Year in Review - January through March

January: In a surprise move, I attended an SCA event. Kingdom 12th Night was held in D.C., and I carpooled with Kevin and Courtney for a few hours of hobnobbing with SCAdian friends. In retrospect, I really should've worn a wimple. However, I'm quite pleased with how the hat turned out. I also saw "The Hobbit: Denial of Service" and nerd-raged A LOT. However, seeing my second film at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema made that theater my movie-going venue of choice and I've been to only one other cinema since. My lack of personal insulation due to weight loss was problematic especially since this was one of the coldest winters I've personally experienced.
February: We got a fair amount of snow in January and February. One of the superficial things I'd panicked about after the separation was how I'd get everything dug out after a significant snowfall since that task had always fallen upon the ex. I managed just fine, especially since my burly neighbor was especially kind and shoveled my walk for me a few times. He even came out once and took my shovel away while I was digging out the car. I baked him brownies in thanks.
I tortured pirategirleee by taking her to the Baltimore Aquarium for her birthday. "How is that torture?" I hear you ask. Well, PG is TERRIFIED of sharks while I find the critters fascinating. We spent a lot of quality time in the shark pen. And then we played in the gift shop. Virginia struck down its ban on same-sex marriage and I celebrated a fairly low-key Valentine's Day with the beau. These are completely unrelated events. I completed my last regional Doomsday (year-end financial report) for the Kingdom of Atlantia and my reign of terror as the Virginia Regional Exchequer ended.
March: I had a marvelous time at the DC stop "Welcome to Night Vale" tour, winter continued being a bitch on wheels, and I officially filed for divorce.

Year in Review - April through June

April: IT FINALLY STOPPED SNOWING! Praise Jesus, God, Buddha, Allah, Steve the Galactic Fruitbat, and His Noodlyness combined. Saw Lewis Black with the beau in D.C. We laughed until we cried and then took a moonlit stroll under the cherry blossoms around the tidal basin. Tres romantique. Was introduced to Bon Chon Chicken and OMG YUM. (And now I've given myself a craving for their soy garlic potstickers.) I strolled with friends in pseudo-Victorian finery at the US Botantic Gardens and was accosted by a photo-seeking Harry Potter.
pirategirleee and I attended AwesomeCon in DC and I debuted my very first cosplay: Fionna the Human. We had a blast wandering the vendor floor, seeing great cosplays, and meeting Maurice LaMarche (who signed my "Pinky and the Brain" DVD set) and Rob Paulsen (whose autograph line closed before I could get his signature). We saw Billie Piper and Cary Elwes from a LOOOONG way off and I walked by Sean Astin and PG saw Lou Ferrigno pass us. So many people wanted pictures with me, but my absolute favorite photo request was from a tiny Princess Bubblegum who tugged on my backpack to get my attention. I because a fully-fledged divorcee on the 21st. Whoo hoo!
May: STEAMPUNK WORLD'S FAIR, y'all. OMG, that was so much fun. I devoted an an entire entry to that event. Went to the beach with my best girls for Memorial Day Weekend. Our condo was in this bizarre wooden building covered with staircases and was five or six stories tall, but the condos were at all different levels, so you couldn't really tell. We called it Hogsmeade-upon-the-sea.
While on the Outer Banks, I ticked an entry off my post-weight loss bucket list: hang-gliding! That was EXHILARATING! I whooped and hollered and laughed my fool head off. Bonus: I stuck all my landings. On the last weekend of May, the beau and I joined several thousand of our closest friends to ride around DC in the New Belgium Brewing Tour de Fat around Yards Park. After riding our bikes around the Navy Yard and Capitol Hill areas, we chilled with pizza and beer. The beau even rode some of the experimental bikes like the one with sneakers on spokes for wheels. A good time was had by all.
June: Local photographer friends held a Cosplay Photography day at their gorgeous Victorian-era home in early June. The beau and I donned our Victorian finery and our Adventure Time duds for lots of hijinks and shenanigans. This experience confirmed my suspicions that I have a face for comedy, not drama. Ah well, that's better than having a face for radio.
I attended a Verizon Women in Leadership conference in New Jersey and had the most miserable business travel experience of my entire life. Yes, I could've driven (I would have needed a rental car per company policy due to the distance), but on paper it looked like flying would be easier. Ha ha. Due to terrible weather, my 8pm flight was delayed for over four hours and then I got lost during what should have been a half-hour drive from the airport to the hotel because my phone chose to crap out. I got about three hours of sleep before the conference. Thank goodness the trip back to Dulles was smooth. I had a surprise waiting for me when I got back to work: a promotion and raise to reflect my increased workload and responsibilities. WHOO HOO! The beau's dad and stepmother live on one of Reston's lakes and we spent a peaceful evening cruising about and grilling steaks on their pontoon. This was the most time I'd spent with his folks and they are truly wonderful people.

Year in Review - July and August

July: Spent a week in Alabama (and a couple of days in Memphis) with my family and bestie. Got in lots of lake time and deck time and even a little pool time. Jumped off a 20 foot cliff into the Tennessee River and water skied for the first time in over fifteen years. Aside from the 24-hour stomach virus which ravaged each member of the household, it was a fabulous trip.

Ran into the ex at the shrink's office. She was running behind schedule, he was early for his appointment, and the staff didn't realize that they'd scheduled us for the same afternoon. Oh well. The brief conversation was polite.

Rode my bike the 9.5 miles to the beau's house, impressing the heck out of him. He assumed he would need to drive me back home, but he was very wrong. Rawr. My probably-original-to-the-house hot water heater sprung a leak the day before I left for a week-long business trip to Dallas. Luckily, I caught it early and was able to drain the heater and dry the basement before catching my flight. I ordered a new water heater during my last day in Dallas and had it installed when I got home. W00t. And then most of my SCAdian friends went to Pennsic and started posting pictures from Pennsic and I tried not to give in...
August: I gave in and scooted up to Pennsic for a long weekend and it was TOTALLY WORTH IT. I got to see almost everybody on my Must See list, especially Her Majesty Calontir, wombatgirl. The only drawback to the weekend is that rained pretty much the entire time, but that did make it a lot easier for me to say good-bye to the modern middle ages and get back home to modern conveniences such as not having to don shoes to make a privy run. The beau is still laughing about my lack of impulse control, I'm sure. However, getting to see far-flung friends and driving a VW Beetle Convertible as a "War Wagon" made it a worthwhile trip.
The next weekend psalite, pirategirleee, and I ventured to the wilds of Manassas for the Prince William County Fair where we took in a demolition derby, ate fair food until I (almost) got sick, rode the ferris wheel and tunnel of terror, and walked away with enough kettle corn to choke a family of mules. I even checked off another post-WLS bucket list item: mechanical bull riding! Wow, is that ever harder than it looks. I mean, I've got some pretty powerful thighs from all my bike riding, but I lasted only 32 seconds before sliding off the side of the bull. Ah well. A group of friends started up a DnD campaign and I spent an evening wearing my reading glasses and retainer while rolling up my gnome sorcerer character. The nerdineth ith thtrong with thith one. Also, I started a long and painful root canal process which wouldn't end until November when my dental benefits ran out for the year.