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I’m tempted to leave this post as the above.  This started off as a rough year, took a slight turn in some direction, made an abrupt spiral, went up a bit, and then managed to go south and north at the same time.  In other words, I’m just going to do a good/bad list to cover everything because I can’t make a general concept.

1. Bad– I began having anxiety attacks at night.  At least, I thought that’s what it was since I woke up gasping for air.  This led to me attempting a few anxiety meds with different levels of fail.  Somehow, blood pressure meds were added to the list and that met with the same levels of fail.  This health-based circus went from January to October.
2. Bad– This one health event does deserve it’s own space.  I was sent to do a heart stress test because things looked a little off.  They always have.  I expected the treadmill like last time.  Instead, I was put into a scanning machine and injected with a medicine to simulate intense exercise.  This is done for people who can’t use the treadmill, which isn’t a category I fall into.  I was told the medicine would wear off fast, but I was feeling miserable for hours afterwards.  Still don’t know exactly why this was done to me instead of the other test.
3. Good– I finally got re-evaluated for sleep apnea . . . in August.  Seems that was probably the reason I kept waking up feeling like I nearly died.  The anxiety attack joined in a few minutes after that because I assumed it was responsible.  My favorite part of the evaluation was after the I did the sleep test at home and mentioned I did it with an oral appliance designed to reduce apnea events: “Wait.  You had 199 events per hour WITH the appliance? The CPAP company will contact you as soon as insurance clears it and they will clear it.”
4. Good– I got a CPAP machine and I’m acting getting quality sleep for the first time since maybe 2009 or 2010.  Consistent quality sleep at least.  I no longer wake up feeling sick and the fatigue I feel at the end of the day is regular instead of severe exhaustion.  Hey, that’s a good thing.  My blood pressure is better and the bad weather days aren’t battering my sinuses as much before.  Just have to work on the weight loss and I’ll be golden.
5. Bad– THE LIFE EVENT!  This really just colors the whole year even though it started at the end of August.  It’s going to continue in 2024 too, so I’m not having much hope for the future at this time.
6. Good–  I got to publish for the first time since December 1, 2021.  Do I Need to Use a Dragon? was fun to finally complete.  Did it sell a lot?  No, but I don’t think sales are in my future as an author.  Lack of marketing funds, contacts, and time makes that impossible.  I’d have to be discovered and promoted by someone who has all of that, but that doesn’t happen these days.  Maybe in the future.
7. Bad–  I caught Covid for a second time in April.  This prevented me from taking my son to a cosplay contest.  It was rougher than the first time only because I didn’t get the meds until I had to go back in worse shape.  I missed my tenure celebration too.  At least I got a picture of my students with the poster for me and they saved the thing for me to take home.
8. Good– I had a great summer with the life skills kids.  Sure, there were plenty of chaotic days for various reasons.  It was still a lot of fun and I’m looking forward to signing up for another.
9. Good–  I get to be 100% Life Skills this school year.  Testing Center was fun at first, but I really like this type of schedule.  Noticing that I’m dressing down a bit with no more dress shirts.  This is really because I take two of our students to woodshop during 9th period and I need to be able to roll my sleeves up.
10. Good– My son graduated from middle school with a few awards.  He got honor roll for 8 quarters straight too.  Then, he went on to start high school, which has been about as smooth as one would expect.
11. Bad– Not liking how the world is looking these days.
12. Good– The Lord of the Rings Lego set.  That was a fun build and totally worth the money and space.  Next year is going to have a 50 year anniversary Dungeons & Dragons set, so I’m going to start saving up for that now.  My son isn’t into Lego much these days, which means I’ll use the bonus points.
13. Bad– No sales worth talking about in terms of books.  I didn’t get as much writing and outlining done as I wanted too.  This was mostly because of the health stuff and then, after I got that handled, the LIFE EVENT!  So, it did feel like this year was out to stop me from writing.

The score is 7-6 with GOOD winning, but I have to admit that I stretched a few things.  I also condensed some of the BAD into one thing.  Technically, the health stuff should have been divided up more with the medication stuff getting it’s own category.  As much as I want to say that this was a 50/50 year, the LIFE EVENT pushes 2023 into the bad category.  I mean, it threatens 2024 and could even cause issues with 2025, 2026, and 2027.  Not sure about after that.  Yeah, I’m not really liking how this year turned out and I actually still have November and December to go here.  I wrote this early because I figured it couldn’t get better or worse.  Any additions will be put below.