The Decade in Review

Been thinking about writing this blog for two weeks now..but it's been a crazy 15 days of 2010. I can hardly believe that it's been 10 years into the new millennium!! So where has this decade gone and what a journey this decade has been!!

1999-2000- I remember ringing in the new decade with friends and being 40 pounds lighter than I had started 1999 with! 1999 was the year of weight watchers and determination to lose weight. It was the beginning of a new decade for me, a decade of so many changes...and all those changes meant growth!

2000 - This was the year that I started my fitness career. Being a newbie to avid exercise, I became addicted to a class called Body Pump. When one of my favorite instructors had to give up a class due to scheduling conflicts, I wanted to know how I could become an instructor. Well about a month later I attended a 3 day training course and became certified to teach Body Pump. By the end of the year, I was teaching 4 classes a week and being encouraged to train in other types of fitness classes so I could teach more formats and be more of a valuable employee. I had always wanted to be a teacher growing up, in fact there are friends who would tell you stories of how I kept them up late during childhood sleepovers to make them do homework because I was the teacher and we were playing school! It was exciting for me to find a niche to teach- and I never in a million years would have expected it to be fitness!!

2001- This was the year that I continued to get healthy- was holding steady at my 140 weight (from 191) and couldn't lose anymore, but I was happy with size 8 (single digit) and looking and feeling good! I began teaching spin classes, boot camp classes, yoga classes and water aerobics classes. This year I also trained to walk the Avon 3 day Breast Cancer walk and I became a training walk leader which meant I took on average 10 people on weekly walks to build up the stamina and endurance to do the walk. I trained and did the walk with my good friend Maura. It was an amazing experience. This was also the year of "9/11" and our country changed forever, being in travel- the way we handle reservations has completely changed due to this eventful day. I remember the week as it was a crazy week - that Tuesday was 9/11 and the whole country was glued to t.v. sets watching all the news coverage and such...my mom wasn't feeling well that week so I drove up to her house to buy her supplies (juice, meds, etc.)- seemed like a flu bug. That Thursday we got a new mattress delivered- couldn't have been looking more forward to a good night's sleep- but speaking to mom that night, she still wasn't feeling well and I was scheduled to be away for the weekend, I decided to drive to S.F. and take her to the ER. Well by 2am we are pretty sure she has gall stones, my ex-husband is tired and needs to get some sleep for his triathlon that weekend in Monterey--so I take him home and return to the hospital, around 3am they do a sonogram and determine that yes she has gallstones but will wait until the surgeon is on duty in the morning to see what they want to do. I go home for that great sleep on the new mattress- only for about 4 hours when I get the phone call that they will be going into surgery at 11am...back to S.F. I go and then eventually around 130pm they operate (delays because they didn't like her chest x-ray and wanted to talk to her primary physician)- finally around 8pm that night I go home. Ex-husband had gone to Monterey to get ready for his early morning triathlon. I sleep. Saturday I got up at 5am and drove down to Monterey in time for the start of the race...
...my sister who was stuck in Atlanta finally got to come home that friday as that was the first day planes were flying once again after 911...I came home that Sunday, Mom was home from the hospital that Monday and at bingo Tuesday Night! That really was enough events for 2001~ thank you!

2002- I had been working on a corporate cruise group of 600 people and the cruise was set for January- exhubby and I went on the cruise with the group and I knew the income from this group and all my hard hours of work would come to fruition as that took us out of credit card debt and into mortgage debt! Yes, by February we had found a townhouse that we liked, but a bid on it, and by April 1st, we were homeowners! We took a month to get the house ready with paint, floors etc and moved in May 1st. The rest of the year was all about entertaining in our new home with many house warming group parties and then our first real Christmas in our home- we hosted xmas eve with the De Leon family and xmas day with the Harper family. It really was a great year! Oh but can't forget that I followed in mom's footsteps and had my gall bladder removed in October- 13 months after her! Oh yes, and the Giants made it to the World Series that year- I was at the game a week after my surgery!

2003- Well this was my year of tremendous growth. The marriage wasn't going well and we had started going to therapy at the end of 2002- thought it helped. I was wrong. My intuition told me in April that something was up and I very easily confirmed that my husband (now ex) was cheating on me. I confronted my ex on my sister's 50th birthday - April 4th, hosted a beautiful family dinner for her without the family knowing anything was wrong..and then on April 5th, while he was on a century bike ride with a friend, I confronted the "mistress bitch"- who worked at one of the gyms where I taught. (he also taught there)- she didn't deny it, I asked her to stop seeing him and she said she didn't think she could do that.

