The End Of A Decade... and the rebirth of mydial
I have a new years resolution. It is to get back to blogging... to writing... the recording this adventure I call my life.
I wish I had a record to review the last decade cause it sure has been an interesting one! This is my own decade in review... this is what I remember.
I remember December 31st 1999 pretty clearly as I am sure most of you do! It was the millenium and many people were wondering if the lights and all the computers were turning off at midnight! My cousin Ronaye and my godboys were tucked away in Caroline fully stocked and prepared for big changes in the morning - some thought they were crazy but I knew where I was heading in the morning if things went bad! I still think they were the smart ones cause they would have been the most prepared if something had happened and in the end all the food and supplies were used anyways and they were no worse for wear for having been prepared. I remember sitting at home watching broadcasts from around the world as each city celebrated coming into the new millenium... it was absolutely amazing. When it turned midnight in Calgary I was at this strange little party on 11th Avenue Downtown. It was a storefront that was vacant at the time and someone had rented it out to host a 2000 party. It was a magical night because I was surrounded by most of my best friends in the world. It would be one of the last times that we would be all together celebrating and it was kind of a coincidence that we were all even back together for the night! One of the strangest things was that my best friend from high school Patsy Boychuk also just happened to be at the same party. I had not seen her for years and it was so out of the blue - as teenagers we had talked about how we would party for new years 2000 and fate ended up making it so!
January 3, 2000 - I began my job at AADAC Youth Services I was living with Kelly Janzen and Brent Desjarlais in the pool house on 58th Avenue SW Calgary (Brent may have just moved out). Wayne Leontowich was in Calgary staying with us as well while waiting for Lyn to move from Saskatoon to Calgary. I had tried to quit my job at Reliance Technical Recruitment to work at AADAC but they talked me into working nights for them as the night recruitment supervisor. I hired Wayne as my only employee and well we did not get much work done - in fact I think we closed the office and just left most nights shortly after the day staff left. We quit in May 2000.
September 2000 - I moved out of the pool house and moved into Ronaye's basement suite in Rundle with Johnnie (?) after the drama summer from hell. Put my beloved cat Wyckham to sleep and got my new kitten Jaike.
Summer 2001 - Ronaye moved to Saskatoon for like a month and then moved to Kelowna and I moved back into my mom's basement for a few months. I decided I wanted to buy my own place and started to look around. I put an offer in and purchased 9810 26th Avenue and my sister Genitta bought 9820 26th Street!
September 11th 2001 - I woke up at my moms house and watched the planes hit the tower as I got ready for work (it was a Tuesday and I started late that day). I got to work at AADAC and caught some of the news from the tv in the group facilitation room by the kitchen. It was a memorable day. I remember for the next few days when I was driving around I saw so many small acts of kindness everywhere, little things like people letting others into lanes, people just being kind. I remember feeling a lot of sorrow and a lot of peace. The world and life changed over night.
September 2001 - Moved into my new house! I signed my mortgage at 7.75% in August and watched the rates plummet after 9/11 to under 3%... shitty!
Summer 2002 - Things began to change at work. My manager Barb Davis took a promotion and moved to Edmonton, my supervisor Betty took a new job outside AADAC and moved on as well. Sonia Badger, whom I knew and did NOT get along with, was hired as the new supervisor and Silvia Vajushi was hired for the management position. I struggled with the change and things went downhill fast! Ronaye left Anthony and Avery came to stay for the summer. Ronaye came to Calgary by September and moved in with the boys for a few months. Lyn was staying with me as well at the time so it was a VERY full house and Lyn soon left!
December 2002 - AADAC changed my position from contract to permanent and posted the position. I applied for my own job but they chose another candidate :(
I got to stay on contract until the end of the business year (March 2003) in a new position helping out Mark Miyamoto and the Action Program... then I was unemployed.
May 2003 - Took a job at Telus Mobility in the call center. My sister was working there and the call center positions paid pretty good. I was super depressed, had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, and had no motivation left to decide or care. I also started volunteering at the Distress Centre in the Public Education Program as a gambling and drug educator as I had learned tons at AADAC and thought this would be an interesting way to share it. I also really wanted to do some front line addictions work and this gave me a chance.
