I stepped away from creating content for a while, feeling like I didn’t have the time to be creative and express what was on my mind with everything going on in every other part of my life.
A sudden influx of Treasury Board submissions without the right amount of staff to support them. Growing kids who needed us to help them with the struggles going on in their lives. No matter which way I looked, it felt like something was fighting for my attention, and I had no idea how I was going to get out from under it all.
But after coming into 2023, determined to learn from the things that made my 2022 so difficult, I started seeing things changing for the better. My new work attitude helped me get things done, trusting my staff to handle their portfolios instead of getting involved in every little decision. And it didn’t hurt that I finally started using OneNote to keep everything organised, using the sections for each portfolio to not only track updates on the work, but also request more info from the leads whenever I needed them. Taming my full-time job played a big role in dealing with part of my 2022 that I hadn’t beaten yet—the problems with my health.
Who Knew How Much of a Difference Water Could Make???

I got the news a couple of days before Christmas—that with a blood pressure of 136/89, I was getting dangerously close to hypertension and needed to start watching how much sodium I was taking in with my diet. And with my blood glucose starting to veer into the pre-diabetes range, I needed to watch what sugar I was taking in, too.
Funny enough, I’d already been making some strides by this point—in November, I’d made the switch to drinking water from the soft drinks and beer I’d frequently consume before, trying to hit three litres a day to build some healthier habits into my life.
And some of the effects were pretty immediate! I shaved twelve pounds off my peak pandemic weight, and some of my older clothes were starting to fit again. I wouldn’t cramp up after vigorous physical activity, which I’d been attributing to age instead of hydration. Grogginess seemed to be a thing of the past when I woke up and didn’t miss my other drinks after a while. In fact, I tried having a beer the other day in a moment of frustration, and despite it being on the lighter side at 4.8% alcohol, my head started feeling a little light after only a few sips, so it didn’t quite feel like it’s currently the thing for me.
But despite those efforts, that doctor’s visit showed that hydration was just the start of my journey. There was much more I still needed to do!