Keeping Buzzy: Year In Review?

It's still New Year's Eve as I finally make time for my last blog entry for the year, 2023.

I begin by celebrating having more than 4,000 page views. Thank you so much to you who consistently check in. I greet those who visited from Barbados, Canada, Germany, Grenada, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the USA. 👋

I note that quite a few were curious about my trip, so perhaps I'll start there for my year in review. I travelled rather more than expected this year. In spite of the issues I highlighted in July, being in the country was ok. It's just I'm not a fan of the cold, so any temperature under 20 degrees Celsius is cold for me. In contrast, the country in the Middle East I visited some months later had temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius. 😲 Luckily there was air-condition on the commute to the meeting. No photos taken there though.

My fave trip of the year was to Jamaica - and the highlight was a visit to the world-famous Dunn's River Falls. Of course, I'm the first to boast of Barbados' white sandy beaches (even though I've not been to one in more than 5 years). Still, the beach at Dunn's River was quite decent. I was instructed to bring a swimsuit so I took a dip. Lovely. Yes. I had to leave Barbados to go in the sea. Go figure.

Beach at Dunn's River Falls, Jamaica

What's interesting is that I was not in the best of health on any of my trips. I had bursitis or was it tendonitis (yet undiagnosed) in April-May? I was trying to contain a respiratory issue in September/October. Little did I know there was a new variant of COVID-19 lurking. It may explain why I had to be nebulized while overseas (not in Jamaica, I survived that trip but may've been exposed to something en route). As I was overseas for an international meeting the health care system needed to ensure I returned to my homeland. To achieve that I was nebulized and received antibiotic treatment. Apparently my lungs didn't sound too good. Returned home, got another medical check and the lungs still weren't quite clear so 10 more days of antibiotic! Concurrently there was some gastrointestinal problem. I ended up having a 37-day purge. On the bright side I lost 3 inches from my natural waist. 😀

It's a good thing I'm a survivor. Given my scare from a few months ago, this season I treated myself to these delicious cupcakes baked by Kimel. Wonderful baking talent she has.