The First Day

I love even numbers so the year 2012 looks, in my humble opinion, much prettier than 2011.

2011 had some redeeming qualities - if you add up all the numbers (2+1+1) you get four which is the best number going.

2012 is pretty cool because if you take the 12 and multiply it by the 2 you get 24.  I love 24.

Anyway, happy new year folks!

I hope you all enjoyed the transition from 2011 to 2012 - whether you sat in your pyjamas and watched Sex and the City reruns with your cat or whether you crawled home at 4am with tinsel in your hair and a new friend named Raoul.

January first always feels like a fresh start.  A clean slate.

I don't make resolutions today because I feel like I spend plenty of time during the rest of the year setting lofty goals for myself thank you very much.  No need to make a new list just because everyone else is doing it.

Twenty-twelve holds plenty of promise and is already shaping up to be a year of fun times and memorable moments.

In a mere four days, the adventure begins.  You see, I opened one of my presents on Christmas morning and discovered tickets to Billy Elliot.  Pretty exciting!  I love the theatre and Toronto is always fun to visit.

Doug suggested I read the tickets a little more closely.

Ok, tickets to Billy Elliot on January 6th.  At the Imperial Theatre.  Where's that?!?

...New York!!??

OMIGOD!

We're off to NYC for three days next week.  Shopping, running (17 whole minutes!) in Central Park, theatres, art galleries and restaurants.  I'm so excited!

February, my little sister and I are going on a makeup adventure.  She is taking me to a half-day workshop in Toronto that teaches you all kinds of fun tricks.  We figure we'll be the worst students in the class since we have no idea what the hell we're doing but it should be fun. February is also the month where I run a trivia night for a great group of people so I'll be spending all of my free time gathering 100 awesome questions.  On top of that, I will hopefully have completed my return to running program and should be running 40 minutes to an hour by then.  Right on time for minus 30 + windchill.

March is Around the Bay.  I won't be running it this year since I won't be able to do that kind of distance yet but I'll be there.  Doug's running it.  So is Scully (I think?  Are you running it Scully??).  And so is Jeff - all the way from Boston.

April seems pretty quiet so far but I may try to run the Chocolate 10-miler - depending on how my legs are doing.

May is the Cabot Trail relay.  Klari, our fearless Simcoe Shores organizer has set her sights on the Cabot Trail race - a 298km, 17 stage relay that takes runners through the Cape Breton highlands.  It may take some convincing to get enough runners to sign on but I have a pretty good feeling that I'll be driving a van full of sweaty athletes around Cape Breton island.

June begins triathlon season and, with all the swimming I've been doing, I think I may give it a try.  I'm not sure if I'll like open water swimming in large groups but there really is only one way to find out.

July is the first of two family weddings this year and Doug and I have been asked to be the photographers.

August is birthday month but beyond that bit of trivia we haven't got anything going on...yet.

September and October look pretty tame at the moment but I would like to run a 1/2 marathon at some point this year so that may be the time to do it.  I also have a goal of getting to Israel within the next 15 months.  Either September of 2012 or, even more fun, March of 2013 to run the Tel Aviv 1/2 marathon.

November is the New York Marathon.  Doug has a guaranteed entry into the race thanks to his superb time at the Hamilton marathon.  If I can convince him that he really does want to go to NYC twice in one year...we may be back there again.  November is also my ten year diaversary.  Anyone up for a celebratory party??

December is family wedding number two and the return of the Israelis for Christmas.  Speaking of those two lovebirds - here is a link to Afterglow's blog if you want to see some of the wedding photos.

Life, as I know well enough, never goes as planned but the road ahead looks pretty appealing.

Welcome to 2012 folks.  I hope the year is good to you and that, most importantly, it's full of good health and happiness.