Another random thought from my random brain...

Newsletter #11 :: 2009 Redux

2010-01-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Alas, "monthly" has apparently degenerated into "annual" - but I'm sure nobody will mind; it's less to read, really! :D

January - Aside from the stupidity of the City of Calgary, not much really happened this month. Just to be clear, I like calm times. Calm = predictable, and predictable keeps me from having anxiety attacks. I dislike having anxiety attacks. I'm rather glad that I only had one this year (and it was in March). Roy got spayed and survived the shaving of her belly, and I retrieved my flash drive from my friend, happy to have nearly all of my files back (see December 2008 for details on that).

February - Mostly calm around the home front. At work, we started getting sorted out for the Spring Conference, which is held in April every year. This year it was in Kananaskis. And then Juniper got a job, and life got crazy. Juniper is now working for Vecima Networks, in software development. He applied for a job in hardware design (his degree) but the software people got to him first! Taking the job required relocating to Saskatoon, so that's where we are now living.

March - Juniper had to start work in Saskatoon at the end of February, so I was left to pack up the house by myself (hence the anxiety attack I mentioned earlier). Not fun! My mother came out and helped a bit at one point, and my family also helped here and there. I am eternally grateful for their assistance, especially to my Calgarian brothers, who kindly helped Juniper load up the U-Haul on moving day... twice. We left over half our things in a storage unit in Calgary, packed the guinea pigs into the back seat of my car and the cat into a carry case in the passenger seat of my car, and headed off to Saskatchewan! Roy meowed most of the way.

April - We have a nice house in Saskatoon! It's a decent size. Two bedrooms, living room, dining room, kitchen, bathroom. It's the main floor of a house; we share the laundry with the woman who rents the basement suite. One of the bedrooms is our shared office. The cat took a while to get things figured out, but quickly adapted to hopping out the window to explore the outdoors. In addition to all of this, I won Script Frenzy for the first time! Yes, that's right, people, I wrote 100 pages of the script for a graphic novel in the month of April. It needs some editing and I need an artist, but the story is decent, if I may say so myself. ;)

May - We found a church! We attend All Saints Anglican church, which is a Prayer Book Society church. I have volunteered to do the leaflets each week, so the priest, Dan Hughes, e-mails me the details on Thursday and I put things together and e-mail the finished document back to him on Friday. It doesn't take too long, and as this was a large part of my job when I was working for Christ Church in Calgary, it's not too difficult, either. Juniper volunteered to design a web site for the church, as we only found All Saints by chance. A web site would have made it much easier to locate them when we were conducting our search!

June - Well, June was largely uneventful, so I'll take this opportunity to explain what the heck I'm doing now that we're settled in Saskatoon. When I gave notice to my manager at ACDS, she decided that she didn't want to have to lose my editing skills completely, so she decided to keep me as a contractor. I edit the survey reports, which are e-mailed to me by the Coordinator, and occasionally I complete other work as I am asked to by my Manager or other staff at ACDS. I have also started a (very) small business, doing writing, editing, and desktop publishing from home. And, of course, I try to keep the house clean, I cook good food, and I look after the animals.

July - I believe it was July when I took up knitting. My maternal grandmother taught me how to do a basic knit cast on and garter stitch when I was a child, but she never taught me to cast off, and I hadn't even looked at a knitting needle in years. But necessity is the mother of invention (or something), and I needed something to do with my hands while watching TV, because I was picking at the skin on the bottoms of my feet. I decided on knitting because it's something I can often do without looking, unlike cross stitching, and it really does keep my hands busy enough that I don't put holes in my feet anymore!

August - I think it was August when I agreed to be Municipal Liaison (ML) for Saskatoon for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November. Saskatoon needed a new ML this year, and I obviously have plenty of experience! My friends Nikki and Josie took over in Calgary, and from what I could tell they did a splendid job with events and whatnot, so hooray! My job as ML includes PR (difficult to get press, but we'll get there eventually), events, and various other fun things.

September - Juniper got a week off work, so we headed to Calgary for a bit of a holiday. We stayed with his dad and celebrated Juniper's 31 birthday while we were there. Also in September, I turned 33! Where has the time gone?!?

October - I published the first issue of AutistiConnections, a bit of an e-zine I'm trying to get off the ground. The next issue was supposed to come out on January 1, but since I need more content I'm going to push it to April instead. Oh, also, October 15, 2009 marked two years since Juniper and I met!

November - NaNoWriMo! Being ML in a new city is difficult, but not awful. I met some awesome people and made new friends, and I wrote a book! Yep, that's right, I won again! I even finished early - a first! Hooray for me! :) I also continued to moderate the Character & Plot Realism Q&A forum (which is going to change to being called The Reference Desk in 2010). I had to deal with some weird people and some odd requests, but overall I had a lot of fun. I also continue to run chatnano.net, which provides chat rooms for different regions during NaNoWriMo. I spent a lot of time hanging out with the people in the Cambridge chat room, and I crashed the one for Melbourne, too (they don't use my services for their chat room). November is also when Juniper's insurance claim finally went through. It took several years, which was silly since it was definitely not his fault that the driver of the other car was not sober and hit several stationary vehicles, including the one in which Juniper was a passenger. That accident buggered up his shoulders and affected his schooling as well as his ability to work. He needs at least two more surgeries to get them back to somewhat normal.

December - Mad knitting took up most of the month - everyone in my family got a piece of knitted goodness! I also got into baking, so everyone got some yummy goodness, too. The best gift I received this year, however, came in the form of a lovely gold ring with an emerald set in between two trinity knots. It has found its home on my left ring finger - yes, that's right, everyone, Juniper and I are properly engaged, and planning a wedding for June 2010! You can read about it at the blog I've set up for wedding news.

Plans for 2010 - I'm not going to make normal resolutions this year. I have one big goal, and that is to actually finish a number of my current stories (short stories, novels, and scripts) and start sending them out into the world, in hopes of getting published. Maybe the 2010 Redux will include a list of publishing credits... who knows what the year will bring?!? :)

Oh, and of course, there is a wedding to plan. So plans for 2010 include getting married. But that's a whole other subject! :D

Newsletter #10 :: December 2008

2009-01-01T08:51:00.002-07:00

December seems a very long time ago now, though it just ended yesterday.

We spent Christmas in BC, at Juniper's mother's farm outside of Winlaw. That's sort of near Nelson, pretty much IN the pass, in case you're trying to find it on a map. We drove out on Christmas Eve and returned on New Year's Eve. The drive wasn't too bad on either day, which was good!

The house is basically a little cabin with additions (one unfinished at the moment). They have electricity and some indoor plumbing, so we could take a bath indoors and do dishes and everything (they have hot water), but the toilet is in an outhouse. Exciting adventures at Christmas! *grin*

Our own pets are all doing well. Roy will be getting spayed sometime soon (during January), and then we're thinking about adopting a mama cat from the Humane Society. People are apparently unable to teach Roy manners, so we're hoping that an older female will be able to help us in that department. Plus, she really does need more company.

Isabella never did drop any piglets, so she's definitely just fat. The guinea pigs will both be going to the vet in either January or February for a checkup, and we'll deal with Guido's operation then.

New years mean new plans, and my main goals for 2009 are to stay on track with my writing, to stay on board with my elimination diet and exercise plan, and to get the house cleaned, tidied, and presentable. I know I can do it, I just have to stay focused and not freak out if I stumble once in a while!

Speaking of my writing: at the beginning of December, my desktop computer decided to eat my flash drive. This meant that basically all of my writing disappeared! I was heartbroken. That was three years of my life that I no longer had access to, and Juniper wasn't able to make it readable. (The information wasn't erased, it was completely garbled.) Luckily, one of the guys who did NaNoWriMo this year is a programmer (doing his masters), and he has been able to salvage some of my files. Here's hoping we can get back most of it and I'm not as far behind as I think I am!

Work continues apace; I go back to the office on Monday and will be hanging out with LM again on Thursday next week. It feels really good to have this sort of thing settled and organized.

...and that seems to be it for now. Nothing earth-shattering to report, really. Well, aside from my data loss and partial recovery. *wink*

Happy New Year, everyone! I hope 2009 is a good one for you all!

Newsletter #9 :: October & November 2008

2008-11-30T21:34:00.002-07:00

Well, October kind of got away from me, what with all the preparations for NaNoWriMo 2008! So you get two months for the price of one in this entry. :)

Personal stuff first, as usual.

Juniper and I spent Thanksgiving (in October, of course, as we're Canadian) with Juniper's father. We had lamb for dinner, and I made the mint sauce - my first time ever, and I actually did a decent job! I'd say the highlight of that visit was playing Carcassonne with Juniper's six-year old brother and the four-year old boy who was visiting that day. The four-year old won the game, and I lost, but I was helping the children! Go figure that one out, people. :P

And then, of course, NaNoWriMo events took over my life. Juniper is a NaNo widower. (More on NaNo later, I promise.)

