New Year's Post 2014

The fine team at Expedia CruiseShipCenters Victoria...
check me out in the back row:)

It occurs to me that I had a fair amount going on in 2013. Let's see...

• Became a travel agent
• Got my BC Travel Insurance license
• Had cataract surgery
• Had dental surgery
• Got my first Lazy-Boy chair (aka Lazy-Girl)
• ok, that's it.

Ha ha, there's more, I'm sure, but those are the biggies that jump to mind (I'm still doing my IHateTaxis gig too).

Hanging out with the sweetest kittie cat of all, the handsome Maui (aka Meowy). And learned what it means to fall in love with a cat. Really. Little guy got me through some really hard stuff the last couple of years... And he does seem to have taken to me as his Mama. Ah, the irony.

With that, I reposition myself in my Lazy-Girl to give him my lap, while still balancing my laptop... it must be love.

Long time readers of my blog will be wondering how my mom is. My sweet mom is doing just fine. We are so fortunate that to have her in a wonderful care facility. They have a very good music program... and music just brings her to life (all the musicians love her). Her mobility had declined to the point where she is in wheelchair all the time (though they do walk with her a couple of times a week, a 2 person job). The great thing is that, like all residents, she can reach the floor with her feet and can move around at will, propelling her wheelchair by foot.

Summertime on the deck... mom loves the sun!

It's like she has a new independence to move about as she wishes -- and in summer that included the deck, a lot. Mom's dementia has worsened, but she is in a happy place. She knows who we are, mostly, and is happy.

G'ma with her granddaughter Branwen last week

Ok, what else shall I include in my snapshot of my life this past year, for myself...

• I dog sat sweet Lucy the dog again, just for a week or two. This time it was an "emergency": her human had to fire the existing dog-sitter from Hawaii, and I swooped in to save the day. Ha. But it was almost that dramatic. But I was happy to help... oh, how I love that dog... she is so sweet, and so soft... and so high maintenance :)
• Saw Joe Walsh!!! Oh, yes, and Bob Seger too.
• Spent 6 of the past 9 months taking the bus into Victoria several times a week (I wimped out, and am driving now)
• Saw the ancient map exhibit at the Royal BC Museum - it was fab
• Also joined the museum, but haven't been back (boo)
• Saw an exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery... the Grand Hotel?
• Also resurrected my VAG membership, but haven't been back (yet.)
• I discovered that there is an alcoholic version of Sugar-Free Rockstar, quite by accident (then I drove, unknowingly - see story)
• Finally weaned myself off energy drinks
• Had loads of dental work to repair the results of those *#)&% energy drinks
• Learned again how much it sucks to not have a dental plan
• Attended a super cool block party on our little street here in Sidney
• Bought an elliptical trainer from a neighbor who was moving... and have made many interesting sculptures throwing clothes on it
• Had the excitement of the racoons that live in our tree relocate their 3 wee kits to live under our house for a few months (lots of kittie indoors!)
• Discovered that otters really do make their way up under houses here... oh, what a racket when they were trying to eat their way through the floor! Lots of stomping and keeping CBC radio on all night at full blast (they apparently don't like people). They are protected, so they are safe, but not so fond of these particular antics.

Enough babbles for now. I am sure a philosophical blog post will be coming, at some point... but, for now, must put the bubbly on ice and celebrate here with my sissy.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

New Year Reflections

Reflecting tonight on a few of the more memorable New Year's Eves in my life, not all good - in fact it was the memory of one particularly bad NYE that got me reflecting back - but it's all in the fabric of my life...

OK, out with it... let's start with the grim one. I was young. From my vantage point now I'd say veerrry young. That would be about 20 or 21. I had a boyfriend of a couple years that I was in the process of breaking up with. Correction: he was in the process of breaking up with me. We were living together, and the decision had been made a week or so before NYE, but I hadn't moved out yet. And we were "friends". Or so we thought. He was always a very kind soul but I guess so wrapped up in his own stuff about the breakup (or 'her' - the girl he had fallen in love with, that was at the root of me being asked to move out), that his thoughtlessness that night took me by surprise. He had made the arrangements for the night, so I put no attention to the evening, until we were ready to leave the house - and he grabbed a bottle of rum and said "this is what I am taking to drink tonight. What are you taking?" Of course, I didn't know that I should need to be thinking ahead on that count. And that was back in the days when you couldn't just go pick something up without planning ahead (liquor stores closed early on such nights, and were so busy you actully had to line up outside for hours [!]), so essentially I was left with nothing, aside of whatever I might be able to find in the cupboard. It was just so thoughtless, and it was a bad omen for the evening ahead. I had already said that I didn't want to go out for New Year's, considering the situation, but he said he still wanted to take me out (I guess he felt guilty about breaking up with me? and his new gf had plans?), so I acquiesed (sp?). My memories are actually very vague about it now, but I remember it being a night from hell. Being at some party and him kind of leaving me all alone for long stretches, ignorning me (or so it felt), and me just feeling totally awkward and uncomfortable. I just wanted it to be over. But it was something to just endure. And, there was no easy way to leave and get home. So it did need to be endured. And I was Miserable. I was broken hearted, felt unloved, definitely felt jilted, and the whole situation was just laid out in front of me: everything had come to this. And it sucked. I never was much of a drama queen, but that night probably did bring out the bits I did have: I was probably pouting and putting off some pretty 'woe is me' vibes. I am slightly amused now to think of it, but feel a bit sad for the younger me. And am also curious as to what he remembers from that night.

