Xmas List 2020

Fetus

Not yet born, not celebrating Christmas, no presents please.

(If you have a gift that really really must be given, please do so through Jason.)
 

Me
- Gift Cards
--- Dollerama, Ricki's, Chapters

- Pixel 4a case

- Pixel 4a screen protector
- Epsom salts
- Soap and Glory: Flake Away body scrub
- Bath bombs, no glitter

- Plastic or silicon spatulas (flipper of pancakes kind)

- Stick with string toy for Two

- Running socks

- Easy crockpot cooking cook book

- Tank tops, any style, LRG

- Brown sugar bear (for freshness)

- Ivy, succulent, or cactus plants

- Cloth face masks with wire at nose

Jason
- Gift cards
--- Amazon (for Kindle Books), MEC

- Sweat pants, Med

- Socks
- Coffee beans (not flavoured)
- Sour candy
- Coke in glass bottles
- Craft Beer (not wheaty)
- Cheap Sunglasses
- Spray sunscreen

- iPhone charging cord

- Drill bit set (for holes, not for screws)

- AAA batteries

Joint
- Gift cards
--- Home Depo (for new lawn mower)

--- IKEA (for a dresser and bookcases)

--- Michael's (for frames)
- Boardgames
--- Ticket to Ride: Expansion Maps
--- Trivial Pursuit: Bet You Know It
- Large plastic cutting boards
- Soup pot with lid, roughly 8qt

- Baby Yoda tree ornament

- Large winter/Christmas window cling decorations

Painting Refresh

I had always meant to paint the garage door a darkish grey, it has been white and slowly fading since we moved in. I had envisioned faking a row of windows near the top, with paint (taping out squares, maybe even some light shading to give them depth.) Then I saw that you can get decorative garage door hardware, which would look fancier than windows and be easy. (They also have them in magnetic form to stick them on metal garage doors too, but I got the screw on ones since ours is wood.)

When I mentioned it to Jason though, he wanted it painted black. (Which reminds me of the song when I was younger, that I gather is actually a cover of The Rolling Stones. But isn't a cover when it is done exactly the same? There is a difference, it is a bit like a remix or something. I like the Gob version better and, upon looking it up, found out they are Canadian. It is a little more metal than The Stones rock version.) 

Paining it black then meant that I had to spray paint the decorative hardware a different colour to get it to show up - I went with 'stainless steel.' It didn't really made it look like stainless steel so wouldn't recommend it for that purpose, but it worked to make it a greyish colour that would show up against the black. Jason helped me attach the hardware.

Happy with how it turned out! Even more so now that I see what it looked like before!

Birds In A Row

First time feeding chickadees, and he gets a line up!

Jason at Lynde Shores Conservation Area, Whitby

Photo by me, with Jason's phone - Saturday Nov 21, 2020

Couch Reno

It might have been Two, however I think it was more likely Binx, but at some point one of the corners of the couch got torn up. This couch has been around forever, I think it was at Rrunuv Bayit for most of the time and has been at Casa Verde since we moved in. My parents got it for our family room in Paris when I was a teenager, maybe even a pre-teen. The issue with the torn up corner is that it is right as you enter the room! It is the main corner, very visible. 

I figured you could get patches but I wanted stick on ones, not iron on ones, and they needed to be large enough, strong enough to work with a couch. I eventually came across some faux leather ones that you heat up with a hair dryer before sticking on. There were tons of colours so I was able to get a beige that coordinated with the blue and cream couch stripes. I cut a custom shape that so it would tuck under the first fold of the arm and then wrap around the corner with the the other three corners rounded (recommended in the instructions, also looks nicer.)

So that it didn't look as much like a patch and more like a purposeful part of the furniture I made sure to get and make enough to do both corners on the couch and over on the chair-and-a-half so that everything matched. After I finished I asked Jason if he noticed anything new in the living room, and he had about 6 wrong guesses before I just gave up and pointed at the patches. He thinks this shows how well they blend in and is not continued proof of how unobservant he is.

Looks like our living room furniture has little leather elbow pads, like on tweed academic blazers/sweaters. I am very happy with the refresh and hope that it will continue to extend the life of this couch because I don't want to replace it anytime soon.

Baby Face?

Went for an ultrasound today to check on the status of my low lying placenta. Tomorrow I will be 28 weeks and officially in the final trimester of this pregnancy, so I guess right now is the last day of the second trimester. 

According to the various charts and sites on the internet, the baby is the size of a plate of pancakes, eggplant, head of lettuce, butternut squash, Kraft Dinner Mac and Cheese box, and the list goes on, all being slightly different shapes and sizes, making it really hard to understand how big she is. However, the tech asked if I wanted to know the baby's approximate weight - which is exciting data! So apparently she is currently 2.4 lbs (or 1.08 kg).

While showing Jason over the phone at the end of the scan the tech was able to get the front of her face - Jason let out a little squeal! I asked if we could get print outs and the tech was very excited about how 'cute' the face was, with its 'chubby cheeks.' I have included the images but made them small since I think they are super creepy and look ghost-like, click the picture to see larger. Jason claims that when it showed up over the phone it looked a lot better (it depends what 'slice' the images are as to what they really look like.) It was the first time he had seen something that "maps directly to a real face, a real human thing."

A Door By Any Other Name

There was a very heavy windstorm right before we left for our road trip. It broke the glass on one side of our porch door. Once we got back, Jason and I discussed what to do about it and decided that we would replace all three screen doors using the people we got to do (most of) our windows in 2018. Since Jason had been the main person to deal with that, he reached out to get a quote for the doors. 

