Reflections and Predictions

So, this is 2008. Which begs the question, what the heck happened to 2007?
The past year has been a good one for me, and this is no doubt why it flew by. The following may be an exercise in cliche and/or narcissism, but hey, no one’s holding a gun to your head (I hope). Read on at your own discretion.

Professionally, 2007 was great. I taught a full semester last winter, which meant a real summer off, and this fall I got to teach a new course of my own invention as well, Formula Fiction. I’ll be teaching it again, post-tweaking, this winter, because it went really well. In fact, it went so well that it’s the course around which I have built my proposal for a distance-education course. The proposal was solicited – repeatedly – by a group that is working to create more English-language Cegep courses for students across the province. I finally gave in and met with the people responsible for the English courses, and they seem to be very keen on me and my ideas. Naturally, this project means more work, but apparently I am incapable of actually refusing work. I should probably work on that…
This fall I also got to teach the second-year Liberal Arts course, which was an, um, interesting experience. Initially I thought I would hate the course – these students take almost all their courses together, so by the time they get to their third semester they know each other really well, which is not an easy context for a teacher that they don’t know at all. Lots of limit-testing. This was hard for me, because usually I feel pretty much in control of my classrooms, and this class was rowdy and disruptive and easily distracted by each other and random shiny objects. I learned to live with a louder than usual classroom, but next time around I’m planning to start the semester with some real rules and a hardass attitude. We’ll see.
Outside of the classroom, my professional life underwent yet another relocation, albeit a significantly smaller one. I moved from my office at the west end of the hallway to one at the other end. Once I got over the jetlag, I felt right at home. My new office is conveniently located right next to a fire extinguisher and across from the men’s room. My new officemate is great, not least because he’s heavily into the teacher’s union, which means he’s usually downstairs at the union office and is therefore never in our office. Best of all, I’m surrounded by fun, smart colleagues who always seem to be pleased to see me.
Finally, on the professional front, I completed three more Performa courses, Philosophy, Sociology and IT. While the IT course was a little disappointing, it means that I’m that much closer to the goal – another course and one more portfolio and I’ll have completed the 30 credits required to move onto the research stage, which should therefore start next fall. I already have a pretty clear idea of what I want to look at for my research paper, and I’m still excited by the idea, so despite the time required for these courses, I’m still keen to keep going. It helps that my classmates are so interesting, and that we appear to have collectively decided to keep each other motivated.
On the family front, 2007 was a pretty good year, too. The boys are both doing well in school, and Robert continues to take ballet classes – he’s a born performer! Colin is reading everything in sight – from novels to cereal boxes – which is obviously great, although we’re having trouble getting him to turn off the light and go to sleep at night! Both boys have responded well to the separate rooms set-up, and we’re planning to redecorate this summer, time permitting. My brilliant idea is to give each boy a budget and a list of restrictions (for instance, no firepoles to the basement) and just let each design his own perfect bedroom. Dr. T and I would help with implementation, naturally.
“Time permitting” reflects the fact that we’re hoping to repeat our UK summer in 2008. We spent July of 2007 with the World’s Greatest In-Laws, with visits to Scotland to see my gran and to Wales to see a castle. Obviously, we don’t plan to repeat the trip in its entirety – no births expected this time around – but we’re thrilled to think we’ll get to know Marley as he reaches his first birthday!
We’ve been making a few other small changes at home: inspired by the WGMIL, I now create a menu for the week on Saturday morning, with menu suggestions from everyone (except the cat, who invariably requests tuna casserole, but without the pasta). Based on the menu, I create a shopping list, including complementary wines, and send Dr. T off to the shops. This system is fantastic! I keep the list in Excel, and he downloads it to his PDA, so we have a dynamic list; more to the point, we rarely have to make a last minute grocery run because everything’s already on hand – and we rarely have to throw out anything that was picked up because it looked fantastic but ended up not being used. The system is pretty green, as a result, and because we’re making an effort to use reusable grocery totes and reduce packaging. We’re also a lot greener transport-wise – I’ve been using the Metro to go to and from work, and Dr. T takes public transit whenever possible as well. In fact, the other night he got home with a huge grin on his face, because he managed to use his laptop and his cell to connect to work from the bus and fix a problem that otherwise would have eaten into our family evening.
I know, you’re breathless with excitement. I did warn you. Anyway, we’re nearly there.
Finally, on the truly personal level, 2007 has been a great year. In January, I caved to pressure from one of my closest friends and joined her effort to lose weight. We both used the Weight Watcher’s on-line tools and the Points plan – no meetings, no special menus or foods, no elimination of entire categories of food – and mutual support. We’ve both been very successful. I reached my goal weight about two months ago, and have managed to maintain that weight since (the four holiday pounds notwithstanding). So, to make a long story short, I went from just over 160 lbs to just under 130 lbs.
Unfortunately, I’ve had to buy an entirely new wardrobe. You just have to make sacrifices.
So, yes, proud of myself, and of my friend, who has lost even more than I have, and who looks utterly gorgeous, even with ten pounds to go.
I would post pictures, but the downside to all this makeover magic is that I rashly caved to other pressure and cut my hair, a decision I have regretted ever since. Last week I went in for another cut, still trying to find a short style I can live with, and I now look like George Clooney, albeit in smaller jeans. I hate this cut. So no pictures til the hair grows back.
All told, 2007 was a good year, and I’m hoping for good things from 2008 – after all, it strikes me as a nice number, with lots of nice round edges. I’ll keep you posted.