The guinea pigs are both doing well and are as greedy as ever. I don't know if Isabella is actually pregnant, though. She really should have had the babies by now, if she is. I'm thinking a vet appointment is in her future, because she really is a strange shape if she's just fat. Guido is doing exceptionally well, and I'm hoping to get him neutered in the new year.

Roy is currently in heat. She's going to have to be spayed soon, too. I just need to find a good vet who won't charge an arm and a leg, you know? We got her some toy mice - those ones that are small but furry-ish - and she loves chasing them. We also have one on a fishing line, and that is hilarious to play with while we're watching TV. Oh, and then there's the catnip... Roy high is really funny. (Am I evil for enjoying that?)

Moving right along... I managed to lose about fifteen pounds during September and October. My diet thing fell by the wayside during November (NaNo will do that to a person), but I did manage to maintain my weight, which is great! I fell off the exercise bandwagon, but I plan to start again tomorrow (December 1). The diet will come back into play in January.

As for NaNoWriMo, well...

This was quite the year, both for me as ML and as a writer. We had two weekly write-ins, tons of online write-ins in our chat room, three parties (well, the last one is on December 5), two 12-hour write-ins (a first for Calgary), and a couple of unofficial write-ins (which I didn't go to). I have also been keeping track of the progress of all of my local participants and granting them points for certain things (e.g., attending parties and write-ins, putting Tim in their novels, reaching word count goals), giving out prizes to the winners of word wars at our write-ins... it's practically its own full-time job! I even did an interview for an article (in FFWD, a local entertainment weekly) and a radio interview (on AM770)!

And... I won NaNoWriMo this year! I am so proud of myself, people! This is my second win, and the book I wrote is the sequel to my other winning novel (from 2006). The 2006 novel is about a thirteen-year old girl who makes her first friends when she starts attending a school for kids who don't do well in a regular school environment, and this one takes place a year later and is about her best friend testifying in the trial of the man who molested her (the best friend) in the first book. It needs to be edited and rewritten, but I think it's a pretty decent story, and I like the characters.

As I write this post, I am attending the final online party for our Calgary "Wrimotaurs" - tons of word wars to help people make that 50,000 word goal.

I am still working at ACDS, and just passed my three-month performance appraisal with flying colours! I'm doing all kinds of things there now, including designing some marketing pieces for the department and for the standards. Apparently the other departments might use me, too. It's kind of weird to think about, but it's cool, too. I really like doing design work, and they seem to think I do a good job, even though I have no formal training, so I guess it's okay...!

Working with that fourteen-year old girl is still a regular fun thing in my life. We have a good time together, I think. (Well, I enjoy my time with her, at least.) We usually go to the library or a coffee shop, and sometimes we go shopping for things. One day we went to Zellers and bought bubble bath and lip gloss; another week it was Indigo for a book. I also babysit and do respite here and there, on a semi-regular basis (by which I mean that I have some regular families I work for, but not a regular night that I'm there). It's all good.

That ladies' night event at church went really well, and I think everyone had a great time. The next event is, unfortunately, on December 5, so I can't be there since I have to host a NaNo party that night. The church is going Christmas caroling!

Speaking of Christmas, Juniper and I will be going to BC to visit his mother for Christmas this year. Also speaking of Christmas, I am somewhat saddened that we have now entered the time of year when I can't listen to the radio anymore because the stations will all be playing Christmas songs constantly, and I can't stand it. It's not Christmas, it's Advent! Play winter songs, play Advent songs. Don't play Christmas songs until Christmas Eve at the earliest! Please!

Okay, rant over.

And so is this update. I'll try to make my December post on time, but may have to post late depending on when we come back from BC.

Newsletter #8 :: September 2008

2008-10-01T20:13:00.004-06:00

September was a great month.

Juniper's birthday was on the fifth, which (amazingly enough) is the same day as Bethany's fiance's birthday! (The number of "coincidences" that I've found with my family and Bethany is rather astounding.) Juniper is now an "old man" of thirty, though he has decided to remain twenty-nine forever. (Reminds me somewhat of a certain uncle...)

My own birthday, of course, was on the fourteenth, which fell on a Sunday this year. Alas, I am not thirty-one, though one of my cards said I was! *cough* Matthew *cough* I am now thirty-two. It was a nice day, though we didn't celebrate with a lot of fanfare. I don't throw parties often, and haven't had an actual birthday party since I was fifteen or something. I did, however, receive gifts: Mom and Dad gave me the first season of The Mary Tyler Moore Show on DVD (it was my favourite TV show when I was five or something) and one of those little keychain digital cameras (see below for some photos I took with it); Michael gave me a car emergency kit, which includes a set of jumper cables - something I've been saying I should own for several years now; and Jonathan and Cindy gave me a talking pedometer, which I have made good use of in the past few weeks! My gift from Matthew arrived that week - The Essential Dazzler, a graphic novel collection of every appearance she's made in Marvel Comics (well, the first volume, anyway).

Both Isabella (top photo) and Guido (bottom photo) are gaining weight apace, which is a good thing for both right now. Isabella weighed in at 1146 grams tonight, and Guido is now 1022 grams. This is a great increase for both, especially for Guido; since I brought him home, he's gained close to 200 grams! They're still a bit flipped for what I'm used to, though; typically, a male is 1100-1200 grams (at least), and a female is 800-1000 grams.

Speaking of weight, I'm losing some! In September, I lost about seven pounds. I'm looking forwards to continuing this trend through October!

How did I do it, you ask? Simple: I put myself on an elimination diet (as an experiment, not in order to lose weight) and started exercising regularly. I'm currently not eating milk products, wheat etc. (i.e., no gluten), carrots or corn (both disagree with me), or preservatives and other chemical additives. It's a good thing the Bowness Health Food Store is right across the street!

I've started going to an aquacize class twice a week. Shouldice pool is nearby, and I go there on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6.00 p.m. - 7.00 p.m. It's a solid hour of water aerobics - a great workout. I've also taken up walking, which is where the new pedometer comes in! So far, I have learned that I can walk just under one kilometer in about ten minutes, and I take just over 100 steps in that time. I listen to music while I walk, rather than using a workout tape; the tapes don't always go at a pace that works for me, and I'm able to maintain a quick pace even when the songs I'm listening to are a little slow.

Roy went into heat for the second time in her life. She'll be a year old soon, so I'm giving her a mix of kitten chow and adult cat food. She's also getting half a small tin of wet food every night at dinner time (this keeps her from trying to eat our dinner). She's a rather vocal little thing, but I suspect she's part Siamese, so that would explain much about her personality.

NaNoWriMo begins in one month, and things are already feeling a bit crazy! I have lots to do with the chatnano.net web site to get it ready, plus I volunteered to moderate an extra forum this year. It's not as busy as my main one, but it's still extra work! Sometimes I think I'm a tad insane...

I have now been working at ACDS for just over one month. It's a good place to work, and the people are a lot of fun! I also still work with the 14yo girl once a week, of course; I'm a very busy person! With the election coming up, I'm thinking that I should write to the candidates in my riding (and CC the PTB in their parties) with some questions and information about the things that are important to me and mine - in particular, disability services (particularly autism-related), the silly copyright bill, and the ridiculous herbal bill. I'm sure there will be more as I look at the parties' web sites to acquaint myself with their platforms - something I always do, so I can see what they stand for!

Our first ladies' ministry event at the church will happen on October 9; a dessert night that I designed the invitation for! I really like this design thing, and I seem to be somewhat talented at it.

Band is fun, of course, and I love the people I sing with. Someday soon, I'm going to bring my clarinet to practice and play it! Haha! *grin*

I don't have any other photos to share right now, as I haven't taken those rolls in to be developed yet. Hopefully that will happen sooner rather than later; be on the lookout for photos!

Newsletter #7 :: August 2008

2008-09-01T13:30:00.003-06:00

It's been quite a month, busy with all kinds of wonderful and crazy things.

August began with a lazy long weekend. Then, after two days of work, Juniper and I headed off to BC for a wedding! We left after work on August 6. The wedding was on August 8, on Vancouver Island (the north tip - Qualicum Beach). I took photos of our trip and have posted them to Facebook (eventually they'll be on Flickr, too). Since I had no photos to share last time, though, I'll post a couple of my favourite shots (there's one roll of film yet to be developed, and I have another roll I've taken since we got back, so I'll have more pictures to post in September's issue).

The sun, setting behind some trees at the beach.

