled with fear for the new year and what’s to come.
I’m sure there’s more negatives, but I’m going to try to come up with some positives. After all, I don’t want to go into the new year in a negative mindset. So, ten good things from 2024:
- Sports with Ben. We went to football, hockey, and basketball this past year and it’s been such a highlight for me.
- Trips with Ben. Not only did we venture all the way to the Upper Peninsula for basketball, but we also traveled down to Detroit and to Grand Rapids.
- New friends. I’ve spent a lot of time on Twitch this year and I’ve met so many great people and I’m blessed to now call some of them friends.
- Old friends. There are a couple of people that I don’t know what I’d have done without this past year. Their words of support helped pull me through tough times.
- Opportunities. If you were on the old site (and maybe this one by now), you’ll have seen a post about an opportunity I’ve been offered by someone I’ve loved working with for a long time. Also, thanks to another client, I got to work on my first ever manga. Oh! Plus, I was blessed to be asked to be part of an anthology that has gone on to win awards.
- Support. The amount of support I’ve received this past year has been incredible. A few people have been able to help financially, but so many more have offered words of encouragement and virtual hugs and shoulders to cry on. They may not know it, but they’re part of why I’m still going.
- New Book. Yep, you may not know it, but after 10 years or so, I got brave and released my first book of smut. The hope is that it sells enough copies to buy a new suitcase that I need to go to New Orleans. Small hopes, but it’s the small things that keep us going. So far it’s sold 2 copies so I have a down payment going.
- Downsizing. This one was traumatic but I’m proud of us for doing it. I probably still have too much, but living with the less that we have has been a good thing. It also brought my boys and I together to get it done.
- New Shows. This should possibly be under opportunities, but this past year, we tried out three new shows. The first was a craft show that was pretty much a bust but gave me new experience. The other was a large comic con that I was invited to share a table at and I had the best show I’ve ever had. It allowed me to provide a small Christmas for my children and to travel to Canada for the third show. That show was also low on sales, but big on the love of old friends.
- Strength. It’s been a rough year, but somehow I’ve weathered the storms and I’m still here and even though the bad days were really bad, they weren’t as bad as they have been in the past. This shows me I’m getting stronger and growing as a person and that’s a very good thing.
And that’s my ten. I’m sure there’s more that just aren’t popping into my poor brain, but that’s ten really good things. Here’s to more in the new year. I’ve been told that I need to make myself a priority in this coming year, but that’s an entire post in itself. For now, I’ll just say happy new year to all of my friends and followers. You’ve made my year a better place to live and I’m thankful for you.
