A year in the rearview mirror

It's December in Singapore. Something I know only because my iphone tells me so. It's 33 degrees Celsius outside and all the greenery is extra bright due to the intermittent rains of the monsoon season. I thought it might be a good time to reflect on the past year and maybe bring family and friends up to date on the highlights (and low points) of the year.

One year ago today I was actually in Victoria. This was the lowest time of this year which is not Victoria's fault (but that damned weather sure didn't help). It was probably the lowest time I can ever remember. My Grannie; my mother's mother, was slowly wasting away from pneumonia and many other complications and I was there to try to help, to try to relieve suffering but mostly to be present in this last stage of a life I cared about. My whole family  was immersed in the business of care aids, making complex spread sheets of medications and trying to navigate around the darker issues surrounding the business of dying.

Grannie passed away on the third of February and we finally memorialized her life when I came home in June. That first half of the year I spent most of my time alone. Joel traveled around the world for work, I was online doing courses but it wasn't all dark or unhappy. It was process and out of that time came some design projects I am really happy with. I also managed to come out of my hermit life to develop some new friendships that have made my new life here feel really whole.

After the closure we had as a family in June there was a lightness to the following months. My mother and brother came to visit and we traveled to Penang, Malaysia and took in a lot of sights around Singapore. After my brother headed home my mother and I took a trip to Bali together. We spent almost a week in Ubud watching the villagers around us prepare for a big festival. We stayed in a magical guest house with a temple garden and kindly hosts. We went out on the town, we ate at fantastic restaurants, walked through temples, fought off wild dogs and drank rich local coffee at the organic plantation.

When Joel finally returned for a stretch from his work travel we went back to Bali together so I could show him my new favourite place on the planet. He loved it as much as I had though I think for different reasons. Joel loved tearing around back roads on a scooter.

The fall has been a time of getting more settled. Finding some more furniture, making future plans and figuring out what our normal looks like so we can even attempt to have a working budget [still a work in progress]. Other than a trip around the world and back a month ago Joel has been home quite a bit. We have enjoyed being out for dinners, meeting up with other couples or just being off on epic long walks just the two of us. I'm a workaholic as usual with my school work keeping me up most nights. The good news is I have ONE semester left. That's it. I have to not die for 5 more months and then I can have a grown-up life again.

Joel has continued to ride his bike in this stupidly hot climate and despite all the travel he has managed to improve his power output from last year. We were in Indonesia a few weeks ago for a stage race on Bintan island where he went up against mostly expat teams from all over Asia. Quite a few good riders (former pro cyclists too) are working abroad and it was nice to see that. It was also nice to sit at the edge of a white sandy beach at the end of the day with a glass of champagne. (We have different priorities.)

So where are we spending the holidays? Well I thought you'd never ask. Not in Victoria. I know, a break with tradition and but both of our families decided that this year we'd all travel. My folks are headed to Mexico to stay in the mountains, be culturally fulfilled and eat really fantastic food. Joel's family is in Italy at his mother's art show in Florence as I write. We feel terribly guilty about missing it but we will be joining his parents for Christmas in Paris. We have an apartment near Notre Dame and are planning to do nothing but eat fab food, drink good wine and look at art. Clearly I have pretty awesome in-laws.  New years we are heading to London to catch up with my cousins, my Great Uncle (Grannie's younger brother) and some close friends there.

So cheers 2011. As we celebrate the final few weeks of this year I'm happy to say that it was a good year and I have no regrets whatsoever. I'm not making resolutions, I'm just reveling in all the plans we're hatching.