New Year's Eve...and Beyond

Thanks to Dr. Seuss for these words...
"And when you're in a Slump, you're not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done."

Toward the end of 2011. I was in somewhat of a slump. A few issues were weighing on my mind and I suddenly felt "elderly". I lost interest in things, was sickly and had insomnia.

On December 31st, hubby and I went to a dance with some couples we know. We dressed in our New Year's Eve finest only to be surprised at the variety of clothing worn by much of the crowd. There was a more diverse group at the dance than we had anticipated. The age range was actually quite large. I looked around at the young women and couldn't help but admire their bravery as they donned what appeared to be tulle undergarments, flourescent leggings and short boots. As I stared at their crimped and feathered coiffs, I imagined the hours it must have taken them to look like that. I have a daughter. I know.

Can I be in the picture? Please, please, woof, woof....

The music was mostly fast and modern...very modern. In fact, it was a "video dance", a term which was unfamiliar to much of our table. Music videos played on a screen on the dance floor. I only knew about this because I had once supervised such a dance in a school gymnasium. I loved it and happily sang along and bobbed around. The boom, boom, booming beat and volume of music made conversation challenging. As midnight drew near, we grabbed our hats, noise makers and glasses of water and headed for the dance floor. Midnight. Balloons fell. People hugged, kissed and spilled their drinks. It was 2012! 

Hubby and I started dancing to the first slow dance of the night...

  ***"Theme From Titanic". You know the one...Celine Dion. "This can't be a good omen." I muttered under my breath. 

January 1st got off to a slow start after a late night. The day, then the week picked up very quickly. We had a lovely visit with family members. Then later, imagine my surprise at seeing this message on Facebook from my favourite Toronto hotel. (blog "Monday with...", March 31, 2011).

Hotel Victoria

Please congratulate Hilde as our December winner of a Free night's stay at Hotel Victoria!   
    1 January at 15:03

The next day, I had an appointment at the orthopaedic and sports injury clinic to investigate some foot pain. The doctor told me that my feet are sensitive, very much like hers and that I needed to treat myself to an expensive new pair of shoes. Hmmm...best medical advice I've ever received!

Hubby went on a business trip and the weather was spectacular. The longer these temperatures last, the less time for ice and snow before Spring...fine with me. Puppy and I loafed around at home. I lingered in the tub, played some video games, listened to music. We went for some walks, did some cooking and I attended to medical appointments. Since I did most of my work before New Year's ("Things to Do...", Dec. 31, 2011) there was just a bit of tidying and laundry to be done. I "weighed in" and discovered that I had actually lost half a pound during the Christmas holidays. Besides all this, free samples and coupons galore came in the mail. One coupon was for $25 off a Tilley purchase...wonderful since I received a gift certificate from the same store at Christmas.

The week just kept getting better. On Friday January 6th, an item I wrote in this blog and submitted to the local newspaper was published. I have now achieved something which was on my bucket list (see "My Bucket List", June 30, 2010)

Northumberland News, Friday January 6th, 2012

It is now Saturday morning, one eventful week since New Year's Eve. Hubby made me crepes with strawberries for breakfast. The t.v. news channel has Bon Jovi's "It's My Life" playing in the background.  I am officially un-slumped. Happy New Year.

Yummmmmmmmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

*** Hubby reminded me that 2012 is the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Perhaps that's the reason for the music at midnight. Perhaps it was coincidence. In my opinion however, a poor and unexplained choice.

Monday With Mona, Then Marilyn...

After completing my volunteer shift at ye olde hospital shoppe on Monday, I picked up my friend Mona and we took the train in to the big city (oooh, ahhhh, scary).  Prior to our journey, we carefully pored over the hotel reviews, looked at bedbug alerts (there were none) and then selected the finest downtown boutique hotel money could buy for under $140. Perhaps I should say the only hotel we could find for that price. Upon arrival at Union Station, we schlepped our small carry-ons up and down many staircases. We then released the handles and wheels and dragged our bags several blocks across the bumpy sidewalks, past a Canadian landmark, the Hockey Hall of Fame, and one block up the longest street in the world, until we arrived at the Hotel Victoria.            

We checked in, assaulted a poor young man in the elevator with our jokes and laughed our way to the penthouse suite on the 8th floor. Wow, it's not every day you get to live atop a skyscraper! We marvelled at the fabulousness of our hotel find.... huge room, wooden floors, poofy pillowed beds, flat screen tv, fridge and no mirrors, perfect! 

Of course, girls will be girls, so we started playing with the toys provided by the hotel. We were acting silly and taking photos before we realized that it was already 8:30 p.m. and we had not yet had dinner or the all essential drink. We were of course quite dehydrated after our long journey.

                                                            

                                                 

                                    

                                                                                                           

After walking the streets for almost an hour, we finally found a suitable place to imbibe...er...eat.

Bright and early the next morning, we checked out, stored our luggage and headed for the Marilyn Denis Show. We didn't want to miss the entry time on our ticket, 8:45 a.m. sharp. Although there was some confusion as to the subway stop name and the appropriate exit, we did eventually find several clues that suggested we were headed in the right direction.

                                               

Had someone told us that we had to go to the old CityTV, crashed car building, it would have made life simpler. We arrived early enough to go to the coffee shop across the street and chat with other excited Marilyn fans. It was amazing that people had travelled to the show from every part of the world, Brampton, Port Perry and even Grimsby. During the next hour there was a lot of standing and waiting in lines, but the whole process was pretty efficient considering the newness of the show. The audience co-ordinator Leanne was amazing, very knowledgeable and professional. By the time the programme started, everyone was more than happy to sit down.

We were fortunate enough to remain in the front row after the live show. They were taping two extra segments. One involved drooling by the women as Chef Ricardo of the Food Network showed us how to cook fish tacos. Just to clarify, the drooling was not over the fish. The second feature was exercising with trainer to the stars, Jackie Warner. She was well spoken, tiny, cute, muscular and more than half naked. Hopefully, they didn't take too many shots of my fluffy "before" body in the background. I'll be unwrapping the cello cover on my free gift "Jackie" exercise dvd one of these days. As the show ended, those who brought cameras were promised one, just one photo with Marilyn. No retakes, so sadly, here's our shot.By the way, we were wearing walking shoes. She had on 3 inch spikes. All in all, it was a fun adventure.

Mona, Marilyn and Me after the show. We all look much better in person.