2016 Yearly Recap

January - I did the Polar Bear Swim on the first day of the year! I will remember it as being "I was 50 the first time I did the Polar Bear Swim". I was suffering from a lot of headaches in January. And I had another tooth abscess and root canal, which meant more antibiotics - again! But, the biggest change was that hubby quit smoking.

February - Hubby was still struggling with the side effects of quitting smoking. But, he stayed the course, despite not feeling well, and having issues at work. Meanwhile, we had our eyes tested, and he got new glasses. I spent most of the month trying different types of contact lenses, but hadn't decided on anything new by the end of the month. We had planned to take off to Victoria for a weekend, but in the end, we just took a few days off work, and spent a few days together at home relaxing. The weather was wet, but unseasonably warm for February, and all our flowers are blooming.

March - Hubby left his job. He did get another one, but didn't start that until April. So, he was off of work for most of the month. Meanwhile, I got the flu that lasted about 2 weeks. I was so sick! Spring Break meant everyone at work was on holidays, and traffic was really good. But, the weather was wet and warm. Lots of rain, and temps a lot warmer than normal. At the end of the month, I finally bought a new pair of glasses, but hadn't yet got a new pair of contacts that was working for me.

April - I was suffering from migraines and neck problems for most of the month again. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad left on their Australia adventure (fly to Sydney and cruise home - for a whole month!) And I got my hair colored for the first time EVER! Insanely hot and dry for April as well.

May - was unusually dry again this month, although not as hot as April was. A trip to the doctor freaked me out. I have a spot of skin cancer on my back, and very high blood pressure. So, I started on a "healthy" regime. Losing weight, getting more exercise and finding ways to relax and de-stress.

June - the health regime that I started last month was starting to pay off. My blood pressure was lower than it's been in a long time. I lost 10lbs. And acupuncture is making me feel less stressed, and much more relaxed. I started budget season at work, so I worked longer hours this month. Which was OK, because they've closed one of the bridges in the city to one lane each way for renovations, and traffic has been a nightmare ever since.

July - a few days off with hubby, celebrating his birthday. A follow up visit with my doctor proved that I'm on the right track. And we had a raccoon nesting in our deck that we had to deal with. In the meantime, an employee at work was acting up because our boss was on vacation. It made things challenging at work, and put a lot of strain on myself and others in the office.

August - Hot and dry weather meant that I was swimming a lot more than usual, and we moved into the basement bedroom where it is cooler. At the beginning of the month, I attended a funeral for my uncle, and got a chance to re-connect with some of my cousins. At the end of the month, hubby was involved in a rear end accident where someone hit him.

September - my budget deadline had come and gone, so I spent most of this month catching up on "life", doing all those little things that I don't get to when I'm working too much, and lying in the pool on my off time. Employee problems had me thinking about changing jobs. Hubby got his car fixed, and then (at the end of the month), we both took a couple of days off work, and went over to Victoria to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary.

October - bad commutes, employee issues, and problems with management have me really considering leaving my job and trying to find something else. Instead, I took 2 weeks off to celebrate my birthday, and just get away from things for a while. We were supposed to have company from out of town at that time, but plans got changed. So, I spent my time doing little things around the house, relaxing, shopping, and visiting with friends and family. It rained so much in October, that I spent a lot of time at home.

November - Vacation time continued for the first week of November. And so did the rain, for the whole month. I can't believe how much it has rained. The rest of the month was filled with work, bad commutes, good neighbours moving away, and discovering the Vinyl Café series on audio CD. And, the US elected Donald Trump to be the next president.

December - The rain turned to snow. I got to take a few snow days and work from home. And it snowed on my four day weekend. And then the snow continued off and on all month! It snowed on Boxing Day. It snow on New Year's Eve. It was cold too! Sub zero temps which made all that snow just a big pile of ice. Christmas was really nice, but seemed to come so quickly this year. And we both worked between Christmas and New Years, so New Years really crept up on us too. Most people were saying that 2016 was a bad year, and couldn't wait for it to end. For us, it wasn't too bad, but it did seem challenging at times. So, I do hope 2017 is better.

Happy New Year's!!