August 2003 - Claudia Canales, the Public Education Program Coordinator at the Distress Centre, had the opportunity to go overseas with her husband for a year and called to ask me if I would be interested in covering her position at the Distress Centre while she was gone. I jumped at the chance and my life changed again. I began at the Distress Centre September 4th 2003.
January 2004 - Shortly after beginning at the Distress Centre I was offered an extended contract. Shama Doyle (now Joynt) who was the Training Coordinator wanted to return to school and I was offered her position while she was away. Shama did not end up returning to the position (POLITICS!) and I was offered the training position permanently. Training volunteers for the crisis lines was amazing and I ended up learning much more than I taught.
May 2004 - Ronaye, Craig, Avery and Jordan move into their own condo that I could see from my back deck. Genitta was living next door and I was surrounded by family.
August 2004 - Ronaye, Craig, and the boys purchased a house in Cedarbrae. I could not see there house from mine anymore but they were still just up the street.
September 2004 - I decided to return to Air Cadets after 10 years and volunteered as a training officer with 604 "Moose" Royal Canadian Air Cadets.
September 16 2004 - My cousin Rob and his girlfriend Becky add Payten Shandler to the family!
July 10 2005 - My sister Genitta got married and became Genitta Freeman. I got a new brother in law named Tavis.
September 10 2005 - My cousin Melissa and her husband James introduce Sophie Kimbell to the family :)
October 8 2005 - My cat Maxx went into cardiac arrest and died... I cried. I adopted a new kitten Benji at the end of the month.
November 2005 - Everyone left. Genitta and Tavis moved to Richmond Road and Ronaye, Craig and the boys put there house up for sale and moved to Saskatoon. It was a lonely time.
September 2005 - Claudia Canales left the Distress Centre to return to school. I jumped at the opportunity to take over the Public Education Coordinator role once again!
February 5 2006 - My niece Tevin Brooke Freeman was born!
March 2006 - I went out to Saskatoon to visit Ronaye and the boys, saw her house in Alvena and the new community centre/barn she bought. This was also the last time I saw my auntie Chantaal.
May 2006 - Kelly moved in for about a month. I was hoping he would be there over the summer so he could watch my cats while I went to Europe but he moved in with Crystal right before I left!
Summer 2006 - Went on my last big family vacation with Mom, Dad, and Kent to Holland. Went to my cousin Iris' wedding. Spent good time and got to know my cousins Laura, Rudy, Sophie, and Eef. Had a beautiful time in Paris.
February 21 2007 - Benjamin Kimball joins the family. He joins mom Melissa (my cousin), dad James, and big sister Sophie!
May 2007 - Went on a back country hike with the cadets on the May long weekend. I was scared I wouldnt make it and it was hard but I did. We couldnt do the whole hike as the higher we went up the mountain the more snow we found. We woke up to a snow blizzard and hiked back down the mountain pretty fast!
June 15 2007 - My nephew Talan Cole Freeman was born!
June 2008 - Went to Kelowna with Genitta, Tavis, Talan, and Tevin to visit Grandma Lil. It was the last visit we were able to have with Grandma Lil.
August 2008- Resigned my position at the Distress Centre. Took a new position with McMan Youth Family and Community Services as the Program Supervisor for the Wellington Place Program. A residential and community support program for homeless youth.
April-March 2008 - Went to Mexico with my mom to visit my godmother Bonnie at her new home in Peurto Vallarta. It was beautiful :)
January 2009 - My aunt Chantaal Shandler passed away after a long courageous battle with breast cancer. I lost a very important person in my life :(
February 2009 - Purchased my second home 3732 Cedarille Drive SW. Moved in and rented out 9810 to my brother Kent. Genitta also purchased a second home in Oakridge and began renovations!
Summer 2009 - Rough time at work. Spent lots of time at the Foothills Hospital with a suicidal youth in my program. At times thought I was going to lose my mind! My grandmother Lillian Leach passed away. A second HUGE loss for me in one year.
Recently: The doctor's suspect that my nephew Talan may be on the autism spectrum and he is going threw many assessments, tests, and diet changes. I am looking at new vehicles and trying to decide if I should purchase one in the new year. My position and program have been refunded for at least 12 more months!
