A Distanced Game Day

Last year Teri and her family launched an annual event in honour of her late father. Gord's Game Day is held in September and brings people together to be outside, active, and connected. Her dad was involved in many team sports both playing and organizing them, as well as, a driving force for their extended family to gather and have a good time. The event last year, in 2019, was at a public park in Hamilton, with obstacle courses, giant jenga, soccer and more. Entry fees and fundraising go towards the Brain Aneurism Foundation of Canada.

With the pandemic this year, the event had to go 'virtual' with a request that family groups and small gatherings of friends try to keep the budding tradition going by running their own Game Day in honour of Gord. A bunch of the participants sent in photos and clips from their activities, which have been made into a video. We did our own Game Day at the waterfront in August, organized by K. The video starts off with a clip from that day and me pushing a ball of Jason's spoon during a race (I am the worst!) You can catch glimpses of Teri, her mother and brother, Greg, R.O.M, K, Jason, Mike, LeMonde, Kristen, Noah, Leo, Monica, Andras, Sebi, and the list goes on. It is a fun montage!

Happy Easter

K sent us this image with a message that said "Looking forward to the day I can hang out with my peeps again"

Me, Maria, Matty, Teri, Monica 

as Peeps! for Easter 2020 done by K

Super cute! Don't know why she picked a photo where Monica has her eyes closed but the rest of us look good. I don't think I have ever had a Peep, don't they have coconut on them, or is that something else? And I agree with her statement, this self-isolation for Covid-19 is really lonely.

Soup Selfie!

One of my Christmas traditions has always bucked the material/consumer driven holiday trend - Christmas Soup. More than a decade ago, while I was still living in Ottawa, Teri got together with a couple of her friends to make French Onion Soup. Since it is a dish that takes a long time - lots of cutting onions and boiling them down - they decided to make a day of it, hanging out together.

Every year since that start they have gotten together for an afternoon/evening in December to make soup together and then eat it afterwards. I joined the tradition a few years in and over time the group has grown with spouses and even a baby now. We just got together yesterday for Christmas Soup 2019 (see photo), made a delicious green minestrone one.

The Taste Of Grapes

Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A post about my Dad each Sunday, named after a song that he loved.

When my dad had his hip replacement surgery I sent him an Edible Arrangement, a pretty bouquet made of cut fruit. I remember talking to him on the phone a couple of weeks into his recovery and he said that when he was finally able to eat something, since the pain medication made him very nauseous, he started with the grapes from the arrangement. He was so thankful for those grapes and talked about how sweet and refreshing they were.

Teri, Monica, Maria, Matty, and K sent me an Edible Arrangement yesterday and I had the grapes right away. My dad was right, they were awesome; so cool and juicy, a great thing to have when you start eating after surgery.

Travel Diary - Sunday August 2, 2015

Date: Sunday August 2, 2015
Theme/Title: Sets
Overview: The day started with the six of us having brunch at Farmer Brown. Then we all split up. F and Greg went to Fisherman's Peir, Jason went on a bike ride, and 'the girls' spent some time together in the hotel room. I had brought my deck so did Cartouche World Readings with Teri and Monica. Afterwards there was more splitting up and I slept while waiting for Jason to return from biking. Then Jason and I met up with Teri and Greg for the porn studio tour. Afterward's Teri and I drove Mon and F to airport and were so sad to say goodbye. When we got back into downtown we got some Mexican food at Taqueria el Sol with boys. The four of us played Bananagrams before bed.
Woke-up: King bed in the 'fun room' at 9:30am - A very nice sleep in!
Transportation/Distance: A bit of time walking, a bit on buses, and a bit in the car.
Meals: Breakfast Skillet with eggs and pulled pork. Steak taco salad.
Highlight of the Day: Porn Studio Tour
Lesson Learnt: I got a bad reading in the Seventh House of my Cartouche World. This is the house of Partners (personal or professional) which includes spouses, marriage, business contacts, clients, etc. When I do a reading it has always meant 'significant other,' so in my case, Jason. I got Set (Opposition, Obstacles, Problems, and Delays) which is pretty much the only negative card in the whole deck. Then when I went to put a second card on top it was Nephthys (The Hidden One), the card that means the cards don't want to provide any more details. Even though you aren't supposed to dig further after getting that card, I did. So lastly I got The Twins, a partnership card, but it was inverted which means a separation. Scary!
Night's Accommodation: Final night at The Clift, in the double room with Teri and Greg

Travel Diary - Friday July 31, 2015

Date: Friday July 31, 2015
Theme/Title: Lots of Walking
Overview: Waited forever for cable car, eventually got on one and took a ride up one of San Francisco's many hills. Discovered another line up at Mama's restaurant and were too hungry to wait, Ended up in Little Italy and had brunch at an awesome Italian cafe, Cavalli Cafe. Walked through Chinatown, and made a quick stop to visit a fortune cookie factory. Took a free walking tour through the financial district focused on architecture. Did the sunset Alcatraz tour. Met up with F and his friends for dinner.
Woke-up: 7:00am
Transportation/Distance: Cable Car - 2km. Boat - 3km. Walking - 10km (added up)
Meals: Lots of Italian! Scrambled eggs and buffalo mozzarella for breakfast. Caprese salad for dinner. Canolli to finish off both meals.

