Year in Review

2012 was a surprisingly eventful year, and December the most eventful month. I don't blog nearly as often as I used to, but it seems appropriate to take a moment for some newer updates and reminisce about some older ones before they fade into the waves of the past. First for the recent...

• For the week or so of Christmas, I was back in sunny Saskatchewan, where the frost was the most gorgeous I've ever seen it. Shockingly, there was not a single deer to be seen (compared with the hundreds-strong herds of yesteryears), and there was no midnight coyote-yipping session while I was there. Much visiting and feasting with family, much laughter, much too much Christmas baking.  

• Closer to the beginning of December, I went on a 5-day trip to Las Vegas to see the sights, catch some shows, and hang out with someone I had never met before. This was only my second trip ever to the U.S. (the first being that conference in Los Angeles—and how is it possible that this is all I wrote about that trip?!); like that first trip, I traveled alone this time. Anyone who knows me probably remembers me as an antisocial introvert who bails on just about everything.
  
  
  
  But there are moments in life when the perfect opportunity arises. When these moments come up, I usually feign unconsciousness until they move along, and then become terribly angry at myself and add it to my (hella long) list of regrets. Luckily for me, the planets aligned and—more importantly—I've spent the entire year working towards becoming a raging self-confident beast (alright, I just wanted to refer to myself as a raging beast). It was a daring moment for me.
  
  Vegas itself was fantastic and full of its own great moments. I didn't have much of an agenda other than wanting to see a Cirque du Soleil show and Blue Man Group (saw them both!) so it was probably the most relaxed vacation I've ever had.  

• As aforementioned, I've been focusing on myself this year, especially after some particularly low moments in the summer (thank you Piano Academy) and autumn. In November I got into yoga, which has been a huge energy boost. At first my neck was doing its muscle spasm thing for a couple days after each class, which in turn made me do my migraine thing. But after a couple weeks the neck problem went away, and I've been feeling a lot healthier.

And finally a recap of the rest of the year:

• January 7: Passed the 10,000-day-old mark. Unremarkabler than I had hoped.
• Early January: Patellofemoral pain sydrome hell. Fortunately better by late January.
• Early June: Saskatrip; never has a vacation been more sorely needed.
• Late June/early July: Piano Academy SCHEDULE ALL THE THINGS ERMAGERD I'M GOING TO COMBUST
• July: New positionish/tasks at work.
• August: New piano!
• Mid October: Combusted. We all saw this coming.
• Late November: Recovery process initiated.
• November 26: Finally saw the Vinyl Cafe Christmas show when it came to Victoria. Fantastic!
• December: Vegas & Christmas!

From my first post of 2012: "But this feels like it could be a good year. It just needs a little encouragement."

It did only need some encouragement.