An Honest Review of 2018 a.k.a. How My Life Got Flipped Turned Upside-Down

What a year, am I right? Not a very successful one Langurd-wise – though after a measly 8 posts, I’m sure you all gained some brain cells back so you’re welcome – but IRL it’s been a whole spin-cycle shitstorm of good and bad. In some attempt to justify my absences both past and future, I’m going to hit you with both of these as concisely as I can manage. Disclaimer: If you’re a good-news-first person, skip to #2. If you’re only in it for the sims and don’t take none of Gryff’s shit (respect, man) skip to #3.

1. The Bad News

As I mentioned in the half-assed birthday post, my sweet evil feline Dewey was diagnosed with Feluk this summer. He was actually doing really well when I wrote that post, and continued to live his best life with no signs of illness for months afterward – only hatred in his eyes as I tossed pills down his throat 2-4 times a day. He pretty much returned to his old self and I pretty much became a slave to his every whim, giving up all my chairs, refusing to discipline the little shit, and letting him drag me around the yard on his harness so I could stand there getting fried by the sun while he ate dirt behind the garage. We were besties since 2015, but I feel like I gained a whole new appreciation for this cat in the months he was sick.

Unfortunately, our little bubble burst in mid-October when – just as suddenly as they had started – Dewey’s meds stopped working. The same day, the vet had been talking about taking him off the pills altogether because he was doing so well. In fact, she thought it was an error in the reading and told us not to worry. Ain’t that just the way. Less than a week later, I sprinted out of work halfway through my shift so I could spend his last five hours with him on the bathroom floor.

Dewey was cremated with his favourite blanket and jar lid, and left several Deweys’ worth of fur in my wardrobe. I know it hurts to lose a pet of any age, but I can’t help thinking how incredibly unfair it is that he only got three and a half years of being a cat and doing cat things. I always pictured him being with me when I was thirty and flirty and thriving still not done this legacy. We’ve been each other’s constants for all that time and it would be an insult to think of him as just a chapter in my life. Anyway, there’s no real coming back from losing your best friend but I am doing considerably better now than I was a few months ago. His paw is inked on my shoulder, and his urn wears a pink bowtie and gets catnip offerings from time to time.

Side note: Dewey can rest knowing he completed the important mission of converting my parents. They adopted their first cat a few weeks ago. Little Pushkin is Dewey’s doppelganger in every way except that he’s a total cuddlepie and has only bitten me once.

2. The Good News

SO… amidst all of this, I’ve been working toward a little career goal of mine. Said goal was tossed around in uni, sidelined in favour of coaching quidditch, and reignited last year during my international gallivanting. After hours of paperwork, a scary Skype interview, and a lot of twiddling my thumbs, I can finally say (with only some fear of jinxing myself): I’m going to become a professional baton twirler!

I am so very sorry. This blog doesn’t lend itself to serious news.

The truth is: I’m moving to South Korea as an ESL teacher!

And if one more person responds with “that’s the good Korea, right?” I will facepalm hard enough to forget English entirely, and just think what a pickle I’d be in then.

Realtalk though. Dewey’s diagnosis happened in the middle of the application process. At first, I was fully prepared to put it off another six months and stay with him through his illness. A lot of people shook their heads at me. Then he got better and convinced me to go for it and see what happened. Little know-it-all saw me through passing my interview but just barely missed my final placement in Seoul. SEOUL, GUYS! A lot of first-time applicants don’t get placed in the capital, so I’m more than a little giddy.

I fly out in a month and a half. It’s terrifying, but I desperately need it. 2018 has closed the book on so many parts of my life – I gave up quidditch in April, lost Dewey in October, and shut down my Etsy store just a few days ago. All my friends have scattered in their own directions (I have one in law school, one in med school, one in the freaking Navy…) so there’s almost nothing tying me down. I was far from convinced when I started this process, but somehow everything has culminated in this being the most perfect thing I can imagine myself doing at this point in my life. That statement has jinx written allllll over it and you should know by now that I am far too skeptical to expect an easy transition. If any of you are into travel blogs, I’m sure I’ll need some outlet for my adventures, awkward encounters, 20,000 pictures of food and every stray cat I meet. You can be sure I’ll plug it here when the time comes.

3. The Elephant in the Room

Er, yes. As you may have used your excellent detective skills to conclude, my taking a year-long contract on the other side of the world spells an uncertain fate for the Langurds. I’m not in a position to take my desktop with me, and have sworn to NEVER AGAIN attempt TS3 on a laptop. One silver lining is that I could EASILY take a year to get through the screenshot backlog I have now – the trouble is if I end up staying longer (*fends off jinxes with a rolled-up newspaper*) and run out of material to caption. I am also fairly confident that I could play through another generation before I leave, but that would mean skipping the Gen. 8 heir poll and just running with whomever I think you guys will like. I also have a pipe dream of maybe getting my desktop shipped over to me in a crisis, which is probably super unrealistic. THOUGHTS? What would you do if you were me?

Unacceptable answers:
– Finish the legacy in 2015 like you should have
– Be better at things
– Stop being you and be someone cooler instead

It’s okay, you don’t have to solve my problems for me. Just keeping you guys up to date on the latest hole I have dug myself into.

In case I’m the worst and fail to improve my 2018 post count: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and of course – Happy Simming!

-Sam