Before I can move on into the new year I want to take some time to reflect on the year that has just concluded, 2011. Many things happened, ups and downs but mostly it was a great year for me..
January began with the NYE fireworks at a local club and the game of NYE was poker. I had just got a poker set off my parents for Christmas which came with no instructions (I guess they may have been taken by some as an insult as it's a real professional set) so online I went and gathered some instructions. The game went well, I don't remember who won but we had fun and ushered in the new year with friends which is always great. Off to the gym and I head off a great year of progress. Later in the month we received a cruise brochure in the Sunday paper (I had always wanted to go on a cruise since my friend N and I came up with the idea before she moved to the U.S to work in 2007) I mention this to my partner and he talk to another friend and the idea grew in the coming months. In February we chose the cruise, it would be in mid June and head over to Noumea, Isle of Pines and Emerald Bay (later this stop was changed to Mystery Island, Vanuatu -which was awesome). My performance at work continued at a high and I was very busy for the first 5 months of 2011, I handled it mostly well.
Late in the month I head into the city with a bunch of workmates for a promotion launch. It's always a mystery what it will be and this year it was the usual free drinks and food to the background entertainment of old pinball machines, a boxing match, cowboy (and girl) dancers on stage and tribal dancers (many firsts there) it was a great night and inspired me to want to spend a night in the city on my birthday in March. This year I turned 28 and the night in the city was kind of aggravating due to traffic (I really should embrace public transport more) and lack of the kind of food that I like (basic, simple, healthy and hearty) but you live and learn. My birthday was on a Monday and I received many calls etc to wish me a happy birthday and a record number of Facebook well wishes (most likely due to the fact that I advertise my birthday to everyone constantly for a month before. I also set myself a challenge and I tweet 28 times during my day, to celebrate my birthday. The best present ever was from parents, a blender. I have been making my own shakes since and I feel that has contributed greatly to my gym gains this year and health.
I wish I had skipped April in some sense, but not all. What a stressful month! Easter is always the worst time of the year as it's so busy but this one fell on Anzac Day which meant we were closed 5 days (great break!) but very busy before. I remember the day before the break was a 12 hour straight run about from 6am- what a day! Oh and to make matters worse, I got pulled over as I left work as I ran a red light. I thought it had more amber in it, but it changed as I entered the intersection and there was a cop waiting at the lights- D'oh! I was so upset with myself about it, but accepted it eventually (not that it's my first fine anyway! $260 by the way). It was dark by the time I eventually arrived home, but happy it was a 5 day weekend. The weather sucked over Easter and I spent all Good Friday in my pajamas and went for my first ever massage on the Saturday, which was awesome (I promised to go back again but haven't yet lol). I also did something I have wanted to do in years and copy all my old 90's home videos to DVD (I feel really good about doing this, the old VCR tapes are slowly moulding up and the memories from my growing up are priceless). We also paid off the cruise and everything was almost set..
Finally I got off my arse and got my first ever passport in May so than we were set! Just weeks out from my Cruise in June, my aunt received some bad news. For weeks, unable to eat and keep it down she went to the doctors and found out she had Oesophagus cancer. My cousin came home from the UK and I remember being at a BBQ at their house talking about my upcoming cruise, but knowing that it sucked what she was going through while I was having fun. My aunt went into hospital just days before my cruise and we went to visit. The entire time I cruised around the Islands, we email back and forth and sent all my news to my parents as well.. Oh, it also snowed at home which annoyed me cos I was hanging out for it and missed it!! I had just said that would happen before I left, and it did lol. So the Cruise was awesome. I was sick the first day though, as was most of the boat (6m swells) but once that was over and I found a short cut to the buffet and the gym, I was set!
