One

I’m writing again this year. This is one of the few compulsions that you can associate with my OCD. If you travel through the archives on my site, you will see several writing streaks.

I started doing streaks for the month preceding my birthday when I was working at one of the successive really, um, low-quality jobs following an unceremonious layoff. It was something to do to settle my mind a bit.

Last year, and this year, I avoided the summer periods after cognitive behavioral therapy.

After shedding myself of the summer streaks, I’ve kept up with the winter periods.

The past couple of years have been, largely, trying to sequence things for heading into Christmas. Obviously, there’s a ton that goes on in November.

So, continue.

I think last year was the tenth year I’d done it. I was very much considering not writing this year, but here we are.

I’ve been attempting to go on long-term disability this summer and fall. To put it mildly, it’s been a struggle. Part of the reason I stayed in my last job as long as I did was the promise of being able to transition smoothly into disability. I kind of viewed it as a different way of doing things, and viewed it as kind of a retirement plan.

Of course, that’s providing it won’t work exactly as I’d sketched. I stayed at the last job for probably three extra years trying to help the company’s client despite really difficult physical ailments. I stuck around for years hoping to help get things modernized.

Now I’m working to get the benefit I’d been promised. I really am not excited by the prospect of Social Security Disability, and have been resisting it for the years since my diagnosis. The folks at the National MS Society have been trying to help. I absolutely appreciate them hooking me up with the lawyer, but my individual situation is different than most people’s.

That I muddled through for fifteen years since diagnosis should be remarkable, but, now, it’s a waiting game to see if I can breathe. I do have an attorney working on it, but who knows if the appeals will be successful, and how long that’ll take.

For this year, with all income being cut off, things are more than a little tight. My wife is earning good money, so not everything’s on me.

I do have some travel early this month; see how that goes. But it’ll be different than it has been the past few years.

My wife and I celebrated our fifteenth anniversary last month. Maybe that was part of the reason I’m continuing this year.

I do have all the days drafted out. There are fewer free write days this year; only three if memory serves.

I don’t know that I was looking forward to it as much as I was, say, two years ago. There’s a lot less planned, but I’m curious to see how things go.

I’m excited for cold weather, seeing the Lions on Thanksgiving, and some quiet time.

Here we go, November. Let’s see what happens.