Way Back When-sday: 2001

2001

Hard to believe it has already been seven years since 2001 - wow!!! In historical terms, it was a monumental year with 9-11 and its aftermath, but I prefer to focus on the everyday matters of that year...and the personal milestones and minutia which marked the year so vividly for me.

First off, I was living here in GORGEOUS Loveland, Colorado...

It wasn't snowy ALL the time...I was actually able to successfully grow flowers for the first time in my life...





I also LOVED Aspen trees - especially in the Fall...my-oh-my!!


And of course there were the Rocky Mountains....sigh...

Here's me in those days (the blond years)...

I was working for the same multi-national big-wig company that I still work for today, but 2001 marked a BIG change in my job. From 1998 - 2000, I traveled extensively throughout the USA conducting training sessions and doing software implementation consulting. It was exciting work, and I LOVED meeting all kinds of people from all over the country, but the travel got OLD REALLY fast! But, as 2000 was drawing to a close, I was laid off from the division I worked for...however, within a week I was hired by a totally different division of the same company, working with the same software, but this job was 100% home-based telecommuting!! Whooo-Hooo!!

I am blessed to still be working there today...but now I telecommute from my home in Houston! I conduct training sessions online (webinars) and I write training materials for help desk software...I'm on the phone alot in meetings...I've never actually met my manager face to face and he's been my manager for 3 years...my co-workers are scattered over 6 different states...such is the life in a virtual office. I LOVE it, because I LOVE being at home. (but I STILL want to be a full time illustrator...but that is a post for another day...
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Artistically, 2001 was the year of the Comeback - during all that travelling in previous years, I did some sketching in the hotel room at night and some piddling on the weekends, but I never really had the time or energy to create any major projects. In 2001, however, the big comeback piece for me was this painting I did for an auction at our church...

- it was a challenging piece, and it had been a LONG time since I had done anything so large and so relatively realistic, but it was gratifying to do...plus it fetched $500 at the auction, so I was really happy about that!

I was still creating some cutesy illustrations too, just for fun and to give to family and friends...

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My sweet Aussie girls were still alive in 2001...I miss them terribly - they were my kids and were the most wonderful dogs...

Ginger

Sydney

Here's Sydney heading toward the big lilac bush in our back yard - gosh, that was the sweetest-smelling, most beautiful shrub - I really miss lilacs - they just can't quite tolerate the heat here...

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As to what was going on in the wider world, here are the top grossing movies of 2001:

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
2. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
3. Shrek
4. Monsters, Inc.
5. Rush Hour 2
6. The Mummy Returns
7. Pearl Harbor
8. Ocean's Eleven
9. Jurassic Park III
10. Planet of the Apes
    
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    So what in the world were you up to in 2001? Did you have a different hair color then :o) ? Did you have pets then that have passed on...or any that are still with you since that year? Were you working inside or outside the home? Did you ever go to Colorado on vacation in those days? Come on, let us know what you were doing that fateful year - we can't wait to hear all about it!