Your personal Top Stories of 2005

[Dark Jezter]

Some of the top stories from 2005 for me...

1) Going back to school. Earlier this year, I started taking classes towards a degree in accounting. This will be my second degree.

2) Moved to a different department at work. It dosen't pay any more, but it's a lot less stressful and has a more flexible schedule. It's made me a lot happier than I was before the transfer.

3) Got a new (used) car. A 2000 Chevy Cavelier. It's not the newest or fastest car around, but it's reliable and gets good gas milage. Plus, I even like the color.

4) Broke up with a girl who was all wrong for me. Yes, this is good news; after months of stress and frusteration brought on by being involved in a relationship with a girl who was flighty and immature, I finally decided enough was enough and dropped her from my life. It was a little difficult at first, but afterwards I felt so liberated that it was like a big weight had been lifted from my shoulders.

 

[Amazing Triangle]

Best of '05

Using my english class as way to get time to write my backgrounds for my characters for my D&D games.
Actually designing and scaring people with a d20 class
This quote: "Good writing is like sex: if you don’t like it, you are not doing it right." from my english professor.

The best thing that happened was this little story being told to me by a kindergarten teacher:
"Just after 9-11 a little girl walked up to me and said she had a question for me. I was scared because I didn't think I was ready yet to explain what had happened. The girl then asked me the most intresting question that I have ever been asked and this is what she said, 'How come when you get older your imagination gets smaller?'
This story touched me and in a way really made me love being a storyteller again.

 

[Rel]

Three things stand out big for me from 2005:

1) My first full year in business for myself. It's been full of highs and lows but I really enjoy the work, I have lots of free time to spend with my family and doing other fun things and I'm making more money that I ever have. Hopefully 2006 will be the year that we can get our debt more in control so that we actually KEEP more money than we ever have. :\

2) My first GenCon. I've said many times that I never wanted to go to GenCon before I found ENWorld and having been, I can say for certain that I wouldn't have had even a fraction of the fun that I did if I wasn't an ENWorlder. I was utterly blown away by how much fun I had and how awesome all the people were who I met from here. It has completely tranformed the way that I view and use these boards and I'm going to do my level best to get back there again this year.

3) Celebrated both my 10 year wedding anniversary and also the point at which my wife and I have been together longer than we've been apart (17 years and counting). It is an amazing feeling to be with someone that long and realize that you are still completely and utterly in love with them. Our marriage is probably better than it has ever been and is a constant source of strength and inspiration for me.

 

[Bront]

1) Got hired on full time at a tremendous job with a great company where I enjoy the people I work with.

2) Something in my RP grove kicked in, and I've been able to write and play some of the most detailed characters of my RPing career.

3) I seem to have conquored my allergy to cats.

 

[DarrenGMiller]

In early 2005, I was named to my school district's Top 10 Teachers of the Year (late 2004 was named my school's Teacher of the Year for 2005).

Spring '05 my gaming group imploded (Eric, I feel your pain) and I quit DM and playing at all for 6 weeks. Then I decided to form a new group and take back my gaming. I have been having more fun gaming since then than I had since I was a teenager.

After forming a new group, I became pretty close friends with some of my new players and their s/o's. This is important, since my wife and I hadn't been able to find too many friends who were compatible with us in the area.

My wife and I also joined a new church that we love. It has been great for us. We were in basically an abusive church relationship before (hard to explain, but the place was definitely dysfunctional), so this was a huge deal.

In the bad news department, one of my former students committed suicide near the end of October. I and my students (current and former) have had to wrestle with this one (can't imagine what the family went through). I discovered that a staggering number of my students have contemplated suicide and found out that Cory's suicide gave others the idea to try that route to escape their problems. Another former student planned to come back to the high school where I teach and shoot herself in front of her ex-boyfriend. Her plan was discovered and stopped. Her parents insist that their daughter would never do such a thing. The whole ordeal has resulted in one positive outcome... I have been able to talk with my students more about issues like this and really help them.

Have a great 2006!

DM

 

[Kahuna Burger]

Mine would be getting my son baptised. A rolicking adventure in church paperwork, alternate god parents and whether you can call a baptismal gown a dress in front of your husband. But we finally got it sorted and I didn't have to say anything I didn't believe in the ceremony.

Also some career related stuff, but that's too much a story still in progress to report.

 

[der_kluge]

Wow. Lots of stuff.

1) Bought a house. Just now got the blinds installed, and am still painting and putting up chair rail in the spare bedroom. Lots of work.

2) Had a second child. Brigette Alyse. She's 7 weeks old now.

3) Changed jobs - twice. I left where I was working to take a government contract, which I thought might be more stable. Turns out, it wasn't, and my firm lost the contract, so then I got placed on the bench, where I stayed for nearly two months. Which was great, in a way, since I bought my house, moved, and had our second child all the same time span. So that was great timing.

That's the major stuff.

 

[Wombat]

In many ways this has been, on the surface, a terrible year for me -- marginal employment, having to sleep on a couch at my sister's house as I am unable to afford an apartment, bouts of bad health, etc.

Due to this, however, I have found some truly amazing things in my life.

Amazement the First: I have truly amazing friends. They have helped me in ways that I shall never be able to truly repay. For this, I give my very humble thanks.

Amazement the Second: Being Best Man at my friend's wedding. There is nothing like standing up there and knowing, knowing that these are the right people getting married. And the axe felt good in my hands.

Amazement the Third: Due to tightening my belt I am able to quite literally tighten my belt. I lost almost 35 pounds this year (well, from October 2004 to December 2005) and am finally at a healthy weight. Of course my clothes are pretty baggy now, but I can do something about that.

Amazement the Fourth: I found I can get through some truly stressful times and still find joy and humour. Much of this is due to Amazement the First...

So this next year is going to be such an improvement (monetarily and living condition-wise), that I shall be in a position to show thanks to many, probably through some good meals, a few well-placed museum trips, and sharing new poems.

For such a terrible year, it has been pretty darn good

 

[Darrin Drader]

Great highs and great lows for me this year.

1. Landed a new job at the beginning of the year. Laid off from said job seven months later. Don't get me started on corporate greed, as I think what I have to say wouldn't be acceptable here at ENWorld.

2. My wife and I welcomed our third child into the world.

3. Co-wrote a book with one of my professional idols.

4. Had my first fiction published this year and landed my first novel deal.

5. Moved from one place to another and realized that my wife and I have acquired way too much stuff. Time to get rid of a bunch of it.

6. Lost twenty pounds. I'm half way to my weight loss goal.

 

[Storminator]

Whle a large number of superficially good things happened to me this year, almost everything of importance was enormously negative.

Starting in September 04, ending in Oct 05, I lost 4 grandparents. Due to multiple marriages from my parents and grandparents, I started with 16 and have 4 left. I'm tired of funerals.

My wife had 2 miscarriages in the same span. With the various follow-up visits to see what's wrong (nothing anyone can discover...) I'm tired of hospitals.

My teenage son and I had a violent falling out. He's living in foster care and I went to jail. I'm tired of courts.

I'll be celebrating the New Year with fervor. It's almost impossible that next year will be as bad as this one...

PS