I tried for months to fix things, to work on things, to see what could be different. I was smart enough to know that we could not live in the same house if he was going to continue to see the bitch- so April 30th, exactly one year after moving into the house- he moved out. I then began my process and tried to figure things out. I finally made my weight watchers goal and got down to 131- that's divorce diet for you! I lived at the gym- both for my sanity and worked out like a crazy person, but also for the additional income because now I was on my own. I did have him paying 1/2 the mortgage because he didn't want to mess up his credit. But I needed every dollar I could bring in. I would never have gotten through this time if it weren't for great family and friends who were always there for me! And the locals ones who fed me many nights - and distributed wine!! (you know who you are and I love you all) I made it through the year...the holidays were very hard- I was invited to spend Christmas Eve at my brother-in-law's house, he specifically called me and said, "it wouldn't be Christmas without you". I pretty much knew it was the last Christmas with that part of the family, so I went and put together some very wonderful picture disks of the years with the family. I had been with most of the kids since they were born. It was a very emotional evening and everyone was great- i think even my ex, who was there was touched- but of course he was off to NYC the next day with his mistress. I drove home and cried the whole way home, while talking on the cell phone to Diane, Janet and Linda...they got me home in one piece..I freshened up and went to candlelight mass by myself. That year I spent New Years Eve with my brother and his wife and nephews. The wife and nephews went to bed early and me and brother cheered at midnight! His marriage was on the decline at that point too.

2004 - well I started the year "done" with wanting to work things out in the marriage. I was on match.com, meeting people, going on dates and being very surprised that people wanted to date me- wow, the lack of confidence that I had!! It was a great process...March 2003 came and I could finally buy the ex-husband out on the house (2 year prepayment penalty kept us from doing it sooner)- I went to Hawaii with my friend Lisa to celebrate her 40th and the day we flew back I was officially a homeowner by myself!! That was scary because now I had to pay for that mortgage all by myself!! PLUS I needed a social budget! I started to go dancing with the girls- sometimes in S.F., sometimes in San Mateo and then Lisa finally got me to the Saddle Rack in Fremont. I was hooked!! This was in April and I started going every weekend and basically 3 times a week...with or without her. Come May, I had developed a crush on a guy who I always saw at the Saddle Rack, most of the time alone and thought he was cute. One weekend he was there and Linda and I were there on a Saturday night- the opening band was awful- so we were chatting, getting to know each other and everything I learned I loved. We danced off and on and knew we wouldn't see each other for two weeks- Memorial Day weekend he was going to Arizona to see his family and I was going to Tahoe for my mom's 75th birthday. The first weekend in June we all hung out and my friend Sherry asked if I had a crush on Bill, I told her I did and she told him..I didn't know it at the time, but she then went to the movies with him the next day (I was invited but had a date)- but she talked about me the entire day- so come Monday he asked her for my contact information and he was on Yahoo instant messenger 5 minutes later contacting me. Well we had our first date June 10th and pretty much saw each other 3 times a week until July and by the end of July we were together every day- he stayed with me Thursdays-Sundays and I stayed at his place Mondays-Wednesdays. We were inseparable. Majorly in LOVE and by December I had to be realistic and he moved in. My divorce was officially final December 3rd and he felt comfortable moving in once I was "free". I was also relieved to have financial help - but we both knew this was forever!!

2005- the big events of the year...vacations started to happen because now I have a boyfriend who wants to go places with me! I open up my own travel agency from home- Pams Path to Travel and he supports my decision and encourages me to succeed. We talk all the time about forever and wanting to get married someday. On Bill's birthday June 24th, he proposes to me on stage at the Saddle Rack with most of our friends there that night. Diane was sick that night (and prego) and wasn't there, and she regretted not being there. I said "YES" - of course...and didn't sleep all night. That Saturday morning I called my mother on the way to the gym and woke her up- but I had to tell her...she was thrilled...I then taught and told my two classes at the gym- they were all excited and then after class I called Diane and said "I don't care if you're sick, I have to come over and show you something"- she knew! then off to see my brother and his wife...then I came home, sent a mass email, made a few more phone calls- but I was quickly losing my voice and then took a long nap!!! This was a sad weekend for my sister because they were spending their last weekend with Brillo before putting him to sleep that monday.

We spent the rest of the year making wedding plans- when we realized that June 10th was a Saturday in 2006, it was an easy decision since that was our first date anniversary! Although, where there is happiness, there is also sadness- Labor Day weekend, my sister-in-law moved out and left my brother and her oldest son (she took the youngest son with her)..I cried.

