Fast away the old year passes

Out the front window of my apartment December 27

December marks a month of change for me; instead of following my usual nomadic lifestyle of the past five years, I rented an apartment in one of the worst places on earth to rent an apartment in the winter. Sixteen days after I moved in, we got a record snowfall for Montreal (50cm in one day), and when I left Montreal for New York City, where I currently am, the sidewalk outside my apartment had still not been plowed, meaning you had to plunge through thigh-deep snow just to get to my stairs. The day it snowed (I feel that should be all capitalized: The Day It Snowed), I went to my friend Chris' house to visit and stayed for a few hours; when I left, I missed the bottom step in the drifts and fell head first into a three-foot pile of snow.

My Australian dog

2012 was generally a year of change for me, as you have noticed. I left Australia, and a two-year relationship, and all my friendships. And my dog. I came back to Canada to stay (for now, anyway). I stood up with one of my oldest friends as she got married on the beach in Prince Edward Island. I asked someone to marry me for the first and probably only time in my life (he said no).

And now, even though I am ostensibly settled in Montreal, my nesting skills spreading their wings, I find myself in New York City, in someone else's house again. It was my choice to come here: I'm here to see Amanda Palmer and her musicians play Prince's "Purple Rain" and ring in the New Year with a friend I've known for four years. I'm also here to visit other friends...see a new baby, see an old baby, make some bad decisions. Nothing says "New Year's Eve" like doing things you promised yourself you wouldn't do. When I think about how I spent my last two New Year's, staying up all night with Jason in the hot Australian evening, walking the streets, buying chickens, this one seems like it might be a bit tame! I'll probably be in bed by two.

Someone should definitely take this kettle corn away from me, speaking of bad decisions. Urgh.