My 2015 resolution was to make more “Me” time and blog. Although, I wasn’t successful blogging throughout the year, I feel like we did well on the “Me” time. The reason I say “we” is because most of the year, it was David encouraging me to carve out that time for myself.
In January, I did a bit of clothes shopping and ate a lot of good food. This past Saturday, I repeated those good times by making cinnamon buns for breakfast (and chocolate pudding!) and heading over to Turnabout. I found another pair of black dress pants (the ones I bought last year shrunk and that is definitely for another post) for $9 (even better than last year), a classic blazer and a cardigan. And I took advantage of my birthday discount.
My birthday last January was celebrated with friends and good food. That was so much fun, that I convinced some of them to keep joining me for dinner once a month. Every month, one of us chooses a restaurant to try. We have been to The Flying Pig (great poutine!), Guu with Otokomae (neat atmosphere, vocal servers, plum wine, and delicious food), Cuchillo (hearty bean dip and fun grilled husked baby corn), and Belgard Kitchen (I had to have a second roasted mushroom and country bacon pizzette). It has been a blast having that regular time with my friends, trying new food, and even celebrity spotting (yes, Woody Harrelson, we saw you standing next to us at Belgard)!
Grilled husked baby corn at Cuchillo
Another friend and I met biweekly on Wednesday nights throughout 2015. Unfortunately, I cannot continue that tradition with her in 2016 because she moved to South Sudan in December. However, we are trying to maintain the semblance of our biweekly get-together by emailing back and forth. Technology is great for keeping up long distance friendships.
Speaking of which, I was able to fly to Toronto in February and visit with my best girl friend for a whole weekend! That might not sound amazing, but she has four kids and it was the first time I had been away from my own kids for more than one night. David also took a day off work to make it possible for me to extend my trip to four days. She showed me the St. Lawrence Market where we sampled delicious Canadian mustard and purchased kangaroo burgers to BBQ that night. Her oldest daughter even taught me to knit (check off a bucket list item!). It was a lovely time!
In June, I checked off another bucket list item: learn to sew with a sewing machine. Thank you David for organizing and Spool of Thread for your great classes! I made a tote bag that first class and have subsequently gone back to use the machines. Our girls now have blackout curtains in their bedroom and we have fun throw pillow covers for our sofa.
Highlights from the summer were taking classes at VanDusen Botanical Garden and David’s parents moving here in late August. By mid-September the in-laws were spending a few hours a week with the girls, providing “Me” time. A lot of this “Me” time I have used for starting my own consulting business; however, there have been the occasional lunches with friends, errand runs, and even a movie matinee (yes, Star Wars opening day at 10am!).
Autumn saw me join a curling team at Hillcrest in an endeavour to ease my way into my 2016 resolution (have more FUN!). I curled twice in university for social outings and loved it. When I started working at the City of Vancouver in 2008, I was offered the opportunity to spare for the season. It was a good experience to meet staff from various parts of the organization and to learn the game better. This time around, I am still meeting interesting people and learning, but it is also a chance for me to show my girls that I play sports, too. They get so excited when they can come and watch me curl and I get excited watching them reenact it the next day!
All in all, I feel like 2015 was further stepping out of the “baby fog”. I remembered those things that I enjoy and the importance to care for myself, so that I can care well for those I love.
Now on to the next challenge: have more FUN!