Jail Cell Doors - Alcatraz

Photo by ME with my phone

Highlight of the Day: Alcatraz was incredible! At the end of our visit they did a demonstration of the doors opening and closing that was equal parts creepy and cool.
Lesson Learnt: How a cable car works (and that walking a few stops up from the start of the route will help skip the huge line up.)
Song of the Day: Tanti Auguri - The Happy Birthday Song sung by cute waiters in Italian to Monica, for her 'birthday'
Quote of the Day: "Can I be your personal attendant?" - Me asking Monica if I can join her on the accessibility train for the trip down the big hill at Alcatraz (she is still recovering from knee surgery.)
Night's Accommodation: Shared double room with Monica and F at The Clift (who's main floor turns into a night club on the weekends - there was a bouncer at the elevators.)

Travel Diary - Thursday July 30, 2015

Date: Thursday July 30, 2015
Theme/Title: The Boys Are In Town
Overview: Woke up early, had big omelette at Omelette Express in Santa Rosa. We got to the San Francisco airport in time, but The Boys' flight was delayed. After Jason and Greg got all their stuff (not much) added to our stuff (lots) in the trunk, we drove around Silicon Valley (Google, Facebook, Apple). We checked-in to our room at The Clift, a hotel that includes bike rentals (if the four bikes they have are available. We went for a short bike ride to Golden Gate Park, and caught a view of city at Alamo Square. The four of us had dinner at Reverb. Jason and Teri went to pick up Monica and F at the airport, I went to bed.
Woke-up: 6:30am in the Tiny House
Transportation/Distance: 240km driving. 14km biking.
Meals: Egg white and cheese omelette. Salad in Silicon Valley, then a visit to Philz Coffee. Beat Salad and some drinks at Reverb.
Highlight of the Day: Biking "The Wiggle"
Lesson Learnt: How to light a gas stove (with a BBQ lighter). Teri guided me through it at The Tiny House so we could boil water to make coffee in the french press.
Night's Accommodation: Shared double room with Teri and Greg at The Clift.

Just A Taste

Barely 24 hours spent in Seattle, all of it spent catching up with Monica. Thankfully she will be flying down to San Francisco to join us for the weekend in a few days and we will get to spend a good chunk of time together.

USA Reunite - Seattle Edition

Teri, Monica. and I

Selfie with my phone

Travel Diary - Sunday July 26, 2015

Date: Sunday July 26, 2015
Theme/Title: Meet Up With Monica
Overview: Woke up early to catch our flight. Jason drove me to the airport to meet up with Teri. Flew to Seattle and were picked up by Monica and her boyfriend. A couple of quick tours of the city. A nice group dinner where I got to catch up with Rich.
Woke-up: 5:05am at Rrunuv Bayit
Transportation/Distance: Flight: 3,300km Walking: 4km
Meals: Tim Horton's at the airport. German pub food. Tacos at The Saint.
Highlight of the Day: Learning about "skid row" during the Underground Seattle tour.
Lesson Learnt: At Pearson Airport you go through American customs before boarding, so add that into the time to check-in, drop baggage, and get through airport security. Teri was not wrong about needed at least 2 hours in travelling to the US.
Movie of the Day: The DUFF, watched by both Teri and I on the plane, separately. Formulaic but enjoyable.
Quote of the Day: "Stripper Stuff" -- overheard by Teri from a passerby, we are very curious about the context
Night's Accommodation: Monica's spare room

Soon!

Teri and I have started to book things again for our trip this summer. (We booked our flights a while
ago.) It is going to be an amazing two weeks, mid-summer, for a road trip down the west coast of the USA. We will spend time with Monica in Seattle, visit Portland, meet up with Jason and Greg in San Francisco for the long weekend, and hang out on beaches down near San Diego. I put a countdown on my phone this morning. However, right after the took the screenshot (see Right) I double checked and we actually don't fly out until Sunday morning, June 26 so the counter has been updated to reflect that. 47 DAYS! We are doing most of our planning on a Google Docs spreadsheet, Greg made it for us and I love it! Travel planning is almost as fun as the travel itself.

Road Trip Food

Sunday Mornin' Coming Down - A post about my Dad each Sunday, named after a song that he loved.

Any time I go on a car ride that is going to be three hours or more - I like to bring/have licorice. It is the perfect road trip treat. I definitely got this from my dad, as it was the preferred car snack growing up. My mom likes black licorice (gross), so we often had two bags going on bigger trips.

I once got a bag of red licorice for a drive up to Teri's cottage that I was doing with Greg and Monica a few years ago, and when I offered it to Greg, he turned it down saying, "I refuse to acknowledge that it is even food." Which has been one of my favourite quotes for years.

I don't really know where the road trip licorice tradition came from, but I think it was definitely more my dad's influence than my mom's. He probably did it for the same reasons that I have continued the practice: it is pretty cheap, delicious, isn't messy, is easy to eat in a car, it is a nice treat to have, wouldn't be something you ever really buy normally, etc.

