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

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."

Whaaat?!?

I have made a doctor's appointment for tomorrow. We were trying to get pregnant but I am still in shock that it happened! Also, that I was just a bit bored this morning and decided to take a test, I hadn't really even registered that my period was late. Jason is over the moon and we have already started to tell everyone (mainly through texting - the modern era.)

Long Ago Insult Comes Back

Hanging out on the couch in Palm Springs: Mom has her laptop out and is working on her blog, I'm on my phone, Avery is beside me on his iPad. He looks over and notices that Mom is scrolling through a lot of photos. 
Avery: Nana, why did you taken so many pictures?
Me: Actually Avery, the past tense is "took." So you should say, "Why did you took so many pictures?" Wait, nope, that isn't right. Okay, I don't know what it should have been but there was something messed up with your tense there.
Avery: You have four eyes.
He proceeds to count my eyes and the lenses on my glasses. It didn't seem like an insult at the time, just a well timed observation, that I totally deserved. 

An Evening Flight

This is my first post about the big Hungary/Romania trip! When Mom posts about trips over on her blog, she does a nice job of naming and dating posts so that her travels appear in cohesive diary entries. I have done that in the past but I don't know how organized I will be at the moment as this trip involves piles of people, a wedding, a road trip and at the same time I am trying to stay on top of The Shop via my phone and computer. 

- Wednesday evening, after working all day and frantically packing, Jason and I made our way to Toronto airport to catch an overnight direct flight to Budapest.

- Teri, Greg, their new baby, and Matty were on the flight with us. Also on the flight was Diana2 and her husband Jas. We were all seated in the back section of the plane but kept to ourselves for the most part to try to sleep.

- I did manage to sleep and enjoy the wonderful bland food. I really love airplane food. Jason and I got one of each type and he was disgusted by the flavourless chicken so we switch because I am just content with anything that isn't spicy and comes divided out so it isn't touching.

- There was an annoying clapping thing when the plane landed, why doesn't anyone clap when I do my job well? However, I would say it was a very lovely landing, but still, the clapping thing is always strange to me.

Stay tuned, I hope to keep everyone updated and will post soon about our adventures around Budapest and beyond.

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!

My Babies!

As I mentioned, my mom has been in Edmonton visiting My Babies. This is why she wasn't at The Cottage for the long weekend. It feels like it has been forever since I got a chance to see Mike, Aimee, Avery, and Maya. I think the last time was summer last year, so we are edging towards a year. That is a long time, babies become different people sometimes in days. It is great to see photos when mom goes, which she always puts on her blog. Here are the posts from her recent trip out west to see her grandkids:
- Intro Post, tons of photos, tons of smiles
- Out and About, lots more pictures, you can see how mobile they are now
- Duck Photos, short post, great shot of Maya
- Final Posts, photos really show how much Maya has grown, and Mike (probably Aimee) shows me up by remembering Mom's birthday and getting her a cake.

I may not see them often, and I worry that my niblings don't know or remember who I am, but Mike makes sure she has them say 'Hi' to me whenever I call. We don't talk on the phone often but when we do there is usually a point where Mike is getting the kids to, 'Say Hi to Aunty Chris' which is always adorable because it isn't easy to pronounce. (When we were little Mike called me 'teen' because he couldn't say 'Christine'.) I think 'Ch' part is hard for babies. I miss them so much, it is always adorable to hear them try. Then there was this recent phone exchange with Mike:
Me: Ok, I gotta go. I love you.
Mike: Ok, talk to you later.
Me: Hey! Tell me you love me. (This is a normal thing I do at the end of a call with him, he usually relents and does it. I take my forced affection when I can get it.)
Mike: ...
Me: Tell me you love me.
Mike: (Away from the phone) HEY, KIDS, come here. Tell Aunty Chris she's stinky.
Chorus of two little voices: Aunty Tiss your stinkyyyy.
Me: Ok, fine, that works. I love you. Bye. (I guess I will take forced insults from my babies when I can get it too.)

City Rhymes

Originally I was planning to pick Jason up at Weston Station after work so he could get home faster. However, we got a lot of snow today and my drive north from The Junction to Casa Verde was slow. I ended up sending him a text to let him know it wasn't a good idea for me to come get him, and my suggestion after that accidentally rhymed:

"Uber from The UP or take TTC."