Juniper's brother's house in Courtenay. We slept in the tent (that big orange thing to the left).

I had a lot of fun playing with exposure times and stuff using the camera I had with me.
It's a Minolta 35mm camera, and it has a manual-focus lens on it and stuff.

A mountain on the way home. I love the way the clouds hang in front of the peak there.

That fuzzy bit in the back is a tunnel for the railway. It's not focused because I was playing with my focus and got the flowers in the front in focus instead. This is a little small for you to be able to tell that, unfortunately.

Now, what else can I tell you about August...?

August saw my joyful acquisition of two new guinea pigs; however, they are not both males as I had planned.

I adopted Isabella from some people in Airdrie. She'd been needing a new home for at least a month (listed on Facebook Marketplace), and I learned that she had had a cagemate, who had died. Isabella is pregnant, so I will be looking for homes for her babies in a few weeks; I estimate her to be about six weeks or so, which gives her another six weeks to go. I could, of course, be wrong; only a visit to the vet will tell for sure.

I took in Guido from my friend Jen, who is moving and can't keep her pets (anyone want a declawed calico cat who is a good mouser?). He's a small little man, but likes people well enough. We're all still getting used to each other; I'm hoping to get him neutered within the next few weeks, so that he and Isabella can live together once her babies have found their new homes.

Of course, we still have the cat, who is as mischeivous as ever. I need to get her into the vet soon, too, for a checkup and her shots and a deworming. Oh, and to be spayed. She needs all that if she's going to be allowed outside (something she desperately wants). Roy's favourite things to do seem to include scratching at things that can't be scratched (pieces of plastic, windows, etc.) and lying on top of Guido's cage.

Family has been around a lot this month, with Mom & Dad out for Adriana's birthday on the 20th and Aunt Kath and Uncle Chuck out for a wedding this past weekend. We've had family lunches, family dinners, and family brunches! On August 23, we went out to Lake Louise and hiked all the way up to the Tea House at Lake Agnes. I seriously felt like I was going to die, it hurt so much. That's how desperately I need to get in shape. But I made it, in 2 hours 20 minutes, and I'm planning to work hard so that I can try again next year - and hopefully make the hike in much less time! (Pictures from the hike are on an as-yet undeveloped roll of film.)

My writing continues to move slowly, as always. I am nearing the ends of my current projects, however, and I hope to be able to finish my current drafts by the end of October, so that I can focus solely on my NaNoWriMo novel! Well, my novel and all the other things I do in relation to NaNoWriMo - I moderate a forum, act as ML (municipal liaison) for Calgary, and run the new chatnano.net web site.

I was let go from LEAD at the beginning of August. This was somewhat disappointing, but I had already begun looking for something else, so it wasn't the worst thing in the world. I was jobless for a couple of weeks, but on August 25 I began my new position. I am now an Editorial Administrative Assistant in the Standards and Accreditation branch of the Alberta Council of Disability Services (ACDS). ACDS develops the standards and certification program for agencies that provide services to individuals with disabilities in Alberta. Basically, if an agency wants to receive funding from Persons with Developmental Disabilties (a government funding body), it has to comply with our standards and maintain certification. Every three years, we perform a survey and create a report detailing agencies' certification. Our focus is on quality of life for the individuals receiving service - something I am very much behind!

I continue to work once a week with that 14yo girl I mentioned before, and I am of course available for the odd babysitting or respite shift.

Church is quite the family affair, with myself, Michael, Juniper, Cindy, Adriana, and (of course) Jonathan there every Sunday. Mom & Dad were here for church on August 24, and I was on music, Michael was on projection, and Juniper was on sound; Jonathan presided over the Eucharist that week, as Stephen Hambidge (our senior pastor) has returned to work after his six-month sabbatical.

We are beginning a ladies' ministry at the church, and I'm supposed to be helping with the leadership of it. Unfortunately, I have yet to attend a meeting. I was unable to be at the first one because Mom & Dad were here, and I had to miss the second one because I forgot about it and we only had one vehicle with us. They are occuring after church, which is a great time, but if we only have one vehicle at church on a Sunday morning, Juniper & Michael have to wait around for me or I have to call for a ride after we're done. That's less than ideal! Next week, we'll definitely have two vehicles with us, though, as I will have to go early since I'm on music, and Juniper isn't doing sound.

So, that's a bit of an update for everyone who wants to know what's going on with me. Next month, I might have more pictures to show off; we'll have to wait and see!

Newsletter #6 :: Better late than never!

2008-08-03T23:22:00.002-06:00

This newsletter has three sections: personal, professional, and spiritual. It’s not really split up using headers, but it was easier for me to write something that made sense across the board by making myself follow a flow of topics. If you know me at all well, you know that I can get rather tangential at times.

**This issue has no photos, but I will make up for it later, I promise!**

I've moved a lot in the last year. In October, I moved in with a family I was going to nanny for. Then, at the end of January, I moved to share a house with my boyfriend (more on him later). And in May, we moved into Bowness. Hopefully we're settled and will remain so for a while!

The house we're in now is a 1950's style bungalow with a developed basement. Upstairs there is a large living room, a huge kitchen, and three bedrooms (oh, and a full bathroom), as well as a front entry way and a back entry way that is so large it doubles as a dining room! Downstairs there are two rooms we're using as offices, a bathroom with a shower, and a rec room - as well as the wonderful laundry area. The house is on a double lot, so we have tons of parking. The back yard is also quite large, and there are hedges all around it for privacy. Not to mention the fire pit! Oh, and there's also a shed that's attached to the house, but you can't get into it from the house - you have to go outside.

Alas and alack, I am currently without guinea pigs. Katonia died of pneumonia just before we moved, and Napoleon seemed to just waste away without her to chat with. I will be getting two new males mid-August, however, and I am quite excited about it - as I'm sure you can imagine!

Meanwhile, life is made interesting by the kitten we adopted in November. Roy is a female tortie, full of mischief and desirous of attention. The story goes, there were mice in the old place, and I convinced my boyfriend that he should get a cat to get rid of them. We knew there were at least two mice, so I named one Fred and he named the other Sigfried. Of course the cat had to be Roy, regardless of its sex.

My social life is as unbusy as ever, especially since I moved in with Juniper. I met him in October 2007, at the autism meetup group I attend, and we became fast friends. It didn't take long for us to figure out that we belonged together, and I have sported a lovely promise ring on my left finger since the end of November. Juniper works for a fireplace installation company, but he is a hardware engineer (he designs computer circuits and the like); as soon as he has a job in his field and we are a little more stable financially, we'll be getting engaged. (Things are looking good, so keep your fingers crossed!)

I haven't seen my best friend since she was up at Christmas, but hopefully I'll get to see her again soon. I know she's loving it in San Francisco, and she's pursuing her dreams, so I'm glad she's happy. She's even met someone - hopefully I can meet him someday!

My little niece, Adriana, will be turning one year old on August 20. She's been walking for almost two months already, and is quite dexterous. Words are coming a little less slowly, but she's making purposeful sounds, so I'm not concerned. She's also quite good at communicating non-verbally, so it'll come when she's ready. (And if you thought I wouldn't be on the lookout for delays etc. you don't know me very well.)

I went off my Dexedrine in October and dropped the Cipralex in May, which was a good thing as I don't want to be on medication for my whole life. It was dicey there for a while, though, as withdrawal was decidedly not fun, but I came through it okay. Now I'm dealing with the odd depressive episode, but I'm tracking my moods online, so hopefully I'll be able to find a pattern.

NaNoWriMo 2007 was another no-win situation for me. However, I seem to have come into my own as Municipal Liaison, and am now running twice-monthly writers' meets for the locals who participated in the event. We're gearing up for October (mainly because that's when the site will be ready for this year, and when we need to have lots of advertising out and about), and I'm excited! I'm also excited about my novel this year, which will be the sequel to the one I wrote in 2006. Stick with what works.

I also participated in both NaNoEdMo and Script Frenzy this year, and lost both. Ah, well, there's always next year!

Of course, the best thing I've done with regards to NaNo this year is the development of the chatnano.net web site. I provide web-based chatting for various regions there, and now there are blogs available, too. This service is something I'm really excited to be able to provide the community.

At the end of January, I quit working for Christ Church and began working for the LEAD Foundation, which is an organization that provides 1:1 in-home support services for developmentally disabled children. There've been some ups and downs with that over the last few months, as with any new job. It's very different to be working for an agency after spending so many years as a private contractor.

Private clients are primarily respite and babysitting now. I still work with the girl I mentioned in my last newsletter; she'll be 14 on August 20. She's a lot of fun, but of course we have our moments.

