I remember there being so much hoopla going around in the months leading up to new year's eve [December 31st] 1999... everyone was concerned that once we hit the year 2000 that all banking systems, financial systems and our computer systems were going to collapse with the mere changing from the year 1999 to 2000.
Needless to say, it was just a case of the sky falling. I guess it was better to be prepared, than not.
Ahhhh the turn of the new millennium... like a fresh start at life, so much to look forward to.
This first decade of the new millennium was an eye opener to me. A new lease on life. An opportunity to do it right!
The most horrible thing as I look back onto that decade... was my deciding that I had to move away from my sons. My intentions were to save myself from myself, and for my sons not to see the wreck I had become. [in the late 90s.]
In November of 2000, after much consideration, and talking with my sons... I decided to move back to Los Angeles [and away from the beautiful Northwest].
Both my son's social life was starting to grow; there were sleep overs and birthday parties, as well as sporting functions... what was I supposed to do? Was I supposed to tell them "No, this is my weekend and I haven't seen you all week?" I can't lay that on a child.
Just because my sons' father and I were divorced, it did not mean that my sons were to stop enjoying and having their childhood.
I still have mixed emotions about my decision. After all I moved 900+ miles away from them...
However in my defense, after speaking to their father (at the time) about my moving, there was no indication that he was going to turn on me as he did, and not allow the boys to come spend time with me during the summer vacations or alternating major holidays. WHAT WAS I THINKING!?! No indication?! I've got to be kidding!!.. There were plenty of red flags! I was just naive in thinking that maybe, just maybe things would get better.
In my moving back to Los Angeles (home, where my family lived), I did stop going out and drinking as much as I was.. I went from going out 10 out of 14 days, to exercising and leading a healthy life, going out to an occasional dinner! I'm pretty sure I saved my life.
Going back home also gave me the opportunity to reacquaint myself with my parents, after all they were getting older and I had been away for over eight years. I did fly back and took several road trips with my boys.
What an eye opener!! The first year I was back, well... it was as if the fog lifted. It was a as if I saw my parents for who they really were... the first time ever.
Coming back home was not all that bad... for the first time, as an adult... I started to meet myself. Yes, "meet" myself. I was blessed to have my brother in a position to be able to help me~ and was invited to move in with him. I loved that time of my life. We lived in Venice, California... blocks from the beach.
I ended up getting a job at Gold's Gym in Venice.
Yes! I found myself working in the middle of the mecca of body building. What a great time that was! I worked in their pro-shop. Learned about nutrition and eating healthy. I'd work out from four in the morning and then open the pro-shop up by six. I'd get off by 2:30 in the afternoon and then work out for another two hours. At forty-eight I was in the best shape in my life!! Dean once said, forget about a six pack, I had a twelve pack!
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| 22nd March, 2003 |
It wasn't until the following summer of 2001, when I first realized that I had my soul mate under my nose for the past five years. Dean and my brother played ice hockey together for about ten or more years, and I had met him several times on my trips back from when I'd visit from the Northwest (I'd always stay at my brother's house when visiting~ it just felt like home to me.
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| 13th October, 2006 |
Through my friendship with Dean, I learned how a family should treat one another. I learned what true integrity was. For the first time in my life I realized how dysfunctional my family really was.
Before family and friends, I married my best friend and soul mate on Saturday March 22nd, 2003 (my 40th birthday). Three and a half years later, on Friday October the 13th, we were blessed with the birth of our only daughter After loosing Dean's mom Sally [June 30th, 2005,] and my father Carlos [March 31st, 2006,] to cancer and its complications, we decided to blend their names and name our daughter after them both.. Calley.
On August 16th, 2008, Dean, Calley and I, after six months of Dean not being able to find work, Dean finds a job back where his father's side of the family lives and ... we pack everything up in a u-haul and our mini van, traded in our beach clothes for cowboy hats and moved to El Paso, Texas. and they lived happily ever after. wink, wink.
Some of the highlights of the decade were...
on April 3 2000 [US vs] Microsoft is ruled to have violated US antitrust laws by keeping an oppressive thumb on its competitors...
Dora the explorer is introduced to children all over the United States on August 14th, 2000...
Playstation comes out on October 26th, 2000...