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.

Phone Photo - Waterfall Fav

I absolutly love Niagara Falls. It is mind blowing each and every time I visit. But Niagara Falls is a Natural Wonder of the World (or at least I thought it was.) It is hard to say it is my favourite waterfall since it is so much more than that. With that, I think I have found a pretty amazing waterfall that might be my top, Bourke's Luck Potholes.

The Waterfalls at The Potholes

Why am I unable to get my horizons straight?

(Photo taken with my phone)

Blyde River Canyon, South Africa

The other stops on today's very long bus ride were also very impressive. Sadly though, God's Window was too foggy to see anything at but the vistas at The Three Rondavels were beautiful.

Phone Photo - Rainy Day Selfie

City Tour of Cape Town

Jason and I, photo with my phone

Cape Town, South Africa, 2018

Phone Photo - Saw Penguins!

African Penguins at Boulders Beach
Photo with my phone
The Cape Peninsula, Africa, 2018

It was a fast paced day, I could have watched these guys for hours but we got only about 20 minutes. This photo doesn't do the cuteness justice.

56 Hours In Iceland - Pingvellir, Iceland

The Path To Another World

Pingvellir National Park, Iceland

Photo taken with my phone

(Excited to see what the photos on our new camera look like.)

Speed (1994)

So I finally got around to watching the movie Speed with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock last night. It came out in 1994 but was way to scary for my 10-year-old self. Then I never got around to it once I started watching and enjoying action movies. I ended up sharing my thoughts on Facebook as I watched - which most readers will have already seen but thought I would post here anyway for people not on social media...

Quiet Sunday evening on the couch with Jason, watching Speed for the first time. I know I am a bit behind the bandwagon on this 1994 action gem. Let's see how this goes..

3:20 - The opening credits are making me sad that Microsoft canceled Paint and also making me nostalgic for Corel Draw. However the score has stood the test of time - so good, already epic.

28:59 - Phone booth plot point!

38:16 - Used a car phone in a commandeered convertible, then took that guys cell phone too. Used cell to call police station - police station has rotary desk phones. The telecom in this thing is all over the place! Oh the mid-90s.

45:53 - Loving supporting cast, Jeff Daniels and Alan Ruck. Who knew!

1:33:43 - Amazing end to the bus saga! Super exciting. But there is still over 20 minutes left - is it just hunting down the bad guy? No more Sandra Bullock driving? I love her! She had better be still a good strong part of the rest of this!

1:35:13 - They killed off Jeff Daniels! ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?

1:38:26 - Sandra is now a bomb wearing hostage!! Nooo! Man, solid third act arc.

1:39:58 - Oooo Subway... (Didn't know LA had a Subway)

1:43:37 - ANOTHER the path isn't finished issue? I would comment that this is ridiculous but it isn't like we are all up on top of our Toronto infrastructure in 2017 so I can't really say anything.

I really enjoyed this movie, it is very very good. Speed definitely stands up in a first time viewing 23 years later which wouldn't be said about a lot of actions films that old. Can't believe it has taken me this long but glad I finally got to see it.

Movie With The Girls

Went to a movie (Hidden Figures, highly recommended) tonight with some friends from work. We have a Whatsapp group and talk throughout the day using lots of Bitmoji's. Here are the four of us represented by our avatars:

Clockwise from top left: 

Laura, Lor, ME, Sob

Bitmoji Me

I made a Bitmoji version of myself... very pointless, very addictive... more coming soon, here is a sneak peek:

Birthday Weekend Tradition

Today is Jason's Birthday!! We celebrated together a couple of days ago with a surprise weekend, a gift that I promise to continue each year.

If, according to my rule, the second occurrence makes something a tradition and the third solidifies it - than surprising Jason with a weekend of activities has become a solid tradition for us. Since we started dating in 2012, I have tried to do something fun.

Here are the past weekends we have done for Jason's Birthday:

2012 - James Bond
Themed as a 007 mission docket, we went to see an all night marathon of James Bond movies at the TIFF Lightbox. The gift also included a one year membership to TIFF and other James Bond activities they were doing.

