Holidailies 2014 Day 1 – Verbal Snapshots
2010 was the Year before Everything Changed. 2011 was the Year of Suck. 2012 was the Year of Transition, and 2013 was the Year of Awesome.
(Previous Introductions 2010, no 2011 because oh man, what a year that was, 2012 and 2013)
2014 has been the Year of Settling in, but also the Year of Really, Really Busy.
My name is still Amanda Page, despite being within cooee of being a divorcee, I’m keeping my last name. It’s who I’ve been since 1998, and it fits me well.
Chris, the chap I beamed and glowed about in December 2013, he’s still well and truly part of my picture. Come January 10th, we will have been together for 2 years. He’s a continuing part of my Australian story.
I still have my wee black 1998 Honda Civic. I take her to a sole owner mechanic about 15 minutes down the hill. Dino is his name, and he treats us both with respect.
I now have two jobs – Accounts Receivable for a detective, and mid-December 2013 I started work as a Finance Officer for a Community Organisation. My current career deviation is to finish the financial counselling diploma I started in August, and to start and complete a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment in Semester 1 in 2015. Along with trying to maintain some continuing Accounting studies. Busy brain, but loving the learning. Lifetime learner, that’s me.
A little heavier than I was last year – the study/work/social combo has left me not organising time to move, and that’s on my list of things to change. I have a gym membership, they have exercise bikes and treadmills and all classes are included. Not just about my size, although I really do like it when I can wear the smaller sizes. But my health, I am better when I’m carrying less, when there’s less stress on my joints and my back.
December the 1st is the first day of Summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Today was a little chilly – 25C aka 77F. Ah yes, I am completely assimilated back into the weather of my choice. When I lived in New Jersey (Jan 1998 – June 2012), 77F would have been a short-sleeves and shorts-with-sandals kinda weather. Back in Adelaide for just shy of 2.5 years, and today’s ensemble included a long-sleeved top, jeans, and my favourite scarf. It did warm up a little later in the day, but this was temperature appropriate wear for all but a bit of it.
I still have moments where I think of December as July weather. Because for fourteen Julys, that’s what Summer and hot weather meant, July and August, humidity and ceiling fans, corn and barbecues. December meant scarves and woollens, hot apple cider and snow. I have side-by-side snapshots in my head for every month of the year, because while I am (as a US friend put it) the Aussie Australian from Australia, 14 years in the US has left/gifted me with a strong sense of a second place that meant home.
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Just read a couple of your past December 1 entries, especially enjoyed where you talked about “journaling” (still feel weird calling this “blogging”) and the old friends from the early days. I don’t go back as far as you do, but about to celebrate 15 yrs of daily journaling, with very few misses — 5361 entries as of today. I really enjoy Holidailies both for seeing “old friends” and for meeting new ones. I remember going to Treasure Island with YOU, the day the baby exploded.
I still think of this as doing a journal entry even though it’s a blog post. Holding those two concepts together as one, and adjusting the terminology depending on who I’m talking to. Work; it’s a blog, friends; I’m an online journaller.
Alcatraz and the exploding baby! 🙂 That was Victor and I saw photos of him as a teen floating past on my Facebook just the other week. That is an impressive body of work with your entries, Bev. I’d love to have that record of all those days.
Hi from Holidalies!! The first car I bought for myself was a sky blue 98 Civic. It had a sun roof and was fun to drive. I live in the South, so it being 77 in December is normal for us too. We might have a cold spell for a day or two, but then it’s back to 80 and time to crank up the a/c and don shorts again.
Happy Holidailies. I’ve always said that my blog is an open journal, so Bev’s comment about your previous use of that word made me grin.
I’ve been reading you during Holidailies for years, of course, though I’m not sure I commented much, or ever. Glad you’re well. Glad you’re in the climate of your choice – I’m in Texas and almost (almost) miss the New Jersey winters of my childhood.
Glad to be reading you again this December.