Bush vs Gore... US Supreme Court stops the Florida presidential recount, giving the state and the presidency to George W Bush on December 13th, 2000...
Steve Job's iPod is introduced to the world on November 10th, 2001...
MySpace first goes online in August of 2003, fails as a social network but succeeds for a way for musicians to show off and share their music.
Sex and the City ends its six seasons on television on February 22nd, 2004.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero, the former site of the World Trade Center complex destroyed during the September 11, 2001 attacks, occurs in New York City on July 4, 2004
On the 26th of December in 2004, the southeast Asian tsunami occurs following a 9.3 Richter scale earthquake in the Indian Ocean. Two hundred and ninety thousand people die from Sri Lanka to Indonesia, creating one ot the greatest humanitarian tragedies in history. A worldwide relief effort, led by the United States and many other nations, is mobilized to assist..
YouTube is founded in February 2005...
On the 26th of December in 2004, the southeast Asian tsunami occurs following a 9.3 Richter scale earthquake in the Indian Ocean. Two hundred and ninety thousand people die from Sri Lanka to Indonesia, creating one ot the greatest humanitarian tragedies in history. A worldwide relief effort, led by the United States and many other nations, is mobilized to assist..YouTube is founded in February 2005...
American cyclist Lance Armstrong wins his record 7th straight Tour de France on July 24th, 2005.
On September 26th, 2006, Facebook was opened to everyone of age 13 and older with a valid email address.
Sony's wii first goes on sale on November 19th, 2006...
On September 26th, 2006, Facebook was opened to everyone of age 13 and older with a valid email address.
Sony's wii first goes on sale on November 19th, 2006...
The Sopranos ends its seven year run on June 10th, 2007...
Steve Jobs' iPhone changes the way we look at cell phones on June 29th, 2007.
On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama, Democratic Senator from Illinois, the land of Abraham Lincoln, wins a landslide margin in the Electoral College, 365 to 173 in the election for the 44th President of the USA over John "he's such a Maverick" McCain, making him the first African-American president in the history of the United States of America.
The H1N1 virus, named the Swine Flu, is deemed a global pandemic by the World Health Organization on June 1, 2009. This is the first such designation since the Hong Kong flu in 1967-1968.
Flare Jeans; Blogging; The phrase, "That's Hot" (made famous by Paris Hilton); Napolean Dynamite; William Hung; Wide skate shoes with fat laces; Mentos and Coke; Dance Dance Revolution; Reality TV Shows; Atkins / Low Carb Diets; Snoop Dogg speak; Energy Drinks (Red Bull, Full Throttle, Monster Energy, etc.); Razor Scooters; Texas hold 'em Poker; Tivo / DVR; Fantasy Leagues; Speed Dating; Flash Mobs; Thongs; Text messaging; Uggs (boots);
Oversized sunglasses; Ring Tones; Hybrid cars; TV/DVD screens in cars; Using Online Slang In Speech (OMG, BRB, etc.); Crocs (shoes); Bluetooth; World of Warcraft; Jared the Subway Guy; P2P File Sharing (Napster, Kaaza, etc.); LiveSTRONG yellow wristbands (to support the fight against cancer); The Da Vinci Code; Low Rise Jeans; US flags on cars; Wireless Camera Phones; Bratz Dolls; Craigslist; Botox; Social Networks (MySpace.com / Facebook.com); Vlogs (bideo blogs); and Sudoku puzzles to mention a few...
Crack is cheap. I make too much money to ever smoke crack. Let's get that straight. OK? We don't do crack. We don't do that. Crack is whack. ~ Whitney Houston 2002
Is this chicken or is this fish? ~ Jessica Simpson, on tuna, 2003
Psychiatry is a pseudoscience…. You don’t know the history of psychiatry. I do…Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt, Matt, you don’t even -you’re glib. You don’t even know what Ritalin is. ~ Tom Cruise clashes with Matt Lauer about psychology, 2005
They misunderestimated me. George Bush, on himself, 2000
Blessings to all!!
113 days to go...
PS... for a, l and c. You are my sunshine(s).
Some images courtesy of google images. Others are marked accordingly, and are property of Carla Barila Karam and Taking Back Life ~ Making It My Own, this blog. All U.S Copyright laws apply. ©
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