My article for Calgary's Child was, in fact, accepted and printed in their September-October issue. I've also since done a book review (solicited - and I have another one coming up) and written a booklet for parents of newly-diagnosed autistic children. For more about what I'm up to writing-wise, you can check out my newly-redesigned web site and blog!

Michael, Juniper, and I attend Holy Trinity on a regular basis. Juniper (who was a Christian before we met but wasn't attending church) helps out with the sound board occasionally, and Michael handles the demands of the projection ministry on a semi-regular basis. As for me, well, I did end up joining the music team, and I sing with them once or twice a month. I've stepped down from chalice and nursery duties for now, but I may rejoin those teams after Christmas.

Cursillo was very interesting for me. I don't know if I'll work another weekend, though. I'm not against doing so, but I don't know that these retreats are really what I'm meant for. I am involved with some TEC renewal right now, but I don't know if I'll work TEC weekends, either.

My prayer life is still in the works. Carving out time for things isn't my strong point, it seems. Hopefully I will begin to get a better handle on this.

Please don't hesitate to e-mail me, comment to this blog post, drop me a line on Facebook, phone me (assuming you have the number), or come by and visit (if you know the address). I look forwards to hearing from you - time with friends is something I consider to be a priority!

Newsletter #5

2007-01-08T21:33:00.000-07:00

Sadly, my darling Princess passed away on January 21, 2007. She was my darling baby, of course. I came home after church that day, and she was lying in the door of the igloo she shared with Katonia, struggling for breath. Poor Katty was trapped inside the igloo.

I held Princess for the last hour of her life, and when she finally died, I cried - it was awful. I took her body to the Humane Society the next day for cremation.

Napoleon and Katonia continue to kiss through the bars of their cages, wishing they could just be together. Katty is quite the little scaredy-'Kat', and the slightest motion will send her into her igloo. But she's also really smart and will show me what she wants when I ask her what she's yelling for in the morning! Napoleon is all about the girl, of course, and continues to think that he can fly. It's amazing how fast he can go when he really wants to - he almost does fly!

It's been killer hot here, of course, so I got creative and started putting frozen water bottles in the piglets' cages for them to cuddle up with when they get too hot. Katty, as you can see, fell in love with hers almost immediately! They do look different now, as I made fleece covers for them so the guinea pigs wouldn't get frostbite.

They are absolutely the cutest little critters in my life right now.

As for important people in my life, well, my best friend is moving to San Francisco in a couple of weeks for school. She is following her dream of being an illustrator, and I know she can do it! I had a boyfriend for six months last year; it was long-distance and definitely wasn't the right time or combination of people, though it was very good when it was good. I also had a two-week romance with someone else this year, but that wasn't meant to be, either. I figure, when it's the right time and the right person then it'll be obvious. So until then, I'm doing my best to be happy with what I have - friends, family, work, etc. I do have quite a full life!

Jonathan & Cindy are expecting a baby any day now. I'm excited to become an Auntie for the first time! The baptism will be later this month. (Oh, and if the baby's already here and nobody told me, heads will roll!)

On top of that, Matthew is getting married in October! Jennifer is a great young woman, and I'm happy that I did get to meet her at Jonny's wedding, which is when I met Cindy for the first time...! So, it's quite the year for big events in my family. I'm kind of hoping next year is a little calmer...

As for me, myself, and I: I was diagnosed with moderate clinical depression in September of last year, and am currently taking 20mg Cipralex every morning. Having that happen was seriously amazing; I'm finally - for the first time in my life - experiencing actual emotions, instead of the extremes of "omygoodnessit'stotallyamazing", "omygoodnesstheworldisending", and basically neutral/nothing. I don't get the extreme highs or the extreme lows anymore, and overall I'm happily content with things as they are. It's seriously amazing to see how beautiful the world really is, and to be able to actually enjoy it!

I'm also back on Dexedrine; the Strattera I was taking gave me dyslexia and nearly destroyed my reading comprehension - neither of which is ideal for a writer and a reader!

I'm also working on my time management and organizational skills, and I just had my first meeting with a woman who is going to help me get my finances under control.

I won NaNoWriMo 2006, which was an amazing triumph for me! I also found my niche in the realm of being Municipal Liaison, and I'm really looking forwards to this year. Of course, I wouldn't be me if I wasn't also moderating forums on the NaNoWriMo web site and working behind the scenes for some of their other projects.

Work has been impacted positively by my meds adjustments and the time management work I'm doing. I'm accomplishing a lot each day, even when I have tons to get through (like I did today!), and it feels SOOO good.

Client-wise (as in, children I work with), I now babysit regularly on Tuesdays (6yo twins and their 10yo brother; I went to preschool for two years with one of the twins when I first moved back to Calgary). I also have a new client for the 1:1 work I used to do full-time. She's 12yo and I work with her on Mondays. Then there's a family with a 7yo autistic boy whom I babysit occasionally, and another family with a 7yo autistic boy and a 4yo non-autistic boy whom I babysit even less often. And, of course, my 12yo respite shift, which is on break for the summer. I was working with him on Wednesdays and the occasional Saturday during the school year; we'll see what happens in September.

I wrote an article for Calgary's Child and hope to hear shortly about whether or not they are accepting it for publication. If they do, there will be clippings available, trust me!

Michael and I continue to attend Holy Trinity on Sunday mornings. We both have a few friends there (some of them are mutual), which is really nice for us. I help out in the nursery once in a while, and continue to serve on the chalice team on a regular basis (as well as nearly every Sunday during the summer). Anthony Packwood, our music director, has recently stepped down from his position at the church, and Scott Fallows, who is replacing Anthony in the role, has asked me to think about joining the team in September. Another thing my new time management skills will help me decide!

And, of course, just because I simply wasn't busy enough, I've agreed to work the Women's Cursillo weekend in November. I'm the backup speaker for "Laity", so I'll be in the conference room participating in the discussions all weekend. I'm really looking forwards to it - I've worked TEC a lot, but never in the conference room, and there is definitely a different feel to Cursillo.

I have finally gotten around to asking someone to act as my Spiritual Director, and she is taking it under advisement and prayer. I'm working still on my personal prayer life, but I'm confident that - again - my new time management skills will come in quite handy for making sure that (and my God-type writing) happens!

I can, of course, be reached via e-mail at janna@thehoskincentre.com, and my web site can be found at http://jannalouise.thehoskincentre.com. My other blogs are linked in the sidebar here.

Newsletter #4

2006-07-24T14:50:00.000-06:00

You are currently reading the fourth issue of my newsletter. It is coming to you because you were once a client, or you are a friend of some sort, or you are a family member (or any combination of these three!).

I thought it would be nice to create such a thing because there are many people with whom I find it difficult to maintain regular contact, and having a newsletter means everyone has pretty much the same information at the same time, so you know what to ask questions about if you write or e-mail me. The newsletter also lets me share my favourite photos with friends and family. :)

The newsletter has three sections: personal, professional, and spiritual. It’s not really split up using headers, but it was easier for me to write something that made sense across the board by making myself follow a flow of topics. If you know me at all well, you know that I can get rather tangential at times. ;)

I have to apologise right now for not being more regular with my updates. I think that moving the newsletter to this blog will help with that - feel free to pass the link along to anyone you think might like to read it, and hopefully I'll be able to keep it properly up-to-date!

Last August, I moved into a 4plex with Tammy, as detailed in my last newsletter. At the end of this week, I'll be moving into a basement (more on that once I'm moved in - definitely with pictures to go along with it!) and Tammy is moving into another house. Well, her things are moving into the other house; she's vanning (teaching VBS in rural communities all summer) so won't actually be living there until September. It's been an interesting year, and my new living arrangements promise to be exciting as well!

This summer is incredibly hot. I expect it's the same as last summer was, but I'm feeling it more because I spend my days in a church office - with no air conditioning! Ack! I spend my evenings in my bedroom for the most part; I recently switched from cable to DSL for my internet access, and as a result I was able to move my computer from the living room to my bedroom - a boon for the summer, to be sure!

The guinea pigs will be undergoing a downsize of their cage with the move next weekend. I'll be housing Princess & Katonia together just a few months more; I'm hoping to be able to get Napoleon in to see the vet in October. Then (after the requisite month to make sure the sperm are all dead) I'll switch things up and put him in with Katty and let Princess live alone in her old age. Poor girl. She truly is a loner-pig, and I feel badly for her sometimes, having to deal with Katonia's idiocy sometimes.

Expect a photo-filled guinea pig newsletter at some point in the near future!

I managed to kill my Humphreys, finally - left 'em out on the balcony and didn't water them for months. I'm going to start watering them again, see if they're actually still alive in there. I might own the plant that never dies! :D I also killed a cactus. (Takes talent, that.) The rest are still alive (except the veggies & spices), but I need to water them more often.

