It’s a new year! Actually not that new. Mid-to-late February, for Pete’s sake. This post takes forever, especially now that I consult my family for authenticity. But linear time be damned! (It’s all a construct anyway.)
I wonder if there’s a formula for calculating how fast time flies for a person in any given year. It would factor in a person’s age, number of children (I was once told that the speed doubles with each child), number of life events, number of years at your job, etc. Suffice it to say, I’m glad to blog about 2024 just to remind myself that although it flew, we fit in many things.
Here we go! The annual roundup.
1. What did you do in 2024 that you’d never done before?
D: 1) Attended Canadian Yearly Meeting (annual national Quaker gathering) held at Camp. 2) Attended a powwow (the season opener!). 3) Got involved in burlesque as more than an audience member (once in a 20-second fully-clothed walk-on part in a Mean Girls number, and once as a stage kitten). 4) Finally attended an in-person workshop with James Hill. It was LOVELY. 5) Saw Sarah McLachlan in concert (thanks, Skye!). Oh Sarah – she’s incredible as always. 6) Made sauerkraut out of about 2/3 of the most humongous cabbage humanity ever saw, bought from Sean’s coworker for $5.
S: Stuff with my wife: Saw Champagne Weather perform, saw Something Rotten!, Twelfth Night, and Romeo and Juliet all in one Stratford weekend.
E: Attended Canadian Yearly Meeting and got involved with the Young Friends YM, made music on Jummbox (in partnership with my friend R).
A: Attended CYM and hung with the YFs, swam out further in the lake than ever before!, attended a Youth Retreat in Toronto.
2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions?
D: Um, not really. I am still sucking at going to bed responsibly early.
S: Yep, kept perfectly preserved for this year! (Not that I did badly on my A1C test – I just didn’t make the appointment.)
E: YES, I made quite a bit of music! (Finally.)
A: “Be better”?… Sure.
3. What is your resolution this year?
D: Stay the course with the calisthenics – and maybe try the bedtime thing again? Third time’s a charm?
S: Decrease my time with the algorithm. And that A1C one again.
E: Make more music on FL Studio (new software purchased with gift money).
A: To be even better!
4. Did anyone important to you die?
Our dear family friend Jan (my mom’s bestie) died, too soon, after a sudden illness. Although she lived far away and we didn’t see her often, we all miss her. It is still hard to believe she’s gone. She was simply one of the best people.
5. What was your biggest improvement or achievement of the year?
D: Still plugging away at the calisthenics – though it took some recovery after #7. I can now do a handstand (against the wall for balance) for 33 seconds!
S: Signing up for music lessons, finally!
E: Making music, finally! Beating Bloodbath (Geometry Extreme Demon level). And painting this, for art class:
A: I got pretty good at crocheting, and continued to improve at drawing as well. Had a hip-hop solo at the dance recital in June, and moved up to the Young Company. Graduated Grade 6 with the Outstanding Student Award!
6. What has been a struggle or adjustment this year?
D: Managing time according to my intentions. Trying to find the balance between being an engaged citizen and preventing overwhelm.
S: Same struggle as always – resisting digital temptation.
E: Grade 10 is very hard. [He’s still killing it though.]
A: Adjusting to a new school for Grade 7 – it went pretty well! I love the GSA and the Debate Team and band. But I miss my old school sometimes.
7. Did you suffer illness or injury?
D: That time my back went out. Also I had one filling replaced multiple times, blah.
S: Another bout of The Covid.
E: An annoying ear thing – I couldn’t hear out of one for a while.
A: Jammed my finger on sportsballs on two different occasions. Also a bit of a stomach bug one time.
8. What did you get really excited about?
D: See #1! (ESPECIALLY the sauerkraut, which was VERY exciting.)
S: Champagne Weather – an amazing musical experience – and, as always, creating my ideal EDC (Every Day Carry). This includes my new bag (Frost River shell bag) which may just be the best bag I’ve ever owned. Which is saying something [IYKYK].
E: Finally returning to North Carolina after 5 years! Also my dad and I built me a new custom PC together.
A: North Carolina! Also my birthday and Christmas.
All: Seeing The Debaters Live in Mississauga – Courtney Gilmour and Sean Cullen!! Holiday Edition! Topics: Should you give your pet a Christmas present? and Is Christmas music the actual worst?
9. What brought contentment?
D: Family time, slow Saturday mornings, peppermint vanilla tea, witnessing the cats’ contentment.
S: My Frost River Shell Bag; getting the office organized.
E: My new PC, improving my room, playing percussion in the Symphonic Band.
A: Being with my family and my cats and my friends. (Not all at once.)
10. What events from 2024 will remain etched upon your memory?
D: Teacher-facilitating at our school board’s first-ever LGBTQ+ leadership course. Also that time our family, including some aunts and uncles, spontaneously jammed out to Taylor Swift on random musical toys in the basement (AB was showing us her choreography and it just happened). Also, performing (and otherwise gettin’ down) at my dance-sister’s wedding in September!
S: Regular chess dates with my friend Jim, and a buddy trip to Fort Erie with my Hamilton friends.
