Year in Review, Part 1
2010 began rather inauspiciously, with both Krista and me shaking off colds we'd picked up at Christmas. Still, we were in our own apartment and the visa application had been put through, so it wasn't a bad result overall.
The early stages of the year were built around recovering from the breakdown I'd had towards the end of 2009, and this gradually became a viable proposition. We also began putting down some ideas about having some of Krista's family come to visit us. This proved easier to organise than we'd expected.
Other things also turned out to be easier. New recruits joined the team and became firm friends, and I moved gradually into a leadership role within the team. Donna's secondment came to an end with the best possible result - she'd been made permanent!
Just when I was wondering what other wonderful news would come through, Krista announced that her visa had come through, with barely any wait. I still can't believe how easy that proved to be.
To cap it off, I was then awarded a Local Hero Award at the bank, which gave me a day off at a winery and a very nice prize I could take later in the piece.
By this point, the year was well and truly in full swing. Dad organised everyone to get to a family reunion outside Adelaide, and a fantastic time was had by all despite some very early starts and chilly temperatures.
On our return to Brisbane, the Local Hero day coincided with the start of Eurovision season, which this year featured one of the most magical results I'll probably ever see in the Contest. Lena Mayer-Landrut, a girl with no previous singing experience before trying out for Germany, ran away with a very convincing win performing the infectious "Satellite", one of my favourite musical moments from the year. Of course, there was even a brilliant interval act - Madcon with "Glow" - which has set the year off nicely as well.
Germany's Eurovision success led towards the World Cup. While Australia didn't do particularly well, I was able to cheer my beloved Deutschland into the semi-final where they sadly fell victim to the Spanish before taking their second straight third place.
And so it was pretty much time to log off for four weeks of holidays. The first fortnight was spent with Krista's mother and brother staying with us and seeing the sights of Brisbane and the region, and a lovely time it was too. The weather stayed fine (mostly) for us, and everything just worked the way holidays never quite seem to. The second fortnight saw us both get sick again, but recover in time for a lovely time at O'Reilly's.
I then returned to work just in time to get tonsilitis and be down for the count for a week.
By now it was already August, and Krista and I organised ourselves to start November off in Melbourne as my prize for the Local Hero win, carefully sorting out a dinner at George Calombaris' "second" restaurant (Hellenic Republic) while we were there - MasterChef having become rather an obsession for us both.
September passed without major incident, aside from a rather low-key birthday celebration which pretty much nobody was able to make it to.
There were a couple of Level B opportunities at work which I dutifully put my hand up for but was passed over for, which began to influence my thinking that something outside the centre was the way forward.
November began in Melbourne with a particularly memorable and enjoyable weekend for us both. We ate too much and did a lot of sightseeing, which sounds like a pretty good time all up. We needed the break, too, as the rest of the month fairly flew by as we counted down towards Katherine's wedding, which turned out to be a very good fun time as well.
And all of a sudden it was December, which was spent dodging rain and organising for Christmas once again.
The early stages of the year were built around recovering from the breakdown I'd had towards the end of 2009, and this gradually became a viable proposition. We also began putting down some ideas about having some of Krista's family come to visit us. This proved easier to organise than we'd expected.
Other things also turned out to be easier. New recruits joined the team and became firm friends, and I moved gradually into a leadership role within the team. Donna's secondment came to an end with the best possible result - she'd been made permanent!
Just when I was wondering what other wonderful news would come through, Krista announced that her visa had come through, with barely any wait. I still can't believe how easy that proved to be.
To cap it off, I was then awarded a Local Hero Award at the bank, which gave me a day off at a winery and a very nice prize I could take later in the piece.
By this point, the year was well and truly in full swing. Dad organised everyone to get to a family reunion outside Adelaide, and a fantastic time was had by all despite some very early starts and chilly temperatures.
On our return to Brisbane, the Local Hero day coincided with the start of Eurovision season, which this year featured one of the most magical results I'll probably ever see in the Contest. Lena Mayer-Landrut, a girl with no previous singing experience before trying out for Germany, ran away with a very convincing win performing the infectious "Satellite", one of my favourite musical moments from the year. Of course, there was even a brilliant interval act - Madcon with "Glow" - which has set the year off nicely as well.
Germany's Eurovision success led towards the World Cup. While Australia didn't do particularly well, I was able to cheer my beloved Deutschland into the semi-final where they sadly fell victim to the Spanish before taking their second straight third place.
And so it was pretty much time to log off for four weeks of holidays. The first fortnight was spent with Krista's mother and brother staying with us and seeing the sights of Brisbane and the region, and a lovely time it was too. The weather stayed fine (mostly) for us, and everything just worked the way holidays never quite seem to. The second fortnight saw us both get sick again, but recover in time for a lovely time at O'Reilly's.
I then returned to work just in time to get tonsilitis and be down for the count for a week.
By now it was already August, and Krista and I organised ourselves to start November off in Melbourne as my prize for the Local Hero win, carefully sorting out a dinner at George Calombaris' "second" restaurant (Hellenic Republic) while we were there - MasterChef having become rather an obsession for us both.
September passed without major incident, aside from a rather low-key birthday celebration which pretty much nobody was able to make it to.
There were a couple of Level B opportunities at work which I dutifully put my hand up for but was passed over for, which began to influence my thinking that something outside the centre was the way forward.
November began in Melbourne with a particularly memorable and enjoyable weekend for us both. We ate too much and did a lot of sightseeing, which sounds like a pretty good time all up. We needed the break, too, as the rest of the month fairly flew by as we counted down towards Katherine's wedding, which turned out to be a very good fun time as well.
And all of a sudden it was December, which was spent dodging rain and organising for Christmas once again.