How has your year been?

[Trethowan]

Hey everyone, it has been a minute. Hard to keep up with all the shenanigans going on. All is well in the Trethowan household. Kids are sweet, the dolls are dusty, and I'm still pecking away at story ideas between cups of coffee and buying books I can't seem to find time to read. Ivan stares dramatically while Micah sits atop his motorcycle. They've been frozen in time for nearly nine years since I've done a story with them. Has it been that long?

How are you all doing? What's new?

I hope the year has been good to you, and I hope you all have a safe, happy holiday season. Sending lots of hugs your way!

[Kirahfaye]

Hey, Treth! Lots happening in my area of the world. New job for the hubby, move to Augusta, new home (with a pool!). Getting ready for the holidays and this arctic freeze. My dolls are boxed up waiting for a shelving unit.

Have a great holiday!!

[DollyKim]

Buying more books than you might be able to read is an attempt at immortality, or something like that. My breeding program is going quite well.

My dolls are still pretty much packed from the move, but I have gotten a few out here and there to interact with and added more. The dollhouse is in position but not furnished yet. I have made creative endeavors with different levels of completion or tots up. On one hand some things are so secure that the summer of 2021 can never happen again and on the other...

I am quite interested in seeing doll shelves and displays to give me ideas of what to do with mine. They want to go back to collecting display dust.

[Kattriella]

It's been another year of working retail, if that says anything.

I DID finally break down and get some decent lighting for taking photographs, and I've been working on photostory scripts now and then. I've also been working on a novel that will probably never be finished, but it's a nice way to pass time now and then.

[victoriavictrix]

Well, I lost my beloved cockatoo Ikaika in March, and I would give up almost anything to have her back.

[Stormlight]

One of my elderly cats died a few months ago from kidney disease. My other even older cat was also just diagnosed with kidney disease. She's almost eighteen and I know she can't live forever, but I was hoping for a little more time. Switching her diet up to the uber-expensive specialized prescription kidney diet that I really can't afford, but if it helps keep her healthy just a little longer, I'm willing to try it.

On top of that, at the beginning of November, my best friend went to bed one night and never woke up. She would have turned 45 that month. She had so many medical problems, fractured back, nerve damage as a result, diabetes, and none of those things are what caused it. Her body just quit. At least she passed peacefully.

But yeah. It's been a year.

[Trethowan]

Hey, Treth! Lots happening in my area of the world. New job for the hubby, move to Augusta, new home (with a pool!). Getting ready for the holidays and this arctic freeze. My dolls are boxed up waiting for a shelving unit.

Have a great holiday!!

Very nice! Congrats on the job and move. When we moved the dolls were boxed for EONS. At least it kept them from getting dusty! ha

Buying more books than you might be able to read is an attempt at immortality, or something like that. My breeding program is going quite well.

My dolls are still pretty much packed from the move, but I have gotten a few out here and there to interact with and added more. The dollhouse is in position but not furnished yet. I have made creative endeavors with different levels of completion or tots up. On one hand some things are so secure that the summer of 2021 can never happen again and on the other...

I am quite interested in seeing doll shelves and displays to give me ideas of what to do with mine. They want to go back to collecting display dust.

Moves take time don't they? I hope it all goes well for you.

Well, I lost my beloved cockatoo Ikaika in March, and I would give up almost anything to have her back.

I'm sorry. It's hard to lose our animal friends. Our 19 year old cat Jazi (the grey floofer) died this June and it left a hole in our hearts.

It's been another year of working retail, if that says anything.

I DID finally break down and get some decent lighting for taking photographs, and I've been working on photostory scripts now and then. I've also been working on a novel that will probably never be finished, but it's a nice way to pass time now and then.

I love photostories! I used to make them. There were so many times I'd get everyone set up and BAM, someone would faceplant before I could get the photo taken. haha... I miss having the time/space to work on them.

One of my elderly cats died a few months ago from kidney disease. My other even older cat was also just diagnosed with kidney disease. She's almost eighteen and I know she can't live forever, but I was hoping for a little more time. Switching her diet up to the uber-expensive specialized prescription kidney diet that I really can't afford, but if it helps keep her healthy just a little longer, I'm willing to try it.

On top of that, at the beginning of November, my best friend went to bed one night and never woke up. She would have turned 45 that month. She had so many medical problems, fractured back, nerve damage as a result, diabetes, and none of those things are what caused it. Her body just quit. At least she passed peacefully.

But yeah. It's been a year.

I'm sorry for the loss of your friend. 45 is so young.

[Jobee]

I feel like this year tried to kill off my entire family. Not going into details, both my parents ended up in the hospital for two different things that drastically messed with their lives, and my sister nearly worked herself to death, and I moved across the goddamn continent. Ended my year with a bad case of covid. But! Much to my family's collective luck and hard work, none of us died.

On the bright side, I made it to NH, and I've rekindled my love of dolls after a bad burnout, and I rekindled my love of ponies.

[kenaiqueen]

I've been contemplating this subject since you posted it and have been not sure how to answer it. It's been a strange year for us in many ways. I dislike heights, so our move into the house we bought a couple years ago which is a ranch style has brought me a lot of comfort. (We had to have some remodeling before we could move.) I was having to sleep on a 2nd floor for more than 12 years at 2 different places so being on one floor feels so much better to me. During our move in a year ago, I fell on ice and I'm still feeling repercussions from that. I started PT finally which is helping. I've had to do more caretaking of my DH as he's been dealing with injuries too. Financially, it's been tough with our fixed income and trying to cope with the inflation in an already expensive place to live in. (However, the only way I'd leave Alaska is for another country, so that's not happening.) It scares me to think about having my only income taken away by politics and I can only hope that won't happen. I try not to worry about things I can't control, but I'm a worrier by nature and I like to make back up plans. I just can't see a back-up plan for this.

I haven't bought too many new dolls, but I have been able to get a few and managed to sell some doll things to make up for it. Dolls seem to be the only thing that really brings me happiness at the moment. I've not had as much time to spend with my dolls, but I did get a bonzer doll room out of the move at least.

Turning 70 has really affected me and watching a show called Limitless with Chris Hemsworth has been very enlightening. I have long lived relatives and with their genetics in me, I could live another 30 years. But it's hard to contemplate my mortality and I just feel like time is running out so quickly.

So, to sum up, some good, some not so good. I think that makes it normal.

[delbelcoure]

Big question - i've been gone from this form since 2013. I got divorced and it messed me up good. I got rid of all but maybe 15 of my dolls and they were in storage for years. My 2 kids and I lived with my best friends for ~7 years while I pulled my life back together. I got heavily into SoulCollage to express myself artistically (and to help myself heal) because I lost all ability to make dolls, sew or even read books ( I still don't have book reading back and as a lifelong voracious reader, it is still hard on me, but i can listen to audio books) I got my own home 2 years ago and I just started collecting dolls again during that time. My 60 cms are on display, but I haven't played with them. I went through a Beautiful Crissy doll phase and she got me sewing for dolls again, with was a blessing. Right now I am really into Rainbow High, Mattel: Extra, BMR1959 & Looks dolls. I feel the healthiest I have in years, but winters are still hard on me. I hope to get back into this community in 2023, I miss having dolly
friends!

victoriavictrix - my heart goes out to you, losing a beloved pet is terrible <3