2019 Year in Review

Time for another Year in Review post for 2019! 

I started doing this year-end meme 9 (!) years ago -- and, although many of the answers don't change much from year to year (and I can't always think of answers, lol), it's still a great way to look back and keep track. (All of my New Year's/Year in Review posts have now been tagged with the label "Year in Review.")  Feel free to use the questions on your own blog (& let me know if you do!).

1. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don't really make new year's resolutions anymore -- they tend to be pretty much the same ones, year after year (although I have modified some over time, and even deleted ones that no longer apply). Here are the perennials, and the progress I made (or didn't) in 2019: 

• Lose weight.  Alas, I am (once again) more or less the same weight as I was this time last year... I go up a few pounds, I go down, I go up again... :p  I did reach my highest weight ever during the past year... I am slightly below that right now.  I would need to lose a good 40 pounds to get back within my Weight Watchers goal range. Sigh. 
• Exercise more. (And hopefully lose more weight...!)  Massive fail on this one. :(  Still haven't gotten into a regular walking routine since we moved here (& probably won't even try now until the weather improves)  or found a yoga class, as I keep saying I'm going to do...!  For the past 3.5 years, I had the excuse of all the roadwork & construction going on around our condo building. That work is now mostly done, so come spring, I am resolving to put on my walking shoes again & start exploring the side streets in the neighbourhood near our condo. 
• Write more in my journal &/or blog. I haven't written in my paper journal in years. As for blogging, I recently marked my 12th (!!) year in this space. And I actually did wind up writing more in my blog this year (164 posts to date, including this one -- an average of about 14 posts per month) than I did last year (158 posts).  In fact, 2019 has been one of my most productive blogging years since I first hit "publish," coming second in terms of numbers of posts only to my all-time high of 172 posts in 2008, which was my first full year of blogging. Go figure!  (A "Blogging year in review" post will be coming up shortly.) 
• Read more of the books that have piled up around the house. Once again, I set myself a goal of 24 books read in 2019 via the Goodreads reading challenge -- the same as 2016, 2017 & 2018. (I read exactly 24 books in 2016, did not meet my target in 2017 with just 17 books, and wound up with 27 books in 2018).  I'm not sure what did the trick -- although I think having three book clubs to keep up with must have helped some (library, Gateway Women and D.E. Stevenson) -- but I reached my goal in July, and will finish out the year with 50 (!) books to my credit, 208% of my goal. (All books read were -- or soon will be -- reviewed on this blog under the tag "2019 books.") 
• Since 24 books is obviously quite do-able, I've decided to increase my goal modestly for 2020 to 30 books for 2020... and if I blow past that one again, I'll consider revising it to something slightly more ambitious in 2021. 
• Once again this year, non-fiction choices outnumbered fiction (26 to 24), although I did read a lot more fiction, thanks to my book clubs (7 for the library book club, 6 for GW and 6 for DES).
• Keep the clutter at bay.  (Goal slightly reworded from previous years.) As I've said before -- having downsized in 2016 from a 1,200 square foot, three-bedroom house (not including basement, garage & garden shed) to an 875-square-foot condo (plus one not-very-big storage locker), there's a LOT less clutter than there used to be -- and a lot less space for it to accumulate. I've tried to establish good habits & a place for everything right from the start, & so far, I think I've been pretty successful at doing that. Whenever the piles of books start to overwhelm my existing shelves, and/or I run out of spare hangers in the closet, I know it's time to do some weeding again...!  
• Return to scrapbooking & complete unfinished projects. (Goal reworded from previous years.)  Sadly, I have not done any scrapbooking in 10 years. And I donated the bulk of my scrapbooking supplies, including most of my substantial collection of pretty patterned paper, to the thrift store before we moved (sob!). I did keep all my unfinished projects, tools & a few other things, though. (They are sitting in a couple of plastic bins down in the storage locker.) So who knows, I may pick it up again at some point in the future & complete some of those unfinished albums...

2. What did you do in 2019 that you’d never done before?

Joined a (real-life) book club. Saw Elton John in concert (after listening to his music for the past 45-50 years!). Became a great-aunt!  

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

YES!  :)  Older Nephew & his wife became the proud parents of a baby boy just a few weeks ago.  If you read this blog regularly, you'll know that the timing of her pregnancy and her due date exactly mirrored my own from 21 years ago, almost to the day. It made for some difficult moments, but I am very, very glad that her pregnancy ended much more happily than mine did. (See #8.) 

4. Did anyone close to you die?

This is not close, but it broke my heart. The daughter of one of my best friends from high school died after being in a serious car accident this fall. She would have turned 30 this coming February. I never knew the daughter, but her mom continues to be in my thoughts. 

