December in a nutshell

Greetings! In December I was at home to enjoy the local cultural events and the holiday season with my family and friends. We had mostly cloudy days with temperatures hovering around freezing point. Our first light dusting of snow appeared on the ground on December 30 morning. On New Year's Eve, the light rain washed all the snow away.

Without further ado, here's my December in a nutshell (in alpha order):

ARTS:

In December, I saw many festive holiday displays in the city centre. All the banks, shops, and department stores put on their best holiday decorations. Whether it was a real tree or an artificial tree, they were all spectacular centrepieces.

Christmas tree in Eaton Centre

I viewed three art exhibits at the Power Plant, all with free admission: (1) La Canicula exhibit by Vivian Suter with Elisabeth Wild, (2) Beth Stuart's Length, Breadth, Thickness and Duration exhibit, and (3) Karla Black's solo exhibit. I was interested in Vivian Suter's exhibit and her story since she's from Guatemala, the country that I'll be visiting in January.

Vivian Suter's La Canicula exhibit

Beth Stuart's Dipper Chasuble

Elisabeth Wild's collage

Karla Black's installation

BLOGS:

In December I published nine blog posts, bringing the total this year to 91 posts. My heart and mind was full of gratitude when I wrote my Highlights of 2018. It's been an amazing, enriching, and fulfilling year.

The 2018 Wellness Wednesday blog link up that I started this year concluded on December 12. I'm planning to continue the Wellness series on the second Wednesday of each month in 2019. The link up is open to all wellness-related posts. Feel free to join me on the first Wellness post on Wednesday, January 9, 2019.

BOOKS:

I finished four thriller novels The Dime by Kathleen Kent, The Late Show by Michael Connelly, Before the Poison and When the Music's Over by Perter Robinson. The first two authors were new to me.

I'm currently reading On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King, and The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart by Holly Ringland. When I reviewed the list of Stephen King's books, I realized that some of the movies I enjoyed, such as The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption, were based on his stories.

Books borrowed from the library

CONCERTS:

I chose to attend three concerts in December, just enough to get me into the holiday mode without overdoing it. It was a delight to listen to the following fantastic concerts which were all free to the public:

1. The Piano Festival at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music: Thirteen pianists played their solo pieces with incredible skills and grace. It was two hours long with one short intermission.
2. The 'Tis the Season to Swing concert at the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts: Steven Taetz Quartet performed thirteen songs, including six Christmas-themed songs, in one hour.
3. The annual Christmas Concert at Toronto City Hall: Toronto Beaches Children's & Youth Chorus, Toronto Mass Choir, Pan Fantasy Steel band, and Tower Brass played holiday songs in about ninety minutes. The Mayor of Toronto, Mr. John Tory, came to express his holiday greetings as seen in the photo below.

Toronto Christmas Concert 2018

FAMILY AND FRIENDS:

For our family and friends who live far away, we exchanged our season's greetings by email and phone calls. Canada Post had a labour disruption that ended with a big backlog of mail and parcels so I sent out only a couple of greeting cards this year.

Before Christmas, I met two friends for coffee, one friend for a workout at the gym, and had lunch with another two of my girlfriends. After Christmas, my family clan had our holiday dinner on December 26. This year there were twenty-five of us in attendance. It was a lively and heart-warming party with a lot of food, board games, and fun conversations.

FITNESS:

I completed seven yoga classes, thirteen workouts in the gym, five swimming sessions, and ran five times. I also walked 45 minutes or more and meditated 15 minutes daily. We had no snow until December 30 so the grounds were dry and it was easy to get around. On December 28, the high temperature was 10C (50F), which is unusual at this time of the year for us.

An empty beach in December

LEARNING:

I took my French and Spanish online lessons daily using Duolingo. I'm also reading online travel guides to learn more about Guatemala which is my upcoming travel destination.

MOVIES:

I watched two movies with my neighbours Crazy Rich Asians, Fahrenheit 11/9, and two animated shorts Weekends and Bilby. There was a re-run of Mission Impossible Fall Out that I decided not to go as I've seen it twice in November.

NEW YEAR'S PLAN:

We're ringing in the new year at home with comfort and relaxation. We had roasted chicken with wild rice and vegetables for dinner, ice cream and sweets for desserts. Now we're waiting for the fireworks, then greet the new year, and go to bed.

At year end, there's the usual tasks of closing current year's files and opening new year's files. I drafted my new goals for 2019, created a new goal tracking sheet, and a new budget sheet. My 2019 calendar now has a number of known appointments and confirmed events.

OVERALL:

December was a lovely month, with just the right amount of fitness, leisure, and social activities for me. I'm looking forward to having some fun this winter and enjoying 2019.

I want to thank all my blogger friends and readers for your comments, continued support, and connections in 2018. Wishing you a Healthy and Happy New Year!

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