Looking back and looking forward

Looking back at 2012...

 

I usually make a list of all the books I’ve read, but this year was a particularly bad one for reading: only about 12 books total (less than half of what I read last year). The most memorable ones were The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and, as much as I hate to admit it, the two trilogies I read: Hunger Games and 50 Shades. The longest book I read was The Wise Man’s Fear, clocking in at 1500 or so pages (read in Mexico).

 

It was a busy year, but then again, that hasn’t stopped me from reading before. I really think the iPhone I got last Christmas made me read a lot less. Before going to bed, what did I do instead of reading pretty much every night? Spend time on my phone...

 

Here’s a recap of my year, month-by-month.

 

In January 2012, we went to the Festibière de Gatineau and we also spent a weekend skiing at Mont Tremblant.

 

In February, I went skiing at Tremblant again with S and M and M’s sister. I also attended my cousin’s post-wedding party.

 

In March, we went to Rimouski, then Mexico for a week, and then when we came back, we rented a ski chalet in Baie-Saint Paul with a bunch of friends and spent the weekend skiing at Le Massif.

 

In April, I went to Halifax for the Easter long weekend. We spent a fortune on restaurants. But it was an awesome mini-trip. I had a stupid fight with a friend. Then we celebrated Mom’s 50^th birthday and M’s finishing her PhD, and went to Rimouski.

 

In May, M organized a big birthday party for me at our place. I also went to J’s 30^th birthday party and did a tandem jump with L.

 

In June, we trained for the skydiving record by doing 8-way jumps. I went to the 40-way training camp.

 

In July, we jumped with M and S. We set a new Canadian skydiving record. Then M crashed our plane and spent a week in the hospital. And two days after he finally got out of the hospital, I found out I was pregnant. Phew.

 

In August, we prepared for our move. And I was offered a teaching position at the UQO, which I accepted.

 

In September, we started renovating our new house. Then once everything was ready at the end of the month, we emptied our apartment and moved in. I met my midwife for the first time. I also announced to B that I was pregnant and she said “me too!”

 

In October, we went to Rimouski. We also celebrated our two-year wedding anniversary by going out to a small restaurant and watching live jazz. We officially told the world we were having a baby. M got to finally stop wearing his back brace. He painted, assembled and installed six bookcases in our living room for me. And finally, we found out we were having a boy!

 

In November, I went to Halifax for work. We bought a crib for the baby’s room. We went to Montreal to see Chic Gamine and spend some time with our friends C + E, and M went flying in the wind tunnel for the first time since his accident.

 

In December, I went down to Kingston for my friend L’s baby shower. Then we had our HUGE housewarming party. And we travelled to our usual four++ cities over the holidays (but minus Rimouski this year): Montreal, Quebec City, Warwick, Hawkesbury (then back to Quebec City, then back to Warwick, then back to Hawkesbury; yes, we made the rounds twice).

 

What a year.

 

It looks like 2013 will be an exciting one too.

 

I’m making a list of tentative goals knowing full well that they may not happen.

 

1. Walk and/or bike everywhere.
2. Read more books. Use the library.
3. Start discovering things to do and places to go in the Outaouais region and blogging about them here.
4. Whittle my wardrobe down to 33 items every three months (Project 333).
5. Aside from the items on our baby registry (carseat, stroller, cloth diapers, etc.), buy nothing new all year.