I ended the 2020 Retrospective like this:
It was not a bad year for us, although there still is a lot to be concerned about both globally and locally in 2021. Time to gird our loins and prepare for whatever will come.
I don’t know that I would have predicted that 2021 was the year of people perpetually trying prematurely to get back to normal. Whatever normal is, anyways. The kids were back in school, but we had scares. Emails from the school about COVID cases became a regular occurrence. Both Ian and Tammy got to experience getting tested. Twice. And then subsequent waves meant in-person schooling was on and off. Waiting to be vaccinated was hard, like the last few kilometres of a very long ride. But then Dad got his first shot. And then Tammy and I got our first, then the kids got theirs and we got our second shots. Maybe that might have been the light at the end of the tunnel, but for one reason or another, we find the pandemic dragging on. We got our wallet cards and then QR codes, and now we’re scheduled for booster shots in January. They will probably be annual shots from now on, like the flu shot.
Amid all that, life went on. Today, Miranda is on the cusp of adulthood, but she started 2021 by turning 17. She has been head-down with her International Baccalaureate and so her usual output of art and other things was smaller this year. COVID put a damper on her volunteering, but she managed to do something unprecedented: she got me to donate blood. She had been applying for jobs before the pandemic, and during the summer lull managed to get her first job at Abbey’s. That was a fun connection: Tammy spotted the job opening online because Abbey’s became a sponsor of the bike club in 2021. Miranda’s now halfway through grade 12, and has received one acceptance to a university so far. 2022 should be a big year for her. Maybe 2022 will see cousin Zachary start post-secondary school, too, after graduating this year. Congratulations, Zachary!
Looking back at Ian’s 2021, I think he might have felt somewhat persecuted. He had to isolate himself twice and get tested twice for COVID exposures at school. He did make the most of it, but it was hard on him and on us. Ian has grown this year, both in maturity but especially in height. We’ll measure him tomorrow, but he’s really shot up. He had a final piano recital in the heat of the summer (again, a half-assed attempt to get back to normal). And a tooth had to come out before braces went on again. But it wasn’t all bad: he had a great birthday and follow-up party with his friends. See the Cycling Roundup for his experiences on the bike. Ian’s halfway through grade 9 now, his last year at middle school. It’s been a mixed bag with his class and teachers, but at least he got a cool jumpsuit.
Tammy has settled into her full-time teaching that was new last year. There have been plans at Columbia College to get teachers and students back in person, but the most recent cancellation of those plans came just a couple days ago. Her time there continues to be good, giving her professional opportunities and even the odd perk. Tammy’s skills at baking continue to evolve. Just look at most of the posts here and there’s usually a cake or something involved. 😜 She turned 49 in February and the one cake that she didn’t make was a disaster, thanks to yours truly. Mother’s Day was chilly, but we kept warm and together inside. Between her birthday and anniversary presents, she has a nice bit of ammolite and opal jewelry to remember 2021 by. And despite the pandemic, Tammy and I managed to stop by a Tim Horton’s on the 29th anniversary of our first date.
For me, if you really want to see what I was up to, check out the Cycling Roundup. 😀 I’m continuing to work from home for Esri Canada. Maybe someday I’ll find myself sitting in my new, smaller cubicle at work, but I don’t know when that will be. I turned 48 this year (a busy day at work—in 2022 I’m blocking some time to get a bike ride before work!). Father’s Day was perfect, but with more pictures of Murphy than of me…
Speaking of Murphy, he turned 5 this year. Every once in a while we talk about getting him a brother or sister, but he’s just such a laid-back cat (except when in “pounce” mode) that he seems happy enough. Still doesn’t get the idea of a leash outside yet.
Last year, the Retrospective section on “travel” was a joke, because once the pandemic lowered the boom, we really didn’t go anywhere. This year, we managed to see everyone in Victoria for the first time in two years. Ian and I even got a second trip to Victoria for the Tour de Victoria bike ride. We went skiing twice, but the second time I fell and hurt my ribs and that spelled the end of the season. But other than these trips, we stayed home and were thankful for each others’ company.
And when we were at home, it was an opportunity to fix things up, right? Nothing as big as staining the deck last year, but I did install a new bathroom fan, three fan timer switches, and new faucets in the kitchen and main floor bathroom. When Tammy and I traded working locations, with me in the basement, it was only a matter of time before I rearranged things. And spending all that time down there made me realize we needed to replace the basement windows. We’ve been in this house for eight years now and we’re slowly improving it… We even got new outdoor Christmas lights this year.
Art is another way to pass the time during a pandemic, as 2020 showed. Stephanie graced these pages with her paintings every few months, and even a bit of cake decorating, too! I really should pick up the pastels more often. I purchased a new guitar for the first time in thirteen years, and it’s been a treat to play. We even got some karaoke mics to help pass the pandemic evenings… The kids didn’t dress for Halloween this year, but Miranda did a very clever bit of accessorizing for school and the candy slide and spiderweb did make their second appearance on our front porch, this time with a second spider and blinking lights. Miranda learned how to make bubble tea and has been experimenting many, many times throughout the year. Tammy and I wrote like the wind in November, completing NaNoWriMo for the fourteenth year. And it might not be high art, but our “school photos” of the kids worked out well this year.
It was a bumper year for computer-related things in 2021. The Apple M1 continues to impress and I pulled the trigger on one for myself after being jealous of Tammy’s new MacBook Air for almost a year. But that wasn’t before I upgraded the heck out of my old Titanium Powerbook and played around with coding on it. I even did some of NaNoWriMo on it. I’ve got a few programming projects on the go, but so little time. Advent of Code 2021 was a mix of the cutting-edge on my new MacBook and super-retro on the Raspberry Pi. In the computer-adjacent area, we got a HomePod just as they were discontinued and managed to get our hands on an Xbox Series S.
What will we expect from 2022? I can’t say at this point. A lot of our family’s fundamentals are in good shape: we’re still enjoying each others’ company after 21 months of pandemic. But the fact is that the kids’ schooling has been delayed post-Christmas by a week due to Omicron, and there’s no end in sight.
Here’s to hoping that things get better, and that everyone stays healthy.
