Friday, December 30, 2022

Friday Favourites - 2022 Edition

 



Some of my favourite things from 2022:

Song - As It Was by Harry Styles (Related: Did he spit on Chris Pine?!)

Movie - Top Gun Maverick

TV Show - Severance

Book - Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr

YouTube Video - Noah Reid's rendition of "Simply The Best" as Patrick on Schitt's Creek.  It was one of my top five songs on Spotify.

Meal - Breakfast Burrito in Miami, the cilantro cream was *chef's kiss*


Drink - Aperol Spritz


New Clothing - White Birkenstocks


Toronto Moment - Skating on various outdoor rinks.  It's a great way to appreciate what our city has to offer and get some quality winter activity time.  When we skated at City Hall just this week, I also appreciated the diversity of our city with many people trying out skating for the first time (bless their hearts, people fall so much, but they were laughing!).


Canada Moment - Team Canada's appearance at the World Cup soccer. They didn't win any games, but they played well and we can be proud of that.

House Thing - We actually decided on what we wanted to do for our renovation and started the processing of choosing a contractor and getting plans drawn up.  Work won't start until mid-2023 though.

Restaurant - Everything at the Fairmont Royal York - the Library Bar and Clockworks lobby bar.

E Thing - This year E got to his piano lessons on his own after school, a bit more responsibility.   His lessons are conveniently located above a coffee shop and would often bring doughnuts home for himself and Q.  Q was even getting excited about "piano days" because he knew it meant doughnuts.


Q Thing - Skiing all day for four days in a row (in Quebec over March Break), and killing it!! I had a hard time keeping up!


Dave Thing - Dave decided he would run a half marathon in the Spring.  Dave is very good at setting goals and then achieving them, he just goes out and decides to do it and then does it well.  Now if you ask him, he says he could have done better, but he was sub-2:00 so pretty great if you ask me!  


Memory - There is a tie, our first day skiing at Mont Sutton in Quebec, it was a winter wonderland.  And in Cape Breton when we all sat out on our floaties and drank the afternoon away.


All in all a pretty great year of favourites!

Thursday, December 29, 2022

Monthly Musings

 


Linking up with Holly and Patty for the last Monthly Musings for the year.

1. Do you make resolutions/goals for the new year?
Yes, to various degrees of success.  The key is to keep thinking about them throughout the year rather than forgetting about them by the second week of January!

2. Do you have diet/exercise goals?
I would like to take up running again.  I let it go in the second half of 2022. It's such a great way to stay fit and change it up from Peloton. 

3. Do you have personal/professional goals for 2023?
I'd like do a better job of helping others in our community.  Volunteer and donation opportunities should be back in full swing again after the last couple of pandemic years, so I'll be looking into those. 

4. Do you use a planner? Paper? Electronic? Combo?
No official "planner", just my Outlook calendar.

5. Do you have a word/phrase for 2023?
No

6. Ring in the new year or asleep by 10 pm?
Ring it in!

7. Favourite thing to do on New Year's Day?
Go outside to skate, ski, hike, or sled, depending on the temperature and amount of snow. Once upon a time we used to go out for brunch but not for the last couple of years, so maybe we will restart that tradition now.

8. Any travel plans for 2023?
We have talked about Europe and Disney but haven't done any bookings yet.

9. Things/Events you are most looking forward to in 2023?
Our house renovation. I mean, I've heard these things are really annoying but ultimately it will be great!

10. Will you be watching any Bowl games around New Year's?
No, we don't watch college football.  We will be watching the hockey equivalent of the World Junior's Tournament. 

Wednesday, December 28, 2022

2022 - Year in Review

 Looking back at 2022

January

Ski lessons were back on, but we were still car chalet-ing. 


The kids did home school for a few weeks.


They got their second COVID vaccine.


February

We skated at the neighbourhood outdoor rink.


We went to Jamaica.


March

We skied in Quebec (Eastern Townships) for March Break.




We celebrated Dave's birthday with a Raptors game.

We finished our ski season at Mount St. Louis-Moonstone, and decided we would get season passes there for the next year to try something new.

April

We celebrated Easter

Q played ball hockey.


May

Dave ran a half marathon

We saw the cherry blossoms in High Park.


We celebrated Mother's Day.


E joined the golf club with Dave and started playing on Tuesdays in the Jr. League.

My mom visited.


We celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary.


We went to a Blue Jays game with friends.

June

We got to go inside the school for E's dance show.


I went to Montreal.


It was my birthday.


The school had a fun fair.


The boys and I got into a habit of going out for supper on Wednesdays when Dave was golfing at Mens' Night.


We celebrated the last day of school!


July

We camped at Algonquin.

E went to overnight camp for two weeks.


We went go-karting.


We enjoyed the pool and cocktails at Sunnyside.

August

We went to Cape Breton.




I went to Miami.


Nana Karen and Papa Jim visited and procured two Vladdy bobble heads.

We camped with our neighbours at Arrowhead.



Dave and I had a kid free week.


September

We camped at the Pinery.


The kids started school - Grade 6 and Grade 1.


We went back to church in person and I joined the choir.


E finished his baseball season. 


We celebrated Q's 6th birthday at Legoland.


And at Queen Margherita Pizza.


October

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Dave's parents.


We celebrated E's 11th birthday (also at Queen Margherita Pizza).


And at Boulderz rock climbing gym.


We enjoyed the fall colours.


We saw Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.


I went out with friends.


We had a vampire and Legolas (from Lord of the Rings) for Halloween. 


November

We went to the Royal Agricultural Fair.


We all got our next COVID booster and flu shots.

Dave and I went to see Noah Reid in concert.



We went to a Marlies game with our neighbours.


We saw Santa at the mall.


December

We went skating.



We hosted our annual Christmas Party, with grandparents who came to help out.



Dave and I went to a Raptors game.


We kicked off the ski season.

We visited with family

These posts are really just for me so I can do my own looking back and appreciate all of the fun we had.