2020 In Review

 

With only hours left to go, I don't want to alarm anyone, but I think we may actually make it through this year!

It was a strange one, with more than a few downer moments, but it had some good times too.

January and February were a mix of sickness, work, and doctor's appointments (positive ones, though), with lunch at a new, local crepe place scheduled somewhere in the middle of everything. At the beginning of March, I attended the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders (CORD)' Rare Disease Day conference. 

If I had've known what was coming, I would've booked myself a room at the hotel during the conference and had a little getaway, because the following week, it happened!

Lockdown!

Yep. That week, COVID reached Ottawa and the city shut down for a month. Over the next thirty days, I got used to working in flannel pants, developed a taste for Tim Horton's iced coffee, and started re-reading every book I own. 

A month or so later and it was Mother's Day weekend, the moment I chose to brave the unknown and quickly venture back out into society, such as it was at the time.

A fairly accurate representation of me about to buy a Mother's Day card and a bottle of Pepsi.

The city entered into its next phase just in time for my birthday near the end of May. My favourite comic book shop opened back up and I could get out to downtown Ottawa again, albeit briefly and with restrictions. Still a giant relief!

While all this was going on in the outside world, inside I was writing a lot! I cranked out a load of blog posts from mid-March to June, did a few writing challenges, and came up with my own fiction-based challenge using Scriptwriting notes and characters I had created, later dubbed the Scooterverse. Very fun!

Over the summer, I participated in a lot on online events, including San Diego Comic-con's virtual convention. Restaurants opened up and I was able to fulfill a goal of walking a short distance from home to get lunch, as well as go out with my family to a pretty fancy dinner for my mother's 60th birthday.

More writing and reading, a gourmet burger or two, and just a hint of time at our cabin throughout the Fall.

And finally a nice, quiet holiday season here at home.

A lot of weirdness in 2020, but I can't really say I'm complaining. I just hope next year brings some of this "new normal" everyone's been talking about.

Cheers!