There's some bad news:
My jaw hurts like a bitch. Had 2 fillings after a weekend of agony, still have pain through anything less potent than ibuprofen, going on 2 weeks now. No dental insurance, btw. Missed my best friend's birthday dinner b/c I had a date with an ice pack instead.
I lost my job. Honestly, not that big a deal, considering what I was doing/making, but based on the rest of my life, troubling. Basically, was working for a farmer who brought stuff to the farmer's markets, but he's just not making enough to afford any help. Having spent quite a few years doing this, the saddest part for me is just seeing the farm fail.
My car is getting old. Put over 100k miles on my Accord, but it wouldn't start the other night. Got it rolling, took it to the shop, they couldn't find anything major wrong. Still, more doubts. When is this gonna kick me in the wallet?
Comcast is oversubscribed in my area. Ugggh frequent random disconnects with 1-2 minutes associated downtime. Reset router, wait, log back in, apologize in game. On top of that, I have what I think is a video card issue causing occasional video driver resets. I've had some pretty annoying gaming sessions.
Now the good changes, starting small:
I got glasses! Seriously, it was like upgrading my video card IRL. I feel like Legolas or something, peering off into the distance picking out fine details. "Yes, small window on the building up on the hill, I know you are separate from your neighboring windows now." It looks like everyone is driving with those annoying high-focus headlights now, they're all distinct and not blurry in the slightest. Again, no vision plan, so it was all out of pocket, but hey, money well spent, wish I'd done it earlier.
I *just* got a new job. They called this morning, with an offer, for a job I interviewed for nearly 3 weeks ago. I'd put in my app in early November 2012. A little slow, but in all other respects this position is ideal. It's tech, so, $ (compared with farmer's markets, pretty much anything is). It's educational support as opposed to industry, so less stressful than stuff I used to do. it's mostly in my wheelhouse (networking) but there's enough new stuff that it'll be challenging and fun.
My gf and I are getting married. It's been a long time coming. We've been together for over a decade already. I'd been spending a lot of time worrying about personal issues, what people expected of us/me, asking myself stupid little questions instead of the one big one I already knew the answer to: "Is she the one you want for the rest of your life?" Yep. She might hold my feet to the fire more than my lazy conscience wants, but I know I'm a better person for it. I know who she really is, honest, diligent, brilliant, dorky, beautiful. I'll stop. She's amazing.
Weeeeeee're also having a kid. Again, on the "what people might think" front, it might look like a shotgun wedding, but there's never been any real doubts about where we'd end up. All the doctor's appointments so far (~20 weeks) have indicated there's a healthy baby on the way. Fingers crossed, like never before. I'm already looking forward to getting whooped at sc3 by my own flesh and blood. Apparently there's some work before you get to have a little gaming buddy, but I think we can handle it. She still hasn't laughed at my "NOT IT!" jokes about diaper duty, but I'm keeping hope alive.
She's finishing her PhD (rhetoric: new media, games, environmental lit, english) and going on the job market. Prospects are good. If they're good enough, we might move across the country. This year.