Happy New Year!

Well, the HQ (Housewife Quotient) has dropped drastically at Chez Ex-Nomad. We’ve now suffered through a number of dubious meals and have let the dishes pile up in the sink, and I’ve even spent (much) more time watching Sports Plays of the Year than I have cleaning the bathroom or doing the laundry. Well, it had to happen sooner or later, and what better time than at the crossroads between two years?


I’m such a sucker for countdowns of all kinds, but I have a particular weakness for the year-end variety… Any list—Memorable Moments, Music Videos, NHL Goals, David Letterman, Celebrity Stories—I’ll watch it and probably like it. (And now that we finally have a TV, this is much easier to do.) Aside from the nostalgia brought about by watching Corey Hart heat up the Guilty Pleasures chart, the end of the year also inevitably invites reflection on my end: how could the previous year be characterized, and what do I hope for in the new year?


Sadly, 2006 was distinguished in many ways by death, illness, and struggle. I lost my dearest Baba, Tyler Johnson—an amazing coworker, BK—a dear friend, a pregnancy, and of course my soul while I finished up my master’s program. Relatives, children, and friends of friends passed on, became seriously ill, or suffered in ways that made the year difficult to bear. However, 2006 was also a year of promise and new beginnings: I finished the thesis and officially became Master Dana; I joined the beloved Calgary KnitClub and learned how to knit more than just dishcloths; I went on a (belated and extended) honeymoon to the Czech Republic and got to visit places I had only ever dreamed about before; I saw Madonna in concert, fulfilling one of my secret lifelong fantasies; and I moved to Victoria with Marty, setting in motion the life course we had planned for ourselves.


I’ve never been big on making New Year’s Resolutions, but this year, I’m taking a big step and resolving to set some! Since a new year is, in many ways, like a new partnership, I’ve decided to structure my resolutions around the old wedding adage: something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue.


Something Old


I resolve to be more cognizant of the food I put into my body. I would like 2007 to be the year when I finally treat my body more like a proverbial temple than a plain old trash can.


Something New


I resolve to learn Czech! I got a book on e-bay, so all I need is a little determination to start conversing with Marty in his native tongue!


Something Borrowed


Adopting Crafty Bird’s mantra (which I think she, in turn, borrowed from somebody else—can’t find the exact link right now, though), I resolve to make an effort to use what I have before enhancing my already unwieldy stashes.


Something (out of the) Blue


I resolve to practice more random acts of kindness and giving. Nothing feels quite as good as opening up your mailbox to find a little surprise in the midst of all those bills! Here’s how you can help me out, dear readers: please e-mail me your name and mailing address, and I will send out a small surprise some time between now and the end of the year! Just like that! Please don’t be shy—knit clubbers, former schoolmates, coworkers, mystery blog readers that I haven’t yet had the pleasure to meet face-to-face, and everyone in between—I expect to see your names in my inbox!



Well, Happy New Year, everyone! Thanks in advance for keeping me accountable to my resolutions-- I’ll talk to you all again soon!