Well, the first decade of the 21st century is over (unless you're a puritan who thinks it doesn't end till the end of 2010). Hard to believe really. The 90's still don't seem that long ago to me. I think 2010 has kinda snuck up on me in a way. It sounds really futuristic. Growing up in the 80's the Year 2000 was always there as some kind of futuristic milestone. And when it finally arrived we partied like it was 1999. However I never really thought any further past that. In the Year 2000 we were supposed to be flying round in hover cars and all that, wearing silver spandex. But the Year 2010 was even beyond futuristic. We were supposed to be living in space by then. Or maybe I've just been watching too many bad sci fi movies.
In any case, the end of a year always calls for reflections on the past, and the end of a decade even more so. Here are my top memories for the years 2000-2009:
Y2K - Why not include the turn of the century in this reflection. I remember New Year's Eve I worked late, till 8 o'clock I think, making sure everyone followed the procedures my colleagues and I had been working on all year. Making sure everyone that was going home turned off their computers, and that everyone that was still working knew what to do if the world ended and the computers melted down. I remember I went home to finish working on my outfit for that night (a shiny gold shirt). 10 years on I still keep my toenails painted gold (my homage to the future that we were promised? Nah I just think it looks cool). By the time I joined Peter and his friends at a bar on Courtenay Place, it was 10pm. They'd been partying for a while whereas I was stone sober. Didn't manage to catch up with them in terms of drunkeness but I still had a good time. Watched the fireworks from the wharf. Saw that the world did not end and the lights did not go out. Kept partying for a while longer. Considered staying up to watch the sunrise but ended up going home and crashing around 2 or 3am.
Early 2000 - Peter quit his job. He was going to go contracting and earn top dollars. We talked about moving to the States to live.
March 2000 - Peter and I jumped out of an aeroplane. For fun.
October 2000 - Peter and Phoenix play in their first big paintball event, at the NZ Nats in Auckland.
June 2001 - Peter gets asked to join the Saints paintball team, with regular training in Auckland.
September 11, 2001 - I'll never forget waking up to the radio alarm on the morning of September 12th. Pauline Gillespie was talking about the twin towers and how she couldn't believe they weren't there any more. And about how Nick had taken some contest winners there only a few months earlier. I wondered what she was talking about. I remembered there'd been a bomb there a while back and wondered if they'd had to demolish the towers. Peter got up. Then Pauline started talking about a plane. I realised there was more to it than that and got up as well. At the same time Peter came back into the room and told me I had to come and watch CNN. That's when I learned the whole truth. I was late for work that day. It didn't matter. The world as we knew it had changed forever. I was worried about my friend John who was living in Wisconsin and soon to be going to New York but I didn't know when. Luckily I heard from him later in the day and he was safe at home and hadn't been due to fly for another week. I'll never forget the images from that day. But I still can't watch them on the TV without covering my eyes. It's just too horrible.
Moving to Auckland - In October/November 2001 Peter and I decided to move to Auckland. Post Sept 11 we decided against moving to the States any more. His paintball team was in Auckland. My company's head office was now in Auckland. And my best friend was in Auckland. I applied for a job at head office and was accepted. Beginning of December we bought a house in Auckland. End of December the movers came to pack our stuff. We headed off on a two week holiday around the South Island before moving into our new house in early January 2002.
March 2002 - My 30th birthday. Planned several fun events that I'd never done before, such as ice skating and going to the comedy club. The comedy club became a regular haunt for us over the next four years.
November 2002 - My first trip to Northland. Paihia, Waitangi, the hole in the rock, Tane Mahuta, the car ferry at Rawene, Ninety mile beach, Cape Reinga.
Late 2002 - Begin gym membership at Les Mills Takapuna, and become a regular at Friday 5.40pm Body Jam sessions. A wonderful way to finish the week and blow off steam in a very fun manner.
By now we have also established a routine of Games Night every other Friday with Lou and Poppy.
Round the World Trip - My friend Tina moved to Oxford, England in 2002(?). I was dying to go and visit her as I love that part of the world and every time she sent photos back I was so jealous. In July 2003 Peter went to Texas to spend some time with his mum and family. In August 2003 I went overseas as well. I decided that since I was going all the way to England I might as well stop off in the States on the way and see friends there too. I spent a couple of days in Washington State with Peter's dad and family, and a couple of days in Chicago & Wisconsin with my friend John. Then I had a couple of weeks in England and had a great time, tripping around and seeing lots of things. Then, since I'd already stopped off in the States and England, I also stopped off in Moscow to visit my friend Tara. Which was a huge change after America and England.
December 2003 - Peter's 30th birthday which we travelled to Wellington for. Also Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King world premiere which I also travelled to Wellington for (for the street party, not to see the movie). Also we saw Robbie Williams and Duran Duran in concert in Auckland.
New Years Eve 2004/05 - Peter and I partied all night on K Road. Wish we'd done it more often.
February 2004 - Long weekend trip to Coromandel with Lou and Poppy to test out the tent before our overseas trip.
Big European Trip - After each going separately in the past, Peter and I finally went to Europe together in March/April 2004. After first playing paintball at Huntington Beach, California, we continued on to Europe, driving and camping through France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Luxembourg. It was a fantastic trip of a lifetime.
August 2004 - Peter's grandmother came out to visit us from the States. Took her on a whirlwind tour of the North Island. Came home to find our house had been burgled.
