I wish I had more good news for you. I wish I could say I've figured things out and I'm on track to where I want to be, but that would only be a half-truth at best. I'm still struggling to figure out what it is I want out of this life of mine; it's a battle that rages daily in quiet desperation. But I'll get there. Have faith in me!
I can tell you that I'm still with the love of my life. So, that's a huge positive. We celebrated our 3-year anniversary in December. Pretty wild stuff when I stop to think of it. Shireen and I have been living with Shiraz and Zubin these past two years and life in the apartment has had its ups and downs, but on the whole has been really great. The four of us get along quite well and have struck a pretty fantastic home life in my opinion, which is nothing to scoff at. If it's one thing I've learned in having over a decade of various room-mates, it's that co-existing peacefully with others is a delicate balance of friendship, co-operation, and respect. Like any good thing, it requires work. But it is indeed working, and we're happy. The place looks great actually. I enjoy our apartment and it's arrangement as much or more than any place I've ever lived.
So... let's see what I can recall about the past two years and get you caught up. We had a great trip down East during the Summer of 2011. My friends Jay and Sheila got married in Halifax in July, and they asked Matt W. and I to play them down the aisle on our guitars. We sang Coldplay's Green Eyes, and I think it went over really well. We took the following week off and camped our way back to Ottawa, stopping for a few days at Fundy National Park in NB and Jacques Cartier Parc outside of Quebec City. We had an excellent time and mastered the art of the open fire bacon wrapped beer-butt chicken. Roughing it, clearly. The Fall of 2011 saw some big changes, as we got some new additions to the group. Jen & Steve and Matt & Dana welcomed sons into the world. As I write this, the Ottawa baby count now sits at five boys and one girl, with Jay & Sheila's second on the way. The times, they are a changin'.
"The Band" Matt, Steve, Brad and I played an outdoor "gig" on Steve & Jen's patio for Haloween 2011; sort of like one last jam hurrah before the babies arrived. I had a blast, though I think we got mixed reviews from the neighbours. "Mom says you can play one more" was exclaimed from somewhere in the distance, while "TOO LOUD" came from somewhere else shortly after tune-up. A great laugh.
Shireen and I spent Christmas 2011 in Carp with her family; we had a great holiday and probably went a little overboard on the gifts and cheer, but I don't think anyone ever regretted that. We started a workout program called P90 around this time. I wish I could tell you we fought the good fight and are still doing it, but unfortunately we fell out of it around mid-summer when we participated in Hope Beach Volleyball. It was the first time since living in England that I was able to stick to a regular exercise routine though, and we both lost a small but respectable amount of weight in the process so no regrets to be sure. We need to recapture that motivation and get back into something though.
We had a great May 2-4 2012, camping on Stratton Lake in Algonquin Park with Chris, Ang, Jay, Rip, Kyle, Aaron and his new dog Waldo. The Stacey's welcomed baby Ben into the world in August. It was around this time that we found out Shireen's father had accepted a position in Minnesota and would be moving before year's end. The fall was filled with helping to prepare her folks and grandmother for moving away. We acquired lots of new stuff for the apartment in the process, including all of their house-plants which have become a welcome addition to the apartment. In fact, I've developed something of a green thumb in the process. Who knew? My best friend Bri moved to Ottawa around this time as well. Always good to have more hometown boys on board.
We celebrated Christmas 2012 here in Ottawa in our own place. While it was hard spending it away from both our families, I have to say it was really nice to wake up in my own bed on Christmas morning for the first time since I was 18. For my 32nd birthday a few weeks back, we hosted a joint Super Bowl and Birthday party. We had 33 people here, which was a little cramped for sure but it was a great time. Shireen and Shiraz cooked up a storm; they even picked up a ridiculously huge football cake for me, which was big enough to feed 50 at least. 32 candles meant I needed help from my old buddy Kyle to blow them all out:
So overall, the last two years may not have been quite as eventful as years past; the onset and responsibilities of being parents has definitely taken precedence among my friends, as it of course it should. However, we're still managing to get in a little shenanigans now and then for good measure. So stay tuned, I promise to write more this year.
Cheers,
Reid
