2009

[WTIC]

2008 was great for me! I'm hoping 2009 will be even better!

[disaster]

Eh. I always seem to see the glass as half empty rather than half full. That way, when disappointment hits, I'm not let down. I hear it'll be a rough year for 2009 for the economy, and it'll take a few years to come out of it (hopefully). But on the up side, I'm optimistic about Obama and that he'll do some good things for our economy and nation. *crosses fingers and prays*

[Thad Killian]

2008 was a fucking terrible year for this guy! Started off with having to support my mother in law who showed up in October of 2007 but didn't ever fucking leave until May 2008...she was tearing the family apart with her bullshit multiple personalities and "feel sorry for me" attitude...with all the BS that was happening at home, I quit my job after a petty thing in early 2008 and I look back at it now and it was petty...both cars went down and out with transmission on our caravan and timing chain in the saturn....a beer keg fell on my foot and shattered the shit out of it and having yet another screw/pin put into my body! Imagine having to walk everywhere with a walking cast...not pleasant! A tornado coming through and tearing part of our house to pieces with all cotg cards turning into a sludge of ink and paper...another microblast coming through Omaha and this time I was walking in it...tree branch missing my head by mere inches! Being evicted from my place after several run ins with the landlord about fixing things...

Now...imagine having four kids, no car, no money...no place to live...scary huh? Stayed with brother in law for about two weeks... he expected to find a place in a weekend in Omaha without car/money/etc...however, found a weekly hotel to stay in Omaha, NE to stay in and bought a 2004 Town & Country LXI before the year was over...
In the last quarter of 2008, I was diagnosed with Esophogial cancer and have been getting treatment for that-it's hard to deal with as my place of employment has been somewhat understanding but I just feel like rolling into a ball and crying myself to sleep...
So...2008 was a fucked up year! I hope that 2009 is better because I am not sure if I can handle another year like the last!

[WTIC]

WOW! That's rough, Thad!

And I thought I had a rough 2004 - 2007!

Good luck in 2009!

[disaster]

Yeah, if there was an award for the worst year ever, I think TK would win that one hands down!

[Chris Ingersoll]

I'm going with "slightly better", if only because I expect a lot of old debts to finally subside this year. I'm still digging out of the hole generated by a 16-month unemployment several years ago (including the entire calendar year of 2002), and with part of that plus my student loans finally going away I'll have a little more financial wiggle-room. I'm still in it for another year or so, but I can at least pretend to see light at the end of the tunnel.

Of course, this could be the year that the wife finally gets pregnant and throws all of that back into chaos.

[WTIC]

Time to go abstain from sex, Chris! ;D ;D ;D

Kidding! Good luck in '09!

[Trent Lawless]

Jan 5, 2009 10:32:09 GMT -5 Chris Ingersoll said:

Of course, this could be the year that the wife finally gets pregnant and throws all of that back into chaos.

When I was a teenager, the husband of my much older cousin (by about 16 years, I think) asked me about when I was going to get married and have kids and I said "When I'm ready and financially stable." He laughed and said, "Then you'll never have kids, because you'll never think you're in that time."

There's a lot of wisdom in that. But we were as ready as we were gonna be when #1 came along and somehow survived with a 30-year-mortgage intact.

Anyway, I'm going with slightly worse, but only because this year will probably be one of some short-term sacrifices for longer-term goals. All this in a sucky economy, mind you.

[Chris Ingersoll]

Jan 16, 2009 13:49:10 GMT -5 Trent Lawless said:

Jan 5, 2009 10:32:09 GMT -5 Chris Ingersoll said:

Of course, this could be the year that the wife finally gets pregnant and throws all of that back into chaos.

When I was a teenager, the husband of my much older cousin (by about 16 years, I think) asked me about when I was going to get married and have kids and I said "When I'm ready and financially stable." He laughed and said, "Then you'll never have kids, because you'll never think you're in that time."

We were of the same mindset as you for the first few years, but mostly due to my horrific unemployment a while back. Naturally every time it looked like we could break out the black ink, something financially catastrophic shoved us further into the red.

Then last year we just said "fuck this" and went off BC. Now our biggest obstacle appears to be biological, as without the pill the wife's cycle is erratic at best.

But I just officially became an uncle last week, so at least now the pressure's off from my mom. Her mom, on the other hand...

[Trent Lawless]

Well, having gone through the infertility thing myself (although we somehow procreated once without any trouble before it), and having the product of all the procedures right now looking at books on the couch next to me as I type this, I'll offer any advice to you or anybody else who has questions about child-creation difficulties. Both my wife and I had "problems," so I can speak from several angles on it. At any rate, I wish you luck. More than likely it's much easier to solve in your situation than it was in ours, or at least you'd better hope so!

[Chris Ingersoll]

We're not worried about it yet, although the thought has occurred to me (on both ends). We're not "trying" so much as we are "no longer preventing".

[Trent Lawless]

Ah, the old "if it happens, it happens" approach. That often works just fine all by itself. Worked for us the first time, as a matter of fact.