my cracked guitar and my mason jar of tea
Happy new year, mes amie. Here's hoping that 2010 is a vast improvement over 2009.
I'm back home after a long holiday weekend at Chez kachera. The kacheras, hammerhead22s and I spent new year's eve eating and drinking and playing rockband, with breaks for gift exchanges and watching the ball drop. New year's day was entertainment provided by youtube, a holiday open house at friends of the kacheras, and ended with a few episodes of Castle. (Oh, Nathan Fillion!) I had my first riding lesson of the new year at a new barn with a new trainer, and I think it went well. It was vastly improved by the riding pants and new gloves Santa brought me. :) Saturday evening was girls' night at the hammerhead22's, where the usual suspects plus shuttergal settled in to watch Velvet Goldmine (oh, Ewan MacGregor! in eyeliner!) Today, another fabulous riding lesson with kachera's trainer - I had a run of trotting where everything was going so well that I couldn't even speak! (Of course, I also had a total brain malfunction and could not remember how to hold the reins at one point, but whatever.) And now I am home, snuggling with Tricky and Jack and pondering the coming year.
2009 was a challenge for so many of us, both good and not-so. It brought me a new job in an entirely new field that I still feel overwhelmed by sometimes. I started horseback riding lessons, something I am truly loving for so many reasons. I've met new people, and am settling in to life in the Rose City. I sang in front of other people for the first time (thanks to beer, hammerhead22, and rockband), and though I am no Peggy Lee, I'll pick up the mic when needed - and will willingly jump in for Time Bomb or Psycho Killer, or just about anything on the Beatles playlist. ;) Travel was strictly limited by my budget, but I did get a few days holiday in BC centered around the U2 concert with the hammerhead22s and my good friend A, and a trip to Washington DC with my dad in the spring. I really need to find some corporate sponsorship so I can travel more! Mostly, I'm just glad to have made it through 2009 and am hopeful for the year to come.
Plans and dreams and hopeful schemes for 2010 include buying my own home, hopefully in time to catch the first-time home buyers tax credit; continue to ride regularly and improve my balance and skill and confidence; get my lazy butt to the gym on a very regular basis; make a concerted effort towards improving my photography skill both in the taking and editing of photos; and be happy, healthy, and at peace. Easy peasy, yeah? My plans for a trip to Sweden with my dad and starting grad school in the fall are on hold for a variety of reasons, but they will happen eventually.
Wrapping up with some of my favorite pictures from this year
Dahlias at Swan Island Dahlia
Garden Gnome meets the Snowpocalypse, my front yard
Crown Point and Vista House as seen from the Women's Forum Overlook, Columbia River Highway
Sauvie Island Lavender Farm
Ornamental plum trees in bloom
Capilano Lake from the Cleveland Dam, Vancouver, BC
Smithsonian National Museum of American History
Seen on the side of the road on Sauvie Island.
Butterfly Pavillion, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Sheppard's Dell, Columbia River Highway
More Swan Island Dahlias
Somewhere along Park Drive, Stanley Park, Vancouver BC
Sadie the Cat meets the Christmas Tree
Off to bed, back to work tomorrow. Sweet dreams, boysenberries.
I'm back home after a long holiday weekend at Chez kachera. The kacheras, hammerhead22s and I spent new year's eve eating and drinking and playing rockband, with breaks for gift exchanges and watching the ball drop. New year's day was entertainment provided by youtube, a holiday open house at friends of the kacheras, and ended with a few episodes of Castle. (Oh, Nathan Fillion!) I had my first riding lesson of the new year at a new barn with a new trainer, and I think it went well. It was vastly improved by the riding pants and new gloves Santa brought me. :) Saturday evening was girls' night at the hammerhead22's, where the usual suspects plus shuttergal settled in to watch Velvet Goldmine (oh, Ewan MacGregor! in eyeliner!) Today, another fabulous riding lesson with kachera's trainer - I had a run of trotting where everything was going so well that I couldn't even speak! (Of course, I also had a total brain malfunction and could not remember how to hold the reins at one point, but whatever.) And now I am home, snuggling with Tricky and Jack and pondering the coming year.
2009 was a challenge for so many of us, both good and not-so. It brought me a new job in an entirely new field that I still feel overwhelmed by sometimes. I started horseback riding lessons, something I am truly loving for so many reasons. I've met new people, and am settling in to life in the Rose City. I sang in front of other people for the first time (thanks to beer, hammerhead22, and rockband), and though I am no Peggy Lee, I'll pick up the mic when needed - and will willingly jump in for Time Bomb or Psycho Killer, or just about anything on the Beatles playlist. ;) Travel was strictly limited by my budget, but I did get a few days holiday in BC centered around the U2 concert with the hammerhead22s and my good friend A, and a trip to Washington DC with my dad in the spring. I really need to find some corporate sponsorship so I can travel more! Mostly, I'm just glad to have made it through 2009 and am hopeful for the year to come.
Plans and dreams and hopeful schemes for 2010 include buying my own home, hopefully in time to catch the first-time home buyers tax credit; continue to ride regularly and improve my balance and skill and confidence; get my lazy butt to the gym on a very regular basis; make a concerted effort towards improving my photography skill both in the taking and editing of photos; and be happy, healthy, and at peace. Easy peasy, yeah? My plans for a trip to Sweden with my dad and starting grad school in the fall are on hold for a variety of reasons, but they will happen eventually.
Wrapping up with some of my favorite pictures from this year
Dahlias at Swan Island Dahlia
Garden Gnome meets the Snowpocalypse, my front yard
Crown Point and Vista House as seen from the Women's Forum Overlook, Columbia River Highway
Sauvie Island Lavender Farm
Ornamental plum trees in bloom
Capilano Lake from the Cleveland Dam, Vancouver, BC
Smithsonian National Museum of American History
Seen on the side of the road on Sauvie Island.
Butterfly Pavillion, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
Sheppard's Dell, Columbia River Highway
More Swan Island Dahlias
Somewhere along Park Drive, Stanley Park, Vancouver BC
Sadie the Cat meets the Christmas Tree
Off to bed, back to work tomorrow. Sweet dreams, boysenberries.