We have an enclosed porched at Casa Verde, so there is a screen door into that space (which has the broken window from the wind) then once you are in the porch there is a screen door in front of the main wood front door. Then in the back there is a screen door before the wood back door. Basically all of these are broken in some way, usually the spring and cylinder closer part. Also we are slowly switching from white doors and windows to black ones as we update things so this is a chance to do that for the doors.

Anyway, Jason got the quote and wanted me to look over the fine details with him, "starting with the fact that they said they were for storm doors," which had him very confused and concerned. I explained that 'storm door' is actually the more accurate and contractor-used term for a 'screen door.' He wanted to know what the wooden front door types where called, my guess was 'exterior door' but I wasn't as positive on that term. It is going to take some time for them to be ready and installed but I will post the before and after shots when they get put in.

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!

Halloween In Quarantine

Disclaimer: Ok, so we aren't really in Quarantine at the moment or even doing extreme self-isolation, but it rhymes better with Halloween than "pandemic" or "covid" does.

Happy Halloween!

Jason and I on Oct 31, 2020

Selfie taken with Jason's Phone

I think this is the first year at Casa Verde that we haven't given out candy! We normally get between 50 and 100 trick-or-treaters, it is hard to keep track because Jason messes with my system of counting (he gives more than one piece of candy, and eats it while handing out, so who knows what our real numbers are.) This year we here highly discouraged from doing the traditional Halloween celebration in Toronto because we are a 'hot zone' with substantial increase in Covid cases recently. So our blinds were pulled, and lights turned off, super sad!

So, why are we dressed up this year? Well, we did a on-video, in-costume, mini-raid (20 instead of 40 players) on WoW. Our costumes were put together about 15 minutes before it started, since I do still have a dress up box with various bits and pieces; which is now also home to Jason's cowboy hat I made him buy for the Calgary Stampede.

There was still fun for kids, I am part of a local neighbourhood parents group on Facebook and a women in the area arranged for a physically distanced parade, scavenger hunt (we were an 'eye ball house' check out photo), and ghost message game in a nearby park. All the kids in the parade got a treat bag (I sent her a bit of money towards making them). 

The activity sheets were posted on Facebook and we printed off the one for the park to try it out. It was quite the challenge! Jason and I spent over an hour wandering around the park to do it, we had to find 100 little ghosts and then colour in squares on a grid to learn the message. We found 95 of them and discovered that the answer to "What does a ghost say?" is "Boo!" I took a picture of Jason working on it, he took over the colouring part right away, and my job was to hold the pencil crayons. It might have been designed for kids, but I had a great time!

JBR - Beer Was Beer, Fish Was Fish

Beer: Lakeside Kolsh, Lake of the Woods Brewing Co, Kenora 

Name: Lakeside is one of Kenora’s first neighbourhoods with many of its homes situated on the shores of Lake of the Woods, spattered with small beaches, boathouses & docks. 

Details: Brewed using an old-world technique which produces a crisp, clean ale with lager characteristics. It is a delicate & subtle beer with a hint of malt & fruit in the nose. 

Fancy Numbers: 5% ABV, 6 IBU, 3 SRM

Date Tried: Thursday October 22, 2020 

Location: The Cornerstone Restaurant, Kenora, Ontario 

Meal: Good dinner but too much food! I had the local fish, Lake of the Woods Walleye - it tasted like fish.
General thoughts from Jason, when asked for his review: "Not great, just like any other beer. Tastes a bit like Molson, which is not a compliment" 

Editor's note: Huge glass though, he was pretty tipsy by the end of it (I drove us back to the hotel after.)

Avery And Maya

We did not get to see my brother and his family for long enough - the trouble with driving is that it takes so long to get out to Alberta (and so long to get back) that is doesn't leave much time for actually visiting. The kids were awesome and hilarious, I can't believe we haven't seen them since Palm Springs this past November. Here is my favourite quote from this visit...

Avery: Maya hates me.
Me: No, that can't be true. You're her brother, she loves you.

Avery: Uh-uh, she doesn't like me.

Maya: I like you!

Avery: No, Maya wouldn't like me if I ate her.

Me: Umm, I guess that is true?

Maya: Yeah, if Avery eats me, I will kill him.

Jason: confused I don't think you can kill him if he has eaten you.

Me: confused that Jason is trying to add logic into any of this

JBR - Fahr Beer Pilsner

Beer: Pils, Fahr Beer, Turner Valley, Alberta

Details: This Black Forrest style Pilsner is unique to North America. Fuller bodied with less hop and bitterness, this beer stands out amongst other Northern German Pilsners more commonly found in Canada. This beer is filtered for clarity, has 5.0% alc./vol. and has a crisp finish. The Pils maintains flavours of crackers, floral notes, and a slight lingering bitterness to cut through the initial sweetness of the malt used. 

Awards: 2020 World Beer Awards Canada Gold Winner for Best Classic Pilsener Style Lager Beer

Recommended By: Sutik a few days earlier, he told us it was a really good microbrewery

Date Tried: Sunday October 18, 2020 

Location: Sky Bistro, on the summit of Sulphur Mountain, at the top of the Banff Gondola

Meal: A light dinner that was really delicious - Jason had the gnocchi and I had a mushroom and asparagus dish.
General thoughts from Jason, when asked for his review: "Very clean, crisp, high quality. You can taste the German in it." 

Why it tasted German: The founder of Fahr Beer is Jochen Fahr, who was born and raised in Ebringen, Germany. The brewery also follows Reinheitsgebot, the “German Purity Law.” 

Editor's note: Was hoping a drink would help Jason on the gondola decent, he really isn't a fan of heights - it didn't, I think he was even worse going down than up. 

