2016 Boyhouse Year In Review

Everyone is talking about kicking 2016 to the curb, and certainly it was a strange year, with sadness and loss and disheartening attacks. There were lots of tragedies this year, but as always, there is light and love and laughter to be had too. 2016 had some tough losses in the Boyhouse, but there were also many wonderful, hilarious, and silly happenings.

January

I started the year by detoxing my life, and then I was forced into a Little House on the Prairie situation in which I did not have electricity for a whole day. My husband bought me an ice cream maker, which literally changed our entire lives and has since proven to be one of my most favourite small appliances ever.

February

I attempted to Kondo my clothes, which ended badly. I had an anxiety dream about Cookie Monster, which may have been related to terribly uncomfortable Pap tests. And it was a Leap Year!

I also discovered they still make Fun Dip!

March

I talked about beauty products, wine, and eye bags, and wondered what life would be like if we could walk around with a permanent Instagram filter. I had a mammogram and was struck by my inability to follow basic instructions. And we went to Maui, and I briefly wondered what life would be like as a motivational speaker.

April

I talked about weight loss and my love of clothes, I found out that the taco and eggplant emojis do not mean tacos and eggplants, and I went on two field trips to the Police Interpretive Centre.

It was also an incredibly warm spring and my Mayday bloomed in April, which has never happened before!

May

My kids and husband cleaned the entire house for Mother’s Day and it was way better than a Mother’s Day tea. My sweet friend Alison passed away, and she is much missed. I went to my second-last Volunteer Tea, at which my son was emcee.

And the lilacs bloomed in May!

June

I had more than one person become weirdly passionate about my eyebrows, which is when I discovered that eyebrows are really a “thing” these days, there was a Mafia-like turf war in my backyard, waged by neighbourhood birds, and my sweet baby cousin got married!

We did NOT stay in this motel, but it does have In-Room Coffee! And Vacancy!

July

I became extremely disheartened by people and a heated discussion about reclining airplane seats, I learned how to bake a pie, and I found lots to smile about in little things.

My roses had a record year!

August

I read the Life Changing Magic of Tidying-Up and it magically changed my life, Barkley got very sick – but then recovered, no need for panic – and I continued to Kondo everything, and I made a resolution about clothing purchases.

September

I took the car for an oil change and remembered why I never take the car for an oil change, I had a slight blip in my magical tidying-up journey, I did that “three fictional characters that describe me” AND my friend’s sister let me in on the secret to a shiny, beautiful fridge and it CHANGED MY LIFE. 

October

My attempts at getting to my in-laws’ for Thanksgiving weekend kept getting thwarted by the weather, although it did work out in the end, I talked about not buying things not on my lists, and also how hard it is to work customer service, and I had confessions to make.

November 

There was – and still is – a vanilla shortage, which meant it was all Panic at the Disco around here, I went on a field trip in which hundreds of fifth-and-sixth graders were given NOISE MAKERS, and we said goodbye to my father-in-law.

Also: my second-last book fair!

December

We went to Orlando, and it was a fabulous trip, I talked about Disney’s Animal Kingdom and also Universal Studios. We also did Christmassy stuff, of course.

AND AND AND! I became a Registered Yoga Teacher!

So that’s about it for the Boyhouse for 2016! See you next year. May 2017 bring us all health, happiness, and lots of laughter. xoxo