I've been spending more time with my bestest lately, which is great. We go to concerts and parties, watch TV, or just talk. We usually hang out at least once a week outside of Monday night Tehillah.

Oyah, Jonny got married on August 27, 2005. Pictures abound, and I took most of the ones here with Michael's digital camera. How cool is that? (Michael was best man, so he couldn't take pics.) Mike & I went to Jonathan's & Cindy's for Thanksgiving in October, because they live in Unity, SK, which is only about five hours away from Calgary. And then Jonny got ordained priest on November 1! My favourite pictures (taken by Michael and scammed off his flickr account by me) are the one of Jonathan with Dad &amp;amp; Uncle Derek, and the pair of Mom & Dad and Cindy & Jonny (the "old" and the "new").

I also have me a boyfriend again. We've been together since the end of March of this year. It's a Long-Distance Relationship (LDR); he lives in England. No, we have not met in person yet. We have plans for Christmas (he'll come here). That's about all I want to share with the world at the moment, but I'm sure there'll be more in future newsletters.

Now, specifically regarding myself, because I need to tell everyone about this eventually and it's in other things you might come across at some point on the web... I was diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in February 2005. Obviously I did not suddenly "get" AD/HD, as it's not that kind of disorder - by definition, symptoms must be present prior to age seven. For some of you, this is a surprise - I'm successful etc. - but for others, I'm sure, it's more of an "aha!" moment - as in, "Aha! That explains everything!" (It doesn't, really, but it comes close.) I also have strong tendencies towards anxiety disorders and the like, which is how I even managed this long - anxiety used as coping mechanism. Treatment is vital with something like this - with both medication and therapy/counseling.

I had to change doctors to get medication, but I did get put on Concerta in February and took it until the end of June - at which time my prescription ran out and I didn't bother getting another one because I didn't feel it was really helping anyhow. I learned quite the opposite that July, so I went back and asked for something else in August. I was on 30mg Dexedrine per day, with 20mg in the morning and 10mg at noon, until February of this year. I currently take 36mg of Strattera every morning.

Side-effects of medications are..."fun".

Concerta only comes in increments of 18mg, and the stimulant in it (the same as is in Ritalin) can cause anxiety and insomnia. When I started it, at a dose of 36mg, I went through three days or so of mood swings and panic attacks. The best was the night I was up until 2 or 3am, crying and shaking (over nothing) - knowing it's due to meds doesn't make it any easier to deal with. Once I'd evened out, we tried upping the dose to 54mg. Mistake. Trust me on that one... I took it at that dose for one week and one week only, it was that bad. I went back down to 36mg, but it really wasn't doing a lot for me. There was also a backlash each evening when it wore off - I only had to take it once a day, but come evening I'd have mood shifts.

The Dexedrine was a much smoother ride. Dextroamphetamine doesn't produce the same anxiety, and it wears off much more slowly in the evening. Side effects in the beginning weren't fun... I had dry mouth for about a week that resulted in a bit of a sore throat/cold issue, and loss of appetite meant I wasn't eating much of anything for a few weeks. My appetite came back, thank goodness, and while I continued to lose weight (Dexedrine was originally developed as a diet pill), it wasn't unhealthily fast and I almost got down to where the BMI says I ought to be. I lost about 35lbs last year, and about 20lbs of that was since I started on Dexedrine. It's a lot of fun to walk into a clothing store and be able to find trendy clothes that fit properly!

Strattera is closely related to antidepressants, so it helps with my mood swings. I've found the same results with Strattera as I had with Dexedrine, minus negative side-effects. Also minus the weight loss, which is sad, but I've got plans to eat healthier and exercise more! Mostly it's sad because I've regained a lot of the weight I'd lost, which is just kind of depressing some days.

Other good health things - no more caffeinated drinks for Janna. The caffeine actually interferes with amphetamines, and now that I'm on Strattera, it actually hits me the way it hits other people. So, no more Jolt or Pepsi for me! (I never did like Coca-Cola.) Since I never drank coffee and didn't really drink much tea to begin with, it's not been too much of a hassle for me.

I was seeing a counsellor at the Calgary Counselling Centre once every few weeks until the end of February, and it helped a lot. I started going there back in the summer of 2004, and I went through three counsellors. I've recently applied to go back, and I'm hoping for the same person I had at the end there, but I'm not sure she'll still be there. That's because it's a teaching place, and so people go for their internships and often go elsewhere once they're finished. I don't mind the changes, though - it keeps things interesting, and new people have different ways of looking at things. My sessions focus on learning new strategies to deal with issues/problems, and I usually come away with some "homework" (something to work on for my next session).

I attempted NaNoWriMo again this year (National Novel Writing Month - attempting to write 50,000 words of a novel during the month of November). I lost (badly) but have high hopes for 2006! I was also Municipal Liaison for the first time. I will likely do that job again this year, and I have tons of ideas for that.

I've actually been doing a fair amount of writing, mostly personal - essays, blog entries, and poetry/songs - and have a list of projects to work on over the next while. Some of it is fiction, but some of it is non-fiction. I'm really looking forwards to spending time writing stories and researching articles.

And... a lot of artwork. I take art supplies with me to church every Sunday morning, and carry them to Tehillah on Monday nights and even to concerts! I try to stay small, though sometimes bigger is needed. If I can't do big, then I do a small sketch and then get at it later on a larger piece of paper or a painting board. I haven't tried painting on canvas yet... that's next.

Now, everyone will be shocked, but...

I am only working with two autistic children now.

I know, you never thought you'd see the day, right?

Well, that wonderful job I wrote about in my last update (the one at the fitness centre) fell through. I spent September working with the 8yo boy who's in an AVB program, another 8yo boy & his mother, and a 13yo girl. I also did respite for the 5yo boy and that same 10yo boy. It was relaxing, because for the most part I wasn't working any mornings at all, but there wasn't a lot of money coming in. (I was, of course, applying for jobs and everything.)

Finally, I got a job.

On October 4, 2005, I started my new full-time position. I am the General Secretary for Christ Church, an Anglican church here in Calgary. It's in Elbow Park, and it's only fifteen minutes away from my home (about half an hour away from my new one, but whatever)! The best part is that I can continue to attend Holy Trinity on Sunday mornings, so I get to have actual worship when I go to services.

This job is great. I quite like it, though it's definitely giving my organizational skills a huge challenge! There's always something happening, and that keeps me stimulated (which is good). Time management has been a bit of an issue, but I'm learning, and people are very forgiving. During the week after Christmas, I rearranged my office and reorganized the stationery supply room. Then I redid the filing system - went through the old ones and sorted out everything so it's logical and (especially) find-able.

Now, in the midst of all of this...

Scheduling for my clients became a bit of an issue. Due to time conflicts, I had to drop the 8yo & his mother. And then, at the end of November, I dropped the other 8yo. I was working too many hours and had no time for myself whatsoever. Case in point: I have trouble remembering to eat when I'm hungry and just sitting at home with nothing to do; before I dropped those clients and changed my hours with the 13yo girl to later in the evening, I was often lucky if I ate one meal in a day - before 9.00 p.m. That just results in high stress levels and, honestly, really poor health.

In January, I also stopped working with the 13yo girl (time conflicts). For a few months, I only did respite a couple of Saturdays a month with that 10yo boy (who is now 11), who really likes me for some reason. (I missed all of November due to it being NaNoWriMo, and when I returned in December his mother said he'd asked about me a lot prior and was watching for me out the window that day.) As for that 5yo, well, I do occasional baby-sitting when his Dad's in town (he works overseas). And in April, I added a 6yo boy who is a lot of fun. I do respite, baby-sitting, and aide work (yes all three, depending on the day and hours I'm working and so on).

And that is work!

As mentioned previously, I continue to attend Holy Trinity. I am still a member of the Chalice team, and administer the chalice every three weeks. I recently joined the nursery team, so I'm going to get to play with babies every few weeks, too! That's exciting - I'm really looking forwards to it. I've also stopped attending the small group I was a part of. It's nobody's fault, really; I just didn't feel that it was meeting my particular needs. I haven't replaced it with any other activities; I've found that taking the time for myself is more productive, in the long run.

I wound up resigning my position as secretary for TEC back in August, due to high stress levels. I actually resigned from TEC; I stopped attending THING unless Ekklesia was playing, I quit the band I'd been developing, and I returned all of the music paraphernalia I'd been looking after to the Program Coordinator. I'm still involved in the periphery, but I'm definitely not going to let myself get that involved again!

I am definitely still looking to attend Wholeness Through Christ, as prayer ministry is something I feel drawn to. I am also seeking a Spiritual Director, and hoping to discern my vocation through that. My world has opened up since August, and the possibilities are both exciting and frightening - I need some help to keep me on track with God.

