astillar | It's that time again

I've been meaning to do a year-in-review post for a couple weeks now and if I don't do it already, it' ain't gonna get done. So better late than never. I liked the format that

opheliasavalon used, so that's what I'll be using. I've gotta say, thank goodness for LiveJournal; I would've forgotten 99% of this year without these cliff notes to refer to.

January - Liz and I got settled into our new fancy apartment up in Round Rock. I spent most of that month learning how to live with a woman and a feisty cat.

February - I started my long stretch of out-of-town work in Dallas. Working for the US Army Corps of Engineers was stressful, but I managed to be paired with a colorful group of guys who reminded me how to be a man. I tried to stay cosplay-active despite the living situation, with commissions and helping friends with their projects. Managed to spend more time with my brother and North Texas friends while I was up there.

March - Continued to work in Dallas. Bought my wedding ring (>_<), got drunk for the first&last time with my brother, and ate at Medieval Times.

April - Still in Dallas. Got into a car accident with my work truck (yikes!), and I briefly attempted to give up cosplay for good. Catbus paid the ultimate price. By now Liz and I were having constant arguments on all fronts; we both started pulling in different directions, each trying to stay happy as our relationship broke down.

May - Dallas. I made the big mistake of sharing personal relationship stuff with friends. I think ultimately, I got the support and advice from friends that I was looking for, but drove a wedge between Liz and myself in the process. We postponed the wedding and decided to go to couples' therapy.

June - Went home to Austin for the month. Nearly gave myself a heart-attack shopping at Victoria's Secret, and got seduced into joining the Princess Tutu group a month before AX (madness!). Liz and I started our counselling. It was a disappointing month, as far as our relationship was concerned.

July - AX and Dallas. Participated in the AX cosplay contest, wow, I haven't felt nervous like that in years. Difficult counseling continued and I returned to Dallas for phase two of that job.

August - More Dallas. Attended Cat/Kevin's wedding (awesome), had a heart-to-heart with my potential in-laws, more couples's counseling, wore women's clothing, tried chocolate-covered bacon (not as good as you'd think), finished my one cosplay for the year (Wybie), and spent my 30th birthday playing Guitar Hero with my brother. Got a big boy camera.

September - Broke up with Liz. Spent a couple sucky weeks in Lubbock.

October - Dallas. Joined Facebook (oh noes!), bought a sewing machine, lived as a handicapped man for a week or so, and finally went camping at Texas Renaissance Festival, thus breaking my 6-year camping dry spell.

November - Started looking for a new place to live, more TRF camping, and went home to the Valley for a mildly depressing Thanksgiving.

December - Moved into my casita (that's "little house" for you Yankees), finally finished the Dallas job and worked in Louisiana for a couple weeks where I went to a casino for the first time. Spent Christmas on my own but greeted New Year's with the same group of friends as always.

The Year - I can't say it was a good year. Looking at where I started and where I ended up, it's a large drop by anyone's standards. Overall, I spent over 210 days away from home in Dallas, Lubbock, and Louisiana, while at home was a disintegrating relationship that I held onto longer than I probably should have. What little time I was able to spend with my friends was probably the highlights of this year. In a way, I experienced a lot of "firsts" this year, some good, some bad. And I especially learned a lot, about myself and what kind of man I can and can't be.
It was a tough year.