JBR - Lager With A Scary Story

Beer: Ghost Bride 

Type: Lager

Date Tried: Saturday October 17, 2020 

Location: Vermillion Room, Fairmount Banff Springs Hotel

Meal: An amazing steak dinner!
General thoughts from Jason, when asked for his review: "I don't know, fine." 

Another Custom Brew: This beer was also a limited edition made specifically for the hotel by Big Rock Brewery.
Editor's note: We heard the story last night during the Ghost Tour of the hotel.

JBR - But It Was Special

Beer: Banff Spring Lager, Big Rock Brewery, Calgary, Alberta
Date Tried: Friday October 16, 2020 during the bar's 'Rush Hour' so it was only $6, I ordered it for him while he was in the washroom
Location: Rundle Lounge, Fairmount Banff Springs Hotel
General thoughts from Jason, when asked for his review: "Nothing special." 

Why It Was Special: Even though Big Rock now has a bottle shop and dining hall in Liberty Village, Toronto and does brewing out of Vancouver and Etobicoke, as well as, Calgary - this beer was obviously a limited edition made specifically for the hotel.
Editor's note: My drink came in a monkey! A 'zero proof' cocktail that was very tasty.

RTW - Quick, Get Through Manitoba

RTW - Big drive out west from Toronto to Calgary/Banff/Edmonton and back. Covid means no flying or cutting through the USA, so Jason and I are taking the car and doing a road trip!

Date: Monday Oct 12, 2020 (Thanksgiving Day)

Starting Location: Cabin just north of Kenora

Ending Location: Basement Bachelor Apartment in Regina, Saskatchewan

Distance Driven: 791 km

Scenery: Farms, fairly flat, occasional river valley.

Animals: Tons of bald eagles, magpies, young coyote, big bunnies

Soundtrack: In the morning Peggy 99.1 (Winnipeg's Favourites) and then in the afternoon 96.1 Bob FM (80's...90's...and Whatever! out of Brandon, Manitoba)

Notes: We tried to limit our stops in Manitoba because they have stricter Covid rules than the rest of the western provinces, however we did need to get gas once. (And I peed on many country side roads.) I packed us a lunch, made sandwiches, roast beef for Jason and bologna with cheese singles for me. The last couple of nights we have been making Hello Fresh meals but are finished them now - for it was Kraft Dinner in the Airbnb in Regina.

RTW - Still In Ontario

RTW - Big drive out west from Toronto to Calgary/Banff/Edmonton and back. Covid means no flying or cutting through the USA, so Jason and I are taking the car and doing a road trip!

Date: Sunday Oct 11, 2020

Starting Location: Catfish Lake, near Wawa

Ending Location: Cabin just north of Kenora

Distance Driven: 976 km

Scenery: Big hills, farm land, lots of trees, Canadian shield rock, lakes.

Animals: Beautiful red fox, a bald eagle, deer, more fields of cows and such.

Soundtrack: In the morning a burnt CD with Neil Young's Harvest album on it, in the afternoon it was a Santana CD (a purchased one, he collaborated with a lot of different people.) Borrowed music from my Dad's old collection when I last visited my Mom.

Notes: It takes f.o.r.e.v.e.r. to get out of Ontario! Longest scheduled driving day, over 10 hours on the road. Passed a lot of nice waterfalls that we hope to stop and see on our way back. A time changed part way through helped us arrive at our Airbnb while it was still light out, but barely. Got to spend some time down at the water's edge before cooking dinner and heading to bed.

RTW - Ferry Ride!

 RTW - Big drive out west from Toronto to Calgary/Banff/Edmonton and back. Covid means no flying or cutting through the USA, so Jason and I are taking the car and doing a road trip!

Date: Saturday Oct 10, 2020

Starting Location: Jason's Parents

Ending Location: Catfish Lake, near Wawa

Distance Driven: 712 km

Scenery: Water, short trees, lakes, and large hills past Sault Ste Maire

Animals: A lot of agriculture - fields of cows, some with horses and occasionally sheep.

Soundtrack: Local radio stations, really local.

Notes: We took the Chi-Cheemaun, a big car ferry that goes from Tobermory at the top of the Bruce Peninsula, to Manitoulin Island, which is the world's largest freshwater island. I took this ferry once before with my family (I think in the opposite direction) and it has been the only time I have ever been motion sick, I remember being very very ill. Was fine this time though (and on any other ferry I have taken, which by now has been a lot.) The coolest part of the Chi-Cheemaun was definitely the car part, besides that it was a pretty normal ferry ride. You can see in the photo that the bow is hinged and lifted up so that we can drink into the hull area to park. We had to be there really early and it took up most of the morning. The Fall colours are beautiful!!

RTW - And So It Begins

 RTW - Big drive out west from Toronto to Calgary/Banff/Edmonton and back. Covid means no flying or cutting through the USA, so Jason and I are taking the car and doing a road trip!

Date: Friday Oct 9, 2020

Starting Location: Home, Toronto

End: Jason's Parents, near Wiarton, Ontario

Starting Odometer: 285,665

Distance Travelled: 214 km

Scenery: Dark

Animals: Clancy, the lovely doodle and Biscuit, the "happy mop" according to Jason.

Notes: We did a good job of packing so were able to be on the road soon after Jason finished work. We picked up prunes and sour keys from Kristen and Noah (they got them for us from Costco) and drove north to Jason's parents, we noticed that by 7pm it was starting to get dark.

Bouncing About

It was a morning with some good news! I get to move forward with more steps along the flowchart that I outlined yesterday that maps out the next couple of weeks of this pregnancy - there was a heartbeat!!

