2005, A Year in Review

Well, last year was a quiet one for information on me. Many reasons, none of which I’m going to bother to detail here. (One, you don’t need to know. Two, I really don’t feel like having to explain everything.)

So, in as much of a nutshell as I can do (given that I’m likely to miss a few things), here’s what last year was all about:

• Got engaged (yeah, that was pretty much the first thing of the year)
• Went to Chicago
• Went to New York City (for the first time since September, 1998)
• Sold my house
• Bought a house
• Got rid of my 1991 Plymouth Acclaim — finally!
• Went to Radium, BC
• Went around the world, including the following places:
  • Seattle
  • San Francisco
  • London Heathrow
  • Paddington Station
  • Hyde Park
  • Covent Gardens
  • Trafalgar Square
  • Big Ben
  • St. Petersburg
  • Hermitage Winter Palace
  • Tsarkoe Selo
  • Moscow
  • Kremlin (the Armoury, to be specific)
  • Arbat Street
  • Segijev Posad (formerly Zagorsk)
  • Kazan
  • Yekaterinburg (formerly Svedlovsk)
  • Krasnoyarsk (briefly)
  • Irkustsk
  • Listvyanka
  • Lake Baykal
  • Ulan Ude
  • Ivolginsky Datsan
  • Naushky
  • Sukbaatar
  • Ulan Baatar
  • The middle of the Mongolian Desert (approx. [47 °24’58.20″N 103 °39’25.13″E](http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en& q=47%C2%B024%2758.20%22N+103%C2%B039%2725.13%22E&ll=47.416241,103.657036&spn=0.153095,0.336456&t=k))
  • Erdene Zuu
  • Hustai National Park
  • Beijing
  • Tiananmen Square
  • Tianjin
  • Muyitanu (Great Wall)
  • Beijing Summer Palace
  • Forbidden City
  • Shanghai
  • Xi’an
  • Terra Cotta Warriors
  • Guangzhou
  • Tsim Tsa Tsui
  • Hong Kong
  • Stanley Beach
  • Macau
  • Kowloon
  • Shek Lap Kok
  • Narita
  • Yotsukaido
  • Chiba
  • Tokyo
  • Nara
  • Osaka
• Got promoted
• Got buried under six months’ of heavy work
• Went to Sylvan Lake
• Moved into the new house
• Competed in the 2005 Calgary Dragon Boat festival
• Went to Ruskin, BC
• Got married (seems like a minor point in all this, doesn’t it?)
• Went to Greenville, SC (client meetings)
• Went to Oakville, ON
• Bought a lot of new furniture at IKEA
• Started working on the new Rolex account
• Went to Cranbrook, BC
• Got a speeding ticket
• Went to Ruskin, BC again (for a funeral)
• Celebrated Christmas in the house
• Made Christmas dinner for a large group of people (forgot the cranberries!)

I’m sure I’m missing a few things, but that’s the bulk of it. It was a rough year, to be sure — one of the hardest for me in a long time. I made mistakes and poor decisions that will likely haunt me for a long while. But then, that’s life, isn’t it? Sadly, few things in this world are perfect, and you must contend with the consequences of your actions (or inactions).
This year? Who knows what will come my way. Hopefully not the same rollercoaster ride again (as much as I love the change, I can only stand so many peaks and valleys before losing my marbles).

Bring it on…