In no particular order, and by no means all-inclusive, some highlights of the last year. Which I may edit if other thoughts pop into mind.
- Joining the running club: hitting the Canal trail for long runs is much more fun when there are people to talk to. We learned to love the JuneMoon course in Colonial Park and once the JuneMoon run was done, we enjoyed NEVER having to run that road again.
- Two trips to Ohio: got some first-hand looks at factory life and the joys of steel-toes shoes.
- The animal in the Wall: It came, it crawled around, it died, it was removed. I've never been so happy to see fresh drywall in my life.
- Crafts: enjoyed making some things for friends this year, cross-stitches and scarves. An attempt at a Sit-and-Stitch club at work manifested in a single lunchtime meeting with two of us, but I'm going to try to get the enthusiasts back together in the New Year. Pastries will be used as bait.
- Trips to Canada, July: Saw a lady being carried down the Grouse Grind by medics and then just about puked up a lung myself on the hike up. Blamed it on jetlag and rebounded nicely the next day by making it up the trail without being near-death. Had a blast catching up with all of my friends.
- Trips to Canada, November: Snuck into town and cruised over to Tofino. Rain, rain and more rain just made me more nostalgic for the West Coast. The hot tub in the trees helped get rid of the rainy cold. Skied at Whistler, crappy conditions but hey, I skied in November.
- Trips to Canada, Christmas: More skiing, more family, more friends. Two whole weeks means plenty of time to chill out and really enjoy everyone. No rushing around, just relaxing.
- Friends with CutieBabies: So many friends, so many adorable babies, either crawling around or on-the-way. Ayden, Jake, Kayleigh, Paige, Lily, Clara.
- The Turkey Swamp: The Bane of my Running Existence this year. I signed up for a 20-miler in the heat of August and bailed after 12.5 miles. I tried to go back for another training run before the marathon and pulled a hammy. Nice park to visit, hate running there.
- West Coasters visiting the East Coast: the whole point of me renting the apartment with the extra loft bedroom upstairs was for people to come hang out: Casa del Jenn is always open for visits. This year, I hosted Joe, Pam and Mom, Mom and Dad, and Michelle and Wayne. Joe discovered that there are a million golf courses in the area. Michelle and Wayne hit NYC every day. Pam and Mom cased out the merino wool farms of NY state. Mom and Dad pulled off visits to 6 states in a single week: Illinois, NJ, NY, PA, Delaware and Maryland.
- Tour de Baseball 2004: Yankees Game with Michelle & Wayne. Then with Joe, saw home games for the other "local teams": the Mets, the Phillies and the Orioles. Phillies and Orioles, totally best new stadiums.
- Chicago Marathon: Top Three Life-Changing Moment of 2004. Total blast. I loved everything about Chicago, taking the train, checking out the Magnificent Mile, Millenium Park. But the run was the absolute best part, after psyching myself up for pain, it was easier than I expected and the miles flew by. The crowds were great and the course was excellent.
- My One Day as a Rutgers Student: in January, after extensive applications and registration for a part-time MBA, I was told on my first day of school that I had to pay non-resident tuition since I'm Canadian (even though I had fulfilled Rutgers' own residency stipulations by having lived at my present NJ address for over a year). Hello huge tuition bills, goodbye savings. I thought about it overnight and decided to drop it until I get the Green Card.
- The Peppermint Patty: after 6 months of hemming and hawing and price comparing and research, I took the plunge and got the cheapest, small, white iBook laptop. As with every purchase I ever make in which I think about it for half a year, now I can't imagine not having the laptop, I love it.
- The Atkins Experiment: I admit that I tried the Atkins Diet this year, just to see what it was all about. It lasted two days. Because on day 2, I had a dinner party and every single dish, though healthy (fruit salad, potatoes and vegetables, etc), was forbidden. Rather than ask if the host had any salami slices or bacon for me to snack on, I dropped Dr Atkins pronto.
- The Decaf Experiment: One small habit that I continued, however, was the Atkins ban on caffeine. This was actually really easy, decaf coffee in the morning, and I found myself feeling energized throughout the day, no afternoon slumps, full nights of sleep and waking refreshed. Sadly, however, my metabolism also went to sleep. After 5 months of decaf, I found that when it was time to energize for long training runs, I needed the cup of caffeine to pep me up.