In the photo from this mornings scan, you can see the fetus's head on the left side. The profile of the face is kinda blurry - Jason thinks it is sucking its thumb. The fact you can see the brain shape is so creepy and crazy! Apparently it is the size of a lime at the moment, a little over 2 inches long.

The appointment at the hospital went well, it was a quick ultrasound so I didn't get the eFTS testing done at the same time, I am keeping my appointment next Wednesday for that, and have fingers crossed that the NIPT will come in with results ahead of that anyway. The technician right away confirmed that there was a heartbeat and that everything was ok, in fact she said the baby was moving around a lot!! A few minutes later she was able to confirm that it was on track for size at 12 weeks. At the end of the scan she spent some time showing me images and printed a couple off. I saw it bouncing and twitching! She mentioned that my uterus is tilted to the back, which doesn't really matter except that it makes it a bit harder to see things during early pregnancy scans - just a cool fact to know about my insides.

The technician seemed familiar, I told her that I thought she was the person who did my emergency room ultrasound to diagnose gallstones. She told me she was - she had noticed in my chart that she had scanned me before and that it had been a few years ago. Small world (or only a few ultrasound technicians work at St. Joe's in Toronto.)

A Depressing Flowchart

So, in an effort to feel more control, or something, I have been mentally going through a flowchart of events for the next few weeks of this pregnancy.
------

Heartbeat - Is there still a heartbeat? - I say 'still' because there was one at the last ultrasound at Week 7, but we know from last time, where we saw the heartbeat twice before the eventual fetal demise, and that while seeing it early lowers the chance of miscarriage, it doesn't eliminate it. After days (weeks?) of worry, we will get this answer tomorrow (Thursday) at an early early hospital ultrasound arranged by my doctor.

-- Heartbeat - No - I should know right away during the ultrasound if there has been another 'silent miscarriage' the behaviour of the technician is quite different when things are fine vs. not. Though they sometimes stick really hard to the "technician can't say anything" and I will need to wait for the doctor at the hospital or my own doctor later in the day to give me the sad news. If this is the case then all further steps stop and I will get a reference to the Early Pregnancy Loss clinic to deal with another miscarriage that will be devastatingly similar to the last one. The following weeks going through that process will be awful and annoying and I am trying not to build out that branch of the flowchart except to know that this time I would like to go through the processes at the hospital so that I can be put under general anesthetic and that the tissue can be tested afterwards.

------

-- Heartbeat - Yes - As mentioned above, I should (hopefully) find this out during the actual ultrasound. If everything is still developing properly, not only with a heartbeat but proper size for 12 weeks then I move onto the next step.

Prenatal Testing - When will I get my Enhanced First Trimester Screen (eFTS) done? - My original hope was to not have to do the eFTS because the results are much later than the NIPT (Non-invasive Prenatal Testing, or the blood only paid-for DNA test that I needed to get a redraw for that started this whole emotionally challenging spiral.) The eFTS is also not as accurate so having to rely on those results instead of the NIPT means that we aren't out of the dark tunnel of worrying that we are sitting at the end of this pregnancy. More on this below.

-- Prenatal Testing - Tomorrow - Because my doctor's office was sending out urgent ultrasound requests to multiple clinics and hospitals, they were unsure if the one I have tomorrow will be just a 'viability scan' to basically check for the heartbeat and that is it, or if they will have time at the hospital to do the full eFTS. If there is time, than the ultrasound will just continue on for 45 minutes or so with a ton of measurements being made and I will be sent for blood-work tomorrow as well. This is preferred because we will get the results sooner and everything will be done at the same time.

-- Prenatal Testing - Next week - If they only have time for the quick scan tomorrow then I will be keeping the clinic appointment I have for the eFTS on Wednesday June 29. This will delay results by a week, and as my own doctor is away next week, possibly delay us learning the results even longer. (Obviously if there is no heartbeat, or if there is and the hospital ends up doing the eFTS, I will cancel this clinic appointment.)

NIPT - Did it work from the blood redraw? - I gave blood again this past Friday to try to get results through the DNA system, after my first blood draw the week before came back without results. Based on my weight and the low FF (Fetal Fraction is a measurement of the amount of the DNA found in the blood that isn't mine) from the last blood draw the chance that I can get results from the second blood draw is only 41%. This is why we are moving forward with the eFTS in the likely case that the NIPT comes back inconclusive again. I should know by early next week what happened with the blood redraw.

-- NIPT - Yes and Low Risk - This would be the best outcome of this flowchart, if I was drawing it out the box it sits in would be a starburst or something. The NIPT low risk result is very very accurate, it would mean that we could move into the second trimester of this pregnancy with a huge feeling of relief that the baby is currently healthy and doesn't have the three most common chromosome differences. (We would ignore the chromosome speculation in the eFTS in this case.)

-- NIPT - Yes and High Risk - This would be a very very worrisome outcome. Since NIPT is more accurate than eFTS, heading into the Diagnostic Testing it would be highly (greater than 90%)  likely that there are chromosomal abnormalities which would mean a termination of the pregnancy. The next step would be Diagnostic Testing, see below.

-- NIPT - No - This is fairly likely and would mean we have to wait for the eFTS results. The 'no result' as a result in itself actually signifies a slightly higher chance of chromosomal abnormalities which isn't good. The next step would be to wait for the eFTS results which depending on when I got the testing done (see above) will be ready between Aug 3 - 12.

eFTS Results - What is my risk factor? - It will be a long wait for these, but if the NIPT is inconclusive for a second time it is our only option for screening on chromosomal abnormalities.