2006 - We got married!! We traveled!! We paid cash for the wedding!! We had a fabulous year- business was booming. The wedding week/weekend was the most amazing week though. During the week we were spoiled by people, I went for a massage and facial and Gina and Diane had chocolate covered strawberries and champagne for me between my services...I got my nails done at my salon and they did them gratis as a wedding gift...my water aerobics class gave me $100 wedding gift...friends throwing showers that I didn't expect..it was really a magical time and we realized just how many people loved us and loved what we found together. Once we got to Tahoe, everything went so smoothly- we had a nice romantic dinner just the two of us the first night before everyone arrived..we had so much fun seeing people arrive that Friday and greeting people..great dinner the night before the wedding so our families could get to know each other..then Saturday started with room service breakfast, hair appointments, make up, and a 1230pm chapel call- everything started right on time. We both cried, everything went wonderfully, the reception was fantastic, great food, good music, we danced- had so much fun and got to talk to everyone! Then an evening out on the Lake for a dinner cruise- more relaxed and spent some quality time with those who joined us for that!! Then dancing at Harrah's bar until 2am!! So much fun!! Day after we got to see our video, relaxed by the pool, slept in...we went to breakfast...some people went home, we had another night before we came home- so we had our top layer of cake for dinner and breakfast the next day- it was soo good!

We honeymooned in Hawaii in September and had a great time..kind of ironic that cruise fanatics like us took a land vacation for our honeymoon. We had an amazing time.

2007- We had another great year- the year started out as we became Godparents when Nolan was baptized in January. We vacationed in Punta Cana with Janet and Brad. We took our first Alaska Cruise that departed on our 1st anniversary and that was a lot of fun. It was also the first cruise for my brother and nephews and they really enjoyed themselves. And we traveled to Club Med Cancun just ourselves. Overall, the family remained healthy- brother's divorce was still in progress and ugly and financially draining.

2008- This was a year of ups and downs-- finally my brother's divorce was final in May- she moved out September 2005, filed August of 2006 and it took almost two years to get finalized. She then moved months later to San Jose and told the younger son to choose where he wanted to live- so my brother officially became a single dad of two teenage boys. I admire him and all that he has done, it has not been easy - but both boys are very good young men and have so much potential. The younger one has his struggles thanks to that "mother" he once had- but together we are all trying to help him. It was also in 2008 (May) that my sister was diagnosed with Breast Cancer- a very scary time for our family, but after surgery, chemo and radiation- her journey was relatively "easy" and I say that lightly because there is nothing easy about it, but she got through it with family and friends to help her and her husband was by her side every step of the way. We took a Disney Cruise with a group of 19 people, had a blast! We did a Pacific Northwest Cruise with another group of 30 people- all clients and that was a lot of fun as well. We celebrated Suzy's 40th birthday on a 4 day cruise to Cabo and went to Disneyland for Halloween!! Economy was slumping, but we still did a lot of very cool things!!

2009- The year that the economy really slumped- actually it started to slump at the end of 2008, but that is normally a slow time for my business- at the beginning of the year I wanted the year to at least be comparable to 2008 and basically I came within $10K of 2008- so that is good in the economic climate. My sister's journey with cancer ended in February- with her last radiation treatment- her hair growing in is beautiful!! The furry child was diagnosed with CRF disease and given 6- 9 months to live; however, at the time of this blog, he is still amongst us and it's past the 9 months- he's doing well, definitely declining in health, but still very much alive. Many vacations once again, we are blessed- we took another Alaska Cruise to celebrate Mom's 80th birthday and we had an amazing time with beautiful weather, fabulous glaciers and wildlife--truly a great experience!! My sister and Roger came with us. We spent a week in Palm Springs and went to Stagecoach Music Festival again, had Bill's brother and family join us for part of the time and that was really neat to spend time with them...we also went to Jamaica for a week to Beaches Negril. We did a long weekend in Connecticut for Aunt Kitty and Uncle Ray's 50th wedding anniversary and finished off the year with Disneyland for the holidays and got to see all the Christmas decorations! A full December with lots of social gigs, and finished off with New Year's Eve at the Saddle Rack- it was a great year even though the economy was slumpy!

Welcome to 2010- hard to believe we're already 10 years into this century!! I've got to say that I am anxious for this new decade. I've been having the time of my life and am blessed to have the best friends and family in the world. Bill and I, although we don't have kids- we are helping my brother raise his two boys and doing whatever we can to help with that. We have an amazing Godson who is so much fun to be around..we have food on the table, a roof over our heads, a loving kitty and jobs! My business is still going strong- I am blessed to have clients who are traveling. I am still teaching classes at the gym- 3 spin classes per week, but want to make 2010 the year that I get back into teaching more and adding some variety. I miss Body Pump tremendously and want this to be the year that I am teaching that again, I want to teach more line dancing. I am so passionate about both Line Dancing (well dance in general) and Body Pump - I need to be sharing these great activities with others!

I look forward to the new decade and all that it will bring- more adventures with my amazing husband. Great times with family and friends!