Me, now (Archive, 2019)

(See my current ‘Me, now’ page here.)

In reverse chronological order, here’s what I did in 2019:

• Heading to Pender Island to celebrate Christmas with family—and cooking Christmas dinner!
• Putting the final touches on my course outline for next semester.
• Working on my work residency.
• ~Flying out to British Columbia for the holidays.
• Enjoying the Luzia show by Cirque du Soleil.
• Checking out the Winter Harp holiday show.
• Taking a quick trip to Seattle to see family.
• Going to see the God is a Scottish Drag Queen holiday show.
• Celebrating Salgirah Khushiali with the family and community.
• Celebrating the birthday of the woman I love with a trip to Detroit.
• Going to see Mary Poppins at the Grand Theatre.
• Hosting and moderating a panel on what it means to work in the open and why that’s important.
• Attending the Minds of London-Middlesex convening.
• Seeing Dan Mangan in concert.
• Going to the IDCP Christmas party.
• Starting my new residency at work.
• Visiting some family in Essex County.
• Celebrating our fourth wedding anniversary with a weekend trip to Langdon Hall.
• Hosting the City Symposium at the Wolf Performance Hall.
• Putting winter tires on the cars.
• Taking a cooking class at Jill’s Table.
• Spending some days in Vancouver for our CKX Annual General Meeting and board retreat.
• Celebrating Halloween with friends.
• Catching up on all the work and emails and messages I’ve missed while away and disconnected in Portugal. (So many meetings coming up!)
• Going to the POZitivity: Slay Stigma Drag Tour with Trinity K Bonet.
• Preparing for, and having, an interview for a digital residency.
• Spending a few days in Lisbon before heading to the Douro Valley to visit quintas and drink good wine and just forget about the world for a few days.
• Celebrating my Dad’s 64th birthday.
• Helping launch a few new project teams at work.
• Going to see Othello at the Stratford Festival.
• Participating in the Place Matters Conferenceand enjoying the Urban League 50th Anniversary party.
• Launching the Teaching Public Service in the Digital Age project.
• Adding my voice to the quarterly OPS Inclusion Reference Group meeting.
• Facilitating a team retreat at work.
• Going to see Carly Rae Jepsen in concert at London Music Hall!
• Checking out the Esmaa Mohamoud exhibit at Museum London.
• Finally installing the new door for my office.
• Working on the plan for my new pivot in my role at work.
• Attending the quarterly CKX board meeting.
• Heading to Toronto to host and facilitate a team-building retreat.
• Taking a road trip through parts of the Midwest and culminating in a stay in Washington DC.
• Recommiting to my meditation and journaling practice as I work through my recent relapse of my anxiety disorder and depression.
• Making a concerted effort to sleep for a minimum of seven hours a night to see if it helps me feel better.
• Doing an inventory of my eating habits to see what small changes I can make to help me feel better.
• Heading home after a wonderful European escape.
• Going to Toronto for our annual Talent Team retreat at work.
• Heading up to Muskoka to spend the weekend at L’s family cottage.
• Road tripping through France and Switzerland, including champagne tastings in Reims and culminating in the Fête des Vignerons in Vevey.
• Having lunch at Pearl Morissette and then going to see Queen in concert.
• Jumping on the intermittent fasting craze and trying it out for a couple of weeks to see how it feels.
• Taking a quick trip to Niagara Wine Country.
• Going to see Billy Elliott at the Stratford Festival.
• Going to see a drag show featuring the Queen of the North herself, Brooke Lynn Hytes.
• Going to see Carly Rae Jepsen in concert in Detroit.
• Checking out The Taming of the Shrew at Bard on the Beach.
• Celebrating Canada Day with friends in BC.
• Spending a few days on Galiano Island, relaxing, hiking, and having dinner at Pilgrimme.
• Enjoying a family wedding on Pender Island.
• Getting a haircut, manicure, pedicure, and just cleaning myself up before our trip out west.
• Having my first private “learn how to ride a bike” class.
• Going to see the new Army of Sass show.
• Flying out to Vancouver for a ten-day escape to the Lower Mainland and the Gulf Islands.
• Hosting a session on ethics in digital government as part of the onboarding for the new cohort of Code for Canada fellows.
• Attending the True North conference.
• Throwing a party to celebrate the graduation of one of our closest friends from nursing school.
• Going to a bourbon tasting class at Jill’s Table.
• Having some friends from Toronto come visit us for a few days.
• Participating in a symposium of people who teach digital government courses in academic centers around the world at the Harvard Kennedy School.
• Traveling to Toronto for work meetings and “ODS in the Park” day.
• Going to Stratford to watch Little Shop of Horrors and have dinner at the Red Rabbit.
• Delivering a keynote address at the MISA Ontario conference.
• Checking out a few shows as part of the London Fringe Festival.
• Participating in a summit on teaching government in a digital era hosted by the University of Toronto.
• Going to a vegan Thai dinner party hosted by one of our favorite local chefs.