-- eFTS Results - Low Risk - Definitely a good outcome, this would give us about the same level of relief that a NIPT Low Risk result would, that the baby is currently healthy and doesn't have the three most common chromosome differences. It would just come almost three weeks later.

-- eFTS Results - High Risk - Strangely not as bad as you would think. Because eFTS uses fetal anatomy measurements along with my hormone and protein levels to determine the risk factor it has a really high rate of false positives. It would still be cause for worry but a lot of room for hope when moving onto the Diagnostic Testing, see below. In fact there would be only around a 10% chance that there are chromosomal abnormalities which would mean a termination of the pregnancy.

Diagnostic Testing - Another whole flowchart - If we ended up in this box, either from a High Risk result coming from the NIPT or eFTS then there are a bunch of considerations that I am not dwelling on at the moment. Firstly there are two types of testing depending on how far into pregnancy you are. Depending when I get a High Risk result I made not be afforded a choice between them but if I get it early enough then I can choose between the two, one of which would involve waiting a few weeks. In both cases this type of testing is considered invasive and carries a risk of miscarriage from just undergoing the procedures. There are other health risks for both me, the baby and the pregnancy depending on which test taken. The results take between two and three weeks, so again more waiting and the potential of terminating well into the second trimester, a horrible outcome. The results from either test are considered diagnostic (stronger than screening). But let's cross that path, make that flowchart when we get there.

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Hard to make a flowchart vertically using only blog-word-processing. I can definitely see this making better sense in the more traditional visual form with boxes and arrows. However, this let me get the thoughts and timelines and steps/stages floating around in my head down onto 'paper' to some extent and hopefully help me sleep better tonight ahead of the first step coming my way really early tomorrow morning.

Didn't Even Make It A Week!

Photo of page in my bullet journal

I couldn't even get through 7 days of my 17 Day Covid Plan, it was a good attempt at staying motivated but something about it just didn't work for me. Nope! Didn't work.

Not really depressed, though there have been periods of time when I have been. Just feeling unproductive. There are lots and lots of articles going around that talk about it being okay to not be productive at this time. A lot of focus on just "getting through the day" and "self-care." So I am trying not to beat myself up about the fact that I am having a hard time getting anything useful done lately.

17 Day Covid Plan

Trying to stay motivated and productive during this strange time of quarantine and self-isolation. I have made a check-list for the next 17 days (just because that was the number of lines in my notebook set up). Here is what I am hoping to accomplish:

Everyday - Do a small task related to
-- Becoming a PMP
-- Getting a job
-- Closing down the cafe
-- Keeping the house clean
-- Hosting weekly virtual trivia

Everyday - I am trying to
-- Go for a walk with Jason
-- Do a blog post, might be backdated
-- Brush the cat

Every morning, before noon, I want to
-- Be downstairs before 9am
-- Drink a glass of warm lemon water
-- Have breakfast
-- Wash my face and brush my teeth
-- Feed the cat, using new/clean bowls
-- Take my vitamins
-- Call someone for a quick chat
-- Do some fitness thing that raises my heart rate for 20mins

Every night, I want to
-- Stop looking at screens (phone, tablet, computer) after 11pm
-- Do a quick clean of the kitchen
-- Clean out the cat's litter box
-- Wash my face, floss and brush my teeth
-- Fill the humidifier
-- Relax (yoga, meditation, sex)
-- Be in bed before 11:30pm

Trying to go easy on myself and not be too upset if I don't achieve everything everyday. Some things are easier to do than others. The list is a bit like the one I tried back in November when I was starting to get depressed after shutting down the cafe and starting to look for a new job. Today is the first day and the checklist is mapped out until May 3rd, at which point I will see what is working, make some adjustments, and create a new one.

Trivia Moves Online

I had been going to Oakville on Tuesdays pretty regularly over the past few years to play Pub Trivia with Teri and some friends. They had been playing together for a while, under the name Village Idiots, so I joined their team. We did well, and we did very well when I convinced Jason to come along too. We actually placed a couple of times - winning a giftcard to spend at the pub. The people where fun, the questions were the perfect difficulty, and the food was really good (for a pub.) About a year ago the game moved from the pub in the plaza around the corner from Teri's house, which we could walk to, to a pub in another plaza that we had to drive to from Teri's place. It still was worth the extra bit of driving because everything was the same at the new place, and the food was just as good.

Village Idiots, Playing Online Pub Trivia Together

April 14, 2020

Covid has closed the pub (though I think they are doing take-out and delivery) so the trivia hasn't been running. I ended up planning to my Virtual Trivia Nights on Tuesdays in honour of the Oakville one. Well, the guy who runs the one at the pub has decided to try to broadcast it online. I moved the one that I host to Wednesday and last night got to actually play for the first time in a couple of months. We set up a Zoom call with the Village Idiots team members on one of Jason's monitors and had the Facebook Live broadcast of the trivia on the other. We think we got third or fourth - the switch to virtual meant some confusion with scoring and communication.

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.

Going To Be A Long Month

The following notice arrived in my email, outlining a 12-week shelter-in-place plan. I am having a hard time considering this isolation lasting for the month of April, let alone longer...

