Farewell 2007

December 26, 2007  

As an exciting 2008 approaches, I thought it would be nice to look back on the past year.  In terms of blogging it’s been a quiet one for me, after the flurry of travel and exciting adventures in 2004-2005 and then the bustle of activity in 2006 of buying a house, starting a business and getting married.  2007 has been much more settled, though no less interesting.

The year has seen my business, Spiral Designs, flourish into something more than I could have dreamed.  If I were to take the next logical step I would be hiring underlings and renting office space.  That won’t happen (see previous post) but I’m very happy with how I’ve managed to grow the business and the kind of work that I’ve been doing – including freelance work for Sensis and The Eclipse Group and being part of some exciting times and interesting work at Feedcorp.  Speaking of Sensis, this year Matt decided to give up permanent work for a while and has been contracting with Sensis for a few months.  He’s been very happy there (and of course helped me get some work there) and looking forward to more Ruby work in the new year.

Early on in the year Matthew and I started Dutch classes.  Those have been fun and we’ve learned a lot.  We’re far from fluent but we can hold a simple conversation and right now I’m reading Anne of Green Gables (or Anne van Het Groene Huis), so we’re getting there.  We’ve found friendship and common interests among our fellow students and it was topped off by a great Sinterklaas celebration earlier this month.  We’ll definitely be continuing classes next year.

On the dance front I’ve obviously become more serious than ever and in August I joined Flare Dance Company.  We performed two performances, which were a lot of fun, and then received an Arts grant from the government for future work.   I’ve had a few niggling injuries throughout the year, which are now healed, I discovered the perfect pointe shoes for my feet and I’ve improved a lot.

We’ve been very happy this year to be able to spend more time than ever with family and friends (though never enough).  A few friends have moved nearby and we even bought a nice big dining table so that we can entertain more than 1 or 2 people at a time.  We’ve been to 4 weddings (our yearly average over the past 5-6 years), one friend has had a baby and we’ve got two friends pregnant.  We’ve enjoyed spending time with our siblings, parents, nephews and nieces.  The two nephews will be starting school next year (already!) and both nieces are little darlings (1 and 2.5 years).    Unfortunately we’ve had to say goodbye to the fathers of two women very close to me – my mother and my best friend.  Both passed from heart unexpected heart attacks.

This year has been one for very little travel.  The furthest we’ve been from home is a trip to Albury to visit some relatives of Matt, with a night in Mt Beauty and a drive around the beautiful towns in that area.  We’ve spent a long weekend in Rye and visited Matt’s parents in Phillip Island a few times but that’s it.  While we watch those around us flitting off to exotic holidays, we save our pennies ad dream of the day we go back to Holland – which we know will come.

So what does 2008 hold?  Well there’s obviously the dance course with a performance every term; I have an interview in a few weeks for a ballet teaching job (adult class), so I may get my first opportunity to teach ballet; there’s the continuation of our Dutch classes; Matthew’s finally going to purchase a car he will enjoy driving (and thus for a change drive me around instead of the reverse); there’s the launch of some exciting projects that I’ve been working on (and of course continued work in web design); Matt’s contract will expire at some point and so he will be moving on; it’s going to be an exciting year for Flare Dance Company with new recruits, performances and the opportunity to choreograph; and there will be more weddings, babies and housewarmings to come.  Then there’s also the inevitable plan for moving back to Holland in 2009 (or by December 31st if Mathew gets his way).

So, farewell 2007.  It’s been a good year, a lot has happened and I’ve continued to grow and learn.  Here’s to you and a peeling off the wrapping of a bright, shiny, new year: 2008!