• Having my last appointment with my psychiatrist before he moves away to a different city.
• Checking out the Camp exhibit at the Met and the launch of the Whitney Biennial.
• Participating in the Curious Public Book Club to discuss the book Bullshit Jobs.
• Hosting the City Symposium on sustainable cities.
• Going to the Breakfast of Champions with Mark Lukach.
• Opening our pool for the season.
• Welcoming our new co-ops students at work.
• Picking up our new car.
• Enjoying the Mother‘s Day tea service at the Tea Lounge.
• Supporting A Taste for Life by having dinner with friends.
• Checking out the Impressionism exhibit at the AGO.
• Hosting this year’s GO-Open Data conference.
• Spending a few days in Toronto eating at new and delicious restaurants.
• Launching a big change management project at work.
• Going to a friend’s place whom we haven’t visited since they moved.
• Making a whole lot of strawberry jam.
• Participating in the CKX Questions dialogue on leading with love.
• Attending the Unity Project for Relief of Homelessness’ 9th annual UPwithART party and silent art auction.
• Attending the opening gala for Canadian Association of Nurses in HIV/AIDS Care‘s 27th Annual Conference.
• Donating blood plasma for the third time.
• Many dinners, many nights, with friends new and old.
• Grading! Going to spend a few weeks deep in grading the excellent work of all my students.
• Participating in the CKX Questions digital dialogue on building decolonial solidarity.
• Going to see Cabaret at the Grand Theatre.
• Guest lecturing a course at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
• Having meetings with my Diversity Career Champion and with the Chief Talent Officer to help me guide my next steps of my career.
• Heading to Toronto for work meetings and catching up with my team.
• Celebrating Easter weekend and our first-date-iversary by taking a trip to Niagara Wine Country and having meals at Pearl Morissette and The Inn on the Twenty.
• Getting a massage, checking in with my psychiatrist, and other important personal health stuff.
• Checking out the annual Clissold Lecture on journalism in an era of shrinking newsrooms.
• Going to an “Around the World Vegan” tea pairing dinner.
• Visiting the sugar bush to eat some pancakes and fresh maple syrup.
• Attending the opening of the Rotary Reading Garden at the public library.
• Continuing my Indigenous Cultural Competency Training at work.
• Spending a few days exploring and eating our way through Ottawa.
• Going to see August Wilson’s Fences at the Grand Theatre.
• Having my first appointment with my new therapist.
• Participating in my year-end performance conversation with my boss.
• Checking out a free jazz concert at the public library.
• Teaching my MPS class.
• Attending the MPS end-of-year gala.
• Donating blood plasma for the second time.
• Having a few delicious meals in Toronto.
• Celebrating Navroz.
• Hosting the first City Symposium.
• Heading to Toronto to facilitate a few workshops.
• Getting everything sorted out to send to my accountant for tax season.
• Heading to Essex County to have lunch at the Oxley, visit wineries, and spend some time with family.
• Checking in with my psychiatrist, getting a massage, starting a new meditation practice, and just doing more things to take care of myself because I’ve been struggling recently.
• Starting my Indigenous Cultural Competency Training at work.
• Having friends visit and stay with us for a few days.
• Donating blood plasma for the very first time.
• Eating at some fun restaurants on our short, four-day jaunt in Seattle.
• Participating in a workshop on Indigenous treaties in Canada.
• Attending an “Accessibility 101” workshop.
• Attending a book discussion on The Marrow Thieves at the public library.
• Checking in with my psychiatrist so I can make sure I start feeling better soon.
• Flying to Seattle for a short west coast escape.
• Welcoming my love back home from her vacation.
• Attending a workshop on building inclusive, anti-racist workplaces.
• Celebrating my 37th birthday.
• Going through the stack of papers I’ve left on my desk since early December.
• Re-organizing the kitchen pantry.
• Helping my love pack her bags for her upcoming two week vacation to Cyprus.
• Working on creating governance documents for our CKX board.
• Having a lovely weekend where family is coming to visit.
• Attending the Black History Month Opening Celebration.
• Heading to Toronto for our yearly Talent Team priority-setting retreat.
• Heading to Peggy Sattler’s annual new year’s levée.
• Going to the Glimmers of the Radiant Real opening reception at the McIntosh Gallery.
• Having friends from Toronto come and visit.
• Getting my first massage of the year.
• Checking out the Food & Wine Show.
• Sorting out my benefits and stuff like that.
• Teaching my first class as part of the MPS program at UWaterloo.
• Getting a manometry to help figure out why I’ve had swallowing issues for the past decade.
• Attending the “Beverages and Budgets” session to learn more about and discuss the new municipal budget.
• Going to an improv show and watching a couple of movies.
• Flying back home to start the new year with gusto and immense kindness.
• Fixing the punctured tire on my car. (Third one in six months!)
• Donating blood for the first time in 2019.