Happy Holidays

2015 was a year where I lived in three cities and four residences.  That right there is wacky. It was also a year where I had a series of wacky, odd personal experiences. Let me review.

For instance, consider this. Three times this year I was nearly killed by fish. Ok,more like others nearly killed me with some form of shellfish, salmon or cod.  My ever growing (and expanding) shellfish allergy has become a real downer. When I got the flu shot this year, I had an immediate flushing response, got lightheaded and loopy. This year’s batch had an extra bit of iodine and that triggered my allergic reaction.  The CDC website now has a small print warning about that. Yikes #1. Then, the first day at my new job in Los Angeles my team took me out to lunch which was super nice. Except that they chose to go to a restaurant that specializes in slippery shrimp and they were super excited to have that. I survived by sticking to vegetarian fare. Yikes #2. Then, my second day at work we had an all staff meeting where sandwiches were ordered.  Again, a very nice gesture. I was handed what was supposed to be a vegetarian sandwich.  I bit into it and realized I just had some tuna. Thus, in the midst of me trying to say my welcome speech I had to immediately take Benadryl and hope that I would not need my Epi-pen. Yikes #3.  I realize that there are still a few days left to this year so I will be knocking on wood (Puerto Rican way of warding off bad luck) that I am not exposed to anything else this year

This past year also saw me achieve my long-held dream of owning a pink taser.  One of my team members got me a pink taser and I was ecstatic. Of course, they got me that taser because I needed it-even when I went to the restroom at work.  Yes, I really did need a taser and pepper spray to go to the hallway bathroom.  My first day in San Francisco a woman threatened to bash my head in just because I looked at her for a mere second. EEK. My first week alone at my northern California job we had to call the cops three times.  What makes this especially odd for me is that as New Yorker I have never had to call the cops. Go figure. Yikes.

Mother nature was also a bit of a personal challenge. Going cross country we got caught in tornado activity which was extremely scary. We couldn’t see even a centimeter in front of us and had to pull over and wait out the storm. Meanwhile, in Hawaii we got caught in a flashstorm and had to outrun mudslides. And as we crossed into the Los Angeles County line, we got hit by hail. Yikes! The irony is that at the beginning of the year, I was still living in New York and had left just as new York was experiencing snowstorm after storm. I had escaped to California, partly for better weather.  I should have checked meteorological forecasts and known that this was going to be an El Nino year out west.  As I watched the national CNN weather report, it was going to be near 70 degrees in New York. What’s a warm-weather seeking girl to do?

Speaking of the cold. This past year saw me going to Canada multiple times for business. I like Canada and I got to go to Toronto which is a very interesting, welcoming city. It is so walkable that I walked over 29,000 steps in one day. However, what I really wanted to do this year in terms of travel was get to all 50 states in the US.  After my cross-country trip this summer, I have visited all but 1 state. Alaska is last on my to-do list and I really tried this summer to go there for my son’s birthday. However, he really wanted to see penguins. Thus, instead of Alaska we ended up in Hawaii for his birthday. Yes, I know. Don’t ask. It makes no sense at all.  And at times that has been my year.This is a snippet of my wacky year. Its been a roller coaster of a year.

Today, I end the year in a new city and a smaller christmas tree than my previous years.  However, it does not mean that this is any less special. What is even cooler is that I end the year with my wide-eyed son who still believes in santa, loves to help others and revels in the magic of the season.