5. What countries did you visit?

While I (like many Canadians) have been reluctant to cross the border as long as the Orange One is President, I will never say never, particularly since my mother is American & I have a lot of family & friends in the States. My mother, sister & I took a quick day trip to Mom's hometown in Minnesota, just across the border, when I was "home" in October. We had lunch with a couple of cousins, including one visiting from Iowa, and talked about the family reunion they are planning for next summer. Other than that, I did not leave the country in 2019.  

6. What would you like to have in 2020 that you lacked in 2019?

More travel, even just day trips to get out of the house & out of our own little community. More new experiences. I am very much a creature of habit, I will admit, but I do like getting out & exploring too, and whenever I do push myself to do it, I come back exhausted but also exhilarated. I know I keep saying this, but maybe if I say/write it enough, I'll actually do it...!  ;)  

7. What date(s) from 2019 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

November 17th:  the birth of our first great-nephew. :) 

July 20th: My dad's 80th birthday. 

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Getting through Older Nephew's wife's pregnancy, which progressed in exactly the same time frame as mine, 21 years ago (her due date was one day apart from my own).  This included attending my first gender reveal party in June (!) & her baby shower in September. And not only did I attend these events, for the most part, I actually enjoyed them. :)  

9. What was your biggest failure?

Over the past several years, I've said, "Not speaking my mind enough, and drifting instead of taking the initiative to get things done that I wanted to do." Unfortunately, I think that still applies. :p  

Also, I really do need to get more active and try to get those numbers on the scale to edge downwards, even just a little. I know my knees and my blood pressure will thank me. 

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

No -- but in March I was diagnosed with a “complete PVD (posterior vitreous detachment)” in my right eye (followed by one in the left eye later in the summer!). (I posted about it here.)  Dh & I made multiple trips to our longtime optometrist's office in midtown Toronto (a looonnnggggg, slow drive in heavy traffic down Yonge Street...!) over the spring & summer to monitor the situation. The symptoms remain, albeit they're not quite as intrusive as they were (or maybe I've just gotten used to them?).  

I'm definitely feeling older these days, with parts of me (my knees in particular, and especially the left one!) getting creakier and not working quite as well as they used to...!  :p 

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Tickets to see Elton John with my sister (after seeing Paul McCartney together in 2018). :)  And then tickets to see him again in 2020 here in Toronto with my sister-in-law, as well as tickets to see "Hamilton" with dh in 2020 too.    

12. Whose behaviour merited celebration?

The first answer that came to mind was the American civil servants who stood up to the president, did the right thing, and testified before the House of Representatives committee about what they knew. 

13. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed? 

Politicians of many stripes, both in the U.S. (Donald Trump & his cronies, obviously) & on this side of the border, both provincially and federally.  (We had a federal election in October!)  

14. Where did most of your money go?

Beyond the usual bills -- and books, lol -- our condo board levied (another) special assessment (the second one since we moved here) to replenish the reserve fund that was poorly managed/depleted by the original property management company.  Hopefully that will be the last one for quite a while...! 

We've also bought a lot of stuff for our new great-nephew -- a rocking chair and crib mattress for his nursery, lots of cute outfits :) diapers & formula.  We know that anything we do for this little guy, we'll also need to do for any future brothers or sisters or cousins, to be fair... so we're trying (with great difficulty!) not to go TOO overboard...!! ;)  

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

The impending arrival & birth of our first great-nephew. 

Seeing Elton John with my sister. :)  

Getting tickets to see "Hamilton" when it comes to Toronto next year. 

16. What song will always remind you of 2019?

I'm not sure. I Googled "top songs of 2019" and I barely knew any of them, which shows you how current my listening is, lol.  And I can't think of an older song that especially connects with this year. Maybe "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting," which featured in both "Rocketman" the movie, and was a rousing finale to the Elton John concert I attended (even though it was written & recorded in, what, 1973, 1975?). 


17. Compared to this time last year, are you: (a) happier or sadder? (b) thinner or fatter? (c) richer or poorer?

More or less the same, on all three fronts.     

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? 

Travelling. Trying new things. Reading more books (even though I did much better on that front than I've done in many years!)  But hey, there's always next year... 

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Sitting around the house. :p  

20. How did you spend Christmas? 

With my family on the Canadian Prairies (as usual).  There was some snow on the ground, albeit not as much as some years, and it was not quite as cold as it sometimes is at Christmas. Ham dinner & presents on Christmas Eve with PND & the Little Princesses, stockings and turkey on Christmas Day. Much more of the prep work, cooking & cleanup has been falling to me & my sister in recent years, so we were kept busy! 