The City of Toronto has implemented the following measures that will be in effect for up to 12 weeks:
-- All individuals with COVID-19 are ordered by the Medical Officer of Health to stay home, under the Health Protection and Promotion Act for 14 days
-- All individuals who have had close contact with someone who has COVID-19 are also ordered to stay home by the Medical Officer of Health for 14 days
-- Anyone who is not ill or has not travelled, is strongly directed to stay home except for the following reasons:
- accessing healthcare or medication
- shop for groceries once per week
- walk their dogs and/or get daily exercise while maintaining physical distancing
-- People returning from international travel must stay home, already a federal order
-- Anyone over the age of 70, as the province announced this week, is strongly encouraged to stay home as much as possible
-- Only essential businesses remain open, and those businesses maximize physical distancing and infection prevention and control practices, and limit in-person access to those businesses, as much as possible

It's A Bit Like A Party

I hosted my third Virtual Trivia Night last night and it was busy! There were 19 teams! It is a big collection of people: from close friends to extended family, friends of friends and more. I have covered up their names but you might recognize some faces among last night's trivia crew:

Participants for Covid-19 Virtual Trivia Night

Hosted by me on Zoom

March 31, 2020

This Or That

My Choices!

Steph, tagged me in her Instagram Story a couple of days ago with this list, she had done hers and then named a few followers to do the same. I guess it is a meme, or a challenge, or a chain, or something. I replied that I would do it for my blog. This was partly because it is Two who has Instagram - she doesn't use the story feature and doesn't like to share her account. Also I am constantly needing content for Always Standing so happy to have things like this to do.

The thing with Insta Stories is that they disappear in 24 hours so when I was ready to go and do it - the original one was gone. I looked it up online and couldn't quite find the exact one that Steph had done. (I know, because her's had White Wine / Red Wine listed and she had crossed both out, which I would have done too.) However, I feel like this is the same style and will do. I used Paint and the computer, which is also different, but it gets the point across. Now I challenge all who are reading to let me know in the comments where you stand on This or That? 

Also, if you have Instagram, Steph is a great person to follow @sbeachphoto because she posts regularly, the images are always beautiful, and sometimes you get a glimpse of her adorable dog Kaylee.

Things I Can Control

------------- from Facebook (my mom sent me this)

A Virtual Trivia Night

Our government has requested that everyone practice social distancing for a few weeks as the world deals with the coronavirus. I decided to run a Trivia Night over the internet to stay in touch with friends and provide people with some light entertainment for an hour or two. Last night a bunch of people logged in and it was a lot of fun!

I had read details about Google Hangouts incorrectly and we were only able to have 10 people at a time, so Jason had to run a second game at the same time (with the same presentation/questions) on Skype to allow more people to participate. I think I will run it again next week if we are still dealing with this isolation thing. It definitely is a lonely time, so many people around me are super stressed out and I am worried about the anxiety levels I am seeing in my friends and family. It is a strange time.

Alone Together

------- from The Internet, about The Internet

" When we place ourselves out there on the Internet, on social media and in comments sections and maybe even in overwritten reviews of TV comedies, we’re not really placing “ourselves” out there. We’re placing the version of ourselves that we want the world to see, the version that’s cooler or smarter or funnier than the real human being making those posts. We are, in some sense, reducing ourselves to fictional characters, less susceptible to pain or anger, at least until people needle at us, and we act as if that needling is directly attacking our core selves, instead of just some projection we’ve made to get more popular online. And that can turn destructive! The version of myself who writes these reviews is very different from the version who posts on Twitter, and both of those guys are nothing like the real me, who has insecurities and doubts and fears that the Internet doesn’t want to hear about. Yet the wish to be liked (or “liked”) is all-pervasive. I would gladly wear a party hat if you guys would give me some upvotes.

Or, put another way, think of these comments, and how so many of you used to freak out at the notion of downvoting (before Disqus took away the ability to see how many people had downvoted you—which I think was the right call). Or think of maybe when you make a post on Twitter, and nobody interacts with it, or when you say something on Tumblr, and nobody reblogs it, or, heaven forfend, when you post a cat picture on Facebook, and nobody cares. None of us wants to feel like we are all alone in the universe, calling out to nobody in particular. And the Internet has made it that much easier to find communities of people we feel like we belong with. But it’s also made it that much easier to hide the pieces of ourselves we don’t really like from those people, when even the act of sharing your deepest, darkest secrets can be a kind of performance art. There are both good and bad sides to this, but when somebody breaks the compact—when they don’t notice you or downvote you without saying why or just generally behave like assholes—it makes it that much harder to react without going Vesuvius all over the place. "

---- Emily Todd VanDerWerff

This has been said so many times, in so many ways, but when I ran across these two paragraphs recently they resonated. They were actually written as part of an AV Club review for an episode of the show Community. (Highly recommended for anyone who hasn't watched it. Also great as a re-watch which Jason and I are doing at the moment.) This context is probably why some of the sentences above don't make sense. The episode being reviewed was called “App Development And Condiments” which has a phone app called MeowMeowBeenz where people at the community college campus that the show is based rate each other in real time out of five.Obviously things spiral way out of control. It reminded me of a Blackmirror episode, which actually aired later, that was, like all Blackmirror episodes, super upsetting/disturbing.

Angry With Panic Buying

So, the coronavirus has been causing general worry and panic across the world lately. With good reason, at the moment Canada has a bit less then 150 cases, with one death. Yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) characterized the situation as a pandemic stating that, "There are now more than 118,000 cases in 114 countries, and 4,291 people have lost their lives."

However, the response by the general public has been a bit frustrating. People are rushing to stores to stockpile supplies, most commonly water and toilet paper. This was partially magnified by officials urging Canadians to have supplies to stay indoors under self-quarantine for 2-weeks. The issue is that, people often don't know how much they need to get through that time period so overbuy to ensure they are covered.

Buying of water is strange because there is no threat to our water supply, it is safe and will be ongoing. However, a few times the instructions stated that households should have water for 2-weeks as well. I think in this case it is for places that don't have drinking water in their taps (certain buildings or communities sadly have to purchase potable water.) And for those households they should have enough on hand to make sure they don't need to go get more mid-way through a 2-week self-quarantine.