- Ira Glass: Saw Ira in Princeton, host of This American Life, my favourite radio program of the year.
- The Election: Voted in Canada, the Liberals won. Observed the shenanigans in the US, the Liberals did not win.
- Work: After two years, I still love love love my job. Lots of good challenges this year and very rewarding overall, definitely another Top Three Life-Changing Moment of 2004. Feel like I'm coming into my own around there, no longer the new girl, but someone whom other people count on to get the job down. Also got to hire my own new technician, a lovely woman who has made my job even more fun because she takes such great pride in a job-well-done. And mentored a summer intern who turned out to be a marvel in efficiency; I knew she was good when she had finished the first experiment in a day and a half, after I had mentally calculated a week for her to complete it.
- Whole Foods Grand Opening: I could count this as a Top Three Life-Changing Moment of 2004 because I was TOTALLY elated about Whole Foods opening in Princeton. But I can't make organic burritos and quinoa salad a life-changing moment, even though the quality of my groceries has improved remarkably.
- The Side Mirror: Had my first fender bender ever. The girl took the side mirror off. Things I learned: a) if I'm going to file an insurance claim, call the cops, even if it's just a side mirror; b) having a no-frills car with a plain, non-heated, non-electronic-adjusting mirror means it's cheap to fix; and c) look out for girls named Zippy. Now I know.
- The Dog Parade: This was a funny event, spur-of-the-moment, go see the crazy dog parade in Brooklyn. Highly entertaining. Part of my new initiative to start doing more spur-of-the-moment stuff.
- Home Improvements: created the Dutchified corner, put Mom's quilt up on the wall, got a cool new Ikea carpet and "cozified" the bedroom.
- US Open: One of those moments when I realized I live in NYC, wow, the city where all this cool stuff happens that I've always heard about and now I can go check it out. The view from Arthur Ashe stadium was amazing.
- Favourite Guilty Pleasure of the Year: After my Sunday morning run, buying a latte and thick NY Times and reading it. All afternoon.
- Second Favourite Guilty Pleasure of the Year: Reality TV and trashy magazines. Because life is all about balance, and sometimes I need the latest pop culture news to balance out NPR.
- MIT Moments in 2004: After two years, enough time to recover from the thesis process, I was ready to drop in to see the old advisor and it was actually very friendly. And it only took 5 minutes for the chem talk to begin. And then I asked a dumb question, "is that zirconium or molybdenum" to which the answer was a resounding duh, "umm... OBVIOUSLY it would be zirconium" and felt like an idiot again. Ah well.
Had a couple trips up that way, enjoyed the new sites on campus. Starbucks. New Chem building. Stata Centre. - Curse Reversed: Red Sox won. I love underdogs, come-from-behind wins and teams with good work ethic.
- Adventures in Air Travel: On a trip to Vancouver via Montreal, my Newark departure was late and I had my first experience with being the LAST person to board, as in the gate was EMPTY and they shut the door behind me. Thanks Air Canada!
Coming back from Christmas holidays last December, I got stuck connecting in Montreal due to snow. It turned into the best New Year's Eve in a hotel, drinking a room service huge goblet of Chardonnay and eating a cheeseburger, watching the Sex and the City marathon on HBO.
Heading home to Christmas holidays this December, my Chicago-bound flight was delayed several hours due to mechanical probs (discovered only everyone had crammed in and then had to get off the plane). Facing the line of angry Americans yelling at gate agents, I dialed Air Canada on a payphone and was rebooked via Toronto. Thanks Air Canada! Then the Toronto flight was delayed. For the inevitable overnight in a Toronto hotel, I promised myself another goblet of wine and cheeseburger until the plan was foiled by room service not being available at 11:30 pm (aside from cold sandwiches, did I want a ham and cheese?). It's okay Air Canada, I still love you. - Olympics: Saw the marathoner get tackled by the leprechaun on live TV. Saw Michael Phelps and the Thorpedo win medals. Was inspired to volunteer for Vancouver 2010 Winter Games, only to be told that openings for volunteers were filled essentially the moment the bid was announced.
- New NJ Friends: My final Top Three Life-Changing Events of 2004 were all the cool new people I've hung out with this year. It was my New Year's resolution for 2004 to make more friends in NJ so that I could have more of a support network and feel more at home. Mission accomplished so far, though I'm keeping this resolution to keep getting out there for 2005.