It may not be personally annotated but I did put some effort in with the hyper-links!
Wednesday, January 1st
We woke late and had a very relaxed day to start the year. I was in a habit at that point of spending 20-30 minutes a day on Duolingo, which I really enjoyed and was well into four months of daily success until I hit a wall with an advanced pronoun module. Back then I was flying through the lessons and leaping forward in confidence on a daily basis. We had a family game night with a feisty game of Settlers of Catan- not a game I win at. With Morag set to take off travelling and Matt about to return to Waterloo for school, it was a great way to spend a night.
Saturday, February 1st
This was definitely a day without much ambition. I played basketball in the morning, took a recently released inmate out for lunch and then came home. As I get older, the more I come to believe that nothing is simple and have found great freedom in accepting that most of the world is beyond my comprehension let alone apprehension. We ate dinner and spent the evening at home. Morag had just left on her ten month trip to Europe and Matt had just gone back to Waterloo after a nice long month over Christmas. That and the winter blues settling in left us a little bereft.
Saturday, March 1st
I continue to play basketball in the winter and Ultimate Disc the rest of the year. Saturday mornings I am in the gym with a great collection of fat old slow clumsy awkward guys supplemented by a few folks that are not embarrassed to be seen with us. In the afternoon I futzed around my office while listening to the Winnipeg Jets beat the Nashville Predators on the radio. We gave up our cable this year- no loss, except for the bill. I ran a few errands before our dear friends Andy, Anita and Maeve came over for dinner.
Tuesday, April 1st
For our winter vacation, Alex and I went to Washington DC for three weeks. We pretended like we lived there, renting an apartment and settling into a routine of a slow relaxed morning, a visit to a museum or two in the afternoon, a nice dinner and some sort of cultural event in the evening. We also had a friend who came to visit and some friends’ friends we were able to enjoy meaning we had an active social life making it all the more like we were pretending we lived there. Our schedule was full but never rushed - at least by my standards. Some of the more interesting and obscure things we took in were the Grande Fête de la Francophonie at the French Embassy and Shamrock Fest held on the parking lot of the stadium where my favourite baseball team played back in the 1960s. But, a true favourite moment was the April Fool’s Day Colloquium on Stuff held by the Smithsonian. It was not open to the public but some of our new found friends suggested it and it was brilliant. We spent the day wandering the National Mall seeing a number of sights and ended up with a tour of the Holocaust Museum. Alex has just finished fourteen months of writing for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights so the entire trip and the Holocaust Museum in particular were of great interest to her. This was certainly a full day as we met up with my friend Marty from New York and had a lovely leisurely Italian dinner before heading home.
Thursday, May 1st
My work year was marked by a restructuring that came as a result of government cutbacks of restorative justice programs. A friend and trusted colleague was laid off and I was given her responsibilities. This was early on and I was getting some of the preparation for my new responsibilities. It wasn’t until several months later that my mind caught up with stomach in realizing that these two jobs did not conflate into one. I ended up having to say that I was not able to do the two jobs and thankfully did not get the answer that “we will find someone who will.” There remains ongoing financial insecurity that undermines what is otherwise a dream job for me. I am also bothered by the “get tough on crime” rhetoric and fear mongering that prevents us from using effective crime prevention strategies. I guess a Christmas letter is not the place to rant about the current government’s war on science in Canada other than to say that phrase produces over sixteen million hits on a Google search. My diary says I ran five miles in 57 minutes - I guess I had some energy to burn off.
Sunday, June 1st
I was in Vancouver for a wedding of a friend from Hazelton. It was a great visit with some good friends. I had Sunday to myself. I had a slow and easy morning and met up with a Quaker friend for brunch and worship with friends and family. Then she took me to a cohousing community to see. Alex and I are finding our six bedroom house a little big with “the kiddies” gone so we are either going to downsize or re-imagine the way we could use our home.
Tuesday, July 1st
My friend Donna and I refer to July as “our month.. Between the folk festival, the fringe festival and the good weather there is lots to do and we make a point of seeing each other more than we usually do. It being a holiday, I went over and had breakfast with her and her partner and we reviewed the Fringe Theatre Festival program to plan our attack. We succeeded in choosing awesome plays and had a great time based on these plans. Alex met up with me there and we went walking to a street festival not far away. At night we met up with a number of friends at an Indian restaurant. Thrown for a loop that their buffet was not on due to the holiday I had the rare experience of going out for Indian Food, really enjoying it and not eating too much.
Friday, August 1st
Often I had completed my week’s work hours by Friday so I often tried to work less. (In October I went to 80% time and now try even harder to ensure Fridays are free.) This is one of the days I made a few phone calls and sent a few emails and got out of the office before noon. I met up with my friend Tym, who I had worked with at the Remand Centre for a visit. He too has moved on so it is not quite living out the lyrics of one my favourite songs but in the realm of it. A great ‘tradition” had been to go out to Winnipeg Beach and stay at the cottage of friends for one weekend each summer. They are delightful hosts and we enjoy trying to enter into the spirit of their cottage lifestyle which is based on playing games, including but not limited to Chutzpah, going for walks and eating very well.
Monday, September 1st
I try to honour Labour Day each year and did get to the Labour Day march this year. Alex walked with her union and I walked with the “dignitaries.” In fact, we arrived just as the march was starting and I saw a friend who is a school board trustee and walked with her. Alex thought I was serious when I said I belonged with the “dignitaries” and found her home with her brothers and sisters. There were free drinks and hot dogs and a chance to schmooze with a number of our friends afterwards. It threatened rain but turned out to be a great day. Alex likes to go for walks and I like to go for runs so we found a compromise and go for bike rides. We rode out to Assiniboine Park which houses one my most favourite places on the planet! Alex thought it was her longest bike ride since before she met me.
Wednesday, October 1st
I visited “the boys” in jail in the morning and did an intake with a new volunteer the afternoon. She had grown up in a revolution in South America and had experienced lawlessness in that context and therefore comes into the work less naïve than many others. I continue to practice yoga when I can make it work and my class this night all was preparation for my favourite pose. Fifteen seconds can be a life changer. It was as good as ever.
Saturday, November 1st
I actually wrote this entry on November first. I spent the morning playing basketball. It was my first time out in the fall. It was a lovely, sunny (albeit a little cool) afternoon so I thought of going to see the Manitoba Bisons play football. The son of a friend of ours is their starting running back. I got the start time wrong so I settled for listening to the game on the radio while typing this letter. Alex continues her passionate relationship with the ukulele. She was off at “strum and suds” – a gathering which just got too big so she stopped being a regular. In the evening we were happy to accept an invite at a friend’s house for dinner while Morag had a giant birthday bash at our house. She had turned 20 the week before but had dental surgery so she wisely delayed things by a week. At night our friends Gwen and Bev had us over for a wonderful feast and delightful visit. ‘Twas a good day!
Monday, December 1st
Got up super early; worked hard all day writing Christmas cards; posted them! Or, in an alternative universe, sent emails and Facebook messages with Seasonally appropriate greetings.