Monday, March 30, 2020

March Books

My regular reading routine got hijacked by the Coronavirus, so only two books this month.

The first book I read was Seinfeldia by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong. 

This had been on my list for awhile since I am a huge fan of Seinfeld.  If you are also a fan then you were appreciate this book.  The author did a tremendous of job of going through old records and articles, as well as speaking to some of the writers, producers, and guest stars to cobble together the behind the scenes story of Seinfeld.  I don't think she actually spoke to Jerry and Larry, but it does have a lot of information about how the show was born and evolved during its 9 seasons.  I liked hearing how some of the plot lines developed and reminiscing about my favourite stories.  

The second book I read was Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist. 

This book links stories from the author's life and food she has enjoyed.  Most of the chapters also have a recipe for you to try.  I haven't tried any of them yet, but they sounds good and after you've read the chapter about that very thing, it sounds so appealing.  It is a Christian book and there is some reference to that throughout, but it isn't the main focus so I think most people would still enjoy it.  It's interesting to read it now since it inspires the reader to host more parties and make more food for people, and we can't really do that right now.  I really do like inviting people over and cooking for them, but this reminded me it doesn't have to be perfect, the gathering of friends and family is the important part, not whether you made the perfect meal. So when we are allowed to socialize again, I will be inviting people over for sure.

A little footnote to this - I discovered that one of the recipes is from Mar-a-Lago (yes, that one)  when I was looking through the table of contents and I almost put the book down since if the author is a Trump supporter, I wasn't sure I wanted to read it.  And she may be, who knows, but that chapter had nothing to do with Trump, just that Oprah visited there once and had the best turkey burger.  Plus the book was written in 2013 before all of this madness. 

Friday, March 27, 2020

Friday Favourites




A quick Friday Favourites post this week to show you our week:

Our neighbour suggested we put up some Easter eggs in our windows for the kids to go on a scavenger hunt to find.  We made ours right away, but haven't gone out to look for the others yet. 

Lots of Lego going on at our house right now.  Dave is taking this opportunity to rebuild all of our Star Wars ships and Ninjago mechs.  The kids carry these around the house and play with them, which drives me crazy because they are just going to get broken!! #PresidentBusiness #LordBusiness #Kragle (Lego Movie fans know what I mean).

Also this snack in their bowls is one my aunt always used to me - cut up apples, marshmallow, raisins, and I added a few chocolate chips.

I went for a lovely run on Wednesday and the view from the Dundas Street bridge over the Humber was magnificent.

I joined trivia night with Boxing Rock, the brewery from my hometown, with some of my high school friends.  It was so much fun, I will do it again next week.  

Working from home is hard but when you get hugs throughout the day, it is worth it

The boys founds some cool stuff to play in on their walk.

Signs of spring!

I hope you're all keeping well! 

Linking up with AndreaErika, and Narci.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

What's Up Wednesday


What we're eating this week...
Sunday - Shrimp Noodles
Monday - Salmon and French Fries
Tuesday - Quesadillas
Wednesday - Risotto
Thursday - Salad bowls
Friday - Pizza
Saturday - Order Out

And we are also eating Dave's birthday cake - DQ Star Wars ice cream cake :)

3 plus 9!




Cake for days!

What we've been up to...
I wrote about that here and here.  Basically we are doing the same as most other people - including trying to keep our sanity. 

Virtual workouts

School work

Getting outside, even in the rain.


General silliness

What I'm dreading...
I try to take one day at a time, but working from home with the kids here is not easy, and even if I am able to go back to the office at some point, it's likely school will be out longer than that and we will have to figure something out for childcare.  

What I'm working on...
Hmm, let's see...making meals, tidying bedrooms, doing laundry, supporting my HR and Operations teams, attending conference calls, trying to get outside, doing puzzles, helping E with school work (this has slipped down the list admittedly), taking a few minutes for myself, keeping up with the news, folding blankets, sweeping the floor, emptying the dishwasher.  But also working on enjoying the time at home.  The first week was easy, I feel like work has really ramped up during this second week making all of the "fun" stuff harder.  We'll figure it out though :)

What I'm excited about...
The weather getting nicer.  We had some cold and wet days here this week and it made going outside less fun.  I want to put away the hats and mitts and feel the warm sun.

What I'm watching/reading...
We have one episode of The Morning Show left, and then we need to find a new series.  We watched Parasite and Ad Astra.  Parasite was really good, it did deserve the Oscar;  I didn't like much about Ad Astra other than Brad Pitt. 

I don't get to read much these days, but I am slowly getting through Bread and Wine by Shauna Niequist.  I also managed to get one book from the library before it closed so I will have something else to read after that. 


What I'm listening to...
Listening to Peter Mansbridge's podcast, which he is doing daily now.  Also listening to a few webinars on how to deal with Covid - interpreting force majeure clauses, considering how credit facility agreements are impacted, and how to deal with employees.

What I'm wearing...
All of the yoga pants and sweatpants, and I'm fine with that.  I know some people say when you're working from home, you should still get dressed up, but that's a big no from me dawg.

What I'm doing this weekend...
More of the same, but we do treat the weekend differently than the rest of the week.   The kids can stay in their PJs for a bit and we get to watch TV in the morning. 

What I'm looking forward to next month...
Easter!  We likely won't be back at church but we will still celebrate the Risen Christ.  It is my favourite holiday. 

