2026 Has Sucked So Bad

• Our third and youngest child is officially significantly delayed in speech and we have to take him (and pay a lot) for speech therapy twice a week. The meltdowns and whining are a lot to handle.
• Oldest daughter bombed the ACT and is depressed. We are trying to tell her it's okay to take extra time at community college. She's such a hard worker but tests stress her out beyond belief.
• I run a small software company, business isn't good. Getting pressure from our owner (a large faceless multinational) about what is going on. They are forcing me to fire someone this week to make the numbers look better. Dreading the discussion like crazy. On a related note, I fucking hate what AI has done to our company.
• My wife, who was always healthy, started having random blood sugar issues. Gained a lot of weight as her hunger is totally wonky. Many appointments with doctors and testing.
• In a few hours we will be going to wish our best friends goodbye. They are moving several states away. Known them for 10 years, my wife and her moved to the US around the same time and hit it off immediately. I'm good friends with the husband. Our kids are good friends. So many outings, parties, picnics, over the years. I 1000% know it's going to fade aside from social media and maybe an occasional visit.

Just seems like every year get more and more difficult. Probably the only positive thing is that I haven't drank much this year due to being so busy and stressed.

Thank you all for listening.