I was unsure as to whether to post a lowdown on how my year went. But I thought, what the heck. Do it anyway. Safe to say, it’s been a bit of a roller coaster, but I’ll try to keep things brief.

Sad moments

As I stated in my August post, I developed sciatica and spent a large proportion of May on my back in agony. I was also diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. I have made a few adjustments to my lifestyle and eating habits since then and have lost about 5 kilos as a result. Sadly, my immune system has seriously let me down in other ways and I developed a laundry list of colds and viruses that lasted for weeks at a time. Unfortunately that resulted in me missing so many Midland Opera rehearsals that I had to drop out of the production. 

I was made redundant from my job in November. Luckily, I have savings and a sizeable pay out to keep me going for a while. However, there is a sense of stability that I have now lost and it’s pretty scary. Now that the new year is upon us, I will be buckling down on my job searches.

At the beginning of 2018 I attended a get together organised by my friend Emma Bridges, who I had known since my Cadbury days. Sadly, she passed away this year due to the illness we all thought she had recovered from. Turns out that you never really recover from Myeloma. The last time I saw her was when we attended a 40th birthday celebration for our mutual friends Shakera and her twin sister Sabera. That was in March and she seemed well on the mend. So, finding out she was no longer with us in July was a bit of a shock to the system.

Happy Moments

On the 17th of November, I watched Midland Opera’s production of La Traviata. Much as I wanted to be part of the production, it was a great pleasure to be able to just watch without having to worry about who was doing what where and how I fit into it all. As per usual, Sarah Helsby Hughes was spot on in both her performance and direction. I will never tire of watching her. BTW, did I mention that I designed the poster?

I’m slowly but surely getting back into roller derby training again. As part of this endeavour, I attended not one but two boot camps. One in March with Freight Train and another in October with Below Me and Curly Håår. Both were eye opening, informative and exhausting. As stated earlier, my poor health put a damper on my training attendance but by September, I was able to go almost every week up to the Christmas break. 

I went to two awesome exhibitions this year. One dedicated to Black Sabbath on the 15th August at the BMAG in Birmingham and one dedicated to Stanley Kubrick on the 10th September at the Design Museum in London.

Last but not least. Although my physical health took a slight nosedive this year, my mental health has never been better. I’ve never considered myself an optimist but I generally feel much less pessimistic than I ever did before. Either that or I’m generally giving fewer fucks as I get a little older.

I won’t tell you of my plans for 2020 because I don’t want to jinx them. But I do have some. In fact, I have a lot.

Oh look! I’ve made another long post. So much for keeping it brief!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!