2013 - NYC
So probably the biggest weekend so far was a trip to New York City, complete with JetBlue flights, Daily Show tickets, and more. The surprise was accidentally uncovered in mid-November when Jason saw a text from Teri on my phone that referenced it. But we just started being excited for the trip together. Note: The trip was postponed until October of 2014 because of my father's death a few days before we were scheduled to leave.

2014 - Dog Sledding
With each activity mapped out in separate envelopes, I surprised Jason with a trip to Gatineau, Quebec, detailed in my Nov 29, 2014 post.

2015 - Caves and Buttertarts
Last year we went on a Buttertart Tour and stayed at a motel a couple of hours north-east of Toronto. We also made a visit to see Taylor and her family, as well as, climbed through some very tight caves. This is when I learnt that Jason had a bit of claustrophobia. While I had already known that he didn't like spiders, I unfortunately hadn't made the connection that caves would be a place that spiders might be. We enjoyed the experience anyway, caves should be a bit scary!

2016 - This Year!
I was able to do a bit better job with giving the weekend a theme and presented Jason with a geography challenge that had puzzles. The solutions detailed the activities. We stayed at the Royal York downtown, visited the Hockey Hall of Fame, watched the Leafs beat the Capitals at the ACC, and met up with friends for brunch.

I am already trying to figure out what to do for next November!

Beats By BB8

Just got these for work:

BB8 Headphones

Photo of me, by me, on my phone

They are children's, from Indigo, and were on sale for $12. They are super adorable, and I really liked the new Star Wars movie - BB8 is way better than R2D2 who I am slowly realizing is basically a massive dick.

Changing Seasons

My dad would be turning 62 today if he was still alive. I had to check all the dates and timelines and birthdays again with my mom on the phone this evening cause I still have a hard time believing that he was only 59 when he died - though I mentioned that fact when I spoke at his funeral, my mind seems to reject it.

I always associate the summer solstice with Dad's birthday since he was born on June 21st. I actually would normally wait until the radio or TV or friends or co-workers started talking about how it was the start of summer and I would know I should call him to wish him happy birthday.

Yes, Father's Day was Sunday, and his birthday is today, and it does feel like it has been a hard few days. It was harder last year when it all landed on the same day. Another difference this year, June 21st isn't the first day of summer. Everyone was talking about it on Monday, yesterday. I didn't know it moved. So, of course, I looked it up online:

A solstice happens when the sun's zenith is at its furthest point from the equator. On the June solstice, it reaches its northernmost point and the Earth’s North Pole tilts directly towards the sun, at about 23.4 degrees. It's also known as the northern solstice because it occurs when the sun is directly over the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere. 

Even though most people consider June 21 as the date of the June Solstice, it can happen anytime between June 20 and June 22, depending on which time zone you're in. June 22 Solstices are rare - the last June 22 Solstice in took place in 1975 and there won't be another one until 2203. 

The varying dates of the solstice are mainly due to the calendar system – most western countries use the Gregorian calendar which has 365 days in a normal year and 366 days in a Leap Year. A tropical year, the time it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun completely, is ca. 365.242199 days, but varies slightly from year to year because of the influence of other planets. The exact orbital and daily rotational motion of the Earth, such as the “wobble” in the Earth's axis, also contributes to the changing solstice dates.

I looked at all the summer solstice dates going back almost 50 years and forward more than 30, it usually is June 21st. Besides starting summer on June 20th this year, it always was a full moon, which had everyone quite excited - since it is pretty rare to have these things line up. I didn't notice anything special - just sadness, missing my Dad.

Oh Man, So Soon!!

I used to have to use a calendar or visit a website to figure out the time between dates, like I did for my trip to London.

But now, I have a countdown app on my phone, to be accurate it is a Days Left Widget. If something important or exciting is coming up then I start to track it on the main screen page of my phone. After the date passes the widget starts counting up, and telling you how many 'days since' it has been.

After our offer was accepted, I had a countdown going for the date we closed on Casa Verde. That was back in February but I am keeping the count going and think of it as the number of days that Jason and I have been homeowners. (According to my phone, that has been 111 days.)

So I also have one going for the wedding and last week it dipped down into the double digits. It was much more reassuring when it said 100 or more days until the event. Now it is only 96 days away and I feel like there is still so much to do!