Giving Thanks and Being Thankful

I was all set to post about how I'm very thankful my life has gone the way it has. Then we had a major medical emergency. I'll cover that in a sec.

My career has taken many turns - good and bad - but when the place I was with before went out of business I wasn't sure what was coming next. I had several months to plan and I went on a few interviews at some great places. I never heard back from one, was turned down by another and rejected one myself. Then the lights went out and I landed where I am now, with only a week between jobs, and I couldn't be happier.

I'm finally doing what I've been training for my whole life, and the people I work with are great too. I'm hopeful that if I'm able to stay here long-term (I'm watching you, Economy!!) that I'll reach my goals as a software developer and make a decent living to boot. This, I am thankful for, especially given that so many can't say the same right now. I hope all of you are OK too ^^

Now, the emergency. Just after a meeting Ape called me in hysterics. Her mom had been rushed to the ER with stroke symptoms. She's in her 70s and has had issues before so, while not totally out of the blue, it sucked nonetheless. I left work and rushed to the hospital. And so far, after two days of tests, it looks like it might not be her heart OR her circulatory system. They're thinking seizure disorder of some kind. Scary, but hopefully not life-threatening!

As for Vana'diel pursuits, Tuesday was fame-building and avatar quest flagging. I'm now Rank 6 or higher in every nation. Wednesday was the scheduled avatar fight night. Fhox, Puma and I ground Titan down, and then went to visit Ramuh. We had to wait for Lightningsday to pass and we used that time to farm and skill. Fhox announced Jago would join us.

We beat up on Moss Eaters looking for a coffer key for Puma. I pulled a few and stupidly forgot casting would drop Sneak. While standing in the water. Near snippers. But the three of them stepped up and I survived - yay!

Ramuh welcomed us with more damage than Titan offered us and his Paralyze AoE almost got Puma killed when I couldn't cast Cure V on him, deep in orange territory. But we pulled through and now I have two of eight avatars.