I’m heading into the new year with a bang! I have a really bad ear infection and I think, the flu. Hopefully this isn’t a sign of the year to come, though I do see the humour in it all. Thankfully I didn’t have any big plans and I’ll still be doing exactly what I planned on doing. I’ve ordered some Chinese food and later tonight I’ll make popcorn and sit down to watch movies with my mom. I have East of Eden and Sunset Boulevard lined up. If she’s still with me I also have Rebel Without a Cause. Otherwise I’ll crawl to my bedroom and watch horror movies or something.

When I was a kid my mother used to ring in the new year by going to the front door, opening it and ringing an old cowbell out the door. I’m going to insist she does that tonight so listen for it!

I don’t make resolutions so you won’t find a list here. The new year is going to be an interesting one full of new things and lots of change. Hopefully a lot less stress but you take whatever hand you’re dealt and play it. Wherever you are and whatever you’re doing, I hope you have a happy and safe New Year’s Eve. See you next year!

A fitting title right? So I’ll take these next few minutes to look back on 2008. Or what I can remember about it anyway…

Back in school, of course. Classes took up most of 2008.
Finished my first year of a Bachelor of Education.
Made it on the Dean’s List for that year.
In February, my baby, my little dog Gerry, died. The grief was unreal.
Was incredibly sick on my birthday, no party.
Work nonsense was resolved the way I wanted it to go, so I didn’t need to quit my job. Still employed!
Saw Bob Dylan in concert.
Saw Leonard Cohen in concert. Was the most incredible night.
Mike came to visit and stayed with me for a couple of days. It was great to have him here and have some fun with one of my oldest friends.
Saw two WWE house shows, front row for the second. Awesome!
Unexpectedly ended up in Toronto in June. Modprom and BMEfest were lots of fun.
Summer vacation was wonderful, spent the majority of my time taking photos and reflecting on life.
Alex and Darren came to visit. Great time and I hadn’t seen Darren in about 7 years so it was extra special.
Krista came for a visit and we had a nice night out.
Finished my last term of course work for my education degree (still waiting on 2 out of 5 marks – so far so good).
A lot of unpleasantness that got sorted out again. Good triumphs over evil.
Alex and Kate came down for a visit while I was in school and the three of us and Alex went to see a stage production of Rocky Horror Picture Show which was absolutely fantastic.
Got to devote an entire month+ to a photography project which was a hit (thank you for the A+ Jen P). This project finally allowed me to do something I’d wanted to do for so long, which was to devote photo shoots to people and create some great work. I realized that the passion is worth it all.
Wrote a poem for the first time in about 6 years. Read it aloud in class. Lived to tell about it.
Experienced the biggest case of anxiety ever when displaying above mentioned photography project to the class. Lived to tell about that too.

All in all, the year has been a rollercoaster of huge ups and huge downs. I’m moving into 2009 with the hope that there will be many more ups than downs and that the worst of the stress is a thing of the past. I’ll be doing my teaching internship from Jan-May. I am applying to graduate school. I am continuing to devote lots of time to photography and other new interests. I continue to reflect on the meaning of life and other trivial things.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday. I’ll catch you in 2009.

I did a little (ok, a lot) housekeeping on the blog. Scrubbed clean and ready to welcome 2009!