Monthly Archives: December 2010
>Ooof, I can’t post very much due to my bad reception and my phone, but I can at least distribute our Holiday Newsletter as I am not in Fredericton this Christmas to do it manually!
>
Dear Friends:
Yes folks, it’s that time of year; the cards are piling up,
homes are horrendously over-decorated, and Martha specials are airing on all of
your favourite networks… yes, it’s December. And with the winter wonderland
we’ve tricked ourselves into seeing outside, the holidays are upon us. In the
spirit of the season, I’ve decided to flex my writing chops and give you a
rather extravagant and over-zealous run-down of the hilarities and hardships
Rob and I have endured throughout the past year, and extend our arms to you (and
kneel down and pray!) gentle reader, in a celebration of friendship, love, and
good times. It was you who helped us get through 2010, and our stylish yet
affordable hats are off to you.
We begin our little literary adventure in the month of
April. Rob and I officially met, and jumped head first into that funny little
thing called love. At that time I was also pretty AWOL in front of the Olympics
coverage, and I’m sure you missed me terribly. As for Rob, he was finishing his
final year at NBCC Woodstock in the Journalism program.
April was pretty big for us actually. Rob, who had lived in
Woodstock, spent a large portion of the month in Fredericton due to the anti-bullying
legislation that he and the then Opposition party put forth into the
legislature. As we all know, the legislature closed early and forced his and
many other bills to die on the floor. Along with running back and forth and
around our little city, we protested all by ourselves (and supporters later on)
in front of the legislature in the freezing cold for a week.
May came in like a rollercoaster, as my birthday is at the
beginning of the month. I can’t thank my friends enough for the memories of
that day, and my family for being so accommodating! The festivities were housed
at my parent’s house, and gave my closest friends the first chance to meet Rob.
And while he doesn’t seem used to the party atmosphere, at least he provided a
good portion of the laughs. Most of which were probably at his expense. Lots of
food, lots of fun, lots of campfire s’mores, lots of music, and lots of
somewhat intoxicated deck-dancing, my 21st was a night to remember.
Midway through the month we embarked on the hunt for our
first apartment. Not helping matters was me and my work schedule, but
thankfully my knight in shining armour appeared in the form of my best friend
Steph, whom I had lived with before and worked with at our Esso. While I was at
work, Steph and Rob trolled the classifieds and put rubber to pavement,
knocking out apartment after apartment. The process was quite funny to be a
part of, as they’d call me between every stop, and email me pictures on my
blackberry, and even send voice clips! Low and behold, when I saw their top
pick we all knew this was it. Signed the lease, boxed up the things, and then I
decided to have a collapsed lung.
Starkly contrasting the festivities and celebrations of the
month, on May 27th I called mom and informed her that I had had
enough of the chest pains I had been having for the better part of the previous
week, and to the Doctor we went. In a couple hours I would have x-rays, an
emergency room wait, and sedation then surgery. Ironically enough, if I had
switched shifts like a co-worker had asked and worked the night shift over the
day shift, I wouldn’t have gone to the Doctor that day, and I might not be here
to write this letter. Rob happened to be in town that day as well to attend the
Aids Memorial up at campus, and leading up to when I went under I was telling
everyone that I was going as well.
Though still quite hazy, I remember that there was food
sometimes, and I remember how hard it was for me to get up to even go to the
bathroom. Other than that, I still to this day wonder what the hell I did for
144 hours!
Coming home in June was definitely a little unusual; while I
was resting in the hospital my parents and Rob had moved over a good portion of
stuff to our new apartment, and had made the best effort to make sure that I
would be comfy in my new home as best they could.
June also brought Rob’s birthday. For his 21st,
he went home to Bathurst for a little break from me (LOL), and I spent the time
re-acquainting myself with my friend the DVD player, as I was still in recovery
mode. Rob also started his internship for school from home when I came out of
the apartment, and at this point he had been going to the Aids NB office daily.
While Rob got work experience from them, I made some new friends who are always
up for a package of baked goodies!
Steph and I had been counting down the months until one of
our favourite shows, Avatar: The Last Airbender came to theatres, and we giddily
ate up the cheese factor that it provided us die-hard fans. Seeing that movie
started the summer trend of all of ours, we saw a HUGE amount of movies all season
long. I had gotten some movie passes from my parents from my birthday, and we
kept receiving more and more passes from other means that when we were too hot
out in the Oasis that I turned our balcony into, we would head into the cool of
matinee showings at the mall.
Around this time Rob had suggested that I start a blog to
help with my memory issues (a side effect from my hospital stay and the
medication I was on most likely) as well to entertain me while he was
completing his internship. It took me a couple days to figure out what a blog
would actually be for me, and I’ve crafted something that occupies my time,
provides some laughs, and allows me to redefine what I feel like I had lost
over the past couple of years. It has allowed me to re-invigorate otherwise
small and insignificant hobbies as well as develop new ones as well. And I get
to write about anything I want and people actually seem to get as much of a
kick out my brain as I do!
August was a pretty hectic month as well, as we went
full-force into celebrating Fredericton’s first “real” Pride Week, and the
capital’s first Pride Parade. It was special for me as an out man in my
hometown to walk in its first parade. And we continued our pride in September
when we joined the 2011 Pride Committee. Though not sure what exactly we could
do, or even how much we would want to, we jumped right in and corralled
ourselves into 4 sub-committees. Crazy? We think so!
September was busy indeed, as I had decided to jump
face-first into University. Disappointingly for myself as well as my family I’m
sure, I dropped my courses in October. However I have just received my
acceptance letter from NBCC for January the other day, so I am quite excited
for that.
For the Thanksgiving holiday, Rob once again returned home
to Bathurst to spend some time with his family, while I stayed here. Not
resting on my laurels, I spent the better part of the weekend cooking the
various desserts that I couldn’t choose between for my own family’s dinner. A
pumpkin pie with walnut and ginger cookie crust, pumpkin apple muffins, and
also developed what I call a Deep-Deep Dish Apple Pie, which includes a super
confidential number of apples and a casserole dish!
November brought another rally, this time in support of our
friend Mitch. Let it never be said that Rob and I are part of a so-called
apathetic young adult group, as we seem to have a new cause every month to
fight for!
As I finish this letter, Golden Girls is playing in the
background of our bedroom. We’re sitting in bed; Rob’s frantically clipping and
pinning blue ribbons for the provincially-designated Anti-Bullying Day on
December 17th. Things are definitely picking up here, with emails
flying, posters being sent out, t-shirts to corral…and that’s just for him!
I’ve got the oven churning out batch after batch of Christmas goodies, a ball
of yarn and various hooks and needles stitching, and people to co-ordinate
everywhere!
And this, my friends, brings us to the end of our first
holiday (w)rap-up! Hopefully it was as fun reading as it was stressful writing
it!! As of this moment, preliminary drafting and what-not, I’m up to 5 pages!
*Edit- Trimmed down to a cool 2 and a half! Go me!
Wishing you and yours a fantastic holiday season no matter
what you celebrate, and many good returns for you in the New Year!
Happy Holidays!
Hi, I'm Charlie...Take 2... 