Sunday, January 3, 2010

Decade in review

I'm catching up on various blogs today, and I saw this idea on Lynn's blog. Instead of a year-in-review, here's a review of what I've been up to for the last decade. I'm sure I've missed things, so if you remember things I don't, feel free to remind me.

2000 - Bought a house. Went to PEI for a week. Went to Winnipeg. Went camping in Manitoba and hurt my arm crossing a waterfall, then fell in the lake. Took a pottery class. Continued ballroom dancing classes. Took Irish Dancing. Bought a new car.

2001 - Tech meltdown started. Watched as friends and colleagues got laid off. Had the shingles replaced on the house & the chimney repaired. Went to Niagara Falls and Toronto.

2002 - Not a good year. Another year of layoffs. Went on a canoe trip in Algonquin park. Went to Niagara Falls once and Toronto twice. Had to pull a bird's nest out of the bathroom fan vent. Went to Cornwall a couple of times. Went to New York City twice. Went to Philadelphia, Hershey, and Gettysburg. Went to Sask. for a week. Finally decided to stop traveling for a while. Turned 30. Quit Irish Dancing. Painted the downstairs bathroom.

2003 - More layoffs. Still not me. Was a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding. Took a week off to paint the siding on the house. Finished Thursday morning. Thursday afternoon the power went out throughout much of Ontario and the Eastern U.S. Spent the next week on a forced vacation. Bought a computer & had internet at home for the first time. Went to Sask. for the Labour Day weekend. Tried archery, yoga, and belly dancing. Played laser tag for the first time.

2004 - Went to Sask. & was in the delivery room when my niece was born. Started a new job in customer support. Went to Brandon for my aunt & uncle's 50th anniversary. My niece, mom, and two sisters came to visit. Did a bus tour of England, Ireland, and Scotland.

2005 - Lived through a kitchen renovation. It was painful, but the result was wonderful. Painted the living room. My parents came to visit, as did two sisters. My mom came back in the summer and brought my niece with her. I did a Mediterranean cruise to Italy, Spain, Tunisia, and Malta, followed by a week in Italy. My bag (with my camera in it) was stolen in Pompeii. Replaced the shingles on the roof of my porch, which reminded me that I don't like heights. Went back to Sask. for my dad's 70th birthday. Quit being a leader with Girl Guides.

2006 - Went to San Francisco, Sequoia National Park, and San Jose. Spent a weekend in Syracuse & Albany. Started strength training and boxing. Had the bathroom renovated. Spent the year very unhappy at work. Started Irish Dancing again. Went to Sask. for a family reunion. Helped my sister paint her living room.

2007 - Got laid off from the rapidly shrinking telecom company and spent 7 months job hunting. Joined a new gym. Went to Sask. for Easter. Went to Toronto & Niagara Falls. Started a new job doing software development with a small aviation company. Moved to level 2 boxing. Three sisters came to visit (not all at once). Did an aerial trek and realized how weak my muscles still are. Got a new furnace.

2008 - Did at least one new thing every day and started a blog to record them. Went to Botswana twice for work. Spent a day in Munich on the way. Spent a weekend at a game reserve in South Africa. Went to Boston, Sask. and Edmonton. My niece and sister came to visit. My youngest sister moved in with me and took over the basement. Started as a leader with Sparks. Quit Irish Dancing again.

2009 - Started level 3 boxing and learned to hit the reflex bag. Tried fencing. Went on a Mediterranean cruise to Italy, Egypt, Turkey, and Greece. My mom and niece came to visit. Went on the Wakefield Steam Train. Went to Quebec City. Discovered the basement leaked at the windows and got the window wells re-done to fix the problem. Got laid off from small aviation company. Discovered that there is a lump on my thyroid. Went to many medical appointments. Did 92 days of a 100 day anti-procrastination project. Met my niece's puppy.

3 comments:

  1. Oooh, I had totally forgotten about the big blackout of 2003! I'll have to go back and edit. Sounds like a great decade...despite the job issues.

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  2. You've got a fantastic memory! There is no way I could compile a list like this. I mean, I remember things, but just not when they happened.

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  3. The blackout of 2003 was very frustrating for me because I was 4 weeks behind on my project at work and had to sit around for 4 days unable to work on it. And ... a few months later I bought a computer. (Before that, I figured I didn't need one since I was online all day at work. Now I can't imagine what I did with my time.) The job issues were really inconveniences - both times I was ready to leave. Being laid off is more fun when you have a cushy severance package, though.

    Sydney, a lot of `things came from Christmas letters. The parts I remembered largely related to travel. And I spent much of yesterday afternoon figuring it out.

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