December 2011 Dear Friends and Family, Twenty-eleven was a big fucking deal for us.

Although maybe less than it was for some of you. We try to keep our lives in perspective, but that can be hard when our only audience is each other, day after day. We can spend weeks at a time convinced that moving 892 miles from Seattle to San Francisco is hands down the most life-imploding decision that has ever been made in the history of God's creation. But as we tab our Google calendars over from December 2011 to January 2012, we remember you who welcomed new beings into your families this past year, and you who continue to grieve beloved ones who are not greeting this new year with us. Joining friends and family in their living stories, the joy and the sometimes-overwhelming sorrow, is always top on our list of blessings. If this letter tells you nothing else, hear our "Thank You." Here is a brief run-down of what 2011 brought to each Canty: Cotton: THEY STUFFED ME IN A BOX IT WAS ONLY LIKE ONE CAT LONG AND HALF A CAT WIDE AND 3/4 CATS TALL, FOR DAYS AND DAYS, AND OUT OF THE WINDOW THE WHOLE WORLD MOVED REALLY FAST, LIKE IT DOES WHEN I SPRINT AROUND FOR NO REASON EXCEPT LIKE TEN TIMES FASTER!! I SCREAMED AND SCREAMED THE WHOLE TIME BUT THE WINDOWS WOULDN'T STOP MOVING AND THE HUMANS DIDN'T RELEASE ME! BUT THEN WE CAME TO A PLACE WHERE THE WINDOWS WERE STILL AND THERE WERE BIRDS OUTSIDE OF THEM!!! MY GOAL FOR 2012 IS TO INCREASE MY MAXIMUM MEOW CAPACITY TO TEN STRAIGHT SECONDS WITHOUT A BREATH AND NINETYFIVE DECIBELS. MY HUMANS SEEM ENCOURAGING OF THIS GOAL AS THEY, TOO, SCREAM VERY LOUDLY IN RESPONSE TO ME.

Happy 2012! Were total fucking grownups!

CANTY STATS

128%: Average increase in marital ghts initiated by an interstate move 1: Number of legal, paying jobs held by Cantys 7X7: The Square mileage of our new city. 30%: Approximate percent of Jack's coworkers who are older than 26.

5: Days per week Jack faithfully gets up to his 6am alarm and goes to the gym before work. $100: Current total income from Christine's writing. And counting?

Christine: You all know I got a Master's in Counseling Psychology, right? Once I thought it would be really feminist and cool to get a PhD, then hang a sign on our front door that said, "Welcome to the home of Dr. and Mr. Canty." But then someone pointed out that we could be "Master and Mister Canty," which sounds just as awesome and kinda kinky too. So, no plans to go for a doctorate at this point. In thinking about how, in a brief letter, to encapsulate the wildness of 2011---from being called out as "a writer," to having the worst time ever job-searching, to nding an internship that will continue my professional development as a therapist--- I think I will just tell you this: I started taking anti-anxiety medication this year. This means I had to admit to the staggering amount of anxiety I experience. I make a lot of jokes about it, on my blog and in person, but it was a whole different exercise to say, "I need more help than I can give myself." And it has helped. I frequently remember that truth is an antidote to anxiety, and often my spinning thoughts are just an attempt to distract myself from something I don't want to admit... something like, "I miss Seattle," or "My nephew is growing up," or, quite often, "I don't like this." I used to worry that the day I went on medication would be the day I started wearing a paper bag over my head in shame, but it turns out, it's a decision I'm very proud of.

8-12: Number of clients Christine will counsel in her upcoming internship. 52: Average annual rain fall in Seattle, in inches. 20.5: Average annual rain fall in San Francisco, in inches. Below 55F/Above 65F: The temperatures at which it is rumored San Franciscans start complaining.

Jack: After decades of living in Seattle I am enjoying the view of it from afar. Here are some things Ive learned: Most cities in the world have sunshine. And when they get an overcast sky its just one sheet of cloud, not multiple cumulus layers woven together into an impenetrable shield against the sun. Most cities in the world have crappy coffee (or none at all!). There are ve good cafes in all of San Francisco. Thats half as many as are at the intersection of 85th and Greenwood.

Most cities dont have the right color of green. Only Seattle can produce the right vibrant, soul-lling color. As we settle into San Francisco life and gure out the benets of this new home (burritos, tacos, burritos, food, catered meals at work, burritos, etc.) I often remember Seattle. In some ways I feel very at home here, like when I pass two women on the street and overhear their conversation about Javascript frameworks. But at my core I think Ill always be a kid who imagines swimming to be something one does in a 40 degree lake, who expects to be one block away from a palatable macchiato at all times, and who complains from October to May about the dreariness. But even through the long, gray winters, this kid always knew that the people he loves most in the world were also hunkered down a couple miles away, and they, too, were cherishing the hope of a late July picnic.

2: Number of bedrooms in our San Francisco apartment. Come visit?

With much love and some homesickness, Master and Mister Christine and Jack Canty (and Cotton)