A Christmas state of mind

A former colleague called me just before Christmas to tell me she passed the CPA exams and asked me to present her at the convocation in February.  I was so pleased to hear she'd finished the CPA journey - she is a remarkable person who always carried a very calm and empathetic energy with her. Not your average (I can say this as I am one) type A accountant.  We spoke about each of our Christmas plans, and she shared that she loves the week between Christmas and New Years' Eve, for the opportunity to reflect on the year, what she learned, and how she can be a better person in the new year.  I love that - what an excellent angle to look at this week from.  It gave me some energy to get this post up before the apple drops on Saturday.

As usual, life has been full since the last post.  The fullness - both good and bad - at times overwhelmed me, knocking me over even, requiring the use of a few strategies to get back up and keep walking forward.  I know everyone can relate.  I'm sure if we all shared our strategies we'd have common methods.

My health thankfully continues to be less dramatic than in the past :) Quarterly bloodwork has shown no signs of the leukemia returning, and just this month my breast surgeon confirmed no issues on that front. I continue to manage my chronic and "leftover" issues to a decent level through various medications and methods.  One of the drugs I likely have to take indefinitely has suffocated my hair's ability to grow - or perhaps it's the accumulation of so many hits of hard chemo that the hair follicles are just sick of trying.  In any case, I got some new hair to shake things up.  Everyone knows how good that feels!

Work continues to be interesting with a couple different roles - one where I support PwC firms in our global network implement data auditing technology.  Most are in the South/Middle America area so have been continuing my daily Spanish lessons and enjoying it.  The other is focused on process improvement methodology in our audit practice which I also find interesting and challenging.  That has taken me to Toronto a few times this Fall - one trip was timed perfectly to meet up with Kelsey, someone who became a good friend 10 years ago in Austin, TX as she and others cycled from Calgary to Texas to raise funds and awareness for Cancer and flew survivors down for the final weekend.  She recently returned to Toronto from about 6 years in South Africa and it was her birthday - her boyfriend had arranged a whisky tasting (!) at which I was surprised to enjoy the whisky as well as a rare chance to celebrate with her.

CIFF opening night

I continue to volunteer on the Strategic Clinical Network core committee but wrapped up my work on the Provincial Advisory Council - Cancer in September after 4 years.  I truly loved that work, but in an effort to balance my cancer efforts, I joined the audit committee of the Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) and enjoyed screening over 30 films in late September.

Light the Night - with my
 long-time trotters Alex and Morgan

Amazing Dr. Boulad

Mom, Colleen and I and
our Chrysler building

In October we had a great team of trotters for Light the Night - including Tasha's family (including dog Ivy!), mine (including Lucy!) and some friends who have ventured out nearly every year.  Right after that I spent a few days in NYC with mom and Colleen, celebrating with other bone marrow transplant survivors and my docs at Sloan Kettering.  Always an energy booster for me, we connected with some friends and even family.  I will always love NY.

My blogging has been sparse this year, partly because life evaporates so quickly with all the action, but partly because when I have a "chunk" of time to blog, I've been painting and writing more.  I finished a large painting earlier in the year for a colleague at work who "purchased" my services for a painting for his wife last year at our PwC United Way auction, and have been creating several visuals and writings that reflect some of what I've learned about life over the past nearly 20 years.  A reflection.  I'm hoping to create a small collection to share by about a year and a half from now.  Stay tuned.

We celebrated Christmas this year on Christmas Eve with Brandon, Jacquie and the boys - and then I had Jack and Davis overnight at my place Boxing Day for a night of Skipbo, making sugar cookies (from scratch through to rolling and icing - hard work!) and watching movies.  Another friend recently described Christmas as a state of mind, not a day.  To celebrate life with friends, family, to visit, to share stories, food and to be thankful for everything that we have.  The simpler it is the better it gets.  I like that idea. I am also very fortunate to be escaping the cold weather we are about to experience in Calgary again, as Tuesday I head to Maui once again with mom, dad and for the first week of our trip Davis! Jack has a hockey tournament he doesn't want to miss, so I'm going to do my best to party like a 10-year old in his place.

Happy New Year everyone - may the Christmas state of mind be with you for all of 2017.  Cheers.