Another decade down

I know that purists will say that the decade isn’t over until the end of 2010 but it’s my blog and I say now’s the right time for a review of the first decade of the 21st century.

Here are some of the highlights according to Louise.

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2000: I started the year in between jobs but with definite prospects so no real concerns. I had a 7 year old son, no man (some things never change) and I had my eye on a house that I coveted for my very first ownership experience.  At one stage that year Rory got airlifted off his dad’s yacht after getting hit in the head by the boom – scary stuff, he didn’t know anyone for hours afterwards. The year ended with me and Rory settled into the new house, a promotion at work, a boyfriend of sorts and a brand new nephew. A perplexing choice (in my opinion) was made made by the American electorate but it was a very good year all in all.

2001: My best friend moved to Australia and the boyfriend became an ex. Horrible happenings in the US. The only bright side was that a lovely puppy, later named Bonnie, was born and adopted by yours truly. I quit smoking that year and lasted 8 months before falling off the wagon. Rory racked up over 40,000 kilometres in flights between Auckland and his dad’s place in Perth, Western Australia. I went nowhere.

2002: Met another cheating jerk. Swore off men forever.

2003: Menopause. At 37 years old. Rory turned 10 and to celebrate his dad took him to Africa to explore for 3 months. I cried myself to sleep every night from missing him though the grief did great things for my career as I worked 15 hours a day and earned another promotion. The US declared war on Iraq – I remember something about WMD? My older sister was very ill but thankfully recovered fully. I got away briefly at the end of the year to spend time (and money) with my friend in Victoria, Australia.

2004: Got to Thailand again this year – one of my very fave places to escape the kiwi winter. Also got in another visit to Victoria. Another nephew born – that made four but still no nieces. Everything else was bad that year - horrible happenings, this time in Spain and atrocities continued in Darfur. And then that catastrophic tsunami on Boxing Day to finish the year.

2005: Finally quit chewing my nails to mark my 40th birthday. Katrina struck. It was 10 years since we lost my sister so we had a party to remember her by. Rory spent Christmas snowboarding in Japan with his dad – it was my first Christmas without him and it was hard.

2006: Rory started high school. Saddam Hussein was hanged and Steve Irwin got stabbed by a stingray. Crikey.

2007: Sinn Fein and the DUP hammered out an agreement for a power-sharing government in northern Ireland. Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. Rory’s dad moved back to NZ and for the first time ever we did the every second weekend part time dad thing – I started to remember what a real social life was like. I drank too much.

2008: Quit smoking again (18 months now and still going strong). Got addicted to Facebook. The Kiwis won the Rugby League World Cup and the hottest tennis player ever, Rafael Nadal, is ranked #1. Somali entrepreneurs found their niche in the piracy business. I met a man with real potential until the day he slammed Rory against a wall for looking at him sideways. Got a couple of long weekends away in Australia. Started new role managing projects at work and commuting to Wellington city twice a week.  Rory had a tumour removed from inside his jaw – it was benign. I spent most of the year exhausted. Bought new house and moved in just before Christmas. Whew, what  a year!

2009: Started the year with a new pastime – blogging. Met lots of wonderful new friends. There were terrible bushfires in Victoria so I went to console my friend. Witnessed a terrible car accident. Started reading about Tao Buddhism. Centre-right government elected in NZ for the first time in many years. I bought a lovely new car. A never ending cycle of study. Rory turned 16 and attended his first school ball, my mum and dad both turned 70, dad retired finally and my youngest nephew started school – still no nieces, have given up on that ever happening now. 

 

 

 

 

 

…and here we are nearly at the very end of 2009. That was my decade in brief; how about sharing yours?

 

 

Happy Christmas everyone.

Grinch

I just can’t seem to summon any enthusiasm at all about Christmas this year. It’s the 12th today and not one decoration is up; no tree, no window dressings, no wreath on the door. Thankfully I have at least done my Christmas shopping.

My health problems are getting me down and to add to the general misery work is so freakin’ busy and I now need to be away on Monday and Tuesday  again but I have this huge presentation to deliver on Thursday as part of my study and I haven’t even finished it yet – eeeeeeeeeeeek!!

I’m barely keeping panic at bay.

I wasted a whole day off work yesterday when I should have been working on my presentation. We had our Christmas work function on Thursday night and I drank far too many margaritas and consequently had a very sore head. I didn’t do anything except sleep and feel sorry for myself all day yesterday. The work do was great though; dinner and drag cabaret – heaps of fun.

It’s my sister-in-laws 40th birthday party tonight but there’ll be no drinking for me so I’m dedicating Sunday (tomorrow) to be a study day. A good productive day should help me feel a bit more in control.

Sorry for being a whiney Grinch.

Does it matter?

More and more bullshit news every day about the questionable climate change science is getting to me. As Moko said from his virtual sandbox the other day;

“These clowns can't see the ocean for the waves.”

Are we polluting our planet? Is this a good thing? What are the chances we can go on doing this forever? Are we creating a healthier environment for our grandchildren and their grandchildren?

I don’t give a shit that some say the science looks dodgy, all I know is that you don’t wait until you figure out how the fire started before you put it out.

 

 

Wake up world.

Our livelihood right now is far less important than the next generations being able to breathe and drink fresh clean water.

It’s irresponsible that we’re not doing something significant to limit our impact on this planet – whether the science shows it yet or not. 

Onwards and upwards

I’ve been feeling really ‘bleh’ the last few months.

It wasn’t anything I could put my finger on; just fatigued, feeling a bit blue as well as inexplicably piling on weight. Actually it some ways it was rather reminiscent of the Glandular Fever I got as a teenager. My doctor just kept saying it was about working full time in a stressful role, being a single mother and running a household alongside juggling my study towards a Diploma in Business, but as of yesterday I have a concrete answer.

It’s kind of weird but it’s a huge relief to finally understand that my thyroid gland has stopped functioning well (aka Hypothyroidism). Apparently it’s a reasonably common condition (up to 3% of the population is affected) but it is often overlooked.

Today I have started taking replacement thyroxine, probably for the rest of my life,  but I am feeling very hopeful of a huge change in my outlook.