182 Digital Puzzles

Jason got me a new tablet for Christmas which means that the one I have been using for years is now going to go to someone else and will be brought back to factory settings. This means that the record of all the digital jigsaw puzzles I have done over the past couple of years will be lost:

There were 182 that I have finished! Most of the images were travel landscapes, with a few art and animal ones thrown in too. I used the app Puzzle Crown, which if you started a puzzle saved it in the tablet and you could work on it offline, so I did that a lot. You could pick from three different 'cut' styles and a range of difficulties, I usually worked on the highest difficulty so that meant it could take long time to finish. In fact, when I was in the hospital being induced, waiting to give birth, I was also working on puzzles - these four in fact:

I wanted screen shots of my 'puzzle history' before I lost it all. Made sense to post on Always Standing, in hopes that would mean I would start posting more. (This tablet has a keyboard that can attach to it which makes it easier to post from.)

A Space Of One's Own

It has been hard to blog recently because it hasn't been easy to get onto my computer. (And blogging from the tablet is super annoying.) When we started to redo 'the office' to make a nursery it meant getting rid of the spot that I would use my laptop. Jason's work station was moved into the spare room/laundry room and there wasn't space for my chair and little table. For a while I used my laptop on the coffee table downstairs (as I am doing at the moment) or sometimes in bed. However, it was a strange phenomenon where it was either in the way or too out of the way. If it was in the way then it would get moved and tucked away somewhere and that made it harder to pull it out again later to use.

This has meant no blogging, but also my emails are piling up and I haven't done my banking. I have stopped playing WoW, which I have pretty consistently been involved with since Fall 2019. There is also jobs to apply for and more cafe stuff to finish up. Basically I need it to be easy, and comfortable, to work on my laptop. Didn't know this was an issue since I haven't really had or used a desk in a while, but I guess I did always have some type of set up that made it convenient. 

We do have plans to rearrange the living room soon, for baby proofing now that Cigi is becoming more mobile, and that will have some ripple effects for the dining room. I think I will try to set up in there. So fingers crossed you will start to see more posts soon!

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.

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.

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?

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.

And Depression Hits

I spent all this week in bed, which isn't good. It took we a while to realize that it was out of sadness and not time change adjustment from the Palm Springs trip. Basically all I felt like doing was sleeping, it is my favourite escape and always has been when I am feeling depressed.

There is a lot to be sad about for sure but I found this escape into bed to be paired with the horrible negative thoughts that I often get when in a depressive crash, hopelessness, not wanting to be alive, not looking forward to anything, despair, etc. Hoping I caught it early I have decided to do the following every day and try to track it in my planner:
- Something for me
--- Mental health related: Eating well, exercise, baths, counselling, etc.
- Something for the cafe
--- Continuation of closing down Flipside: Paperwork, liquidation, financials, etc.
- Something for a job
--- Time to job hunt, which is always hard: Applications, follow ups, resume updates, etc
- Something for the house
--- It isn't fair for Jason to keep doing everything: Laundry, cooking, cleaning, etc.
- A blog post
--- It feels good to get Always Standing updated again, so adding this to the list!

JBR - Jason's Beer Review - Coming Soon

I am going to launch a new feature of Always Standing, Beer Reviews! This will be written by me involving quotes and the occasional grade/rating as provided by Jason. I still feel like he can't really tell the difference if he couldn't see the label and I will continue to host blind beer tasting contests to prove this.

However, especially when we travel, Jason takes trying local beer very seriously. So I might as well document it a bit because whenever content creation is easy it is best to take advantage. So stay tuned, first stop Hungary!

Clean Up, Clean Up

Everybody Clean Up! (And re-design!)

That is the only part of the song that I can remember at the moment, I think that it has more lines and they involve putting away toys.

In my case it is really just deleting scam blog posts that have shown up on Always Standing during my 8-month hiatus. As I have mentioned before, it happens because there an email address that I can use to send a posting to the blog, that is included in my Yahoo Email contacts.

It hasn't even been a year since I last changed the design but I designed I wanted a redesign. In October I changed the look to this:

But I wasn't feeling the humming birds any more - so am going to have maple leaves for a while (like my tattoo!)

