Well… 2011 has been gone for 2.5 weeks, and I’ve finally decided to sit down and think about all that’s happened. I had a week off at the end of the year, but I refused to do any reflection during that time, way too much energy required.

We started last year searching for a house, and I ended it lounging in newly purchased house with the first actual week off from work I’ve had in years. Over the summer, we took a road trip to Las Vegas with the girls I finally quit my ridiculously part time job at Wizards of the Coast (moved away from Renton).

In any case, let me see if I can at least write out 12 bullet points:

• Jan: started the home search
• Feb: ???
• Mar: Found the house, signed the papers!
• Apr: We started refinishing the floors while the house was still empty.
• May: Started moving our stuff in, and cleaning up the old house we were renting.
• Jun: First official month actually living in the new house.
• Jul: Niki’s 9th birthday!
• Aug: Road trip to Vegas (started in July, to be honest), and my brother’s wedding.
• Sep: Surgery to fix my sinus issue.
• Oct: Maeby’s 5th birthday!
• Nov: My first official year at Substantial
• Dec: Took an actual week off!

It’s amazing how much time the new home claimed and maybe someone can fill in the ???, but I’m satisfied with 2011 nevertheless.

I’ve been dealing with a terrible sinus issue for a few months now, and I went to the Ear, Nose and Throat doctor to see if they could do anything about it. The doc prescribed a ten day course of antibiotics, which I took diligently. Unfortunately, those ten days came and went, without improvement. In fact, I got slight worse. Fluid¹ had built up in my ear canal to the point where I couldn’t really hear out of my left ear.

Today, I went in to see the doc again and he felt I had gotten a lot worse than the last time I saw him, and noticed how bad my ears looked. In fact, he recommended an immediate myringotomy to keep me from temporarily losing my hearing. I nearly canceled² but now that I’ve gone through it, I can tell how bad my right ear congested.

He also cleared out my sinuses so he could poke around and see what’s going on in my skull. First he stuffed my sinuses with cottonballs soaked in local anesthesia (ridiculously uncomfortable). He followed that with a good vacuuming. The tubing was clear. Was clear. Oh god, it was terrible. Once he got it all cleared out he stuck an endoscope in and took a look around.

Ultimately, he suspects a type of nasal polyp, that will most likely need to be removed surgically. I’ve scheduled a CT scan for Wednesday to confirm, and then I’ll possibly have to schedule a surgery. Either way, I’m hoping to get my sense of smell and taste back soon. My hearing’s half way back!

Of course now I’m leaking fluids out of my nose and ear, so you’ll have to excusemewhileiruntothebathroom

We bought a house about a week and two months ago, and I’m happy to say that the laborious process of moving out of the house we were renting is complete. 50% of the move was more making sure we had the new place in mostly functional order (updating some hoses, redoing the floors, painting some rooms). 50% of the move consisted of packing and hauling. Another 50% consisted of trying to keep both places clean. And the last 50%? Half of that was trying to get my car up here (removing the head, replacing broken bolts, realizing we don’t have time to replace the head gasket and giving up and calling a tow company).

With help from family, it’s all done though and we no longer have any ties to our old place. Normally when we move I’m filled with a sense of melancholy as we pull out of the drive way that one last time, but this time? After two months of moving? After a year of packing and storing and living in what was functionally a real estate show room? As the tow truck pulled away with me in the passenger seat, I don’t even think I looked back.