Hello Rez, your plant does need more light as shown how etiolated it goes growing, and it is also normal for the lower leaves to dry up. I see new growth at the tip, so your plant seems to be coping well. Just remove the dried out leaves, when your weather condition improves in Spring, bring it outdoors, it loves direct sun and warmth and quickly makes new leaves also up and down the bare stem or at times at the base of the plant.
My plant when it got wet, cold stressed and leaves rotted during winter 2014, and how it slowly recovered as our warm and dry times returned in mid Spring:
08Mar2014
31Mar2014
14Apr2014
21May2014
Fast forward:
This 2016, it made really nice stressed colors around January to February:
30Jan2016
After winter and into our long dry and hot summer which it loves, following is its photo this Fall as of Nov 2016:
My flapjack can tolerate the cold safely at 40F, but I push it, as long as it stays dry while being cold. I keep this plant outdoors here in full sun as much as possible especially in cold season. However, if it gets cold and wet from our winter rains, it will surely manifest all sorts of rotting, but as long as there is still one part of the stem fresh and alive, it quickly bounces back when Spring time warm up returns. That is why its media needs to be really gritty, so the base stem gets to dry out fast.
Right now we have freeze warnings here, it is still outdoors. I like it when it gets cold, it makes such reddish stressed colors. But just have to make sure media is dry and well draining. Our rainy season is winter, so the importance of very good well draining soil is paramount.
Your location is VA, so just keep it indoors and in your warm and well lighted area for now. A south sun orientation will be really ideal. During the cold season longer dryout period is best. It is one of the more forgiving succulents that I have handled and to make it stay around longer, make sure the media gets to dry out very well.
