Short version: I took an unscheduled, but very needed break from the fandom.

Longer version: The last year plus was filled with far more roller coaster inspired ups and downs then I care to live on a regular basis and it's only been the last month or two that a semblance of stability has returned.

Alas, during this time I've lost touch with many people I care about in the fandom, in some cases making me feel like i was abandoning some when they may have needed me most, which was NOT my intention ever. I don't know how many will actually read this, but here's the low down on some of the bigger things that happened.

Fandom; As I mentioned this was a big part of it. The drama amongst the local furs, blending with a nagging feeling that some may have been using my kindness, and an overall lack of appreciation for the things I did do for the local group caused me to drop contact with all but a few select people, and be an observer only. During this time, I had someone question my morals and ethics while trying to keep others in the fandom safe from a potentially violent and unstable fur.

Then there was the BBQ's i was hosting. They took a toll on me financially and physically, yet there were others that would complain about things that would happen with other furs at the BBQ I was hosting, but never come to me about their concerns. Then there were the ones that couldn't even give so much as a thank you for the effort and $$$$$$ I would spend on those events. Then there were the ones that bitched about the change in time for the BBQ, yet didn't even bring anything themselves to help. despite being a potluck, people still refused to bring things yet mooch the food and drink anyways. I can normally let things roll, but people who don't appreciate what they DO have, or what people are doing for them annoy the crap out of me. These are just a few of the reasons why I personally stopped hosting these events. Don't get me wrong, there was quite a bit of good that came out of it too, but the negatives started outweighing the positive for me and I knew I could no longer do it.

I'm still an admin on the local fur msg board, but admittedly I haven't been as die hard on it as I used to and just observe more so than participate these days. I haven't really gone to any of the local events but that is more so due to location now(I live over 40 miles from the closest one now). My changing work schedule (yes I know, again) will soon be another factor. I may even brave organizing an event again, but that will have to wait for now.

Work: So I mentioned a schedule change, but believe it or not, I feel it will be for the better. One major downfall is that I will not get to see my mate as much(he works mon-fri 8:00a-5:30p, but he and I have weighed the pros and cons and decided that me taking this role will be far better for us. So, the skinny, if you haven't found out through other sources yet, is that I was promoted at work to Team Lead. It is an overnight schedule again, and fri-monday at that. I'm hoping the slower shift will help me get back into my artwork again, the extra money certainly helps, and I will be able to run my pathfinder rpg still on my days off. I am ecstatic about the new position, and several team members have already told me how happy they are that I got the position, which makes the transition all the easier for me. I start the new schedule the week of Labor day, so i've been spending as much time as I can with my mate till then.

Life/home: So, a few things here. One, I am now a homeowner for a lil over a year, and absolutely LOVE my house. The commute reminds me of my time growing up in NJ, so that doesn't bother me, but I am further away from some of my friends which does limit time together a wee bit. Home ownership has come with it's own fair share of surprises, but overall I am very much preferring it to apartment living. I also have more of a sense of pride in this place and truly feel like it is a home.

Death is something that always happens, its a part of the life cycle but this year it struck twice. the more recent was a couple weeks ago. My mate and I lost the first cat we got together, Willow. She was a very sweet semi feral cat, and it was getting to be her time. She was getting older, and we noticed she wasn't moving as well as she used to, and she ended up having some kind of stroke, then quietly passed in the night. The other death this year was totally unexpected and rocked my world. About 2 months ago, we got a call from my mother in law. While she and her husband were travelling to Portland to see their grand kids, he had a heart attack, and while she was able to bring him back at one point, ultimately he succumbed and passed on. It was totally out of the blue, and while he wasn't in the best overall health, he really hadn't showed any warning signs. Even now I still am in a state of shock, knowing he won't be back down here in the winter to run his poker tourney at their winter home park. I won't go into the details of everything that went down when we all went back to Wisconsin for the funeral, but my mate and I both still find ourselves tearing up sometimes when we think of him.

My family took a bit of a hit of sorts too. My mom had some rather serious knee replacement surgery done, and there were various complications since, but things thankfully seem to be overall stable for her. I don't know what i would do if she was gone. She is the only real family I have left. Our relationship hasn't always been great, but I love my mom dearly. I've been having some odd issues with my health as of late, but nothing too serious as of yet, so that does have me concerned. I'll be meeting with a Doc later this month to air some of my concerns.

On a more positive note, my mate have another reason, besides my promotion, to celebrate. He and I will be celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary this October. Hard to believe how much has happened during that time. We are going back to where it all started to celebrate, fabulous Las Vegas :) Whether we renew vows is not anything that has been decided yet, but we will be hitting up some of the places we did the first time we met there, and when we went back 2 years later to get married :)

Oh!!! another cool happy thing was that we have a couple cool toys for our house. One is that we won this awesome grill for our house thanks to Texas Roadhouse. It's a brinkmann and has like 5 burners, not including the 2 side burners. the other is custom pool table that we had built for us that was inspired by our poker chip wedding favors. The chips are actually the sights on the table, and the table has a black and blue theme to it as well. Might have to add pics of that table here. And yes we've played a few games on it and it is AWESOME!!!!

Also updated my phone a few months back to the Samsung Galaxy note, and i'm STILL trying to figure everything out. I finally got my email notifications working properly *grumble* but overall it's an awesome phone.


Okay, I think that is really the major things that have been going on, i'm sure I missed a couple things here and there, but for now, I think that's plenty, don't you?