Year in Review, 2013

I've decided to to the "Year in Review". 

Here are the other ones:
2008  http://houstonheather.blogspot.com/2008/12/year-in-review-heather-style.html
2009  http://houstonheather.blogspot.com/2009/12/what-year.html
2010  http://houstonheather.blogspot.com/2010/12/year-in-review.html  (what a horrible, depressing year)
2011  [not available, I was depressed]
2012  http://houstonheather.blogspot.com/2012/12/2012-year-in-review.html

First, I need to eat and take my pills.  I'm a lot more fragile than I'd like to admit.  OK, done that. 

Birthday party next door!  That should be interesting later on. 

Let's get to it:
January: I started out depressed but went to manic pretty quick.  Ron was still drinking to blackout stage on a regular basis and aggravating his neuropathy.  I passed some very large clots "the size of my thumb" during my cycle.  I have had this happen a few times in the last 20 years, and I always wonder if I had a miscarriage.  Battles with the other vendor over candy bar prices (they still refuse to go up).  The state took away a food machine, but we were given permission to run a "chop shop" and strip if of all usable parts.  We are still using those parts to keep the other machine going.  Third parties gave me a very hard time because I refused to buy Ron alcohol. 

February: I got sick with a viral sinus infection.  Bible Handouts when I felt better. 

March:  I started regulating my TV and reading.  Not much energy in a day, I have to spend it wisely.  My account got hacked, again.  I got manic.  I discovered Friskies Hairball treats, which my cats still love. 

April: Busy.  Bubba died suddenly of heart failure (we eased his passing).  I prayed about it, and went down to the shelter, where I was chosen by Kitty Pretty, a chubby torbie (tortie tabby).  "No one wants the older cats" I was told when I selected her.  She was 3 days from death.  We brought her home and love her to pieces.  She's a good fit and she even looks related to our other cat.  When we put Bubba down, I gave the vet, and the cab driver, Bibles.  My lithium level came back ideal at .6.  I just have to live with the brain fog and fatigue. 

May: We lost the wheelchair.  It broke while I was pushing Ron in it one day, but it did not collapse.  I added Depakote to my medication cocktail.  It works great, but adds more fatigue.  Ron developed disgusting blisters all over his legs, which got infected.  One doctor accused me of burning him.  It took months for the blisters to heal.  I was finally able to track them to Ron's overuse of a back massager, on his legs.  Bible Handouts

June:  Bible Handouts, Ron was unwillingly used by a woman and her daughter, begging for money.  I found the little girl standing next to Ron in the wheelchair as if he were her father.  I was furious.  So angry, in fact, the mother snatched the child and went into their (nice) car until we left.  The guy next door had a wild all-night party.  We started Baby Girl kitten on adult food (Blue Wilderness Duck). 

July:  Ron and I weren't doing so well.  I went low carb. 

August:  We had a complaint about poorly stocked machines.  Ron finally starts giving snacks priority in the budget.  Doc's intern calls in my prescription, including sleeping pills and antianxiety pills.  If I'd known what was coming, I probably would have taken them! 

September:  I'm told we will no longer have our vending area.  Lots of scrambling, but they finally find an area for us to put some of our vending machines.  We lose our stockroom as well, and I have to clean it out.  Some of it comes home, some goes to storage in Austin. 

October:  Getting used to our new vending location.  Ongoing power issues force us to give up a food machine.  A couple of Bible Handouts. 

November:  We ask the other vendor, nicely, to please keep our shared area clean.  They do not and react very badly, starting a "war". 

December:  Battling depression, Bible Handouts. 

I lost Bubba, but I got Torbie.  Ron developed the blisters, and will carry those scars forever, but it got him thinking about his alcohol intake.  We almost lost the business, but didn't. 

What a year!