Oh, 2015. You were an interesting creature, weren’t you? That isn’t to say you were bad, not by any stretch of the imagination – at times you were challenging, but for the most part you were a lot of fun. If 2016 can live up to the bar you set (with one large exception), then I’m in for a pretty good year indeed.

What happened in 2015?

The year started out kind of lousy, because I was sick. Very sick. So, so, so sick. We thought I had sleep apnea, so we tried to get me tested .. but the equipment never worked properly so it was basically just a huge hassle for no good reason. I kept getting sicker, so the list of possible diseases I had grew exponentially. When I wrote the post, I threw “Catastrophic Heart Failure” onto the list as a joke – yes, it came up almost every time I researched my symptoms, but that can’t possibly be the cause. It’s my lungs that are the problem! In retrospect, this is darkly hilarious:

I can’t sleep because my lungs keep filling with fluid. I Googled furiously to see if I should go to the hospital or not, but all that did was convince me that I am experiencing heart failure which makes me panic and then my breathing sucks even more. All things point to getting immediate care, but I don’t want to bother anyone. That seems so rude and unnecessary.

FORESHADOWING!

Also, I found out I was not an octopus, went to Seattle for a mini-vacation and a bathtub that filled from the ceiling, and clung precariously to life; a minor spasm of hyperbole that turned out to be far closer to the truth than anyone anticipated.

After my Adventures in Hospitalization and impatience in not getting better immediately, life continued on. I never did tell my mother about my health issues, because frankly I don’t want to deal with the fallout or um make her worry. Yes, that’s it. I’m just sparing her feelings, is all. March was all about getting better, realizing I wasn’t going to make it to London in May, deep thinkie thoughts about death, vainly hoping for Half Life 3, and going to Ucluelet for some storm watching. All of these weren’t necessarily great things – I really wanted to go to London in May, and I was sad that my mom lost a friend – but I was still alive, so that was pretty super.

April was dull, but May was pretty great. Went to Seattle for a show, went to a wedding reception for awesome people, traveled to Portland for Write the Docs 2015. All fun things! I got continual updates about my health during this time, and was pleased to see that I was definitely getting better bit by bit. We spent some time on a boat with friends, was disgusted by my neighbours and their rampant NIMBYism, and was generally a whole a lot of uncomfortable because I was STILL itchy from the penicillin I took the previous November to cure my streps. That sucked. Not nearly as much as being asked when my baby was due, or having to skip a party because I had germs – July was a big pity party all ’round. People were grumpy at me for various reasons. I countered with glitter glue and paper umbrellas, and the Manic Pixie Dream Girl starter kit. Also, I was going to London! I think I started packing in July, for my departure in September. When I wasn’t planning my trip, I was loitering with my youth gang and generally being a menace to society, as we tech professionals often are. You know how it goes.

In August I learned that the “don’t use a hot tub if you have a heart condition” signs weren’t merely for show, and I got attacked/threatened by an asshat in an SUV in front of my parkade door. Neither of those were very good. However, right around the corner was September and that meant it was time to go to the UK!

Man, I love the UK.

I don’t remember much about November and December, other than I wasn’t in the UK. It was good to be home, but I wanted to still be traveling. I did find out that I was going to Barcelona in February, which is kind of insane but very exciting. I did a lot of Things for Other People, such as the Christmas Wish breakfast and the Shoebox Project and the Hour of Code. We went to Seattle for a 2-day, 3-unicorn party, had many Good Times with excellent people, went to Edmonton for some much-needed Family Time, and then back to Seattle and our favourite Americans to ring in the New Year. Oh, and I started gaming again: I finished Assassin’s Creed Tea and Crumpets, and I’m 32 levels into Fallout 4.

2016 has barely begun, but it has some fairly big shoes to fill. I can’t wait to see what the year has in store for me, and I am BEYOND EXCITED about the 2 (TWO!) international trips we have planned (one booked, one in the planning stages) .. plus a third, yet-to-be-determined thing to happen in the fall. I have a health checkup early next week to find out how my heart is doing (today is the 11 month anniversary of my almost-dead), exciting fun times are planned for various weekends this month, and things are mostly really excellent (Stockholm Syndrome aside). Let’s do this, 2016! I have a brand new passport to fill!

i earned this.