The "good" thing from that night was that I declared I hated New Year's parties, avoided them, and started creating new rituals for myself. Not that declaring all NYE parties bad was a good thing, but the movement to new rituals was a positive evolution for me. I must say I am still not all that fond of NYE parties, but they don't fill me with dread anymore.

Now, what other memories do I have?

I remember the year my sister Carol came and stayed with me in Victoria one New Year's. I was living in a lovely little attic apartment in a renovated heritage house, with a wood stove, skylights and a wee balcony with an ocean view. It had all these multilayered floors, and I had candles scattered about. We stayed in. I don't think she'd ever done that before! lol. It was quiet, but we had little rituals at midnight, wrote lists and resolutions, burned them, saved the ashes - and ate little treats. All stuff I had done alone for years since the NYE from Hell, and was sharing for the first time. Seemed very grand to be sharing it with someone else - and shockingly quiet for her (she kept talking like it was a novelty, I don't think she'd ever not partied).

Also in the low points category was the New Year's Day -- so not the night, but the day after -- where I had memories of some very painful stuff from my childhood come back to me for the first time. I was so shocked and confused. I remember the day because I went out walking in the morning, and there wasn't a soul around. So began a whole new chapter of my life that I have done a lot of work around, but have not written publicly about. But I do associate it with NYE.

In the bittersweet arena, there was the year Carol was in palliative care at St Paul's Hospital, and my sister Patti and I smuggled in champagne and snacks. We took over a wee room used for families and the chaplain - the irony wasn't lost on us - and chatted away the night like girlfriends. No, like sisters, sharing a 'normal' New Year's Evening. It was special. It makes my heart catch, as it must have been her last one....

Had a few memorable New Year's with a close close friend, her sister and brother-in-law. We'd gather at her place, and eat and drink and laugh and argue. I am not an arguer, but there were plenty of amusing moments with one of the trio of people I was drinking with wouldn't stop talking long enough to hear another persective so the only way to get a word in edgewise was to argue one's point. Probably doesn't sound amusing to read, but it is amusing to reflect back on. We also had a lot of fun. It was a ritual that got set aside when one of us diverted to a relationship, but still have surprisingly fond memories.

A definite highlight was 2 years ago in Athens, Greece which I wrote about here. Fantabulous!!!!

If you read that, you'll know why I was out trying to find a pomegrante (sp?) today....

Well, it's about time to clang pots and pans here...mom is up, watching Dick Clark (still alive!)... so will wrap this up. I am sure I have a few more memories that will come to me, and may add to this later.

But for now, let me say:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Happy New Year from Athens!

It is already 2010 here in Greece, and I'm lovin' it!

This is me back in 2009, on Areopagus Rock on Mars Hill, next to the Acropolis....
OK, the rest of the pics in this post are from New Year's Eve.... This is the view from my flat at the stroke of midnight.... my sofa, my candles, my Acropolis... You can barely see it, but there is a pomegranate on the windowsill. If I was a true Greek I would smash it on my doorstep for good luck. Me, I'm not so keen on the clean up job... :-)

Nearby fireworks....

Lousy pic of fireworks, cool pic of coloured lights in the fireworks....

Ah, groovy....

My view earlier in the evening at dinner: me and my baked lamb, yum...

My dining companion (my sister is somewhere over the Atlantic as I write this, on her way home...)... even the cats miss her here....

Seriously, these were people walking little horses the size of donkeys past the restaurant.

A little doodle I made at dinner. Over her head it says Happy New Year in Greek:

The necklace I am wearning this evening. it symbolizes the 12 months of the year, with an apple for each month for good luck. The Greeks are head over heels in love with New Years', and everyone buys little trinkets.

I will have visited 2 countries by the time the year is a day old here. I am off to Barcelona later today, but have a connection in Milan... heh.

A new year, a new blog.

Happy New Year 2007!

I hereby officially retire my old blog, which was mostly focused on business. The stuff I was tracking and commenting on just doesn't jazz me anymore to the point where I feel compelled to blog them (though I still have interest in the subjects).

My new blog, well, it will be something more focused on me and who I am and what interests me and what I think -- and not caring what anyone else thinks about that. More of a personal journal.

What I've come to recognize is how much my inner self has changed these last few years. I lost my sister a little over 2 years ago, and her final 18 months were pretty painful, so I find that who I was 4 years ago is a lifetime different than who I am today. What mattered to me then means little to me now. I haven't really figured out what matters to me now, but I feel like I am continuing to shed my old skin. Eventually, the new one will emerge.

I have always liked new years, because they represent new beginnings. There is something symbolic in a new calendar year that always resonates with me.

For the couple of months I have been thinking about what the next year means to me. It's not clear, but it's coming into focus.

This year is about health.

This year is about travel. Not so much doing, but laying foundations for travel in 2008. I have begun planning a trip to Europe, maybe a month, maybe two. But where do I want to go, what do I want to see, what type of experience do I want? These are the questions I've begun to explore and will shape my inner world in 2007.

The first focus - health - is deeply connected to the second focus - travel. I've pushed my luck on my health and it's time to get real with myself -- and I'm not going to be able to travel well, or freely, if I don't have my health. It's all interconnected.