In case you’re wondering ... in previous years I let the old year out through the back door (in this case the balcony door) and let the New Year in through the front door. Since the past years haven’t really been all that great, I decided to change the tradition somewhat. I let the old year out through the front door and then let the New Year in through the back door. After all, the balcony door faces south, the south is associated with sunshine, sunshine is associated with warmth and happiness, so ... let the sunshine in.
Afterward I was thinking about 2010 and everything that happened.
The first notable thing happened in February when I lost my home. No, not through a sale or anything like that, my dad went into a retirement home and should I ever go back ‘home’, I will have to check-in to a hotel as there won’t be a place for me to stay. I suggested to my dad that he could come and live with me, but he didn’t want that. Living in a strange country, with a language he doesn’t understand didn’t appeal to him and I wouldn’t be able to give him the medical care he needs. So a retirement home it was.
March would have seen my 30th wedding anniversary if it was not for the fact that I got divorced some ... hm, how long has it been? Oh who cares when you're having fun.
In March I was also introduced to the electronic cigarette and gave up smoking for six whole days. No cravings whatsoever. Unfortunately, then I read an article written by a fellow ‘vaper’ (user of an electronic cigarette) stating how disgusting cigarettes smelled and tasted after ‘vaping’ only a few weeks. I started to wonder ... could this be true? If I lit up a smoke, would it smell and taste disgusting to me? So I tried it and lit up. Hm, the cigarette didn’t smell disgusting at all, I took a drag and hm, it didn’t taste disgusting either. As a matter of fact, the smoke smelled and tasted pretty good. That was it, my six smoke free days went up in smoke.
Still, I smoked significantly less. How much less? Let me put it this way ... I used to go through a carton per week, with the use of the electronic smoke I went through a packet a week.
In April ‘new’ furniture arrived. I had my dad’s ‘old’ furniture shipped over to me and when the lounge, dining room, bedroom and knick knacks arrived a hundred and one memories came with them. Some good, some funny, some painfully sad.
In May I had a birthday. I turned 53. 5 ... 3! ... am I really that old? I don’t feel old. On a good day I feel 35, on a bad day ... hm, yeah, well, 85 maybe.
In July we experienced a heat wave in Toronto and precisely during those super hot days the A/C in our condo building packed up. For three days we suffered an immense heat. We bought cooling fans that worked non- stop, but even with those fans it was unbearably hot in the rooms. I remember sitting with a cold wet towel around my neck and my feet in cold water to have some relief. When the temperature went down to 35 deg C (95 deg F) there was a noticeable difference and we breathed a sigh of relief. For nearly three weeks we were without A/C and it made me wonder how, in the olden days, we ever managed without it.
In August I got a job and with that my eleven month unemployment status came to an end. I stumbled into finance, which is something I had never done before. After having been an executive, administrative and legal assistant for more years than I care to remember, dealing with financial issues was a change, a challenge and occasionally hell on wheels.
In September a number of things happened.
We joined a bowling league; we played a bowling tournament (and took first place I might add); we were notified that our condo was to be sold; we spent evenings and weekends looking for a suitable place to live; and ended up buying the condo where we had been living for the past six years. After eleven years in Canada we finally became home owners.
The rest of the year was uneventful. Nothing particularly good happened, but nothing particularly bad happened either. We just slipped from one day into another.
And now what will 2011 bring? Last night and probably all through January, people will wish each other a happy New Year, but will it be? There will be some good times and there will be same bad times. There will be days that we’re walking on sunshine and days that we’ll be walking under a cloud of thunder. We will laugh out loud and we’ll silently cry.
364 days lie ahead of us. Are you ready for them? I hope you, me and everyone else has a truly happy year.
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