Tuesday, February 11, 2025

Weekend Recap

On Friday, this was exactly the place I wanted to be. In the warmest seat in the house with my glass of wine and working on my crossword puzzle.  


It was a beautiful morning on Saturday to be skiing.  The little kids, U8 and U10, were ready for their fun race. 


There was fresh snow the day before and everything was nicely groomed.  The lift even opened before 9:00 so we got some first tracks in. We did a few runs together and then Dave went to help set up for the race.


Q coming across the finish line. The kids were all grouped together in the results, but we think he came in 11th out of his U10 boys group.  He looked great!




Standing with his buddies at the awards.


When we got home, Dave waxed E's skis, we watched some women's downhill, and then had steak for dinner. 


And then we watched the rest of a movie we had started last week. 

We were up extra early on Sunday because there had been quite a bit of snow overnight and we knew our drive would be slower than normal, plus Dave had to shovel out the driveway.  I should have taken a picture but I think there was at least 15 cm overnight.  We were slower than normal on some snow covered roads, but we were still there in plenty of time. 

I dropped E and Dave off at The Heights for E's ski race.  This is the U14 team.

E and his buddy.


They had a combination GS and ski-cross (or terrain) style race.  It looked like lots of fun.  E looked great.  One of the parents got these phots of all our kids.







Meanwhile Q and I were at our normal hill for Q's training.  The fresh snow made for a great day. I got lots of runs in and didn't want to stop, but eventually had to get packed up. 

We celebrated Super Bowl when we got home with our own nachoes and wings.


We were happy that Philidelphia won but was surprised it was such a blow out.  I did not care for the halftime show, as I said when I blogged about the Grammys I'm not a Kendrick Lamar fan so it didn't hit for me.  

Monday, February 10, 2025

Sharing our Lives - Tips for Falling Asleep

 

Happy Monday! Thank you for joining us today where we Share our Lives with you.  My co-hosts are: AdrienneDaraJen, and Joanne.  We are here on the second Monday of each month.  If you have a blog and posted on this topic, please link up with us below.

Everyone has different preferences for their sleep environment, so what works for me may not work for you.  I really don't struggle to fall asleep, but there are times when I wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall back to sleep right away.  My kids are older now but I remember those nights of having someone crying from the other room, needing me to sleep with them in their bed, or coming to sleep in our bed. Those days do stop eventually! 

Here is what works for me to get a good night's sleep:

Weighted blanket - All of us have a Hush blanket on our beds. I love that feeling of being extra cozy.

White noise - I use Spotify to play rain noise while we fall asleep. I can set the timer so it turns off and doesn't run all night. 

Dark room - We make sure our doors and blinds are closed, and there are no electronic lights around. 

Warmth (in winter) and Cool (in summer) - I like to be warm when I get into bed, and I will often wear a sweater or wrap myself in a blanket. The room is warm when we go to bed, but the heat turns off in the night so it does get cooler.  In the summer we make sure the air conditioning is on so we aren't sweating.

Exercising. Getting a workout in during the day is a sure-fire way to be tired for bed.  If my body is feeling especially sore I will take an Advil before bed so my body can relax and I'll get a better sleep.

No coffee after 3:00 pm. This is non-negotiable. 

Mindfulness while falling asleep. I try to say a prayer of thanks and then a prayer for other people that need it, and then if I'm still awake I think about how I will start my day in the morning.

Staying "sleepy" if I need to get up to use the washroom. I try to keep my eyes closed, I don't check the time, and try not to transfer to an awake state if I can avoid it. 

Not worrying about it. If I ever do have problems sleeping, I try not to get worked up about the fact that I am awake when I should be sleeping!  Instead I remind myself that my body is resting and I will get to sleep eventually. 

Things that people say you should do but I haven't tried:

Avoid eating several hours before bed.  Although most days I don't snack after dinner, I will have some chips and a drink before dinner, and I don't find it affects my ability to sleep. 

Take magnesium. If I struggled with sleep I could try it, but I haven't felt I needed it so far.

Don't look at your phone or other screens before bed. We are that couple that looks at their respective phones right up to the time the light turns off, sorry not sorry. 

Cooling sheets. See above, I like to be warm and cozy.

Limit naps. If I have a short nap in the day, like less than 30 minutes, that doesn't affect my ability to fall asleep at night. 


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Friday, February 7, 2025

Friday Favourites

Happy Friday! We had a wintry sort of week, still have the cold temperatures, although no Polar Vortex, some snow, and lots of ice still on our driveway so everyone needs to be careful.

On Tuesday we went to see the Dog Man Movie with one of Q's friends.  And we had to make a stop at McDonalds for supper first. 