Such Major Changes

As I mentioned before, I am in the process of launching a business. Well, actually, we are open and have been for over a week, so I guess we are launched (doesn't feel like it - so behind where I want to be on this.) Here are just some of the things doing that has meant
- I haven't written on Always Standing in two and a half months
- Catching a cold and wearing socks to bed to try to get over it quicker
- Going for weeks without seeing my friends (this has been the worst part)
- Having over a hundred unread messages in my personal inbox
- Not cleaning or cooking or even BEING at home
It has been a surprising adventure, nothing at all like I thought it would be. I love it but I am exhausted. Hoping to get some updates and photos onto the blog soon. Though also looking to get a blog going for the shop too. But, with what time?

No Time To Spare

I mentioned that I am working towards opening a mini-donut businesses, well from April until September that was done in my spare time. Starting in October I went down to part-time hours at The BIA and I plan to leave that job completely at the end of January.

Since getting a confirmed (purchase agreement in place, but haven't yet officially closed on it) location the workload has really increased. I have chosen to buy an existing business allowing me to skip a large part of the renovations needed for a raw space, and it also comes with some equipment.

I think I naively thought that working part-time in the office might leave a little bit of time to do more writing on Always Standing - but it turns out that starting a small business is more than a full-time job!

Time To Share

I haven't given an update on what is happening in my professional life. Basically I have spent the last 6 months or more working towards opening a mini-donut business. This added element into my life is probably a major component as to why I haven't been posting as much on Always Standing.

I did so well in October, with the intention of spending November sharing information about my new enterprise publicly on this blog. But time slipped away and I didn't know how to explain to the world - using this medium - what was going on. My groups on WhatsApp and close friends over texts get lots of updates. I have sent emails to friends, family, acquaintances and work colleagues. I am using Facebook to share details. But writing about this donut venture here has been escaping me. (I am sure that most of my audience - that is even still around - duplicates from those I speak with more intimately.)

I realize that for me now Always Standing is a bit of a journal. A public repository of what is happening in my life. I don't want to stop writing because I don't want to lose the ability to look back at this time in my life, I love doing TB posts and the chance to see my thoughts from years ago. So the blog is going to continue as a means of documenting my life. There is over a decade of writing, can't stop now!

Really? That Many?

Decided to check out the statistics for Always Standing since I haven't done so in a while and I was blown away by what I found.

Firstly, I just used the little Stats tab on the Blogger homepage instead of going through the full on Google Analytics route so I don't get as much information as usual.

Secondly, as has been true for the past few years, Puns For Anna consistently gets tons of visits. I don't know how or why people find it but they do.

Alright, onto the shocking thing, in the past week my post about the municipal election got 45 page views! I did post about it on Facebook and in the past that has meant a decent uptake in views, maybe double the normal amount but nothing close to that number.

I have about 244 Facebook Friends (I think I need to cull that down) so does that mean that one fifth of them clicked the status update? I hope they decided to become (or return to being) regular Always Standing readers.

New Look Too!

For the past two and a half years, Always Standing has looked like this:

Before making the design change to the basic burgundy appearance above, the blog was purple and had a pretty filigree-ish pattern.  I think this new one has humming birds in the background - I am almost always using a split screen on my computer so the window for the blog is too small to see much of the edges. What do you think of the new peach-coloured look?

It's Been A Long Time

I have been meaning to get back to posting on Always Standing for a while now. And I have known that I wanted my first post after this break to link to the Aaliyah (featuring Timbaland) song from 2000, Try Again. This is for the beginning section that says... It's been a long time, we shouldn't have left you (without a dope beat to step to, step to.) Well, maybe I shouldn't compare the writing on this blog to a 'dope beat' but the phrase 'it's been a long time' always brings to mind that song.

Also, it really has been a long time! My last post was at the end of May and I am now returning after four months. I looked through the archive and I have never even missed one month, let alone a streak. But I am back! Do I bother promising that I plan to post more or even try for everyday?

A Flying First

My birthday falls almost exactly one month before our major event at work. I don't really feel comfortable taking any time off leading up to it, in fact often I work over the weekends on top of Monday to Friday. So, Jason wanted to plan a surprise for me and the end of April would be the last possible time I might feel comfortable take a couple of vacation days.

