As I sit here on the eve of 2011, I am drawn back to this past year. Many good things happened, many not so good things happened. I can't remember much of this year, but the little that I do remember gives me reason to pause and consider those events.
I suppose the single biggest thing to happen this year was me taking the plunge into the housing market. While it wasn't an entire failure, it wasn't an overwhelming success either. A lot of the inventory in the market is quite expensive. I think I was caught between waiting to save more and hoping for the market to cool down and not really making a difference because prices were steadily climbing. It turns out that prices have gone up more since I bought my place. I am not sure if that's a good thing or not, but that is what it is. Getting settled in has been quite the affair; I am home, but I am not entirely sure this place is a home. There is still plenty that needs to be done.
I know at least a few other friends who went out and bought places, so I think we all took big steps this year.
I had my first (and so far only) house guest from out of town come spend a few days with me. I was thrilled to have a visitor. We went and did all the regular touristy things. I hope I was a good host.
I ran the Vancouver Sun Run in May. It took me a little over an hour to run the 10km route. While I wasn't entirely thrilled with the time, I am glad I at least participated and finished it.
I spent most of the 2 weeks of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver getting to enjoy a side of the city I don't think any have seen. It was truly a magical time to use a cliché. Vancouver was alive like never before. I don't think there was much that would have put a damper on those magical days. It was a bit odd to see the Paralympics not get quite the same reception; they got the roadblocks, security and what not, but not the same level of fanfare and crowds. I really hope that the people who are in charge of future Olympics find a way to integrate the two events and stretch everything a bit longer. I think it would have been much better had we put the two events together and added a week onto the entire schedule.
I made the annual trip out to Kelowna in the summer. Sadly, I am not sure we can keep doing this for too long. Many of the guys brought their wives/significant others etc along with them. They were all fun, but when there are close to 20 people in a group, coordinating anything becomes a bit of a nightmare especially when people want to do vastly divergent things. That and all the drama that comes along with the women (forgive me for stooping to that, but really, there was far more drama than if there were 10 guys left to their own devices with booze added to the mix) made the trip somewhat lame. As well, the guys aren't quite the same when the women are around...
Aside from that small trip, I didn't manage to do anything else vacation-wise. Partly that was because I didn't have anything concrete in mind and partly it was due to the financial situation of my poor bank account. I did want to make it out to the island, but I never did make it. I shall have to remedy that in 2011. I want to see more of Canada and the world. I am thinking of heading east to the Atlantic provinces. It is sad that it costs so much to visit parts of this country compared to what it costs to visit our neighbours. I mean, I can spend a week in a fancy Mexican resort for less that it costs me to fly to Prince Edward Island.
I attended the wedding of one of my friends this year. It was the third wedding I have attended in my nearly 14 years in North America. It was quite a wonderful affair; there was a wedding in an Orthodox Church (where there are no pews, you stand through the service), a reception at the Church as well, and a bride that did not stop dancing. It was quite memorable and I was thrilled to be around so many of my friends to see such a wonderful event. Weddings are truly amazing events. Especially when you know that the two people that matter on that day are perfect for each other. I have been invited to at least one wedding for 2011; I have a hunch it might be my first multi-wedding year.
A couple of my friends took the next step and had children. I have yet to see the little kids in person, but their pictures are quite adorable. I hope to see them in the new year. I am guessing that the likelihood of more kids on the way is high.
I've learned a lot about myself and my friends over the year and I think I've gotten a bit better at this game of life. Hopefully, this bodes well for me and this little clan of folks I know. Here's hoping the new year brings us good lessons, good times, good friends and happy thoughts. To my dear readers, thank you for reading and I hope your new year is filled with good things.
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