I've also begun writing daily devotionals. I'm finding this to be quite helpful in my walk with God, and the discipline of doing daily devotionals has always been something I wanted to cultivate, so it's pulling double duty for me.

To see other things I've been writing lately, you can go to my profile (linked in the sidebar) and see all my other blogs. Enjoy!

If you would like to contact me at all, please e-mail me at janna@thehoskincentre. Also, please visit my web site at http://jannalouise.thehoskincentre.com!

Peace & Blessings,

Janna Hoskin

Newsletter #3

2005-08-09T01:14:00.000-06:00

Hi, everyone!

You are currently reading the third issue of my newsletter. It is coming to you because you were once a client, or you are a friend of some sort, or you are a family member (or any combination of these three!).

I thought it would be nice to create such a thing because there are many people with whom I find it difficult to maintain regular contact, and having a newsletter means everyone has pretty much the same information at the same time, so you know what to ask questions about if you write or e-mail me. The newsletter also lets me share my favourite photos with friends and family. :)

The newsletter has three sections: personal, professional, and spiritual. It’s not really split up using headers, but it was easier for me to write something that made sense across the board by making myself follow a flow of topics. If you know me at all well, you know that I can get rather tangential at times. ;)

This is just a very short update - no pictures or anything. (That doesn't mean I haven't got any - if you want to see some, e-mail me and I'll give you web site links.) I'll try to put together something more detailed and picture-oriented come Christmastime.

But... here's all the basic information, at least! :)

I recently (as in, one week ago today) moved down the hill, from Capitol Hill into West Hillhurst. I am now in a bilevel fourplex, and will soon be sharing with Tammy Higginbottom, who is much younger than I am but shares my love of all animals small and furry. ;) She's about to begin studies at Alberta College of Art & Design (ACAD) and is from Elnora. Calgary's a big change for her, and she's never lived away from home before. This is going to be good for both of us - I hope! ;)

I am, of course, still not finished unpacking. Moving in didn't finish until about 1am (including cleaning the old place), so I was exhausted... then I was working a lot and had no energy in the evenings to unpack. Saturday morning, I woke up with a sore throat and that achy tired feeling that makes you feel like your legs are going to collapse every time you stand up. Any large motor movements made me feel worse; I spent the day on the couch (which didn't do much good for my poor hips). Felt a little better on Sunday, and the only thing left now is a bit of a sore throat! So - more unpacking happened today than in the last week. That is so sad now that I type it out...

The summer is hot. Very hot. But great - I would rather be hot than wet and freezing! It did rain today, but not too much.

As for living things in the house... I now have three guinea pigs!

I still have Princess, of course. She is doing fairly well; at her last checkup, she'd gained some weight and was much healthier. Her coat is now pure white and really soft, too! :) She's still really timid, but I'm working on that, as always.

I adopted Katonia from the Calgary Humane Society back at the beginning of December 2004. Someone had found her in Nosehill Park in the middle of NOVEMBER! (That's not exactly prime outside weather for piggies.) She was about four or five months old at the time, so is turning one this month. She's a white long-haired Abbysinnian with black eyes and a tan sweep across her brow. She reminds me of a duck when she runs around her cage! :D I have many funny stories about her, of course, but I will save those because few people are as interested in my darlings as I am...

As for Napoleon, I got him from a couple who was moving and couldn't keep their guinea pigs. He'd been a breeding male, and someone else took his "wife". He is, as a general rule, upset that he's not allowed to hang out with the girls, but Princess and Katty are both too old to start breeding now, so he'll be going to see the vet as soon as possible for a nice little operation. Nappy is by far the most sociable of the three, and quite tame. He's a tricolour Silkie - chocolate, orange, and white - with black eyes. He thinks every time I move it's to get him food... goof. :)

Somehow my plants multiplied... I still have all those Humphreys; now I have a non-flowering something (I planted seeds and don't remember what I planted), an Aloe plant named Creamy that I was given last summer in Vancouver, an African Violet that my parents gave me for my birthday last year, and some parsley, cilantro, and lettuce for the piggies.

No more fish; the ones I had all died and I'm going to wait a little longer to start over.

I have made some new friends - not a lot, but some good ones! Next on my agenda is to somehow start spending time with more people my own age.

I am single - broke up with Stu just over a year ago (shortly after I sent out my last newsletter). I haven't been dating at all; life is pretty busy without that complicating things!

I am no longer working for the Ability Society. My main child no longer requires services, and due to a number of issues I had with the agency this year, I decided it would be best for everyone concerned if I just left.

So, this summer, I've been working afternoons with my 10yo and here and there with another 10yo I just do respite for. I also do respite for a 5yo boy now, too.

Tomorrow I start training for a new job. I'll have three shifts a week come September, with an absolutely darling boy. He's in a Verbal Behaviour program - a type of ABA that I've always been interested in but never been able to get training in before now.

I also am now managing the program for the 10yo girl I worked with in Vancouver. I go out there every three months to update her program and upgrade training, etc.

And... come September, I'll be the head of the preschool program at Hy-Performance Fitness. The idea is that the centre will provide childcare (with an educational bent) for stay-at-home mothers who would like to take a fitness class. That will be 9-1 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

So, I'm busy with work but still working less than 40 hours - a workload I'm better able to deal with.

At church, I regularly serve on the Chalice team. I'm scheduled for every three weeks, but sometimes if someone is missing, I'm asked to fill in - which of course isn't a problem! :) I'm enjoying Holy Trinity a lot, and I've joined a home group, but I feel like there's more I could and should be doing, if I could just figure out which ministry I'm meant to be in.

As for TEC, my term as secretary comes up in January (at our next AGM), and at that point I will step down from steering committee. I definitely need to simplify and cut back on commitments, and I need more time for focusing on my career. I definitely still think TEC is great, and support people to go, but I need to take a few steps back and not be quite as involved as I have been.

I did go to Cursillo last fall. It was very interesting. Of course, some difficult moments - there always are on such weekends. Next on my agenda is Wholeness Through Christ, assuming I can ever figure out when training is in time to register! I haven't been involved with Cursillo really since I went last fall; it isn't where I'm meant to be. I have a feeling that Wholeness is probably more along the lines of where I'll really find my niche, so I hope I get to go soon!

I didn't go to China this summer; plans fell through. I was incredibly disappointed, but I hold out hope that next summer will see me off working at an orphanage there! We'll have to wait and see what happens, though!

Now, the resolutions:
1. Keep up with correspondence of all kinds
I'm actually not doing too badly with this now! :)

2. Keep my home clean and tidy
I'm hoping I will be able to get this under control now in the new place. I hope!

3. Get enough sleep on work nights
Yes! I am, believe it or not! :)

4. Be on time for work
Well, I have my moments... for the most part, I'm still a late person. But overall I'm much better.

5. Spend time each week with one person I care about
I get to spend time with Denise and Michael every week - I drive them both to church every Sunday - but other than that, I don't typically get to do anything one-on-one with a friend. Hopefully I can change that soonish...

If you would like to contact me (including to get off my list for these newsletters or to share
contact information for someone you know would like to receive my newsletters), please write me at: Janna Hoskin #4, 2120 - 4 Avenue NW Calgary, AB T2N 0N5 Canada; or e-mail me at
janna_louise@yahoo.com (following which I will let you know what shaw.ca address I would like
you to use). This newsletter is not going to be online anytime soon, but please do visit my web site(s) anyway - you can get to most of them from http://www.geocities.com/janna_louise!

Peace & Blessings,

Janna Hoskin

Newsletter #2

2004-07-09T17:57:00.000-06:00

Greetings all! :)

You are currently reading the second issue of my newsletter. It is coming to you because you were once a client, or you are a friend of some sort, or you are a family member (or any combination of these three!).

I thought it would be nice to create such a thing because there are many people with whom I find it difficult to maintain regular contact, and having a newsletter means everyone has pretty much the same information at the same time, so you know what to ask questions about if you write or e-mail me. The newsletter also lets me share my favourite photos with friends and family. :)

The newsletter has three sections: personal, professional, and spiritual. It’s not really split up using headers, but it was easier for me to write something that made sense across the board by making myself follow a flow of topics. If you know me at all well, you know that I can get rather tangential at times. ;)

I hope you enjoy reading this update on life as myself!

My basement suite is slowly turning into something quite nice. Michael (my brother) came over last Saturday and helped me get started on the seemingly vast amount of cleaning that needed to be done. Amazingly enough, we managed to clean up the kitchen and get the office and living room mostly sorted out, too! I’ve pared down my rather extensive collection of art supplies and craft materials, and I can’t wait to get going on my bedroom.

