Anyway... a recap, I suppose (and by that, I mean, let's take a look over my facebook timeline and talk about anything that stands out from the past 12 months).
In June, my brother Jason became the first person in my family to visit me in Ontario since I moved here 8 years ago, so that was pretty great. He had just finished his undergrad degree in Mechanical Engineering and decided to buy a motorcycle and take a tour of North-eastern North America in the time between school and starting his new job in Cold Lake, AB. He stayed for a few days and we had a great time; it was great to see him!
We had a great Canada Day 2013 weekend. We celebrated at Bri & Beryl's place with all of my friends, and then the following day at Ashley's with all of Shireen's friends. Pretty epic!
The fall was dominated by fantasy football. I really tried my best this year, but once again fell short. At least I made the playoffs and didn't finish 11th for once. Also, for the first time in its 6 year history a man in Ottawa finally won the Ottawa Money League. Big congrats to Brad.
We spent Christmas 2013 here in the apartment once again, and once again it was pretty stellar. The four of us had a pretty relaxing morning, followed by an amazing dinner over at Shiraz & Zubin's family friends place. We had our 'Ottawa Family Christmas' about a week before that, where I repreived my role as Santa once again. It went pretty well, but I'm pretty sure I'm going to need to be a little more careful going forward; Sofia will be 5 in a few months and the bugger is already starting to get suspicious. Time to step my game up!
New Years 2014 was hosted by Chris and Angie, and it was a blast. The kiddos are almost outnumbering the adults now... it's getting a little crazy. But I wouldn't have it any other way!
Had a great 33rd birthday; Bri and Beryl had Shireen and I over for an evening. Cas and Lil were even in town so it felt like an old school Grand Falls party, complete with staying up until 3am playing guitar and being loud like assholes. Classic.
Shireen started a new job with the government in January, so we've both been pretty thrilled about that. I'm sorry to report that I'm still struggling to figure out my path... but it's out there somewhere! Zubin moved out in February, so we've got an extra room in the apartment. It was sad to see him go, but I completely understand his reasoning; I can appreciate how a young man doesn't want to live with his sister & cousin for the the rest of his life.
Looking ahead to 2014, we've got 3 weddings to attend. It's funny to see Shireen's friends now reaching that age now that (most) of my friends have finished. Chantal & Mike in Toronto, and Sara & Sean and Aaron and Riley here in Ottawa. Aaron actually just asked Shireen and I to stand for him, which we of course graciously accepted. Between the tree weddings and May 2-4 plans now taking shape, it should be a busy summer to say the least!
Anyway, I say this every time, but I promise to try and throw you an update with a little more frequency than just annually. Well... I can't say I'll try. But I'll try to try :)
All the best for 2014!
Reid
