The Obligatory End of Year Post

As 2011 comes to a close, I can't help but look back and think of how far I've come this year.

This year, I bought a house. I slashed my monthly housing costs in half, and am moving toward being out of debt by the end of 2012.

This year, I attended GayRomLit. This was my first writing retreat. My first trip to New Orleans. My first trip to a city where I knew no one. My first trip away from Hubby since we met. And only my second plane ride in my life. I hadn't flown since pre-911. Things are a little different now. You know they don't use paper tickets anymore? LOL

GayRomLit was a first for me in a lot of other ways. My first time going to public places alone. I went to the zoo, the insectarium, and the aquarium. It was also my first time on a riverboat. I did the riverboat cruise, even though I'm deathly horrified of boats and water. My first time roaming the streets of ANY town by myself and without a map. My first time getting lost on said streets...and my first time figuring out where I was. All. By. Myself. 

On the writing front, I had 15 releases this year, including m/m, transgender, and heterosexual, which is pretty damned good, I think. I also achieved something I'd been working toward - I had the very first story I'd ever written accepted, and I can now say that nothing I've turned in for publication has been declined. Everything I've submitted with the intent of serious publication has been accepted and published. Not. Too. Shabby.

On the home front, Hubby has been cleared to come off antibiotics for the first time in three years. This is a pretty big milestone for him.

I had my first surgery this year - I had my wisdom teeth out in February.  That went okay, so I followed it up with a breast reduction in August - the first thing I've seriously done to further my transgender situation. 

I reconnected with a couple people online, got closer to a couple other people and discovered...I don't like one or two of them. Sometimes, distance works in your favor. 

I learned the boundaries I need to put on my relationships with my family. My sister is great, but when she came for Thanksgiving and said, "You're (my legal name) to me, and you'll always be (my legal name) to me, no matter what you call yourself," that was a pretty eye opening experience. In listening closer to what she said during her visit, and how she said it, I've realized there needs to be an emotional boundary between us. I don't know if she'll ever fully accept who I am. All I know is that, right now, she doesn't. 

So, looking back, 2011 wasn't too bad. I learned a lot about myself, my life, and the people in it. I made some new friends, and chose to not be so close to some friends I thought I had. 

All in all - very good year!