Armed with a list of jobs to be done daily, weekly, and monthly, my apartment will never be dirty again! (Cue evil laugh, reminiscent of Scar from The Lion King).

The next newsletter will have photos of the change, I promise – I forgot to take ‘before’ pictures, but the ‘after’ is going to be spectacular, so that won’t matter much! ;)

Last time I wrote, I told you all how much I love the weather here. Well, it’s been raining a lot lately. Not something I particularly enjoy, of course, but I’m surviving – barely! It helps to have a car.

On to the guinea pig… Princess is doing quite well. She is still rather skittish, but seems to be okay with me being around. She’s also talking more. I hope to be able to build her a larger cage and get her a friend or two at some point in the next year.

I also have a fish! He’s a blue betta (Siamese Fighting Fish) named Gary. I’ll have pictures of him next time, but for now really you just need to know his colour and species. I’m thinking of adding a catfish to his tank, and at some point I want to get a real aquarium and stock it with Angelfish. (I finally found a fish I think is interesting enough to really keep seriously!)

Believe it or not, Humphrey and his babies (and the cacti!) are still alive (but, thankfully, not kicking)! This in spite of not being watered for darn near a month before Michael came over to help me clean my house. Phenomenal. Anyone who believes they have a ‘thumb of death’ for plants, I’ll hook you up with a Humphrey baby – the things can’t be killed by neglect, I promise!

On to friendships…

I love being in Calgary, with so many good friends around! Until you’ve been away for a long time, you don’t realize just how important it is to be around your friends a lot.

I especially appreciate my physical nearness to Bethany. She’s still my best friend! We’re slowly learning how to be friends in the same city again. It’s a challenge, but we’re doing pretty well. It helps to both be on Steering Committee for TEC.

Janna and Bethany, together again!
Photo taken Fall 2003

I’m enjoying my other friends (old and new), too, of course! I don’t get to spend enough time with them, but that’s to be expected when we all work and some of us have “significant others” to be with a lot.

Speaking of “significant others” – I happen to have found one. His name is Stuart McKay, and he’s a writer. He teaches writing, and his first book is coming out this fall. He specifically writes poetry. We’ve been together for five weeks, and of course hope that it lasts much longer.

Stuart and Janna
June 26, 2004

My job with the Ability Society has ended for the summer, but I’ll be going back there in September – and I get to continue with the two children I worked with this year!

For the summer, I’m working with the same 9yo boy in the mornings. I’m still looking for something in the afternoons, but I’m confident that God will lead to the right position.

The beauty of this situation right now is that I kind of get holidays. I spend my afternoons at home, puttering around and getting all kinds of work done. I have a number of tasks I need to complete for TEC, as well as the house cleaning and some writing I want to do this year. I find it interesting, how productive I am now that the stress of the school year is over.

Oh, I almost forgot! If you want to learn more about my work in the field of autism, you should check out my autism web site! (I have more than one web site.) It’s at http://members.shaw.ca/treatautism - still under construction, but not bad.

I’ve been to two more workshops this year. One was on sensory integration, and the other was training in facilitated communication. I learned a lot at both workshops, especially the one on facilitated communication. I’m very excited to see what kind of training I’ll be getting in the next few years!

Church is still great. I’m very happy at Holy Trinity, though I haven’t yet managed to find the ministry I should be involved in. I’m feeling pushed into the prayer ministry, though, so we’ll see how that goes.

As I mentioned in my last newsletter, I worked TEC 39, as the Adult Director of the music team. It was a lot of work, mostly because I was the most organized (everyone who knows me, gasp in shock at the idea) and the only girl. I was also, of course, the oldest member of the team. But ‘my boys’ were good to me, and we had a good time together!

Quin’Soul, the TEC 39 Music Team!
Devin, Janna, Louis, Tyler, Scott
May 2004

My position of Secretary (on the Steering Committee) has turned out to be a lot of fun! I get to write up the minutes and make comments as I go… demonstrating my fine sense of humour, of course!

Other TEC commitments I have include writing some materials for the PR packages we’re putting together this summer and working on a sub-committee that is going to create a five-year plan for TEC Calgary.

I’m definitely planning to go to Cursillo in the fall – I can’t wait! Dawn and Beth are both going to go as well; it will be wonderful to share the experience with my two closest friends.

I am still hoping to go to China next summer. The agency I will be going through is called Caring For China (http://caringforchina.org). They run orphanages for abandoned children. They mainly care for disabled boys and disabled or typical girls. I will be working with autistic children (of course) and otherwise behaviourally challenging children, and training the permanent staff in my methods. Of course I am very excited about it! (Be on the lookout for my support letters!)

How Have I Done?

In the closing to my last newsletter, I listed several ‘resolutions’ I was going to try to keep. Let’s see how I measure up:

Keep up with correspondence of all kinds
Well, um… I’m trying, really I am!
Keep my home clean and tidy
I’m sure you’re all laughing at this one… but again, I’m trying!
Get enough sleep on work nights
Believe it or not… I’m doing this one!
Be on time for work
Still working on that one. I’ll get it by September!
Spend time each week with one person I care about
Actually doing well with this one, too. No matter how busy I get, I always make time for my friends (and, of course, Stuart).

If you would like to contact me (including to get off my list for these newsletters or to share contact information for someone you know would like to receive my newsletters), please write me at: Janna Hoskin 2707 – 18 Street NW Calgary, AB T2M 3T9 Canada; or e-mail me at janna_louise@yahoo.com (following which I will let you know what shaw.ca address I would like you to use). Also, this newsletter can be found online at http://geocities.com/janna_louise/news2.html

Peace and blessings always,

-Janna Hoskin :)

P.S.
The next page is a larger photo of the TEC 39 band, along with some explanation of who everyone is! Enjoy!

We called ourselves “Quin’Soul” because Devin liked ‘Soul’ that day, and there are five of us.

Devin is at the keyboard. He’s 20, just finished a diploma in jazz piano – an absolutely amazing musician, and a consummate professional!

Louis is on the bass guitar. He’s 17, just finished grade 12. He’s from Rocky Mountain House, and I used to baby-sit him! He’s very laid-back, and easy to get along with… it was a pleasure working with him (and he’s a better bass player than he thinks he is!).

Tyler is on acoustic, but he also plays electric. A gifted worship leader, Tyler is studying music at Rocky Mountain Bible College. He’s also 20, and a lot of fun – if a tad distractible!

Finally, ‘my Scott’. The drummer. He was the youth director for the team. His ability to shape the mood of a song with his careful, sensitive drumming was simply phenomenal!

And what did I do? I sang. That’s about it. Sometimes I sang backup to Tyler’s lead vocals, sometimes I led a song all by myself. I played some hand percussion, and I danced, but mostly I just sang.

Oh, and I stood around with nothing to do when the boys decided to jam (often a jazz combo).

Newsletter #1

2004-02-20T02:49:00.000-07:00

Greetings from Cow Town! :)

You are currently reading the very first issue of my newsletter. It is coming to you because you were once a client, or you are a friend of some sort, or you are a family member (or any combination of these three!).

I thought it would be nice to create such a thing because there are many people with whom I find it difficult to maintain regular contact, and having a newsletter means everyone has pretty much the same information at the same time, so you know what to ask questions about if you write or e-mail me. The newsletter also lets me share my favourite photos with friends and family. :)

The newsletter has three sections: personal, professional, and spiritual. It’s not really split up using headers, but it was easier for me to write something that made sense across the board by making myself follow a flow of topics. If you know me at all well, you know that I can get rather tangential at times. ;)

I hope you enjoy reading this first update on life as myself!

I’ve been living in my basement suite for six months now, and I’m still not finished unpacking! It is, however, shaping up to be a pretty comfortable space; I quite like it. Last week, I finally managed to really clean up, too, so it even looks somewhat better than you’ll see in these pictures.

My kitchen is quite large, and I have a gas stove/oven. The stove has a pilot light, but I use matches to light the oven. I like it because food heats up really quickly, but it’s not the best option if you’re prone to putting eggs on to boil and then forgetting them. On the bright side, the flame only got put out once. On the down side, I almost didn’t notice the smell, and the windows had to be opened for quite a while.

My fridge is fifties’-style and works nicely, though the enclosed freezer needs defrosting, and sometimes food on the top or second shelf freezes! Before Christmas, I moved the kitchen table into the living room. This opened up the kitchen and got rid of the spot I was using as storage for mail! I’m hoping to get a cupboard for under the window and add a moveable island (not too big!) – perhaps a breakfast table – sometime in the near future. Eventually I hope to paint the
walls and cupboards all white.

Kitchen

The bathroom is tiny! I’ve got a nice ‘green frog as accent’ theme going on, but I hope to paint the walls purple when I paint. (Sorry, no pictures!)

