It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

[Purron]

Best - retiring this past January.
Worst - going through the retirement trauma of what does my life mean now?

All in all, a good year for DH and I. He plans to retire in '09 and I'm gettin' over the loss of identity and purpose that unexpectedly descended upon me after retirement like a ton of bricks. It was much worse than I ever thought it would be. Many days of depression and desperation.

My volunteer work at the animal shelter really helped. All I have to do is look into the faces of those animals I helped this past year and I realize my life is worth something even without a career. Tell me, why did I doubt that? I know, it's something we all have to work out in our own way.

Spending lots of extra time with my wonderful mom helped me get over the hump too. We did lots of movie and lunch dates this year

 

[clifp]

Worst joining the I lost a million dollar club. Closest 2nd two of my friends had even worse years, one had another bout with cancer,the second lost his wife and brother within 6 months.

Best: Stuck with my exercise class for an entire year, with minimal back sliding.

 

[BunsGettingFirm]

Best thing - 20th wedding anniversary. She put on her wedding dress and I got all mushy about it.

Worst - going over to FIL's house and finding him incoherent on the kitchen floor. Thought we were going to lose him, and realizing that we will.

You're a lucky man. Her dress still fits!

Best thing: Passed the CFA level 2. It's like eating the stuff I puked up over level 1, knowing that it would taste like puke and eating it anyways. No, make that eating it twice cause I spent way more time studying for level 2.

Worst thing: The year isn't over yet, so I'm crossing my fingers that nothing seriously bad will happen. Did have a scare over my pet's health, but with the meds, she seems to be doing fine now.

 

[Alan]

It's been a pretty good year.

Best - changed jobs - same megacorp - but now virtually no travel and much less stress.

Worst - changing jobs took us 8 hrs drive away from DD so we see her much less now.

 

[Glo]

We moved back to a small town near where I as born and raised. We love it here. We're very fortunate--no "worst" this year.

 

[Ronstar]

Best: friends, family, and myself in good health, and I had a blast traveling, hobbies, etc

Worst: anxiety from paper losses in portfolio

 

[W2R]

Best: My daughter is now engaged to be married, and I got to visit them and they are so happy!!!
Runner up for best: windfall finally materialized

Worst: got another year older and really feel like it.
Runner up for worst: I still have to work for almost a year longer (for lifetime medical) so the windfall didn't hasten my retirement even a day.

Nothing really bad seemed to happen to me this year (thank goodness).

 

[Achiever51]

Best: attending DD's college graduation...for awhile there we didn't think it would ever happen! (and a nice bonus of having her 90 year old grandfather there too!)
Second best: settling into a nice routine of retirement..enjoying getting reacquainted with old friends, traveling, doing volunteer work, goofing off....

Worse: watching my portfolio drop about 22% during the year...and the housing values in my neighborhood drop like stones.
Second worse (or maybe not, the jury's out): getting a call from a former colleague asking if I'd be interested in a six month consulting contract that will pay $40k. I said yes...so starting in January I'll be working from home on a part time basis -- about 15 hours a week -- doing work that I really do enjoy...without all the other office drama. We'll see if this makes the best or the worst list for '09.