And that's it folks... that is my decade in review!
I wish I had a record to review the last decade cause it sure has been an interesting one! This is my own decade in review... this is what I remember.
I remember December 31st 1999 pretty clearly as I am sure most of you do! It was the millenium and many people were wondering if the lights and all the computers were turning off at midnight! My cousin Ronaye and my godboys were tucked away in Caroline fully stocked and prepared for big changes in the morning - some thought they were crazy but I knew where I was heading in the morning if things went bad! I still think they were the smart ones cause they would have been the most prepared if something had happened and in the end all the food and supplies were used anyways and they were no worse for wear for having been prepared. I remember sitting at home watching broadcasts from around the world as each city celebrated coming into the new millenium... it was absolutely amazing. When it turned midnight in Calgary I was at this strange little party on 11th Avenue Downtown. It was a storefront that was vacant at the time and someone had rented it out to host a 2000 party. It was a magical night because I was surrounded by most of my best friends in the world. It would be one of the last times that we would be all together celebrating and it was kind of a coincidence that we were all even back together for the night! One of the strangest things was that my best friend from high school Patsy Boychuk also just happened to be at the same party. I had not seen her for years and it was so out of the blue - as teenagers we had talked about how we would party for new years 2000 and fate ended up making it so!
January 3, 2000 - I began my job at AADAC Youth Services I was living with Kelly Janzen and Brent Desjarlais in the pool house on 58th Avenue SW Calgary (Brent may have just moved out). Wayne Leontowich was in Calgary staying with us as well while waiting for Lyn to move from Saskatoon to Calgary. I had tried to quit my job at Reliance Technical Recruitment to work at AADAC but they talked me into working nights for them as the night recruitment supervisor. I hired Wayne as my only employee and well we did not get much work done - in fact I think we closed the office and just left most nights shortly after the day staff left. We quit in May 2000.
September 2000 - I moved out of the pool house and moved into Ronaye's basement suite in Rundle with Johnnie (?) after the drama summer from hell. Put my beloved cat Wyckham to sleep and got my new kitten Jaike.
Summer 2001 - Ronaye moved to Saskatoon for like a month and then moved to Kelowna and I moved back into my mom's basement for a few months. I decided I wanted to buy my own place and started to look around. I put an offer in and purchased 9810 26th Avenue and my sister Genitta bought 9820 26th Street!
September 11th 2001 - I woke up at my moms house and watched the planes hit the tower as I got ready for work (it was a Tuesday and I started late that day). I got to work at AADAC and caught some of the news from the tv in the group facilitation room by the kitchen. It was a memorable day. I remember for the next few days when I was driving around I saw so many small acts of kindness everywhere, little things like people letting others into lanes, people just being kind. I remember feeling a lot of sorrow and a lot of peace. The world and life changed over night.
September 2001 - Moved into my new house! I signed my mortgage at 7.75% in August and watched the rates plummet after 9/11 to under 3%... shitty!
Summer 2002 - Things began to change at work. My manager Barb Davis took a promotion and moved to Edmonton, my supervisor Betty took a new job outside AADAC and moved on as well. Sonia Badger, whom I knew and did NOT get along with, was hired as the new supervisor and Silvia Vajushi was hired for the management position. I struggled with the change and things went downhill fast! Ronaye left Anthony and Avery came to stay for the summer. Ronaye came to Calgary by September and moved in with the boys for a few months. Lyn was staying with me as well at the time so it was a VERY full house and Lyn soon left!
December 2002 - AADAC changed my position from contract to permanent and posted the position. I applied for my own job but they chose another candidate :(
I got to stay on contract until the end of the business year (March 2003) in a new position helping out Mark Miyamoto and the Action Program... then I was unemployed.
May 2003 - Took a job at Telus Mobility in the call center. My sister was working there and the call center positions paid pretty good. I was super depressed, had no idea what I wanted to do with my life, and had no motivation left to decide or care. I also started volunteering at the Distress Centre in the Public Education Program as a gambling and drug educator as I had learned tons at AADAC and thought this would be an interesting way to share it. I also really wanted to do some front line addictions work and this gave me a chance.