New Orleans By Way Of Boston

I am sitting in the Boston airport right now, we have a connection here on our way down to New Orleans. Kendra, Monica, Maria, and I are taking Teri there for her Bachalorette. (Kendra, Teri, and I are flying down together, the others will meet us at the hotel in the French Quarter.) I am so excited to celebrate my best friend and party all weekend!

Teri and I 

Ottawa

2006

Puncuation Matters

----------- from Monica, found in a magazine in a plane

Let's eat Grandma

Let's eat, Grandma

Commas save lives.

Reading

I am nearing the end of Dan Brown's Angels & Demons. Like all his books, each chapter (and there are 137 of them) ends with a cliffhanger - it is so addictive. Needless to say, I spent most of my free time today reading: both ways on my commute, during my lunch hour, before and after dinner while lying in bed. I love reading a book that I am into and for my birthday I got a lot of really cool books that I can't wait to start!

My Friends and I Reading at The Cottage

Photo by Carol Sweeton

Apologies To My Dedicated Daily Readers

So, I assume that most people check into Always Standing every couple of days, but I do have a few daily readers. Mainly this means Taylor and Lochlan. So apologies to them, and anyone else who has stopped by to read a new post and not found an update since Tuesday. It has been a busy week at work and I have been doing things over my lunch hour, which is a time I sometimes spend writing posts. On Wednesday I went to The Home Show with Monica and Heather is visiting so last night was spent catching up with her and Kristen, this means that basically my nights have been full too, which is the other time I use to write up posts.

The Best Vagas Hotel

I ran across some sad news - Bill's Gamblin' Hall & Saloon has closed! This is the hotel that Teri and I stayed in when we visited Las Vagas in the summer of 2011. The name isn't even the best part; I could go on and on about how great this place was. I actually thought I had mentioned it or even done a full post on it before but it looks like I never got around to it.Teri and I (and M & M) loved it for so many reasons; small hotel with only 4 floors, flat screen TV, view of fountains, access to The Flamingo's awesome pool, late night steak dinner deal, great location in the middle of the strip, spacious room, very very cheap, and it was decorated a bit like how you would imagine a 'classic' Las Vegas hotel would look. After the trip, Teri and I frequently recommended this hotel to others heading to Sin City.

The website says that it is now closed to undergo renovations for an all new boutique lifestyle hotel and casino. The renovated hotel & casino is planned to reopen in 2014, under a new name, and will include the addition of a rooftop pool as well as a dayclub/nightclub managed by Drai Management Group. The conversion also includes the complete remodeling of the guest rooms, casino floor and common areas, the addition of a new second floor restaurant, and construction of the 65,000 square foot rooftop pool and dayclub/nightclub. These are none of the features that I previously listed as part of why Bill's was so great. I also think that there isn't really a good replacement cheap, small, centrally located, hotel that I would consider even close to as good a value.

Day Three

Yesterday, Monday February 18, 2013 (Family Day)

The Plan: I didn't even know! I fell asleep before everyone else on Sunday night and didn't know what the plan was for the following morning.

Reality: Slept until 10:30am and then packed up the cars. Checked out for 11:00am. Went downtown Collingwood and had a leisurely brunch with Jason, Teri, Greg, Mon, Matt, and the others. Skating and/or Cross Country Skiing didn't happen. Started to drive back to Toronto around noon.

It was a great weekend up north! Excited to do it again next year, and for our plans to all go to The Book of Mormon together this spring.

Day Two

Yesterday, Sunday February 17, 2013 

The Plan: Wake up early at the hotel and head straight to the hill. Get Jason's rentals set up before the slopes even open at 9:00am.

Reality: Slept until 9:30am and then had a coffee-shop breakfast with Teri, Greg, Mon, Matt, and the others. Went back again to the hotel to prepare and pack for the hill. Got Jason's rentals and did some practice on a tiny hill, was doing longer runs with Jason by 11:30am, met up with the others around 1:00pm.

Big Step

Jason and I are going on a ski trip this weekend with Teri, Greg, Mon, Matt, and a couple of other people. I asked him if we should share a suitcase, to conserve space in the car, hotel room, etc. He agreed. (Mind you I think I have shared a suitcase with Teri before on one trip or another, and Jerrica and I did for NYC, and I have all the time with my family.) Still though - relationship milestone!

Shut It Down

After weeks of excitement, chat, thought, and early prep, I am closing down my 'almost company' before it even begins. I had wanted to start a baby product subscription box service in Canada called Baby Crates:

I had been researching daily, learning about the market, business model, etc. I was sure that this was not avalible in Canada yet and that I could start something fun and unique here. Well, today I ran across LittleEcoFootprint which is starting this very month. LittleEcoFootprint is a new Canadian subscription box for new moms focused on healthy, natural and Eco-friendly products, which wouldn't have been my slant but is close enough to cancel my plans. However, I still love the subscription box business model and don't want to walk away from the idea of starting my own business, but Baby Crates is over.

I want to thank all my friends and family who have talked with me about this over the past month. Your support and ideas have been so wonderful and helpful. Thank you!