It was wine exchange time for me! No California reds for us this time.  The Sauvignon Blanc is a class choice, and the other was a deliberately chosen Canadian wine.


I put up a few decorations for Valentine's Day.  After our Christmas decorations go away our house is always a little bare, including the mantle.  We probably need more than the little papier mâché snake that Q made for Lunar New Year.

Q requested a game after dinner on Wednesday and my stipulation was something that didn't require a lot of set up, so we played Uzzle.  Usually I am good at this game, but E was the champion this time.



Meanwhile Dave was in Vegas for a work trip. 


While Dave was away I got our electric blanket out and used it to preheat my bed, and then I would watch Netflix (the OJ Simpson series to be precise) under the warm blanket (before unplugging it to go to sleep). What a game changer! What habits do you have when your spouse is out of town?

I went out for Happy Hour with my colleagues last night at Blue Bovine. It was nice to get together to talk about non-work things and enjoy some yummy food and drinks. 



Have a great weekend!

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.







Thursday, February 6, 2025

Recipe - Overnight Oats

I never was really a fan of overnight oats, they always seemed a bit slimy to me.  Then I found a recipe that suggested warming it up before eating, so I tried it and it was delicious.  If I'm warming it up, then why don't I just make it fresh and hot in the morning, you ask? Well, I would say that the overnight oats recipe has lots of yummy stuff that just taste better when they've been able to rest together overnight, plus I can make it ahead of time and just grab a container full to take to work!  Here is the finished product, and below is the recipe.




Ingredients:
1 cup of rolled oats (I used the quick oats but you could use the fuller flakes)
1.5 cups unsweetened plant milk (I use cashew)
1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp cinnamon
1.5 tsp vanilla
1 large Honey Crisp apple, unpeeled, finely chopped or grated (about 1 cup)
3 tbsp chia seeds 
Pinch of Ground allspice
Pinch of Ground Ginger
Pinch of Salt
Toppings: raisins, dried cranberries, chopped pecans or walnuts, pumpkin seeds, more apple, more maple syrup


Stir together all of the ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. When ready to eat, portion into bowls (all four of us can usually get a serving).  If desired, warm up in the microwave for 45 seconds, to take the chill off.  Top with preferred toppings.

(This is after I've mixed it up but before it goes into the fridge.)


Yummy and not slimy!






Tuesday, February 4, 2025

Weekend Recap

I forgot to include this photo in my Friday Favourites when Q went to a friend's house after school. They were building a snow fort when I went to pick him up.

Now, onto our weekend...I had a special delivery on Friday from Australia. Ruth, your card finally arrived! Not before Christmas of course, but appreciated all the same.


We made some pizzas on Friday night and then watched a bit of the Raptors before sending the boys to bed at a decent time.

Saturday we were back on the ski hill for a blue bird day.  It was cold but beautiful.

I was waiting for my group after being the fast one :)

Ran into Q coming back outside after a quick warm up break. He was in good spirits. 


And ran into this dude on the hill.  We know where his group is training on the gates so we always try to catch E doing a run. Success this time!


And bonus, we got to ride the lift with him and his buddies.

We did a couple of runs with our friends.  You can see how clear of a day it was.

Lunchtime chaos. 

After training we got in the car to drive to Huntsville.  We were staying at the Hidden Valley Resort that night so we could be there for E's race the next morning.  The kids went for a swim and this was the view from the pool area.

We drove into town for dinner. 

We ate at the Huntsville Brewhouse.

Our group.

Because we were staying at the resort across from the ski hill, we were able to sleep in a little bit, and then walk over.  E needed to be there for his race so I walked over with him to get him set up, and then Q and Dave came over for 9:00 when the lifts opened. 


It was even colder on this morning and we were farther north so that made a difference too.  We skied for a bit before it was time to watch the racers. 

We caught E and his friends on the lift.


Here comes E on his first run.


Across the finish line.


He came in 23rd out of 45 racers. 

We then headed home for the longer than normal drive.  It was a bit slow around Barrie (isn't it always!) with traffic and some snow, but no real delays.  Dave quickly got ready and went to the airport as he was flying out that night to Vegas for a work trip.  The boys and I had dinner and watched Beast Games.  Then I suggested we all go up to my room and I put the Grammys on the iPad.  E watched with me, but Q just played on his own iPad, but we were all together. 

I loved the Grammys! I don't usually watch them but I thought it was amazing, every performance was awesome, they did a great job of recognizing the LA wildfires, Trevor Noah had the right tone, and I just loved seeing all those amazing women!  Not a fan of Kendrick Lamar though, I'm Team Drake all day.  I actually didn't finish the whole show but was able to watch the rest in the morning.