My first glimpse of overseas, the sunshine was the first thing that hit me at Noumea and than the tribal dancers. The weather was aso bright and inviting a nice 26C for my first overseas experience. We rode the tchu tchu train along the roads up into the hills of the city and I wanted to explore more but no one would come with me as they were afraid of some shifty looking people in the streets. Also, I used some of the french I had learnt on local shop people, that was cool and really good a good sense of the french language by interpreting signs and people talking around me. I really never thought I would enjoy a different language so much but it was great being somewhere that didn't speak English for a bit. Off to Mystery Island, we got to see Island kids singing and walked the entire place 1km round Island loving every minute. Also swam in the ocean and enjoy the crystal sands- also hit my head on a dead tree scratching it up a bit at the beach- friend: ''this looks like a good place to sit''.. Yeah, under the only dead tree on the beach! lol. Isle of Pines was awesome too, real tribal living and houses. We saw most of the place by bus which was great way to soak up the culture and get a sense of village life there.
We returned home to a present after the cruise.. Our land lord passed away (which we were aware of in May) and we found a letter under our door saying the bank may repossess the place. We went nuts looking for a new place asap but found nothing and never moved yet. In the process stressed out big time and fell sick. I couldn't return to work for a week after my holidays as I was so sick with the flu and a bad respiratory infection that almost advanced into Pneumonia.. Had to go see the rudest bitch to get my x-ray done, she treated me like crap and if I ever work out a way to complain about her, I will.. but at least I was clear in the end.
July back to work, oh and also began doing a course to get more qualifications.. Also our outdoor table was stolen which really piss me off.. Not even 1 full week after returning back to work and I had the drive from hell home one Tuesday, the wind was so bad that trees were down everywhere and when I got home the power was of and stay off for 6 hours in total- which was so eerie as the buildings are always lit up. I didn't fully grasp how bad the wind was until it turned into a full scale wind storm that night and we went to rescue a friends dog whos tent had ripped (yeah, the landlord wouldn't allow it inside so it had a tent- the friend has since moved home) and there was a tree balancing on power lines and tree bits down everywhere in the yard. The next day bought worse news as a tree fell down on public transport nearby, crushing the carriage and the power outages continued for at least 4 days after, including at work (until a generator was borrowed) which made things difficult. I'm glad I live where I do as we only had 6 hours of power out to deal with, but others weren't so lucky. I'll never forget night 2 of the wind storm, continuous gust pushing against the windows and tree bits flying around everywhere, I have never heard anything like it in my life. It was 150km/h and equivalent to a category 1-2 cyclone. Lasted 2 days. Bought down many trees which have been since chopped down in a massive operation. Also in July my friend M came down just after the storms and stay with her kids (my first friend to stay over, it was a great weekend).
Things were really quiet through August but went for a massive bush walk and Wohoo I got contact lenses for the first time! I have had them since and love them I don't know how I lived without them! in September life got kinda boring for a while, though N came back from the us which was great and we caught up a few times. Come October things started to pick up again and I felt more motivation returning. November was the beginning of 6-7 dull weeks of rain and holiday number 2 for this year. We went up the coast and didn't have the best time, came home early as the rain was so bad and enjoyed sleep and relaxation before returning to the pre- Christmas rush at work. The best thing I got from that holiday was a rest so it wasn't all a fail. Also November my Nan got a knee replaced and C won some money, enough to pay his debts and buy a new (well, 2nd hand) car.
December bought my attempt to resurrect Christmas card swapping and it went well. I also had one of the best Christmas' I can think of, a real social one. I sat down on Christmas Eve and put together some old home movies of Christmas (one from 1991- 20 years ago to the day!) and at my uncles place we put them for a laugh and reminisce. My aunt (currently up against cancer) was eating a bit (as she has been since a month ago) She is not all out of the clear. Her hair has started to grow back from her chemo and she also had radiotherapy. 2012 will bring more tests and news on what happend next. I hope all is better and her life will go on better than ever. She has lost weight and ready for a fit future I hope... So in her words, it was to be 'not much of a Christmas this year' but hopefully doing the DVD made it seem like a time to reflect on Christmas Day's passed, like a re-run and reminder of the good times rather than focusing on the bad.
2011 was a big year of firsts for me and a lot of achievements that I'm proud of. I know that 2012 will bring heaps more! :D
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