The living room has two areas that I now call the living room and the office. The living room is carpeted, and the office isn’t. I want to paint the walls of both rooms a nice royal blue; I think the posters will really pop against the blue. :) And, of course, I need more bookshelves…

Office; Living Room

My bedroom is going to be green someday, I can hardly wait! I’m going to get some wooden boxes for storage in my room. I have a music corner (of course) and I hope to get a sewing machine so I can have a sewing corner, as well. I moved the kitchen table into my bedroom last week when I was cleaning, so the office has more room in it and I have a nice big table for my sewing machine when I get it.

Bedroom

Not only am I getting used to my new place (and to living alone!), I’m having to get used to Calgary again. It’s nice to be back in a city I know well. Most things are still where I left them, though there are new things around.

I love the weather, even if it is unpredictable – that’s one of the best parts about it! I love having snow again, and most people know how much I hate rain – weather-wise, Calgary is way better for me than Vancouver. ;)

I’ve been amazingly lucky – I now have a car! Mom & Dad are selling me their ’95 Ford Escort LX wagon. I needed a car for work and couldn’t get a loan for one, but Mom & Dad were thinking of selling the Ford anyway, and they offered it to me. I flew out to Winnipeg on September 26 and met Mom there. We stayed overnight at a pretty nice hotel, then Mom flew back to Thunder Bay and I drove home. I did it in one day – thirteen hours straight, all alone, but it was fun. :)

Of course, no description of my new life would be complete without telling you about my “new addiction”! Her name is Princess, though when I got her she was Rose.

I got an e-mail from my friend Gina Blank, who lives in Edmonton. She said that she was caring for ‘Rose’ because the class she works in at school couldn’t keep her (they were not looking after her properly), and she needed a new home. I of course wrote back immediately; I’d been missing having a critter since my Tika died in 1999, and I was finally living someplace that would allow such a pet!

‘Rose’ stayed at my brother Michael’s place over the long weekend in October, and I picked her up after TEC (explanation following). She’s a white Abbysinnian with pale brown on her nose and pink eyes – very lovely in my mind! She came with a beautiful wire-topped cage – it has a purple bottom.

I quickly purchased a wall-mounted food dish (she has since broken one of the mounts), a hay rack, and a “Pigloo” (green, of course) for her. I also picked up some proper guinea pig food (she’d been eating “small animal food”, which does not have the proper nutrients in it) and some Timothy hay (more important than the pellets!).

For about the first month she was with me, Princess was absolutely silent. She didn’t even complain when the vet was giving her a checkup! This was extremely disconcerting for me, as an experienced parent of very noisy pigs, but I figured that she was probably traumatized and would start talking when she trusted me. I brought her cage into the living room (where I spend most of my time when I’m home), held her lots, and spoke quietly to her all the time. I was rewarded one Monday night when M*A*S*H was on – Princess was bustling around her cage as usual when she suddenly stoppe din the corner and started “yelling” (wheeking) at me! I was shocked at excited! Princess is still a pretty quiet pig, but she does let me know when she wants something! :)

Some of you may be wondering about my plants. Well, the two cacti are still alive, and one of them even bloomed this month! I took pictures of the process and will post them somewhere among my web sites.

Humphrey and his babies are doing well; I have way more plants than I need, and I’m running out of room! (Pictures will be posted, along with the pictures of the cacti, at some point in the near future.) Be careful – if you live in Calgary or I come to visit you elsewhere, I may be giving you a gift of a Humphrey baby. On the bright side, they are really hardy plants – I tend to forget to water them, but they just keep right on growing…

Speaking of living things with names, it’s been great to be back in a city where I know so many people. Not only did I already have some close friends here, but I’ve been making new friends. Some of my new friends are people I knew a little when I lived here before, but a lot of them are people I’ve met since moving back. I don’t have a lot of time to spend with my friends, but hopefully I’ll be able to manage more this year.

It’s also kind of neat to be back where Michael lives. We don’t spend much time together, but just knowing I have family nearby is really nice.

My Brothers… Charlie’s Angels…?
Michael, Jonathan, Matthew

My Parents – 30 years last summer!

I talk to Matthew fairly regularly on MSN (we have odd conversations in multiple languages) and receive occasional e-mail updates on Jonathan’s life. I also talk to Mom & Dad on a semi-weekly basis.

It was nice to see Aunt Peggy and Uncle Steve (Foster) when they were out this way in November; I had quite the adventure trying to find the house they were staying at! (It was South of the city, and night-time.) I had a nice visit with Aunt Peggy – always wonderful to see family! :)

Of course, I didn’t just move to Calgary for the company (though it is nice). I’m working for an agency called The Ability Society (http://abilitysociety.org). My job title is Program Facilitator with the Tech Tots ECS program. Basically, I teach 1:1 preschool and accompany my clients to their formal preschool classes.

In the mornings, I work with a great 3yo boy who is delayed in some areas, specifically because he needed glasses and didn’t have them until last year. We’re working mainly on his speech, but are trying hard to catch him up with his twin sister in all areas.

In the afternoons, I work with a 4yo girl who has a speech disorder. She’s also tons of fun and very full of energy!

I work with these two Monday-Thursday, and spend Friday in the office, planning sessions and collecting materials. I work with a number of specialists in this job, namely a speech therapist, an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist, and an educational consultant.

I am, of course, still focussed on autism, and in the evenings I work with an awesome 9yo. His program is behavioural and has a lot of input from a speech therapist and occupational therapist, but mainly I am in charge of deciding what to do each day. He has a number of sensory needs that I am learning to deal with, and I now know how to do therapeutic brushing and compressions!

All of this means that from Monday-Friday, I am often gone for close to twelve hours, except for my lunch break. It’s a lot, but I love it and I’m careful to take Saturdays off when I need a complete break from people. :)

At the end of November, I got to attend a one-day workshop about autism in Edmonton. The main speaker was Gail Gillingham-Wylie, a woman I’ve known for years on an autism e-mail list I belong to. This was our first in-person meeting. The other speaker was Julie Skibington, an autistic woman I know from a couple of online lists. It was very neat to be there (I took lots of notes) and to get to talk with them a bit.

One of my biggest challenges in returning to Calgary was having to choose a home church. I didn’t want to simply land up at my old one – it was a good fit when I was younger, but I’m different now than I was. So, I shopped around a little bit and eventually decided to make Holy Trinity Anglican Church (http://holytrinitycalgary.org) my home. Stephen Hambidge is the rector there, Anthony Packwood (http://anthonypackwood.com) leads the music ministry, and a pretty decent number of TECites attend. So I get good teaching, good music, and see friends every week – all things I consider important in a church community. :)

Holy Trinity’s Sanctuary

Of course, my life wouldn’t be complete without a Bible Study, so when Dawn decided to start one, I jumped on it. There aren’t many of us yet, but we have a great time together! Our current study is on discovering our Spiritual Gifts.

In October, I worked TEC 38 (http://tec.ab.ca). For those who aren’t aware, TEC stands for Teens Encounter Christ. We hold retreat weekends twice a year for young people aged 16-21. The weekends are a lot of fun, and I’ve usually enjoyed working them. TEC 38 was no exception! I got to spend time with people ‘new’ and ‘old’, as well as serve God and the others on the weekend. What a blessing!

We had our Annual General Meeting on January 25, and I was elected to the position of Secretary on the Steering Committee. I am expecting to enjoy this position very much. We have our meetings on the third Sunday of every month.

I am working the next TEC – TEC 39. It will be on the May long weekend. I am the Adult Director for the music team for the weekend! We haven’t had our first rehearsal yet, but I know we have a group of fine musicians in the band. It’s going to be wonderful. :)

I’m hoping to attend Cursillo in the Fall – Cursillo is much like TEC, but it’s for adults. I don’t really feel like one yet, but I suppose I have to start acting my age sometime, right?

Next summer, I am planning to go to China. The agency I will be going through is called Caring For China (http://caringforchina.org). They run orphanages for abandoned children. They mainly care for disabled boys and disabled or typical girls. I will be working with autistic children (of course) and otherwise behaviourally challenging children, and training the permanent staff in my methods. Of course I am very excited about it! (Be on the lookout for my support letters!)

Well, thanks for reading this rather long newsletter. It being the beginning of the year and all, I have a few resolutions we can track together (my next newsletter is due out in May or June of this year). (1) I resolve to keep up with my correspondence, e-mail and otherwise. (2) I resolve to keep my home clean and tidy. (3) I resolve to get enough sleep on work nights. (4) I resolve to be on time for all of my work shifts. (5) I resolve to spend time each week with at least one person I care about.

Peace and blessings always,

-Janna Hoskin :)