Christmas 2004 - Spent two weeks with Lou and her family at the pub at Kokatahi on the West Coast.
Boxing Day 2004 - The Indian Ocean tsunami. It was hard to appreciate the full extent of the tragedy while we were on holiday but it was obvious what a huge disaster this was. Stands out as one of the bigger "where were you when" moments of the decade.
February 2005 - Peter and I went to Australia for a paintball tournament in Rockhampton, preceeded by a holiday in Sydney and on Great Keppel Island where I went snorkelling for the first time.
April(?) 2005 - I became pregnant with Kathleen, which began the biggest change of my whole life. Some time after this Peter and I decided we wanted to move back to Wellington, and towards the end of the year he started looking for a job in Wellington.
July 2005 - The terrorist attacks on London. While it didn't affect me personally, it stands out as one of the bigger news events of the decade. Because it happened to the London I love. Kings Cross station, where I'd only been a year and a half earlier, where my friend Rose worked. Russell Square, where I'd stayed at a hostel only a year and a half earlier. My London.
October 2005 - Peter and I went to Australia for another paintball tournament.
November 2005 - My dad passed away suddenly. Definitely one of the hardest periods of my life. Too sad to really talk about it.
December 2005 - My last day at work. Ever.
Kathleen - Kathleen Isabel Hamilton was born on 21 January 2006 and has been by my side almost every day since then. An enormous challenge which I was little prepared for in the early days, but have since learnt a lot from this experience. And am still learning.
October 2006 - Peter finally got a job in Wellington. He moved to take up the position while I stayed behind to sell the house.
November 2006 - Peter's grandfather passed away and he rushed to Texas to be with him and the rest of the family.
Moving to Wellington - December 2006 Kathleen and I joined Peter in Wellington, where we stayed for the next two years.
February(?) 2007 - I became pregnant with Victoria. I decided Kathleen's first year wasn't too bad so why not try again. Haha.
March 2007 - Peter, Kathleen and I travelled to the States for his grandfather's funeral at Arlington national cemetary in Washington. Also visited family in Maine and Washington State.
Victoria - In November 2007 Victoria Melanie-Rose Hamilton was born in the front yard in Island Bay, in one of the more memorable events of the decade. Like Kathleen, she has been by my side almost every day since then too. This time the challenge wasn't so much how to look after a newborn, but how to care for two children with completely different needs.
April(?) 2008 - We found a house and property on TradeMe that we liked the look of. Had been looking at land in the Kapiti/Horowhenua/Manawatu on and off for a year or so but not looking too seriously. However we fell in love with the place and put in an offer.
October 2008 - Sold our house in Island Bay.
Moving to Levin - December 2008, Peter, Kathleen, Victoria and I moved to our current house near Levin. Beginning the second most ambitious lifestyle change of the decade.
May/June 2009 - Peter's father passed away and he again had to rush to the States to be with family.
Norfolk Island - November 2009 I enjoyed my first child-free holiday since Kathleen was born almost four years ago, with my best friend Lou, on Norfolk Island. It was a wonderful time, already relegated to the distant past, but which I will remember with fondness.
And so here we are. The end of the decade. What changes it has seen. Moving house three times. Losing several family members, not to mention the famous people the world has lost. Huge changes in terms of technology. Six overseas trips. And of course two children, who not only define my life now, but ARE my life. What a contrast from the happy-go-lucky 27 year old of 10 years ago.
The time they are a'changing. And always will be.
-Megz
Tomorrow Kathleen will be Four. Such a big girl. She seems a lot older than that sometimes. Her friends are all older than her, some are four and some are already five. I worry a little what will happen when her four-year-old friends turn five and go off to school. She will just have to play with some of the younger children I guess. Kathleen is practically ready for school already and I think this is going to be a very long year waiting till she can go to school. She knows her alphabet, can read and write all her letters. She can read some words and knows how to sound the letters out to read the word, but gets frustrated sometimes. Over the school holidays we've hired a couple of board games from the Toy Library. One is called Bus Stop and you play by adding or taking away passengers from your bus whether you land on a + or - sign. So Kathleen has been learning some maths basics as well.
Tomorrow is Kathleen's actual birthday. She doesn't know it yet but she will be getting a brand new bunk bed. Followed by a trip to Palmerston North to buy the duvet of her choosing (please, please don't choose Princesses). She is still sleeping in the same Touchwood cot (with sides removed) that she's had since she was born. But her feet now reach the very end so it is time for an upgrade. We're getting bunks that convert to single beds. The idea is that when Victoria is older they can share a room and Kat will have the top bunk, but for now the second bed will live in the spare room.
If I were to make a prediction, I would say Kathleen will have a career in the performing arts, whether as an actress or as a writer. Her passion is definitely drama. Today for example all she wanted to do was to play act the stories of Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Cinderella, etc, etc, etc. I wish she could get her toys and play the stories with them, but she needs human interaction and feedback and so I got roped in to play these games with her. She has always loved play acting, whether it is simple pretend games or playing out fairy tales like we did today, or acting out the movies and TV shows she loves to watch. When she's not acting or watching TV or playing computer games, she likes to look at books and make up her own stories. She has quite a vivid imagination. We've gone for a lot of long drives lately and Kathleen likes to talk the entire time. When we get sick of playing eye spy or guess the song she will just start talking to herself and telling stories. I'll even suggest a title for the story and she will make up something appropriate.
