When I stop to think about 2010 as a year onto itself, I can’t really determine whether it’s a good one or not. The thing is, ever since August 2009, I have been in a major upswing and I have not been able to shake this feeling of happiness, even despite tragedy and hardship. I owe this happiness to many things: to Angelo (who keeps getting better with age!), to my parents and my siblings, who showed just how solid they can be, to my own perseverance in shaping my own life. Two years ago I didn’t like who I had turned into and what my life looked like, so I changed the things that bothered me. I removed stresses in my life, I grew some confidence, surrounded myself with true friends, and began to take pleasure in the world again. Nowadays I strive for what I want and I don’t hold back. Whether or not I get it is not the point. I can be happy just knowing I tried.

So before I jump into 2011, here are my final thoughts on the last 365 days and where they fit in the approximately 11,325 days I’ve been a part of this big bad world.

Winter:

We got some great tickets to see a Senators/Bruins game at Scotiabank Place in January. Sitting in the 100 section is amazing, and seeing Chara so close was awesome!

I also continued my recovery from the disordered eating that overwhelmed me from 2007 to 2009. Nowadays I feel so free from the person I was back then that I can’t even believe I let myself get dragged through it so long. Days definitely seem brighter, and life seems more fun than it did in that dark time.

More hockey! In February, Vancouver, Canada hosted the 2010 Olympics. Even though Vancouver is 3000 km away from Ottawa, Angelo and I still got hooked on the Olympics, and especially Men’s Hockey.

Angelo’s brother and his GF had a healthy baby boy on March 30, 2010. No uncle was ever so proud!

Angelo and I went down to the SPCA in March to pick up a kitty. When we looked at Enzo, he was so sweet and so cuddly and I truly believe that HE picked US, and not the other way around. I had planned on getting a kitten, but after two minutes with Enzo, there was no way I was leaving without him.  He is the best kitty ever, and throughout everything else that happened this year, he was always there to pour on the love and help calm us down.

From January to May, I saw a physiotherapist to help me recovery from a knee injury that took place in September 2009. I am happy to report that because of physio my knee is back to normal and I am able to run as much as I did before the injury!

Spring:

In April, I went to the Dominican Republic to be a bridesmaid for my friend’s wedding. The week-long vacation was good, the wedding was extremely romantic and warming, and on the last day of the trip…

Angelo proposed!!! It really caught me by surprise, as I was NOT expecting that at all. Of course I said yes.

In May, Angelo and his brother set up shop at the Great Glebe Garage Sale. Angelo sold many records, a bike, and my old magazine collection.

It was also around this time that I said goodbye to Roller Derby. I’ll miss you, Riot Squad!

Summer:

Angelo and I became Godparents this summer.

We got to meet Dan Boyle, and he was nice enough to let us try on his Olympic Gold Medal and Ring! Wow!!

I started playing Bike Polo this summer. It’s obviously really fun, but I think it’s something I’m going to do on a casual basis only. After all, I have to be true to my first love – RUNNING!

I totally picked up my game and ran HARD this summer. Getting the okay to start running again after my knee injury was an amazing feeling. All summer, I wrote on this blog how much I loved going out there and feeling my muscles move the way they should, and I became a lot more conscious of the importance of weight training to maintain healthy muscles. All of my hard work paid off…

because I ran the FUNNEST race ever in July – it was the Hintonburg Centennial 5k, and I ran it in 24:08. I ran this race with my brother Martin, and it was SO MUCH FUN! I was smiling for the entire race. Hands down the Absolute best moment of the year!

Fall:

There are no more words. I look at this picture, and my desire to keep writing just vanishes. I woke up on the morning of October 15 as a whole person, but when I went to sleep that night, a part of me, a vital part, was gone.  When I woke up on that morning, I was still technically pregnant, but when I went to sleep that night, I was empty and the chance of me being pregnant again was dropping fast. Pregnancy alluded me in 2010. But despite the tears, the pain, the scars, and the fear, I keep moving forward. I have hope.

Winter (again):

I would say that 2010 was a great year for me, because as it winds down I have my feet firmly planted and my head looking forward. I have the strength of my family and loved ones all around me, stronger than it’s been in years, and I am not looking back. Thanks to everyone who made 2010 count, you guys are the best!

My Godson’s name is Rio Ramone. So I felt that for Christmas he should have an effigy of the person he was named after…

This is a pattern in the Stitch’N'Bitch Nation book. The patter was easy to read, and my mattress stitch skills greatly improved by the end of it!!

Rio loved the doll, as did his parents. The rest of the family, however, thought I was cracked to make him a doll that looked like death warmed over…

Christmas 2010 was wonderful – filled with family and food, and Christmas cookies, and love. Lots and lots of love. I’ve eaten my fair share of chocolate and sweets, I’ve kissed well over 50 people in 3 days, and I’ve squeezed babies and laughed with abandon.  I didn’t think about exercising, or my holiday weight gain, or the loss of muscles in my arms (made evident when I helped my brother move yesterday!).

But somewhere in the midst of all the holiday festivities, I realized that I actually missed running. I remembered that running is more than just something I do.

It’s part of who I am.

Mmmmmm…..

