It’s been a minute since I last wrote and posted something. It doesn’t mean I haven’t been doing anything. On the contrary, a sh*t ton has happened in my life since the summer started.
Firstly, I got a new job. I wasn’t looking. I was perfectly content being a design strategist. Helping brands and companies realize their potential. I pretty much would have been given the “keys to the kingdom” if I hung in there long enough. But an opportunity came my way. And Iike I said, I wasn’t looking. So I decided to entertain the notion of going on these “business dates” aka exploratory interviews. And after several months, I was offered the Director of Marketing and Outreach at Lemay.
Why did I decide to leave L’institut Idee and the Humanise family? It’s because I’m ambitious. I wanted to use all my years to help differentiate brands and focus on one. Build one brand up. Now, Lemay is well-known in Quebec, but in the rest of Canada, not so well known. A friend even thought I was working for a cosmetic company…ouch. I can see the potential. Lemay has the potential to really stand out from all the other Canadian design firms and make a name for itself. Check out the recent brand refresh we did this fall.
Secondly, my mother got really sick this summer and it’s been a long road to recovery. It happened so suddenly. We traveled up to my house in Manitouwadge to do some work and supervise the roof getting one. She wasn’t feeling well the whole way up there. After several days, I decided to take her to the hospital. That’s when you hear the news you don’t want to hear. The doctor told us to go back to Hamilton ASAP as they don’t have the specialists to treat her up here. So I made the decision to drive all day and night, 14 hours in total, and dropped her at the hospital, where she stayed for 3 weeks. It was like watching an episode of House because they couldn’t figure out what was causing her condition. They tested her for everything and it came back negative. All they could tell us is that the numbers that should be going down are going down and the numbers that should be going up are going up. She’s home now in recovery, getting blood work done every several weeks and regular check-ups. We are all, like the doctors, uneasy about them finding no diagnosis. It’s like the phrase, “health is wealth.” She had just retired this year and then this happens. The family has been very supportive and we think she probably is recovering faster than usual because she has all of us around her to support her recovery. Whether you believe in God, the universe, mind over matter, in intense situations like that, you call upon anything and everyone possible to see your family survive. A friend said, that through this period I have built up so much emotional resilience. And they are right. Because…
Thirdly, during this whole time, I bought another property! I bought a cottage, $20K under asking. That’s right! I think since the spring when COVID was ramped, I realized that I could do my job anywhere. And in the absence of not being able to travel, I wanted to be near the water and sand. So, I started looking for lakefront properties. Now, this wasn’t the first property I went after. The first one I wanted, I went $30K over asking and didn’t get it. This was the second property I saw. It was still on the market after I lost the first one, so I decided to put an offer in. And while I was in the hospital waiting for some results of my mother’s tests, my realtor called me and told me I got it. It’s much closer than Manitouwadge, about 1.5 hours south of Hamilton. I’ve already met my neighbours and I enjoy the beach regularly. So yes, I have 2 properties now.
And lastly, my property up north – Manitouwadge. I’ve decided to sell it. After my mother getting sick, this is too far to have a property. During the fall and my contractor and I were up there, working away on renovations. The hardest part was been getting materials. Everything I ordered up there arrived damaged. A 1-2 week renovation, is still on-going. I hope to be done and sold in the spring. Check out my instagram for the property @graham.wadge where you can see all the renos that I’ve been doing.
I know I just dropped a lot in this post, so I’ll be writing more detailed posts about each of these events. So stay tuned…
Richelle Sibolboro 