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.