One of my favourite Christmas traditions is our mother-daughter Cookie Baking Day. We’ve been doing it for four years (2009, 2008, 2007) and this year we hit a culinary peak. I think we produced the best batch of cookies yet!  There are a couple of factors that contributed to our success – the first one is that this year there were only two of us in the kitchen. Unfortunately, the other mother-daughter duo weren’t able to make it, and while we missed them dearly, I must say that the extra room in the kitchen made baking a lot easier. Also, in previous years there was bottle-necking at the stove, and sometimes our dough would sit on the counter and wait (in a hot kitchen) 20 mins or more before going in, and I think that can sometimes adversely affect the cookies.

Another factor is that this year I refused to modify any of the recipes to make them “healthy”. I realized that cookies are cookies: full of butter and sugar and no amount of substitutions will ever make them “healthy”. (If I want to eat something healthy, I’ll grab an apple.) I won’t try to turn cookies into something they’re not. And so, this year I used 2 POUNDS of butter, white flour, and countless cups of sugar in my recipes, and wouldn’t you know it, EVERY one was a success!  My mom and I tasted the cookies as they came out of the oven, and every one became “our new favourite”… They were all so good!

And so, without any further delay, here they are:

Clockwise starting from top left: Cranberry Noels, Chocolate Thumbprints, Creamy Lemon Squares, Lemon Poppy Seed Shortbread Cookies, Peanut Butter Fudgy Brownies, Bolivian Almond Cookies, Mexican Wedding Cookies.

Here they are close up:

Peanut Butter Fudgy Brownies. These are the sweetest of the bunch, and have been dubbed “ooey gooey bars”. Keep ‘em in the fridge to avoid a sticky mess!

Cranberry Noels. So festive and wonderful, I made this dough in the morning, put it in the freezer for about 3 hours, and then sliced and baked. Ah-Maze-Ing. Just like shortbread, with cranberries and pecans. Quintessential Christmas.

Mexican Wedding Cookies. Possibly my favourite of the bunch? (if I were able to choose a favourite, that is!) These are tasty little dough balls with pecans, covered in powdered sugar. Mmmmm… So good.

Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies with Chocolate Ganache. These cookies were the most involved, as I had to make the ganache first. I wasn’t super sold on these (what can I say, I’d take shortbread over chocolate ANY day) but they are definitely the most-improved over time. They taste hella good a day or two later.

Creamy Lemon Squares. My mom is the queen of lemon squares, and has a tried and true recipe. But this year she opted for a creamier version that contains cream cheese. These lemon squares are really tasty and the cream cheese gives them more oomph. A crowd-pleaser, for sure.

Lemon Poppyseed Cookies. These were exceptionally good eaten warm from the oven (I mean, give them a couple of minutes to cool down, but eat a few before they cool completely. You won’t be sorry).

Bolivian Almond Cookies. These were actually a repeat from last year. Almonds in the batter and almonds on top. How can you possibly go wrong? Oh, and a recipe that yields well over 40 cookies. Don’t even worry about it!

Now we’re well-stocked in the cookie department at least until Christmas! I’m hoping to offload some of these to a couple of key individuals, and the rest will be greedily gobbled up by Ange and me… Ahem.. I mean, I need to have a SOME fuel for my New Year’s resolution, right???

Every morning for the past 10 days have started out with me looking out the window, seeing a version of this:

And then having the following conversation:

Me: “Hey Ange… You awake?”

Him: “(grumble grumble from under the covers)… No.”

Me: “Do you want to drive me to work?”

Him: “What happened to your plan to bike to work all winter???”

Me: “I already told you – I’m in a revolt!”

Without analyzing what this says about our relationship, often Angelo would get up and drive me to work. He understood my revolt, I guess. My revolt came from inadequate footwear. The few times I’ve biked to work this month, I have arrived with frozen, soaking wet feet. I hate having cold feet, and I hate starting the day with something I hate.

I knew that I had to get a better setup for biking in the wintertime (remember, my third rule of Being a Bicycle Commuter is to have the right gear!). So on Thursday night, Angelo and I set out to Sail at the Ottawa Train Yards.

My first impression of Sail was that I felt like I was cheating on the MEC. But Sail’s boot selection was great! I narrowed my search to two pairs, which I tried on:

1) Function: The Baffins

2) Fashion: The Sorels

Oh Sorels, why do you have to be SO cute and yet SO uncomfortable? I was struggling between Fashion and Function for a long time, when finally I just put on one of each boot for a final showdown. That’s when I realized there was no contest, function won out big time! I fell in love with the Baffins almost immediately – they are just so comfortable and warm. They have amazing foot support, and the insulation goes all around the inside of the boot, so you don’t get any ground chill coming up from the soles of the boots.  And I figured if a boot is named after the coldest place on Earth, it’ll do for my morning commute to work!

I brought them home and I wore them in the apartment all night, and I even wanted to go to bed in them!

On Friday morning, I looked like this for my commute to work (Notice the most important thing I’m wearing is a smile!)

The breakdown:

Inner layer – wool socks, tights, Lululemon Swiftly Tech long sleeve top, tech sleeveless jersey (over the long sleeve top)
Outer layer – Baffin Boots, MEC wind-resistant technical tights, Down-filled jacket, scarf, wool toque, ski gloves, helmet.
Backpack – contained my work clothes, wallet and other junk, bike lock.

I’m happy to report that my feet were warm and dry when I got to work, and the Baffins were great to bike in. They are a bit big for my pedal cages, but nothing I can’t work around. I love the way they fit, the fact that they’re not too bulky or heavy despite being so baddass, and in the end they don’t look all that obnoxious (just not as cute as the Sorels…)