(#1) Why bread? My first photo of the year was yeast (www.flickr.com/photos/freedom-to-move/5314598326/in/set-7…). A magical organism that brings us wondrous things such as beer, wine, and bread. Thus, it seemed logical that the last photo of the year should be something that was a product of that amazing creature that is so often overlooked. A wonderful crusty loaf of bread.

I haven’t yet decided if this is to be the end or not. I’ve been at this two years now. That’s a long time to pick up the camera every day.

(#2) This is the alternate only because I had planned a certain shot all year, and this wasn’t it. The irony is that this sign is half a block from our place, and I pass it every day, yet I didn’t see it until today! I can’t believe that there is a neon sign with 365 Days on it right there! Oh, and yes, I am pretty much done by 11 pm now most days.

It’s been an unusual year. Normally I dread the end of the year. It’s always been a time that I look back and feel sad, depressed at the things I didn’t accomplish, the things I feel I should have done. I always seem to struggle with the feeling that I should be somewhere else in my life, further along, closer to some dream that I haven’t been able to achieve.

This year is ending very differently. I am happy, really fulfilled, totally satisfied when I look back at the previous 12 months. It was a great year.

I finally landed the position I’d been after for five years. Because of my new job, I got back to many of the hatcheries that I’d visited as a contractor and it was a delight to spend time with the staff again. I had the opportunity to put on another successful Fish Health Course and received rave reviews for it – most notably from my manager and a couple of other high level people who chose to sit in on it and see who their money was being spent on. And also because of that new job, I went to a conference and reconnected with a great friend from grad school. That new job allowed me to regain some personal confidence.

We went to a ton of theatre performances, a lot of really amazing concerts, spent time supporting the Vancouver Giants hockey team, I rediscovered Fluevogs, and we volunteered our little behinds off.

We spent time with friends and family. Mom came to visit twice, and my sister-in-law and niece came to stay for a few days too. We spent a fun Easter weekend in the Kootenay’s visiting my Father and Brother’s family. We also spent a great deal of time with the community of friends that we’ve built through our boating group, and that included a number of fabulous parties, two of which were costume parties – something we haven’t done in many years. And we spent some time – though not enough – with friends we have history with spanning back to the 80′s.

We travelled a bit, spending two weeks in Mexico and a weekend in Seattle. We also visited Whistler a couple of times. We ate some amazing food and drank some fantastic wines. Although the weather didn’t provide many occasions for multiple days of good boating weather, even half a decent day provided an opening for a good ride. I put over 10,000km on my motorcycle and we rode all over the Sunshine Coast, did the Duffy Lake loop (600km) in one day, rode up to Mt. Baker, enjoyed Chukanut Drive (me twice) and visited Whidbey Island. We joined in on the annual Christmas Toy Ride, and gave generously to a number of charities to try and help those who don’t have the opportunities we do.

Sure, not everything was perfect, but life never is. A colourful Flickr friend passed from this world and left a void. I had to let go of a friendship that had become a bit disturbing and was taking too much from me – sometimes, like with food, you have to go on a diet and cut out the things that you failed to recognize as unhealthy to you, those things that take more away from you than they provide. And the weather wasn’t great for most of the summer, so we didn’t use the boat much at all, but the motorcycles filled in the gaps. Other than those bumps in the road, 2011 is a year that I’ll look back on as a particularly good one. I hope you can all find the great things that happened and let the negative ones flow away.

Happy New Year Everyone!

An idea blatantly stolen from a Flickr contact (but I did tell her I was going to be a thief). Her Daily Challenge a few days ago was “What Money Can’t Buy” and her answer to it was “Someone To Share Your Morning Coffee With”.

That resonated with me and so I plagiarized (with proper attribution though – see below).

I loved the concept and grabbed. Unlike hers (www.flickr.com/photos/sue90ca/6587535547/) though, it’s unlikely that mine will be Explored.

Companionship doesn’t have to mean your soulmate (but in my case it does). It can mean a friend, a family member, a loved one, or someone that you just enjoy sharing time with on any random occasion. If you have a few of those people in your life, ones who will drop everything to be with you on spontaneous whim, then you know that you are rich beyond measure. Those people are worth cultivating in your life.

I wish you all someone to share a cup of coffee with!

Like I said yesterday, the stockings are terrible things because they come filled with all the treats we know are terrible for us and we generally stay away from all year long. I absolutely love Hershey’s Hugs and Kisses chocolates. Small bites to savour, but I can’t ever have just one.

But there is a message here for all my friends on various Social Networks out there – Hugs & Kisses to you all!

Once a year we buy each other things we wouldn’t normally buy and stuff each other’s Christmas stockings with them. For me, one treat is goldfish crackers. Don’t ask me why, but I love them! And that’s precisely why I NEVER buy them! Because I’ll eat an entire bag if given the opportunity.

I showed a little restraint tonight when the bag was opened, but they’ll probably be gone by tomorrow. Cheesy, salty, garbage. I eat so well most of the time… I suppose we all deserve to indulge our weak points once in a while.

Ironically, I just looked back through last year’s 365 and noticed that my photograph for December 29th 2010 was rather similar. See? Like I said, I tend to get these things once a year.

You probably have a cell phone so you never think about it, but how often do you see pay-phones anymore? And because you have a cell phone, you probably think they might as well disappear. But what about people who don’t have a cell phone? What happens to them when they want to contact someone?

I hope pay-phones don’t entirely disappear. For many of the marginalized it’s their only means of contacting someone at a distance or calling for help.

Mmmm, looks like a yummy combination, doesn’t it. Take 1L of water, mix in two tablespoons of sugar, one half teaspoon of salt, one half teaspoon of baking soda, and add Metamucil with psyllium fibre. Drink one litre every hour. Take acidophilus tablets, drink tea with honey, bananas, plain crackers, toast with no butter, plain potatoes with salt, and pasta with salt only. No butter, oil, or anything else with flavour allowed. And enjoy it all with a hefty slug of Pepto-Bismol when needed. That’s what he was allowed to ingest today.

Poor guy, he wasn’t feeling great Friday, and things went straight downhill from there.

The nurse figures he contracted either a Noravirus, or something closely related.

He’s on the mend now, but he hasn’t had a fun few days.

And I’m glad I had a flu shot since it probably gave me some degree of cross-protection.

I wait for Christmas all month. Not for presents, I could happily forgo those to see the money go to those who need it more than I need some new trinket. No, I wait for Christmas because I am looking forward to Christmas dinner. That one dinner that includes all those rich treats that you know you can’t eat the rest of the year. The simple indulgence of that one meal, and sharing it with family and/or good friends. Yes, that’s what I look forward to on Christmas.

We went for a drive around parts of the Lower Mainland to see some of the over-the-top displays of lights. The Griswald’s would be put to shame by some of the homes we saw! Take this one, in North Vancouver, for instance. I can’t help but wonder how long that took to put up, and where and how they store it all!!

However, this has inspired us to do a bit more in the light department on our condo balcony next year. We are the only unit on the front of the building with ANY lights out, so now it’s time to do it up a bit more and maybe inspire someone else in the building to get into the spirit!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas! Here’s hoping that it is filled with health, happiness, and fun filled adventures for everyone.

I can’t say for sure if Wall-E is done for the year or not, but just in case, he’d like to send everyone a great big hug!

Mom is arriving tomorrow night and she has a bit of a sweet tooth so I had to get some baking done this evening. I pulled out the old faithful recipes and baked up molasses sugar cookies, puff shortbread, lime squares, and these – white chocolate, cranberry, pecan, oatmeal cookies. So good, and the place smells simply divine now.