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Farewell 2017 and Welcome 2018!
Jan. 7th, 2018 04:55 pmAs noted earlier, I don't tend to do formal resolutions, but I do think it can be useful to look back on what I accomplished over the past year and forward to what I plan to do in the year ahead. So first, what I did.
In terms of travel, my biggest trip was to Hawaii in March, to attend Left Coast Crime. I wrote more about this in an earlier entry but as an update, I'll just say that I don't intend to go to the 2018 convention in Nevada but am still thinking of going to Left Coast Crime 2019, to be held in Vancouver. Unfortunately, one of the guests of honour who will now not be there but who was to get a lifetime achievement award there was Sue Grafton - she died recently, having only gotten to "Y" in her famous Kinsey series. As well as LCC 2017, I also attended the 2017 Bouchercon in Toronto and a new one, Women Killing It, held in Picton, Prince Edward County.
Besides reading crime fiction and watching things like Midsomer Murders and Murdoch on TV, other things things I did for fun included concerts (Bach Choir, Music & Beyond, Amberwood concerts, lunchtime concerts at Southminster...), cheap Tuesday movies, art gallery visits, attending the odd play... etc.
In the personal health maintenance department, I now actually have a family doctor and got my annual (which has been much less than annual for a long time) physical in December. There've been no setbacks with my eyes or my arthritis and no new health issues to worry about. I'm a bit behind with my vaccines and I'll be getting a couple more tests done in early 2018, including one for bone density, but basically I think I'm reasonably healthy.
I did do a bit in the way of home organizing and decluttering ( I plan to press on with that in 2018 as I'm a great believer in aging in place). No major renovations in 2017, though we did get a new stove (that's a tale in itself). Hopefully in 2018 there'll be a little more time to press on in the renovations area too.
In the "just say no" department, I did resign from the Board of the Ex Libris Association so I'll no longer be expected to go to Toronto 4 times a year for their meetings. I am still a member of the Association as a whole and will continue to go to their annual general meeting if my schedule permits and the programme looks interesting.
The grandchildren are of course all fascinating young humans! The two older ones are both in school; the youngest is so articulate that I often forget she's only two. As for our cats, we said goodbye to two of them this year. Both of them were somewhere around age 15, which I guess is a fairly respectable age for a cat although it's never easy to lose a fur-child. I think the remaining cat is a bit lonely without them, even though she was an only cat for nearly two years before we acquired the others. She's nearly five now and we hope she's got a good decade or more of life in her yet - but if we do get another cat, we've sort of decided it should be one around her age or slightly older.
So what do I hope to do in 2018?
In terms of travel I have no major trips planned, although I plan to proceed with my "bucket list" plan to visit every province in Canada before I die. In 2018, there are a couple of interesting conferences coming up in Edmonton, and Alberta is one of four provinces I've never visited.
I'm hoping to get to galleries and museums more often, including the newly reopened Science and Tech Museum and in the spring or summer some time, the Heritage Place museum, an hour or so's drive west of here. I already have a Music & Beyond pass for July and expect to continue with the Amberwood and Southminster concerts, movies and plays. I may take another Learning in Retirement course if there's something interesting on offer. I'd like to sort through my LP's and play some of the ones I haven't played in ages because they're not available (or I don't own them ) in CD form and they've sat there forgotten and unloved.
I'd also like to explore one or two new hobbies - maybe learn a new language? Or do something in the way of art? Anyway, something to add interest and spice to the daily routine. With 11 full months remaining in 2018, the possibilities are still endless!
In terms of travel, my biggest trip was to Hawaii in March, to attend Left Coast Crime. I wrote more about this in an earlier entry but as an update, I'll just say that I don't intend to go to the 2018 convention in Nevada but am still thinking of going to Left Coast Crime 2019, to be held in Vancouver. Unfortunately, one of the guests of honour who will now not be there but who was to get a lifetime achievement award there was Sue Grafton - she died recently, having only gotten to "Y" in her famous Kinsey series. As well as LCC 2017, I also attended the 2017 Bouchercon in Toronto and a new one, Women Killing It, held in Picton, Prince Edward County.
Besides reading crime fiction and watching things like Midsomer Murders and Murdoch on TV, other things things I did for fun included concerts (Bach Choir, Music & Beyond, Amberwood concerts, lunchtime concerts at Southminster...), cheap Tuesday movies, art gallery visits, attending the odd play... etc.
In the personal health maintenance department, I now actually have a family doctor and got my annual (which has been much less than annual for a long time) physical in December. There've been no setbacks with my eyes or my arthritis and no new health issues to worry about. I'm a bit behind with my vaccines and I'll be getting a couple more tests done in early 2018, including one for bone density, but basically I think I'm reasonably healthy.
I did do a bit in the way of home organizing and decluttering ( I plan to press on with that in 2018 as I'm a great believer in aging in place). No major renovations in 2017, though we did get a new stove (that's a tale in itself). Hopefully in 2018 there'll be a little more time to press on in the renovations area too.
In the "just say no" department, I did resign from the Board of the Ex Libris Association so I'll no longer be expected to go to Toronto 4 times a year for their meetings. I am still a member of the Association as a whole and will continue to go to their annual general meeting if my schedule permits and the programme looks interesting.
The grandchildren are of course all fascinating young humans! The two older ones are both in school; the youngest is so articulate that I often forget she's only two. As for our cats, we said goodbye to two of them this year. Both of them were somewhere around age 15, which I guess is a fairly respectable age for a cat although it's never easy to lose a fur-child. I think the remaining cat is a bit lonely without them, even though she was an only cat for nearly two years before we acquired the others. She's nearly five now and we hope she's got a good decade or more of life in her yet - but if we do get another cat, we've sort of decided it should be one around her age or slightly older.
So what do I hope to do in 2018?
In terms of travel I have no major trips planned, although I plan to proceed with my "bucket list" plan to visit every province in Canada before I die. In 2018, there are a couple of interesting conferences coming up in Edmonton, and Alberta is one of four provinces I've never visited.
I'm hoping to get to galleries and museums more often, including the newly reopened Science and Tech Museum and in the spring or summer some time, the Heritage Place museum, an hour or so's drive west of here. I already have a Music & Beyond pass for July and expect to continue with the Amberwood and Southminster concerts, movies and plays. I may take another Learning in Retirement course if there's something interesting on offer. I'd like to sort through my LP's and play some of the ones I haven't played in ages because they're not available (or I don't own them ) in CD form and they've sat there forgotten and unloved.
I'd also like to explore one or two new hobbies - maybe learn a new language? Or do something in the way of art? Anyway, something to add interest and spice to the daily routine. With 11 full months remaining in 2018, the possibilities are still endless!