The clearing out of toilet paper has been confusing me. Then I came across an article today (lots actually, but I liked the one from CNBC the best) that explained it is a mental thing, illogical in general but psychologically makes sense.

“Fear is contagious,” says Steven Taylor, a professor of psychiatry at the University of British Columbia and author of the Psychology of Pandemics. “We pick up cues by looking to other people—it’s how stampedes happen in stadiums—so if you’re in a shopping centre and you see some people around you acting in a frightened way and stocking up, that’s going to have a fear contagion effect that causes other people to start over-purchasing.” - Maclean's article

So everyone doing it is leading everyone to do it. And when we are stressed and scared our reasoning skills are weaker. We also shop to sooth, and during a time of uncertainty there is great desire to be in control. In fact, the large packaging and that when it comes to physical size for price it is good value makes people even more drawn to toilet paper purchasing as a way to regain a sense of control.

Fine, no harm done, do what you need to do to feel calmer and better about the current situation... unfortunately, right now, that isn't the case. Panic buying like this can turn into a selfish act as those in need or who are more vulnerable can't access things because others chose to horde them. I don't like the 'looking after number one' mentality when it reaches this point. It must be the socialist in me that thinks we need to work together as a community in this type of situation. Teamwork* will save us, toilet paper won't.

* Even if that teamwork means we collectively try to work more from home, stay indoors and limit attending large gatherings

Online Learning

I am working towards my Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, since I have noticed this qualification showing up more and more in the public service jobs I am applying for.

Requirements for PMP Certification:
- Four-year degree (CHECK)
- Three years leading projects (CHECK)
- 35 hours of project management training (Exam Prep Course)
- Write a 4-hour, 200 question exam (See above)

I am starting my prep course today and have no idea what to expect. I have been planning projects for over 10 years but this makes everything look so formal and standardized. I want to write the exam before they change the format in July so hopefully it isn't too difficult to learn everything quickly. My course is from 10am to 2pm weekdays, for 8 days. I am doing it online because it cost a quarter of the price of heading into a classroom. I did some training last month in a digital meeting space and it was fine. I love learning and am pretty excited to see what this is all about!

JBR - A Visit To Huntsville

Beer: Lake of Bays Brewing Company, on tap

Date Tried: Saturday March 7, 2020 

Location: Trading Bay Dining Company, Dorset, Ontario
General thoughts from Jason, when asked for his review: "Yeah, it is fine."
Editor's note: It has never worked out that Kristen and Noah are heading to Huntsville at a time that we can join them. They have invited us a few times but we always miss out. Kristen's dad has a condo up near Deerhurst and they love it there, in all seasons. We got to go this past weekend and had a wonderful time. Went for a couple of hikes and did a tiny road trip a few minutes down the road to Dorset for lunch - at a restaurant filled with ski-doo'ers, I think we were the only people who arrived by car. I found an old Heritage Walking Tour of the tiny village so we made sure to do that too. It was a wonderful little winter weekend holiday!

Neither Of Us Can Remember

At dinner last night, Jason and I were trying to remember the different restaurants that we had been to on Valentine's Days of years past. We knew we had visited Maple Leaf Tavern before, but I knew it hadn't been last year - we went again this year. Last year, 2019, I was in the middle of renovating the cafe and getting it ready to open in March. We actually ran a Valentine's Day event out in front of the shop to create a bit of buzz. So, our previous trip to the Tavern must have been in 2018, but I am not even sure about that. Especially because on Always Standing, I didn't mention the dinner. I just posted a photo from our wedding reception. And I should have mentioned that dinner because it was where I tried Wagyu beef for the first time - so good.

It is hard to keep the dinners straight because we also tend to go to nice/fancy restaurants on our anniversary so places and years get even more muddled. I don't seem to post about our dining experiences very much. In fact, one of the more memorable times was our very first Valentine's Day when Jason took me to La Maquette (previously a fine dining restaurant, now an event venue) and I chose the occasion to tell him that I wanted to postpone moving in together until the Fall of that year (2013). My blog post the following day talk how wonderful our day had been, with no mention of the difficult discussion or dinner location. 

I have done some fun blog post to mark the occasion:
- A poem from Facebook in 2014
- Photo collage the next year, 2015
- A quiz in 2017 with Jason and my answers the following days

It wasn't until I was looking back at various years in Always Standing to write this post that I remembered it was on Valentine's Day 2016 that we made our wedding rings! For lunch we went to a cafe near the jewelry studio on Queen West but I can't remember what we did for dinner. So many wonderful meals lost in our minds. I wonder if it makes sense to better document them somehow?

Love Is Strong, Memories Are Fading

So happy to wake up this morning, and all mornings, beside Jason. He is truly one of the greatest things in my life and sharing time (and a house) with him is so much fun! I love him in ways that I don't even have words to describe.

We are off to enjoy a fancy Valentine's dinner together this evening. And, as he reminds me, it will be our seventh Valentine's Day as a couple. I am terrible at remembering dates or keeping track of time, every time I get this type of information (usually from Jason) I am shocked at how long we have been together. The year 2010 is burned into my brain as the year that I moved to Toronto, and it feels like I lived here for a long time before meeting Jason, but it was only a couple of years later - in the summer of 2012. This means we have been together for almost eight years!

And in September of this year it will be our fourth wedding anniversary! I really need to remember these things. Here are some key relationship dates...

July 12, 2012 - Met Jason for the first time, at a Starbucks. I have this date noted in my planner each year and I try to remember and acknowledge it.

August 9, 2012 - He kissed me for the first time, on a streetcar. While we were dating we used this as our anniversary.