I didn't know where we were going, which turned out to be Florida to explore The Everglades and Florida Keys. I found out in the UP Express on the way to the airport. It was a very exciting last-minute reveal.

As any regular reader of Always Standing would know, I have flown quite a bit (it has its own tag.) But last night on the way down something happened on the plane that I have never experienced before - They called for a doctor!

Near the end of the three hour flight, an elderly women a row or two behind us got up to use the washroom and fell down. (What what I heard afterwards it was more of a 'passed out' than a 'fall' so I guess the proper term would be she collapsed.) The man that was with her, a few other passengers and a flight attendant were taking care of her.

I thought it only happened in the movies, but I soon heard someone ask over the intercom, "If there is a doctor on board please identify yourself to the nearest flight attendant or ring the assistance bell." Right away a bell chimed in front of us, in first class. Soon after a woman can striding through the curtain. (I was quite happy that is was a lady-doctor.) I think the doctor was helpful since it wasn't long before the passenger was back in her seat and everything was back to normal with the crew.

I was surprised that they do this, as the population ages it might sense to have at least one attendant on each plane that is also a nurse, so that there is accreditation beyond First Aid and CPR. Also, calling for a doctor is fine, but what is their specialty is way off from general medicine? An orthopedic surgeon is a doctor, technically so is someone with a PhD in Art History.

But She Did A Photo Diary

Some people said I was cheating by referring people over to Mom's blog after our Inca Trail trip two years ago. The thing is, she writes her blog like a travel diary with tons of photos - her travel posts are just way better than mine. The day-to-day based approach really goes into detail about the trip and her photos are excellent. Always Standing tends to be random and when I travel I still post about it but not consistently or in a way that would give readers a good sense of the trip.

So, I will still be posting about Africa as I think of things or if I notice a good picture that I want to share. However, for those that haven't been checking out Vicarious Travelling on the regular, or during our big Africa Trip, please go read the posts from January. The archive is on the right hand side of the site (she has a different set up from Always Standing) and it is easy to navigate. All the posts from our trip are titled starting with Gate 1, South Africa, (gate 1 was the tour company that the Groupon was from). You can find her first African post HERE.

Also, Vicarious Travelling can always be accessed from the link called Mom's Travel Blog in the Lovely Links section of the left-side column of Always Standing. This is also where you can find a link to Two's Instagram for readers that want to check that but don't have an instagram account. And if you are reading this in the mobile version on your tablet or cell phone and the side columns aren't visible, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on View Web Version to access the aforementioned links.

Not Resting On My Middle Name

I had such a good January when it comes to posting on Always Standing. It is important not to lose steam, not to "rest on my laurels."

Idiom Definition: To stop putting in effort, trying to innovate, or working to advance one's career or status and instead rely on one's past achievements or accolades to remain relevant or successful

Idiom Background: In Ancient Greece, victorious athletes were presented with laurel wreaths to wear. They were, and still are, signs of great accomplishment, unless you start resting on them. Read more at History Revealed.

Laurel wreaths were made from the leaves of the laurel bush (or tree, or shrub, it is basically a mid-size plant.) My middle name, Laura, after my aunt, takes its meaning from the same bush.

Name History: Laura is a Latin name. In Latin the meaning of the name Laura is: Laurel tree or sweet bay tree (symbols of honour and victory).

Long Flight

I had been thinking that the 11 hour flight between Paris and Cape Town would be my longest in air. However, Jason kept mentioning my trip to Asia. However, I flew from Vancouver to Beijing so it wasn't as far as doing a direct from Toronto - I didn't think it had been that long.

Looking back in Always Standing it turns out he was right, that flight to China was almost 14 hours long. (According to what I wrote on July 25, 2010.)

So Soon, So Unbelievable

I can't believe my trip to Africa starts tomorrow! In fact, for Kristen and Noah the adventure has already begun. As I mentioned back when we booked the tour, there are 6 of us going together. Kristen, Noah, Tessa, Jason, myself, and my mom for 12 days in South Africa with game drives and everything.

Always Standing will be buzzing! I have pre-scheduled posts that detail each day on the itinerary. I hope to load pictures and posts throughout the trip as well - we are staying in nice hotels that should have good wifi.

You should also follow along with Vicarious Travelling, which is my mom's blog - set up in a more 'travel diary' style. (Link on the left)