2008: A year in review

2008 has definitely been a year of ups and downs. I try to keep in mind all the ups, but sometimes it can be difficult -- particularly when I'm surrounded by the downs.

2008 Ups

• Spring: I finished a 350-page manual for a new machine line. Of course I've spent the rest of the year updating it because the engineers won't stop fiddling with it.


• April: Trip to Victoria, British Columbia. Absolutely beautiful city. Spend a wonderful morning at Burchart Garden. Vancouver Island is even more beautiful. Got to see a wild black bear up (a little too) close and personal.
  

  Celebrated one fully year in our house.



• June: Received my Grant of Arms for my work as An Tir submissions herald.


• September: Spent two glorious weeks in Europe!!!!! Took a cooking class in Paris! Enjoyed myself immensely.


• December: Julia and I going to be aunts on her side of the family!!!!! Her brother and his wife are expecting a baby next year.


• Miscellaneous things: Julia has a book chapter for an anthology that has been accepted and is in final revisions and an article that is at press.

2008 Downs

• February: Julia's father started experiencing increasing bouts of tachycardia (racing heartbeats) again. They laser-ablated the misbehaving tissues.


• Spring: Julia's mother broke her rib, clavicle, heel, and a vertebra (three separate accidents: rib, heal, clavicle/vertebra). They are healing well, but she still has some weakness and residual pain.


• June: At the end of June, I got home to find Vandal incapable of walking and crying for help. I realized I was dealing with a low blood sugar episode and got sugar into him. He survived a blood sugar of 25 (should be between 100-120) and a hematocrit of 8 (should be above 25, Vandal was normally 22.5).


• July: Loss of a senior member of the An Tir College of Heralds. He went out doing what he loved most: field heraldry.


• September: Julia lost her 97-year old grandmother shortly after we returned from Europe. She had been in frail health for a number of years. Julia's father fell ill the night before her funeral, but was able to attend but not preach the homily.


• Fall: Julia's father has experienced several infections, some likely caused by the antibiotics to treat others. As of Christmas, he seemed to be doing fairly well.


• December: We lost Vandal on December 20. He had had some bouts with low blood sugars, but we thought he was stable. Unfortunately, it appears his kidneys gave out suddenly.
  

  Loss of another senior member of the An Tir College of Heralds and the SCA College of Arms. He appears to have suffered a health problem during the snow-in episodes pre-dating Christmas.

So the year has not been an easy one, particularly the latter half. But good things have been happening.

S