Well, the holidays at my house are over, and aside from a mountain of wrapping paper and a shiny new universal remote, Santa brought me a couple of great things this year, and I thought I’d reflect on them.

First and foremost, the best present this year (by far) was from my not-quite-old-enough-to-talk daughter, who, in a show of affection usually reserved for her dolly and the family dog, she gave me not one, but two kisses and untold hugs on Christmas day.

Another great present that I got this year was relatively stress-free travels. Family, in-laws, toddlers and driving can all add up pretty quickly to one big migraine trigger. This year, however, everything seemed to come together perfectly. The weather was good (though not great), family was better than normal, even though there were a lot more people to deal with this year than in years past. And the aforementioned kissable toddler contented herself in the backseat with mankind’s two greatest inventions throughout the trip—the portable DVD player and the DVD.

All of this added up to a holiday that ended up being migraine-free. Huzzah!

This being the end of the year makes it an ideal time to reflect on the previous three hundred or so odd days and think about how things have been going. And if I had to choose one word to sum it all up, I think that word would be “variable.”

My head has gone through lots of changes this year, from headache-free to headache-full to somewhere in between. Like “Those Magnificent Men and Their Flying Machines,” I’ve had some of the dosages of my drugs go “uppity-up-up” and others go “downditty-down-down.” On the topic of migraine drugs—I’ve gotten to experience high-definition side-effects from some of those drugs, and the taste-altering side-effects of others.

In total, I think the year wound up in a place that is “less-than-good” but “much-better-than-bad.” Overall, the headaches were frequent but tolerable, and my migraine treatment plan was in place. If I need to set a goal for next year, it will be to move the needle even further into the “good” zone.