What else is new...
We visited a park for a hike on the weekend (and then realized we shouldn't have done that, too many people), but it was a beautiful day and we really appreciated the blue sky, views, and birds chirping. 



Linking up with Shay and Sheaffer.


Tuesday, March 24, 2020

Current Random Thoughts

A few things I've noticed over the past week of being home all of the time:

We keep doing different activities and then realize we shouldn't be.  For example we played at the playground last Saturday (the 14th on Day 1 of social distancing for us), and we also hung out outside with our neighbours for about 30 minutes that same weekend. We haven't done either of those things since then.  We also went for a hike at a park just on the weekend but then realized that wasn't the right thing to do either when we saw how packed the parking lot was.  We won't be doing that again.


I like quiet.  I do get quiet parts of the house when I need to do some work or go on a conference call, but in the rest of the house there is always talking, yelling, banging, music, etc.

Working from home with small children means you never really get a break.  Breaks from work just mean childcare or cleaning or food prep, and breaks from those things means work.  You're never off duty.  And since I'm working from home, I feel like I need to be available to my co-workers at all times so I always answer the phone and emails right away.  That is the right thing to do since we are a bit in crisis mode dealing with Civid-related matters, but it means work never stops.

I'm probably not going to clean my whole house from top to bottom during this time (see above point). We have done a few things like clean the windows and Dave cleaned up the old leaves.  I'll try to fit a few more things in but our house will not be spotless :)

I change my clothes a lot - there are inside comfy clothes, outside comfy clothes, running clothes, and indoor workout clothes.  It's a lot of pants without zippers, hah!

One of things I'm most disappointed about that we missed our trip was that I'm missing out on having someone else cook all of our meals! And since we are trying to limit our trips to the store I feel like I'm off my regular meal planning routine, I've tended to just buy a bunch of things and then try to make meals from what is in the cupboard rather than buying for the meal plan like I usually do.


My kids are pretty great.  They love being home with us and although we get a little push back that there is no TV or video games until mid-afternoon, they are mostly happy to just play, do a bit of work, go outside, and help us out.  They haven't complained about missing their friends and not having their normal school routine is just fine with both of them.  Don't get me wrong, there have been a few tears on Q's end, and a bit of pouting from E, but they are mostly just fine and I'm so grateful.  I've seen other people talking about how their kids are having a hard time adjusting and we haven't found that so far.  

Sometimes I forget that this is actually a big crisis.  Aside from my work, which we are handling, we are pretty sheltered here.  We are getting along just fine and doing what we are told, but people are suffering, and not just those that are sick, which is enough in itself, but also the health care and grocery store workers (and others), the people with anxiety where non-covid life can be stressful enough, the ones that live alone, that have lost their jobs, who can't afford to stock up on food, and the list goes on.  This is a good quote.  We do what we can.







Monday, March 23, 2020

Throw Back to 2017 Jamaica

Since are supposed to be in Jamaica right now, I thought I would link to my post from the trip we took there in 2017.  The kids were so little (E was 5 and Q was 4 months) and we had a lovely time.  We were looking forward to being there again, but with some older kids, a different resort, and with some friends.  We aren't sure when and if we will re-book this trip. 

You can read about our trip here and a review of the resort we stayed at that time here.


I'm sorry to everyone that had to miss their holiday this year; it sucks, eh?

Friday, March 20, 2020

Happy Birthday Dave!!

Well this is not the birthday Dave was expecting, we were supposed to be off to Jamaica today for a little holiday, but we will still try to make it special for him anyway.

So happy birthday to our favourite guy!






















I asked both kids some questions about Dave (separately though, as I would guess Q would have just copied E's answers)

What is something Dad says a lot?
E: You are awesome and Q is awesome.
Q: Happy Birthday.

What makes Dad happy?
E: Me, You, Q, Lego
Q: Cake

What makes him sad?
E: When one of us gets a bee sting
Q: Nothing

How tall is Dad?
E: 5 feet long? 2 m? 1 m?
Q: This big (stretches arm way up)

How old is he?
E: 24 (he also said 24 last year)
Q:1, 2... 

What is his favourite food?
E: Pizza and tacos?
Q: Maybe broccoli 

Does he have a favourite child?
E: Yes, their names are E and Q
Q: No

If Dad could go anywhere, where would he go?
E: Anywhere where Q and E want to go.
Q: He'd go downstairs, upstairs, downstairs, upstairs (probably the right answer during this social distancing time)

What is his favourite song?
E: Rivers and Roads (by The Head and the Heart)
Q: Maybe ABCD

What is his favourite movie?
E: Star Wars anything
Q: Superheroes  (Incredibles 2)

Where was Dad born?
E: Halifax, was he? 
Q: I can't do it.

What is his favourite show?
Q: No idea
Q: Maybe Superheroes? (Me: No, not a movie, a TV show, like Paw Patrol.) Paw Patrol, maybe?

What is Dad afraid of?
E: Heights 
Q: No

How would you describe him to your friends?
E: He's my dad and he's super awesome.
Q: ... (he had nothing)

Anything else to add?
E: What is his favourite video game? Mario Kart, Star Wars Lego, Star Wars Lego 2.
Q: No, I want to just eat.  (Questions were asked before breakfast)