Recap of 2007?

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’d never done before?
Got married!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I don't make New Year's resolutions.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No.

5. What countries did you visit?
Italy, UK.

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007?
Ummm...2007 was pretty good. Maybe no uncertainty over where we're going to live...that might be nice!

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
October 20, 2007...wedding day.
EDIT MARCH 2008: December 30, 2007...found out we're having a baby!

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting my back healthy and going back to work full time (getting married isn't an achievement is it?)

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not telling the people around me how important they are to me as often as I should.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I injured my back (and some of my self confidence) in 2006 and recovery rolled into 2007, but I didn't suffer...I had too many kind people to help me and I learned a lot from it.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Alex's wedding band

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Alex's, my parents', my sisters', my friends' who all were there for me in every possible way after I fell.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
No one's.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent, honeymoon and wedding.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Umm...our wedding.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007?
Ummm...dunno...

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
 a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
Happier, umm..I'm hoping thinner, richer.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Swimming, all those physio exercises.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Procrastinating

20. How did you spend Christmas?
I spent the morning with Alex and the rest of the day with his family.

21. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Um, maybe.

22. What was your favorite TV program?
Bones.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
No.

24. What was the best book you read?
Probably Suite Française, but I read a lot

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Ummm....

26. What did you want and get?
Canon G7

27. What did you want and not get?
Nothing

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Little Miss Sunshine? I didn't see a lot of movies this year

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Umm...I don't remember my birthday specifically because it lasted about a week. Spent time with my family, Alex's family, my friends. Probably ate a bunch and drank a bit. Bedazzled some stuff. 30, not 12 as the Bedazzler suggests.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Nothing. It was a pretty good year.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Umm...evolving? It started with the super comfies because of the back, then evolved to whatever was on sale as my body changed as I healed.

32. What kept you sane?
Alex, my family, my friends.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
No one.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
Umm...

35. Who did you miss?
My family and friends who were far away at the wedding and at Christmas.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
Isabella

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007.
Even when it seems like it's not, life is pretty good. We're pretty lucky with what we have.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
Yeah, I don't have one...

Happy New Year everyone! May your 2008 be a year of laughter, love, friends and family!

Finally...it's been christened

Alex and I just got back from not-the-blue-house. We started our afternoon checking out new couches along Granville Street and then stopped at not-the-blue-house to plot our move. Before we left the blue house this afternoon, we had measured our furniture to see what we would have to get rid of as not-the-blue-house is quite a bit smaller than the blue house.

Oh, and before I continue, not-the-blue-house has been christened. After a number of hours within it's empty room, painted somewhat pinkish-peach, not-the-blue-house will be henceforth known as The Pink Palace. Hopefully once we get our furniture in and our walls decorated, the overwhelming sense of pink won't be so, well, overwhelming.

Upon arrival we noticed that our landlord has yet to hang our new blinds or fix any of the stuff he was supposed to fix before we moved in and we've been paying rent for two weeks. Whatever, we ignored that and set to work with our masking tape. No, that's not where furniture died, that's where furniture is going and we figured this was the easiest way to try our stuff without necessarily moving things in that we don't want to bring with us.

This is our bedroom...which, after much deliberation, will house the queen-sized bed and our double bed will be banished (quite possibly temporarily until the Aerobed arrives) to the guest room.

Happy Shannon would like to point our that while it's not the biggest room in the world, it will accommodate, not one, not two, not three, but FOUR bookcases...something very exciting seeing as we were I was concerned about housing our books since the blue house is full of built-in shelving.


Alex shows that the living room is an okay size (we do need at least one more pair of eyes to help us decide what size new couch to buy).


This is the other end of the living room/dining room where we will have our dining room table...good thing we ended up with only one set in the end!



And finally, our guest room. We will still have a guest room and will still welcome you to the blue house pink palace, it might just be a bit cozier.

So that's the pink palace without furniture. If you're in the neighbourhood in the next few days and would like to offer your opinion on couch size and placement, please do let us know.

That's all.

Airport hang out

I got up this morning and started checking the departures from YLW and the YVR arrivals for Kelsey's flight. Even still I managed to get there a good hour before she landed.

I was treated to the super-spoiled family trying to figure out how they'd all fit into two $800/night room at Whistler...because the 12 and 14 year old boys couldn't share a bed and one couldn't take the extra bed in the adjoining room where grandma and the 10 year old girl were sleeping because the boys needed to be together so they could ski together. And even the promise of their platinum credit card was unable to secure them a better room. And the kids got crankier and crankier as the twenty minutes I sat next to them wore on because they all had to share one sandwich because there was to be NO EATING until they got to Whistler. I got to listen to this because the dad took a cab into downtown to pick up their rental car and had to drive back to the airport to get them and then go to Whistler. Huh? Why not all go into town and then go directly to Whistler. Might save a couple of hours.

Anyway, Kelsey arrived and we spent a good four hours at Milestones playing Scrabble. Then, when we had been ignored long enough by our waitress, we moved on to one of the local-seattle-based- soccer-mom-mega-coffee-shop kiosks and set up shop there on one of their couches.


We got a lot of strange looks, not because we were playing Scrabble or because we had a bunch of luggage, or because we sat in the restaurant for hours - it's an airport - people do out of the ordinary things in airports. No we got strange looks because of Kelsey's bike. That's her bike in the mega box there...only one person made a comment about it, the rest just stared, with their mouths wide open, because apparently they'd never seen a box in an airport before...the biggest gapers were the people who formed a huge line up to get on a west bound flight and probably half of them didn't even have suitcases, they had boxes, but Kelsey's box, well, it was definitely a big attraction.

