The last couple of weeks have been difficult - solid sleep has been evading me, the challenges of dealing with a half-trained puppy and a cat who hates him have been consuming me, and the question marks still looming over my wife's health are preoccupying me. Just when I think I'm having a good day, something happens and my fragile foothold on solid ground slips and I go flailing back to overwhelm, anger and exhaustion. I'm trying to function at work, but the changes in me over the last month have not gone unnoticed. I have to find a way to pull it together before my team is impacted beyond repair. I have to find the right time to have some conversations I've been putting off. I have to find a way to get better sleep and to remember to eat while at work. I have to find a way to balance what needs to be done with taking care of myself. 

New Years - You asked for it

Yes, it's been a long time. A very long time, I see. So much has happened, and is happening, that it has been hard to keep tracking of passing time.

I know some people have been wondering when I would start posting again. You may regret it....

So here it is, New Year's Day 2014. 2013 was a challenge, with lots of ups and downs. I am hoping that 2014 has a lot more ups, but I am honestly having trouble trusting that.

So much good was finally happening, life clicking into place. In 2012 I got a promotion and bought a house out in the country. 2013 started off with a dear friend fighting a losing battle with Multiple Myeloma, which took her away from us on Memorial Day. I miss her terribly. It ended with the loss of a high school classmate a week after Thanksgiving, due to respiratory arrest caused by an unannounced illness. Between July and now, we have been dealing with the wife's as-yet-undiagnosed progressive neurological illness, which is taking a toll on both of us. So forgive me if I don't seem too optimistic about 2014; I'm doing the best I can.

My first rant of the new year is brought on by email and facebook ads and status updates: we are a culture obsessed by dieting and weight loss. You think you need to lose 10 pounds? Think again! 10 pounds does not make you more beautiful or healthier.

Yes, I'm 10 pounds over my ideal weight. So what? My wife is 40 pounds less than she was in July and now weighs less than I do even though she is four inches taller than me. THAT is a health concern. Stop with the frickin weight loss plans already!