Friday, December 09, 2011

2011 Review Extravaganza: Part 1

I’m very excited to be taking part in the 2011 Review Extravaganza! 

Please visit Emmymom, CA Girl, Emilisq, Grumpy Grateful Mom, Impulsive Addict, Janette of Johanson Journey, MiMi Living in France, or Runner Mom – all are lovely hosts of this 2011 Recap-a-thon, and if you decide to take part, there are prizes to be won!!  Go check one - or all!! -  of them out, and get all the details!!

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I remember on New Year’s Eve 2010 making a drunken threat to 2011 on Facebook: 

“Dear 2011:  If you’re not better than 2010, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

Yeah. 2010 was a bad year.  A really bad year.

And when I woke up on New Year’s Day, January 1st 2011, I felt as though my threat had fallen on deaf ears. 

On New Year’s Day, my mom announced that she was taking my grandmother to the hospital.  She had grown increasingly sluggish and weak during the holidays, and it was time for her to get checked out.  So 2011 didn’t get off to the greatest start, as my grandma was entered into the Intensive Care unit at the local hospital.

Despite Grandma’s failing health, I did have something to look forward to:  CUBA, BABY!  Assured by my mom and the doctors that Grandma was getting better and not to worry, I flew with a big group of friends to Cuba on January 14th.  We spent a week enjoying the sun, the beach, the ocean, the drinks, and we were there to see Kerry & Jeff get married…

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What a fabulous trip!  I was able to cross so much off my 101 List while in Cuba!!  It was my first time South, and I can’t wait to go back someday.

I also launched my Single Girl Files idea in January, and I’ve had so much fun writing these posts all year long!  (Even if it does emphasize the fact that a year later, I’m STILL single…whatever…)

By February 2011, I came down with a really strange illness…one I didn’t think possible for me to catch.  Yes, that’s right.  I had suddenly fallen victim to this little thing called BIEBER FEVER

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Seriously.  When I go back to my February posts, they’re almost all about the Biebs.  What was up with THAT?!?

(Okay, okay, I still think he’s the shizz and I love him to death.   So what if I listen to “Under the Mistletoe” 20 times a day.  Get over it.)

I also apparently wanted to shoot laser beams of death out of my eyeballs at Carrie Underwood after she lured our hunky hockey superstar, Mike Fisher, away to Nashville.  STILL NOT COOL, CARRIE!!!!

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Mike’s departure from Ottawa marked the beginning of a significant re-build for my beloved Senators.  (It wasn’t a good year for the Sens…at all.)

And by March?  Well, by then I seemed to be all wrapped up in American Idol and Survivor.  I became a big fan of James Durbin on Idol, and of Grant on Survivor.  And most of my March posts revolved around them…

AMERICAN IDOL: James Durbin performs on AMERICAN IDOL Wednesday, March 16 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/T) on FOX. CR: Ray Mickshaw / FOX.

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Of course, neither of them won.  *sigh*

March also brought wonderful news when my friend Lindsay got engaged and asked me to be her Maid of Honour!  Linds & Ryan’s wedding on May 12, 2012 will I’m sure be a highlight of next year’s re-cap!!

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And of course, what would March be without a romp around Gavan’s to celebrate St. Paddy’s Day, decked out all in green??

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Unfortunately, March closed on a very sad note for my family, when my grandmother passed away in hospital on March 27, 2011 at the age of 95.   Through the tears and the farewells to our family’s matriarch, we could be grateful that we had her with us for so long, and up until the holidays, she had been in great health.  Truly a remarkable woman.  We all miss her dearly!

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So that’s my first installment in the 2011 Review Extravaganza!  Stay tuned next Friday for the recap of April, May, and June…

17 comments:

Lindsay said...

GREAT post! Sometimes it feels weird to look back on what I wrote last year because sometimes it makes me think, "really this all happened, wow" and "holy moly the year passed by quickly!" Happy Friday! Woo Hoo! xo

Connie said...

Sorry about your Grandma.....

I haven't been able to celebrate St. Patty's Day since my daughter was born 4 years ago.

Anonymous said...

So sorry to hear about your grandmother passing. But to live to be 95...that's what I hope I get to do!

Ughhh. I just don't get what's so great about Justin Bieber. Luckily my 9 year old feels the same way. There's only so much horrible music I can listen to before I cut my ears off. :o)

Emmy said...

What a great great recap! Going to be going and reading some of your single files as I wasn't reading your blog when you started those.

Sorry about your grandma.

James Durbin was so awesome! Though I was a total Scotty fan.

Thanks so much for playing along, and I have your first point recorded :)

Mrs. Match said...

I'm so sorry about your Grandma. I love the picture of you all snuggled up with her.

You got to be a maid of honor? How FUN! I've never had the honor, and I bet it's a blast.

lol, I don't get the Bieber fever girl. I just don't get it.

Stacie said...

Your grandmother looks so sweet. I am sure that she is missed.

I have always wanted to go to a destination wedding, so romantic!

John said...

I love this post! You crack me up!

Impulsive Addict said...

Hey now. BACK UP OFF MY CARRIE! She is a good girl from Oklahoma. Don't be hatin'. And I think it's hilarious that you blogged about the Bieb a lot. You're so funny!

I'm sorry about your grandmother. That's so sad.

You did a lot of linking up there! Thank you so much for the shout-outs! We appreciate you linking up with us! =)

VandyJ said...

So sad about your Grandmother, at least you have some wonderful memories of her.
Can't really say I'm all about the Bieber thing. I have an 8 year old boy who makes gagging sounds when ever he sees him on a commercial. Kind of funny, but well there you are, my exposure to him has been limited.

Em said...

my grandma passed away two years ago. i still miss her. that's who we named my daughter after. my grandma's name was maxine, but everyone called her max. so we named our little girl makenzie maxine, but call her max:)

i have never heard of anyone going to cuba. that is awesome!

we didn't have the fever of bieber, but we did get warm, lol. my son can sing the chorus of "baby." i'm pretty proud of that.
thanks for linking up!

Grumpy Grateful Mom said...

Fabulous recap! Your photos of Cuba are just stunning!

And for whatever reason it cracked me up that you called Justin Bieber the the Biebs. I'm going to start calling him that around my girls and see what they say. :)

Very very sorry about Grandma. I have such fond memories of my grandmas.

Anonymous said...

95?? Wow.. that is amazing and I can only imagine the stories she told.

Great and newsy post, sista.

Unknown said...

Cuba!!! That is awesome!

Sorry to hear about your grandma. I know it's hard to lose a loved one. She lived a long and happy life, it looks like.

Looking forward to the rest of your year review. Hope it got better!

Beth W said...

So 2011 may not have been better, but it definitely was dynamic, at least at the start. :)

Lourie said...

Oh I am happy we went through and passed the Bieber phase.

So sorry about your Grandma. :(

Janette @ The Johanson Journey said...

SO sad to hear about your Grandmother. I know thats a tough thing when you are so close! Too funny that you are a Bieber fan.. my son loves Baby and my daughter bops her head to that song but thats about all we get of him-- you might disown me for sayin it though-- but he's so scrawnie and young... I hope he grows up and gets a lil 'more gruff.. heh.. I know you'll find a man soon-- and if you don't, Texas is still open to accepting you as a new resident!

Nicole said...

That's awesome, I actually signed up for the same review you did :) I went off CA Girl's page :)