2012 Round Up

 I didn't do a round up of the year at ALL, I just realised! And after this post, so much is different, I really think I should!

For starters, I quit my job at WeightWatchers. Our house (and car and every available space basically) was completely overrun with stock, there was no room to move, and since becoming employed - as opposed to self-employed - the previous year, it had all been about the numbers and not so much about the members any more and that wasn't how I wanted to work. so in March 2012, I resigned. And my weight hasn't been the same since! HA!

The holidays. Ah the holidays. The Chicago/NYC trip was amazing :D I saw my friends and we had an amazing night in Chi-town, followed by me making my way in New York City and indeed getting the lovely Andrew Garfield's autograph on my Death of a Salesman playbill :D :D :D

Having never seen or read that play before, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I loved it. Whilst at the theatre, I also managed to literally bump into Tobey Maguire, so that was fun. Two Spideys, no waiting. Haha!

The cruise was.... exhausting. I won't lie. We were very excited to go on it, but it turns out having a very wilful 3 year-old and a 5 year-old who won't leave your side to enjoy the children's activities makes it somewhat harder to enjoy things. Anyway, it was still nice, and we made the best of it, but we're going to wait a while before we try that again. (This year we're taking them to Eurodisney - make or break!)

Last but not least, the shopping trip to New York never came off BUT an impromptu trip with Claire DID. We decided to pop over there and have a Toni's Truckers reunion, and meet up with Toni Trucks who was with her lovely boyfriend in Brooklyn.

We were only going to stay for the weekend, but we picked a heck of a time to go, because we got there just as Hurricane (later downgraded to Tropical Storm) Sandy was popping by for a visit. That bitch. So we were stranded as the flights were all grounded, and we had to get the hell out of Brooklyn and onto Manhattan before all the MTA shut down. We were lucky to get a hotel AND one above the "line of destruction" (somewhere around 34th) where the wind and flood water from the East River came up.

We holed up in our hotel room, watched late night TV and the news while the storm passed and ended up staying in NYC for a week, which for us was wonderful once everything opened again, but we felt for all the people whose homes and livelihoods were destroyed.

A couple of things happened whilst we were stuck over there. My "aunt" (not really my aunt but I'd grown up knowing her like one) had died before I left, and I had to miss her funeral whilst I was away. It felt a little strange. She was 96 when she passed away, and I had gotten to say goodbye to her whilst she was still of relatively sound mind, so my lasting memories of her are really great, but I am sad that I didn't get to send her off at her funeral.

The other thing was that we moved house. Well I say "we" but basically S had to do everything. It certainly wasn't meant to happen like that (!) but he ended up having to do it all without me. So I left for my holiday from one house and came home to another! Very strange.

Going back briefly to my aunt though. One thing she said always stuck with me. We used to have a laugh with her about what a really amazing (and sometimes a bit =O !!) life she'd had, and she always would say "Do what you can while you're still alive." This was probably some of the best advice I'd ever heard.

And in September of last year, I finally decided to pursue my acting career (as I have mentioned briefly in another post) and signed on for a foundation degree. I've just today finished the first year (results pending) but I can honestly say I've loved it so much and it has really spurred me on. Can't wait for more!

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