August 2003 - Claudia Canales, the Public Education Program Coordinator at the Distress Centre, had the opportunity to go overseas with her husband for a year and called to ask me if I would be interested in covering her position at the Distress Centre while she was gone. I jumped at the chance and my life changed again. I began at the Distress Centre September 4th 2003.
January 2004 - Shortly after beginning at the Distress Centre I was offered an extended contract. Shama Doyle (now Joynt) who was the Training Coordinator wanted to return to school and I was offered her position while she was away. Shama did not end up returning to the position (POLITICS!) and I was offered the training position permanently. Training volunteers for the crisis lines was amazing and I ended up learning much more than I taught.
May 2004 - Ronaye, Craig, Avery and Jordan move into their own condo that I could see from my back deck. Genitta was living next door and I was surrounded by family.
August 2004 - Ronaye, Craig, and the boys purchased a house in Cedarbrae. I could not see there house from mine anymore but they were still just up the street.
September 2004 - I decided to return to Air Cadets after 10 years and volunteered as a training officer with 604 "Moose" Royal Canadian Air Cadets.
September 16 2004 - My cousin Rob and his girlfriend Becky add Payten Shandler to the family!
July 10 2005 - My sister Genitta got married and became Genitta Freeman. I got a new brother in law named Tavis.
September 10 2005 - My cousin Melissa and her husband James introduce Sophie Kimbell to the family :)
October 8 2005 - My cat Maxx went into cardiac arrest and died... I cried. I adopted a new kitten Benji at the end of the month.
November 2005 - Everyone left. Genitta and Tavis moved to Richmond Road and Ronaye, Craig and the boys put there house up for sale and moved to Saskatoon. It was a lonely time.
September 2005 - Claudia Canales left the Distress Centre to return to school. I jumped at the opportunity to take over the Public Education Coordinator role once again!
February 5 2006 - My niece Tevin Brooke Freeman was born!
March 2006 - I went out to Saskatoon to visit Ronaye and the boys, saw her house in Alvena and the new community centre/barn she bought. This was also the last time I saw my auntie Chantaal.
May 2006 - Kelly moved in for about a month. I was hoping he would be there over the summer so he could watch my cats while I went to Europe but he moved in with Crystal right before I left!
Summer 2006 - Went on my last big family vacation with Mom, Dad, and Kent to Holland. Went to my cousin Iris' wedding. Spent good time and got to know my cousins Laura, Rudy, Sophie, and Eef. Had a beautiful time in Paris.
February 21 2007 - Benjamin Kimball joins the family. He joins mom Melissa (my cousin), dad James, and big sister Sophie!
May 2007 - Went on a back country hike with the cadets on the May long weekend. I was scared I wouldnt make it and it was hard but I did. We couldnt do the whole hike as the higher we went up the mountain the more snow we found. We woke up to a snow blizzard and hiked back down the mountain pretty fast!
June 15 2007 - My nephew Talan Cole Freeman was born!
June 2008 - Went to Kelowna with Genitta, Tavis, Talan, and Tevin to visit Grandma Lil. It was the last visit we were able to have with Grandma Lil.
August 2008- Resigned my position at the Distress Centre. Took a new position with McMan Youth Family and Community Services as the Program Supervisor for the Wellington Place Program. A residential and community support program for homeless youth.
April-March 2008 - Went to Mexico with my mom to visit my godmother Bonnie at her new home in Peurto Vallarta. It was beautiful :)
January 2009 - My aunt Chantaal Shandler passed away after a long courageous battle with breast cancer. I lost a very important person in my life :(
February 2009 - Purchased my second home 3732 Cedarille Drive SW. Moved in and rented out 9810 to my brother Kent. Genitta also purchased a second home in Oakridge and began renovations!
Summer 2009 - Rough time at work. Spent lots of time at the Foothills Hospital with a suicidal youth in my program. At times thought I was going to lose my mind! My grandmother Lillian Leach passed away. A second HUGE loss for me in one year.
Recently: The doctor's suspect that my nephew Talan may be on the autism spectrum and he is going threw many assessments, tests, and diet changes. I am looking at new vehicles and trying to decide if I should purchase one in the new year. My position and program have been refunded for at least 12 more months!
And that's it folks... that is my decade in review!
<< Home