E: Boating across the lake with the Brainrot Gang during Family Camp. [Brainrot: Five teens with big brains and nerdy tendencies coalescing into a hilarious and harmonious oneness.] Going on an epic hike to the cliff with my friends Elliot and Rowan – a completely unplugged bout of good exercise and deep conversation.
A: CYM in general and the Tween retreat, as mentioned above. I love my Quaker people.
All: The solar eclipse, Beth and Matt’s splendiferous official not-wedding, and a clan weekend in Muskoka for Thanksgiving, with lots of beautiful bush-tromping. Also: visiting our clanfolk in beautiful Asheville NC and environs… and trying to absorb the news of the severe battering the whole region took during Hurricane Helene. We are so grateful that our people are okay, but so sad for what was lost.
11. What political issue stirred you the most?
D, S: Palestine/Israel conflict; the US election (let’s not speak of it right now); Doug Ford’s oh-so-plentiful nefarious shenanigans.
E: The political issues of Geometry Dash: the Click-between-frames (CBF) controversy – still ongoing – and the Tidal Wave rate controversy.
A: Trump.
12. What do you regret or wish you’d done less of?
D: Succumbing to the siren call of Spider solitaire.
S: Being on my phone.
E: Wasting time, talking to a certain someone.
A: I regret not doing scary things that could have been fun.
13. What decision are you glad you made?
D: Taking the First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Perspectives, Part 2 course with a small and awesome group of educators from across Ontario. Also, creating a four-week meal plan template; we may not stick to it precisely, but it’s great not reinventing the meal wheel every week.
S: Starting music lessons. Originally it was guitar, but then I remembered that I need full feeling in my fingertips for my day job, so I switched to piano.
E: Mostly cutting off certain people who were not good friends.
A: I’m glad I decided to jump off the high things at Emerald Lake – scary but worth it! A fantastic day with the cousins.
All: Attending our local Worship Group and also some pizza party jam sessions (hosted by the same lovely f/Friends). Community is what it’s all about, folks.
14. What do you wish you’d done more of?
D: One guess. I’ll give you a hint: it starts with B and ends with me offering you something to read.
S: Walking, getting more exercise in general.
E: Talking to people, being confident, working out.
A: Working out. [Side note: both the kids do work out, on their own. It’s rather inspiring.]
15. What song will always remind you of 2024?
D: 🙂 by The Japanese House, Here to Stay by Boy Golden.
S: Yasmin Williams’s whole Acadia album, Little Foot Big Foot by Childish Gambino.
E: Azure by Aaron Cherof.
A: Good Luck, Babe! by Chappell Roan, Cruel Summer by Taylor Swift, Rubberband Man by The Spinners.
16. What was your favourite TV show?
D: Bridgerton, The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel.
S: Slow Horses, Shogun.
D + S: Shrinking, Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, Only Murders in the Building.
E: Voltron. 🙁 [Sad because they took it off the service before we could finish it.]
A: Young Sheldon.
As a family: She-Ra: Princess of Power, Voltron, Bob’s Burgers, Schitt’s Creek.
17. What was the best book you read?
D: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Station 11 by Emily St. John Mandel, Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Also really enjoyed Claudia Gray’s mystery series (3 books so far) with Jane Austen characters.
S: The Arrest by Jonathan Lethem, People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks, The Book of Love by Kelly Link.
E: Huge by Brent Butt
A: Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli.
18. What was your favourite film you saw this year?
D: Wicked, Dune 2. (Also, Poor Things was very memorable.)
S: Dune 2, Nope, The Fall Guy.
E: Godzilla Minus One.
A: Wicked, Inside Out 2.
19: What games did you enjoy?
Poetry for Neanderthals is a new addition to our collection that always provides laughs! I also joined a group playing the Teatime Adventures RPG that was really fun.
20. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
D: Forty-six – for the second time. [That is to say, I turned 45 in May of 2023. Then, somehow, that September, I unwittingly added a year. When I told my students my age (which I do often in French, to demonstrate), I just started saying quarante-six. It was some months before I realized I was saying the wrong thing. On the one hand, it was like, yay, I just got a year of youth back! On the other hand, you know you’re old when you forget how old you are.] The day of my birthday I went to my online FNMIP2 class in the morning (my hubby brought me my favourite cold beverage), went to dinner out to have my favourite coconut curry, hung out with my fam and played silly party games (the nerdy kind that my family is into).
S: Forty-seven – my wife abandoned me to attend a memorial (see #4), but I relaxed and played chess with a friend and watched some Shogun.
E: Fifteen! Received (among other things) House of Leaves, which I asked for, as a life goal. Went to a community homemade-pizza party / jam session that happened to be happening on that day!
A: Twelve! Walked home from school with my girlfriends with a stop at Starbucks, hung out in a big chaotic gaggle, had a sleepover with my three besties.
21. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2024:
D: Thanks to Ray John Jr., who spoke to our FNMI2 class: Forgive and be open to all learners… If they haven’t grasped something, it’s not their time yet. Also – help raise children by giving them something to care for.
E: Not everyone has the capacity to think the same way as you.
A: You can make huge strides musically if you practise your saxophone in earnest.
22. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
Our quote this year is courtesy of E: “Feels like I work my hardest when I’m at my lowest.” (NF)
Bonus Content: Fen and Loki’s 2024!
We spent the year fitting ourselves into fun places and making cool shapes with our bodies.
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