Bye Kelsey...we'll miss you. Have a great time in Australia!

Wedding Pictures

Okay, finally, after weeks of promising, I have posted our wedding pictures. Please send me an email if you want the link.

Christmas Day Postscript

It's snowing...that means it's officially a WHITE CHRISTMAS! It's pretty with big hunks of snowflake, but driving home tonight could take a long time.

The most wonderful time of the year

It is a pretty amazing time of year...Alex is working today, so I have a few minutes to relax and reflect before his dad comes to get me for Christmas festivities and dinner with Alex's family. I feel a bit guilty that I'll be having a nice family Christmas with Alex's family while Alex talks about traffic...umm...who listens to traffic on Christmas day? (If you do, please let us know!)

We had a quiet morning with some new traditions, some brought from our families...it's nice that we share some things, like when we were kids we almost always got new pjs for Christmas.

My family called from k-town and while I will miss being there with all the Stewart gang, I'm not as sad as I thought I would be. This is the third Christmas I've been away from my family and only the fifth that I haven't spent in k-town, but I'm okay with it. As Mama told me yesterday, this will just be the first (or third) of many! And as Misko reminded me, they missed 18 Christmases in a row, so one isn't so bad.

As I head off to get ready for some good family time, I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I hope you are spending this special day with the important people in your lives. Have fun, laugh lots, be safe, love and be loved...today and always.

Oh yeah, and in case you were wondering (Heddy...) I couldn't sleep last night because I was excited, so obviously the issues I had feeling Christmassy earlier are long gone!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas Resolutions

I know it's traditional to make resolutions for New Years. I don't usually. I have a few resolutions to make before Christmas that I will hopefully adhere to next Christmas

1. I will not leave all my shopping until the week before Christmas
2. I will do some Christmas baking
3. I will not forget an entire box of ornaments in the basement (or storage or closet or whatever other storage arrangement next year brings)
4. I will not leave my Christmas cards until the weekend before Christmas
5. I will use an assortment of different colours in my wrapping/bagging in future years. All red gets kind of boring
6. I will not look for a new place to live in the six weeks preceding Christmas
7. I will not move in the four weeks following Christmas (okay, so maybe those two are somewhat out of my control sometimes, but should I ever get amnesia and forget what it was like this year, this will serve as a memory jog I hope)
8. I will enjoy every moment I get to spend with friends and family

That's the list today...we'll see what happens tomorrow!

Happy Winter Solstice

The shortest, darkest day of the year is here. I look forward to this day every year because it means the days will finally start getting longer. Which means more light. Which means more happy people (or more people who are happier, your choice). Which means no more going to work AND coming home in the dark. Which means happy Shanny. Which is good.

That's all.

Trying to do my part

So, it's been chaotic (that could be an understatement) in my life in the last two weeks. Between our impending move, Christmas approaching at three times the speed of light, the cold hasn't managed to take a permanent hold - yet, and work, well, there's barely been time to stop and think.

Just think. Things like, hmm, I wonder what I should eat for breakfast. Or I wonder what I should wear. You know, the everyday stuff.

This morning was particularly rushed and slow at the same time. When I finally got myself showered and clothed in grey pants and a black sweater, someone had stolen a good half hour of my time and so I decided to skip the raisin bran and home-brewed coffee and grab a hot beverage and a (stupidly high in calories) pastry from the local Seattle-based, soccer-mom, mega-coffee shop, something I don't do very often, but apparently I've done twice in the last eight days now.

In I walk, order my 4,000,000,000 calorie breakfast substitute, hand over my travel coffee mug and pay. I move down to the end of the counter where they smack the beverages down when they're ready and my jaw drops. As the nice lady behind the counter makes my drink in a PAPER CUP and then POURS it into my travel mug and then THROWS IT AWAY.

HUH?!?!?!?

Besides the convenience of using a mug that is somewhat insulated with a lid that closes securely, I like to pretend I'm doing something small for our world by not filling the landfill with yet another disposable coffee cup from the local Seattle-based, soccer-mom, mega-coffee shop (or any other coffee shop for that matter). I use my mug almost every day, usually filled with the aforementioned home-brew. I have a second mug for when I bring tea with me, because coffee flavoured tea, well, it's just gross.

And just to make the stupidity of the making it in one cup and dumping it in another even more stupid...my travel coffee mug is from the local Seattle-based, soccer-mom, mega-coffee shop and is the size of the drink that I ordered - I didn't order something smaller for my big cup...I just don't get it...

And just because the day started off so well...those grey pants I put on, remember them from way up there?! Yeah, well, don't get dressed in the dark or while half asleep. I got to work to discover they were green.

Good thing green and black go together.

Too bad I look like a bruise.

Still shaking my head...That's all.

hibernation

I know why bears do it.

So they don't have to buy Christmas presents.

I would love to make my little cocoon of blankets and snuggle down for a few weeks. I can't believe tired I am lately and I really could probably sleep for a few weeks. Thank goodness the shortest day of the year will be here soon, because this going to work AND coming home in the dark is a big sad.

Really.

So I might impose a little human hibernation on myself tonight...maybe some hot chocolate, maybe a comforting movie (like, say, maybe, it's a possibility, Love Actually), maybe a little gift wrapping and card writing. Maybe.

Fellow hibernators are welcome...just because I want to hibernate does not mean I don't want to hang out and see people.