Yet Another Year End Blog Posting!

Even though this end-of-year stuff is all man-made I still enjoy taking stock and setting goals and all of those things as the calendar is about to tick over.  2013 was a good year, all things considered.  There were no catastrophic illnesses in our family and everything hummed along. Some things improved and some improved greatly. 

One of the best decisions we made this year was to have Spice the wonder-cat undergo oral surgery. It’s more common than people think, this DNA flaw in cats that makes their molars rot on site when they reach a certain age.  Now that the offensive teeth are history he is happy, playful and all signs of pain are gone. Frankly, I think he looks younger because his face isn’t pinched by pain!

My Little Sister Tabitha had a beautiful, healthy baby boy.  I’m an aunt/grandma type of figure and I want to be in this child’s life! I took a trip to Calgary and spent a week with my best cousin friend for life, BA and later in the summer, my smartest, most highly educated friend Dr. Shannon came to stay a while. And yet I didn’t see my bestie down the 401 at all. How does that happen? That’s going to change in 2014.

On the job, The Big Show with Botten, Blair and Brandt hit its first anniversary this year and it has been one of the most satisfying and fun years ever in my broadcast career. I have the privilege of contributing in ways I never believed possible; writing comedy skits, ad-libbing to the very edge of broadcast standards without going over (euphemisms are wonderful things!) and my news chops are sharper now that I’ve been a one-woman team for a couple of years.  All through my career I’ve felt pretty lucky and I’m grateful that the feeling continues at Free-FM.

Discovering Van Gogh chalk paints has been a dream for my hobby life.  I actually researched the possibility of becoming one of their retailers. However, the London territory and beyond is spoken for and we would have had to go too far afield to make a weekend sideline worth the trouble and the risk. Instead, I’ve decided to become one of their best customers. Now when I see an ugly old dresser or, in my current case, an ugly old cabinet, my pulse races and I run for my paints.

My book-writing life is at a standstill. My plans to write a volume about my career are on hold. I’m concerned about how to be truthful while not naming names. Too many vague references will make it less interesting, I believe. Meanwhile, I have an agreement to ghost-write the combined autobiography of a couple of radio legends but they are slow to get started. So I’m keeping myself occupied until they are ready to begin.  Thank goodness for Van Gogh paints!

London has its troubles but it is my home and I’ve never regretted moving here. Our Mayor is up on corruption charges (but at least he doesn’t smoke crack, as far as we know) and the city’s reputation as a manufacturing hub is in peril but it’s still home and I will defend it to the limit.

In 2014 we have more work to do on the Airstream. We want to create a theme room in the basement where the pinball machine and other vintage items will live.  However that depends on Derek to create space for it by moving out some heavy saws and work-tables.  The whiplash I sustained a couple of years ago has settled into what appears to be a permanent inability to lift or carry anything heavier than a bag of groceries.  As many people with much worse issues know, it’s difficult to admit and adjust to not being able to do things you used to do. However, I continue to receive treatment for it and exercise it daily and I hope for improvement. Here’s to a healthy and Happy New Year! Feel free to share your hopes and plans in the comments section, won’t you? We can all use a little extra inspiration.