2020

Highlights of this year.

January 2020

My parents were visiting; they arrived late November 2019. They departed for home towards the end of this month, which happened to be Chinese New Year as well.

As we ushered in the Year of the Rat, the news about the quickly-escalating novel coronavirus situation was swirling furiously across the world.

February 2020

My in-laws arrived, against our better judgement. Little did we know, this meant their being stuck here for several months as nations began enforcing social distancing measures, lockdowns and border closures (i.e. no international travel).

It was the start of the what is (in)famously dubbed the “#NewNormal”.

March 2020

I attended a job interview. Frankly, I had already forgotten about this particular job application, so when I received a message from the HR Manager, I was caught flat-footed. Nonetheless, I made whatever preparation I could in the short time I had, and gave it my best shot.

April 2020

My wife, who had been on maternity leave for the past few months, decided to go back to work early because we could not sustain household overhead (especially with her parents being around and my joblessness). The atmosphere at home was miserable. My wife had a hard time. We had a hard time.

May 2020

Nothing much happened this month as everyone continued to stay cooped at home. Anxiety was building up from listening to constant news reporting rising number of cases and deaths from the coronavirus across the globe.

June 2020

As the initial lockdown measures implemented showed signs that it has slowly put a small dent in the climbing number of COVID-19 cases, air travel restrictions were loosened slightly. My in-laws swiftly booked a flight home and managed to arrive safely and without any untoward incidents.

July 2020

We slowly readjusted to life on our own. Just the three of us. COVID-19 kept us at home. We were missing out on summer.

August 2020

We decided to drive to Calgary to visit a few old friends from back home who were in Canada on company work assignment. It was really nice to be able to catch up, eat food and visit places (while complying with social distancing and COVID-19 prevention measures of course!). It was a comfortable and refreshing long weekend.

September 2020

We braved a 2,400km drive to Vancouver and back to get our daughter’s birth registered at our country’s Consulate General. It was also our birthday months. Along the way to Vancouver, we pit-stopped for two nights at our friend’s place and I managed to organize a surprise party for my wife.

This was also the month when I got hired! Recall that interview I had back in March? It took them that long to hire me. It wasn’t because the process was highly convoluted. In fact, the HR Manager and my future boss were very clear that they liked me and wanted me onboard but they were dependent on what HQ says, and HQ said they wanted to review the company’s global performance (which had obviously been impacted by the coronavirus).

Fortunately, the company did well enough to bring me in. And after starting work, I realized that there could be a lot of new business and work coming up that it also justified my hiring. I am grateful.

October 2020

Our friends in Calgary and us visited Jasper. It was considered to be our last vacation trip for the year because fall was upon us and travelling in winter isn’t desirable.

November 2020

We moved to a new place. My wife and I actually bought a house. Instead of paying for rent (i.e. our money going up in smoke), we started paying for a mortgage (i.e. building equity). Besides, mortgage interest rate was phenomenally low; we’re paying the same amount in monthly rental fees towards our mortgage.

To us, that was a no-brainer move.

December 2020

Our baby turned one! We’ve watched her grow and she’s amazing. From learning how to flip herself between prone and supine, to speaking her first baby words, to toe-sucking, to sitting up on her own, to crawling, to walking.

Despite new and strict lockdown measures being re-implemented in light of again surging COVID-19 cases, we celebrated Christmas and her birthday quietly in the safety of our new house.

As ironic as it sounds, 2020 has been an eventful year even though COVID-19 practically cancelled everything. When things look bleak, I choose not to succumb to depression and negativity and anxiety. I decided to count my blessings. Indeed, in a period such as this, it’s important to take the time to smell the roses.