Wednesday, December 31, 2014

2014 Moratorium

It doesn't seem fair to do a moratorium in a year I'm still living in, if just for a few more hours, but I felt the urge to scribble a post.

2014 had a lot of good moments. It was a kind of relief from everything that had happened over the previous two years between Matt's mom dying and losing our dogs, Buddy and Zak.

Accomplishments: This one is not my own but I consider it a pretty major deal that Matt not only completed his Bachelor's Degree through Houghton College but he maintained a 4.0 the entire time!

Matt and I also celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary in July. It doesn't really seem like it has been 10 years!

Travel:

  • Four-day trip to Washington D.C. in March to see our friends, Brian & Tim as well as getting to see M. (long time friend and shenanigans associate) and Brandy (Jamestown transplant)
  • Overnight to Cleveland, OH in May to take part in an alumni orchestra rehearsal at Baldwin-Wallace under Dwight Oltman's baton one last time. Saw many old friends.
  • 10th Wedding Anniversary trip to Burlington, VT with a day trip to Montreal in September to finally meet Maurice.
  • plus numerous trips to Rochester, Buffalo, and Erie, PA.

Books: I read at least 15 books according to a scan of my Goodreads list in 2014, which is a marked increase from recent years.

Movies: Between Netflix, movies at The Reg, and our local theatre chain, we saw some good flicks including The Monuments Men, The Way Way Back, We Are The Best!, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Le Week-End, Guardians Of The Galaxy, Frozen, Mrs. Brown, A Single Man, Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day, The Trip, Funny Face, Slacker, New York, I Love You; Coffee & Cigarettes, Don Jon, Blue Is The Warmest Color, Geography Club, and The Interview.

Music: My top ten artists according to last.fm for 2014 have a lot of overlap when you consider that Johnny Marr and Morrissey both were part of The Smiths and Adam Schlesinger is writing/singing/performing songs for both Fountains Of Wayne and Ivy.
  1. Fountains Of Wayne (132 plays)
  2. U2 (126 plays)
  3. Morrissey (99 plays)
  4. Taylor Swift (62 plays)
  5. The Smiths (59 plays)
  6. Ladyhawk (52 plays)
  7. Enya (51 plays)
  8. XTC (48 plays)
  9. Johnny Marr (47 plays)
  10. Ivy (44 plays)
Violining: My violin was attached to my neck most of this Fall but for overall ensembles/concerts that I performed with this year, I offer this:
  • March - "Annie Get Your Gun" at Falconer High School
  • May - Jamestown Area Community Orchestra Spring concert at Jamestown High School
  • October - Jamestown Area Community Orchestra Fall Concert
  • November - "Les Miserables" at Jamestown Community College
  • December - The Living Christmas Tree at First Covenant Church

Random Bits: I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism in October and have been on medications since that seem to have stabilized my levels so far. Matt made the decision in 2014 to get Lasik surgery on his eyes, but that won't happen until 2015. We bought a fancy, new convection oven, 5-burner gas stove in December after another pecan pie filling failure on Thanksgiving. I also bought a Pono device after buying Neil Young's pitch hook/line/sinker. It really does have great sound quality although I will admit I'm still mad at Apple for discontinuing the iPod Classic as that probably would have been my music player replacement for my iPod Touch, which is old and doesn't hold nearly enough music for my liking.

Looking Ahead to 2015: Who knows what could happen? It's going to be a year of some change with my office being moved to City Hall, Matt being able to see without glasses, and the fact that it's an election year for our Mayor. I've never been a fan of resolutions because they're far too easy to break, but I'm hoping that we go into 2015 with an open mind and patience for what lies ahead.

Cutting to the Scene with the Pixie

Ten years ago, I decided to do one of the most drastic things I had ever done to my hair. I went from a long style (below collarbone) to a p...