October, 2013 - We moved in together (Rrunuv Bayit.)

May 8-10, 2015 - We got engaged. Yes, it took a full weekend.

May, 2016 - We moved into our house (Casa Verde.) Though we bought it on Christmas Eve in 2015, and then we signed our mortgage papers on February 25 and the closing date was March 1, 2016. The move in was delayed to allow for a couple of months of renovations.

September 24, 2016 - We got married. This also took a full weekend, but for anniversary purposes we count the Saturday date as the main one. I have this marked in my planner too, so that I remember each year. Though I purposely planned for it to be on the 24th to help me remember (liked my birthday.)

Oh, and Jason's birthday is November 29, this is in my planner too since I get it confused all the time. (My brother was born the day after and my dad died two days before. The end of November is a busy time for trying to remember things and keeping dates straight.)

Go Vote For Kaylee

Steph and Dave have backed a game on Kickstarter, this is something that they do quite regularly, Jason too though he normally sticks to video/computer games. This one looks like it is going to be a cool Dungeons and Dragons style table top game, featuring animals/pets.

The game company is running a contest on Facebook for people's pets. Steph and Dave have submitted Kaylee and are hoping she will get picked to be featured in the final game art. Please vote for her, they are picking one dog and one cat based on the number of 'likes' that a comment on the post gets.

GO TO THE POST HERE, scroll down until you see Steph's comment about Kaylee, and her adorable puppy picture - in a basket! Then click like, or love. I don't know when the contest is over so you should go do it now!

It is fun to scroll through and see everyone's pet submissions, I also clicked on a cat that I thought was cute and fluffy since that isn't Kaylee's competition. Thanks for your help, let's make Steph's dog boardgame famous!

Teri Is Famous!

During her maternity leave with J.G.M., Ter has joined a weekly creative class at a local parenting centre (that is roughly connected to the Early ON program.) Turns out she and J ended up in the promotional video for it! Check it out HERE!

You can see Teri (purple sweater) nodding at the instructor around the -0.24 point, and then right after that you see her again with J.G.M. (little pale blue hoodie) who has his back to the camera and is playing in sand.

I think the kiddie pool filled up with different sizes and types of balls looks like fun and I wish that they had that for adults. Also, this centre in Oakville looks way nicer that the various government ones that I have seen here in Toronto.

Steph Won!

Steph sent me a text last night to say she had received a Platinum Award at The Wedding Awards! Steph and Dave have been attending this yearly gala in Ottawa since 2014, and she has won before. I couldn't find details about her 2018 win, except that it was also a Platinum Award, for best Live Moment - pretty sure the image was of a horse going after a brides bouquet. This year, she won for best Unique Photo. Here is the winning shot:

Award Winning Wedding Photo - 2020

by Stephanie Koning of Stephanie Beach Photography

Instagram: @sbeachphoto

So beautiful, such a cool shot too. (I think it was done using a crystal.) When I was with her in Virginia she had just gotten a few more interesting crystal shapes that she planned to experiment which, so I am interested to see how those images turn out. As always, you can follow along with her career using the link to her blog that I have posted over on the right, her Facebook page or Instagram.

Breakfast Of Champions

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

When I was in Ottawa at the end of last month, Steph mentioned that Dave had bananas on his breakfast cereal in the morning. I had totally forgotten about doing that! Usually I have a smoothie for breakfast in the morning. A pretty basic one: frozen fruit (either strawberries or peaches), soy or almond milk, a couple of scoops of protein powder. Now, if Jason is around to cut the banana, I have started to have Vector with (cow's) milk and bananas. I am loving it! When I was little, my dad used to cut bananas into 'coins' for me and often put them in cereal (usually Rice Krispies.) Reminds me of my childhood and makes me think about my dad.

A Good Resolution

So it is more than a week past New Years but I decided to make a resolution, in fact I am stealing one that I heard. Watching Stephen Colbert (The Late Show) this morning, as they post content online, and he had Larry David on who mentioned making this resolution a few years ago. I think it is brilliant.

Pee Before You Leave - Anywhere! Don't be ashamed to go to the bathroom. Just say, "I have to go to the bathroom before I go," you know. People aren't going to look down on you for doing that! No. go to the bathroom, then leave, you'll be so much happier than sitting in the car cursing yourself, going "Well, I don't know why I didn't go to the bathroom?" --- Larry David

I have gotten good about doing this at restaurants before leaving, mainly at Trivia Nights in Oakville because many times I have been on the highway driving home - mad at myself for not peeing at the bar before heading out. But this year I am going to try to extend it to when I am visiting people and here at home before leaving to go somewhere.

So She Made It To Cyprus

Just saw the first post on Vicarious Travelling that says my mom made it to her rental in Cyprus. She will be there for the next few months.

This is the second time she has been. Years and years ago, when my Grandparents were staying in the Turkish part (Northern), my parents went to visit for a couple of weeks - I tried to look up reference to this trip on either Always Standing or Vicarious Travelling but couldn't find anything, so I have no idea when it was. The northern part is contested territory and this time she is renting an apartment in the Greek part (South) which is easier, safer, etc, and she hopes the archaeological sites are better preserved.

As usual, you can follow along with the trip on her blog (link on the right), where she is posting everyday with lots of photos.

Happy New Year!

Can't believe that it is 2020! Managed to stay up to truly ring-in the new year at midnight. Feeling very old when being awake that late feels like an impressive achievement. Kristen and Noah came over and the last few years we have gone to Fresh and then hung out together playing board games. We switched it up and get Swiss Chalet take away, which was easier and cheaper. Played a number of rounds of Spender, which I really enjoyed and need to remember to ask for next year.