21. Did you fall in love in 2019?

With my new great-nephew, yes. :)  

22. What was your favorite TV program?

I don't have as many regular TV shows that I watch as I once did. I love watching "Bob's Burgers" (both current episodes and reruns) and still enjoy "Mom." I enjoyed the latest seasons of "Victoria" & "Poldark" on PBS, and "The Handmaid's Tale" on Bravo. We both enjoyed watching Ken Burns's series on "Country Music" on PBS.  And I was thrilled that CBC brought back "Battle of the Blades" this fall (even if my favourite team wound up placing third)!  

I haven't yet watched season 3 of "The Crown" on Netflix, but look forward to tackling that again soon. 

23. Do you hate anyone now that you did not hate this time last year? 

No.  Hate is a strong word. But I am definitely not a fan of the President of the United States and his cronies. :p  

24. What was the best book you read? 

(See #1)   It's always very hard for me to pick a single book as "the best," and this year, there were quite a few that would contend for that title -- lots of four and five-star reviews on Goodreads!  The list would definitely include: 

• "Say Nothing" by Patrick Radden Keefe 
• "Beartown" by Fredrik Backman 
• "Little Fires Everywhere" and "Everything I Never Told You" by Celeste Ng 
• "The Testaments" by Margaret Atwood 

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

See #16 -- as in the past, I must admit, I don't listen to a lot of new music. 

26. What did you want and get?

Hamilton tickets!!  lol  So looking forward to seeing it in May! 

27. What did you want and not get?

Still waiting on that sunspot vacation. ;)  (Or any kind of major vacation that doesn't involve visiting family, lol.)   A new (quieter) humidifier for our condo. 

28. What was your favourite film of this year? 

We saw 14 movies in the theatres in 2019 (compared to 15 in 2018, 16 in 2016 and 2017, and 23 in 2015)(listed here in the order we saw them in):  On the Basis of Sex, The Favourite, Apollo 11, Avengers: Endgame, Long Shot, Booksmart, Rocketman, Late Night, Yesterday, Blinded by the Light, Downton Abbey, Judy, Western Stars, and Ford vs Ferrari. 

As with books, it's hard to pick a favourite. I'm not sure there was one movie that completely blew me away, although every one of these was good/enjoyable on its own merits. 

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I was 58.  My birthday fell on a Saturday. I had a manicure & pedicure in the morning, followed by lunch and a bookstore visit with dh.  We went out for dinner at my favourite local steakhouse, but the lineups were ridiculous, so we went to another favourite restaurant instead. BIL, SIL, our nephews, their wives AND the dog came over, later, bringing a cake & presents with them.  

59 (gulp) coming up shortly (!).

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

A little more travel beyond the limits of the Greater Toronto Area. 

Less politics in my social media feeds. :p  More politicians who are willing to do the right thing and not just worry about their own political futures. 

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2019? 

It hasn't changed much in recent years. I tend to value comfort more than style these days!  Since retirement, I spend most of my days in yoga pants (or shorts, in the summer) & T-shirts, lol.  Jeans when I'm out & about. Lots of Old Navy, and Lucky Brand (which I love!).   

32. What kept you sane?

(This question assumes sanity on my part, lol.  ;)  ) Once again this year, I would credit a good mixture of downtime at home, and getting out of the house. Also, turning off the news channels on TV & (especially whenever the Orange One comes on to speak!) and listening to music instead!  

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

I had to think about this one. One contender that came to mind was Dr. Jen Gunter, author of "The Vagina Bible," and fellow Manitoban.  She's made it her mission to debunk myths and empower women with facts about their own bodies, and she does it with a lot of humour (and no apologies). 

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

In recent years, I've expounded on the issue of freedom of the press and media bashing, and this remains near & dear to my heart, as well the whole issue of equality and women's rights, which are (once again) under threat. 

I'm also increasingly convinced that we're screwed as a planet.  Unbelievably, I have several friends on social media who don't believe in climate change or the need to wean ourselves from fossil fuels. I think they must have their heads in the oilsands, because the evidence is all around us. Yes, China & India are a big problem and need to get their acts together too, but every little bit helps. Sometimes I am glad I don't have children for this reason. 

35. Who did you miss? 

FIL. It's hard to believe he's been gone more than a year now. He would have loved this new great-grandchild!   

36. Who was the best new person you met?

I actually did meet a few new people this year, albeit none of them have become close friends (yet?). I had a nice long chat over coffee with another childless-not-by-choice woman last spring (we were introduced by a mutual online friend). Unfortunately, she lives about an hour away from me -- I don't drive, and public transit is not really an option in this case -- but we are hoping to meet up again soon, perhaps at a halfway point between our two locations!  

I also met a lot of fellow book lovers through my library book club (and, after several meetings, I'm even starting to remember some of their names!  lol).  

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2019. 

This year brought home to me, once again, that while the days & weeks sometimes drag, the months & years go by far too quickly. Life, youth & health are precious, and disappear far too quickly sometimes. Enjoy it all while you can! 

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

See #16... I will have to think of this one....