Real Life

This post was inspired by a reel I saw the other day on Instagram.  (And like any good reel, if I wanted to try and find it again, it would be impossible.). But the gist of it was a shout out to the people living in the real world, not the (wannabe) influencer/celebrity/instagram world.  It spoke to me because even though I have this blog and like to post about what we are up to, I assume you can tell that I’m not really displaying my life the way that others on here do. Sometimes I do wonder if I am the only one who isn’t doing a certain thing, since that’s what my view is of social media, but that reel reminded me that there are lots of us “real ones” out here.  So this post is for you guys! (And this isn’t a slight to those of you who do do these things, you’re living a real life too, it just looks different from mine!!)

Those of us who:

Don’t go to the cosmetic dermatologist to get peels and Botox and injections.  

Don’t own a Stanley cup.

Haven’t had a pedicure for months.

Just got their haircut last week for the first time since January!

Aren’t receiving multiple Amazon parcels each week.

Don’t have a cleaning lady.

Don’t have a perennially clean house. 

Get their books from the library. 

Own just a couple of pairs of jeans (at least one of which is skinny).

If you sometimes get overwhelmed at all the stuff other people are doing, just remember what is important to you and spend your time and money accordingly.  Happy Monday!

Let's Look - Little Everyday Things

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today's "Let's Look" topic is little things we do every single day.   I kept this list to things that I actually do every day, not just things that are regular habits, since I cannot say that every day I exercise, read, make sure I get outside, or drink x glasses of water.  I do those things, but not necessarily every day on a regular basis.  And of course there are some things I do every weekday when working but not necessarily on the weekends.

Drink AG1 - I received an Athletic Greens subscription for Christmas and I have been drinking it since then.  I feel good about drinking it and think it's helping me with energy levels during the day.

Drink coffee - I am one of those people that is addicted to coffee meaning if I don't have any, I will get a headache.  Since Christmas I am also in the habit of adding a scoop of collagen.

Eat Breakfast - I always needs to have something to eat in the morning. I was raised with the notion that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Typically my breakfast is my healthiest meal, so I feel like it's a good start. 

Listen to Music - I like to put music on in the background while I am working and while I am making supper.  It's preferable to having the TV on. 

Check on my kids before bed - Since they were babies I would make sure they were still breathing before I went to bed at night, and I have continued to do this even today.  I'm less concerned about their breathing now, but I also want to make sure they are covered up. 

Say a Prayer - I do this while I am falling asleep. I start with things I am thankful for and the move into prayers for others.  However I am usually so quick to fall asleep, I rarely get through my whole list! But it's the thought that counts.

I'm sure I've left some things off of this list so I'll be looking forward to seeing what is on others' lists.

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.

 

Weekly Routines

 Here are the things that I do on a weekly basis:

Meal Plan and Groceries - I'm better at doing this during the months we are not skiing since right now I don't have as much time to sit with cookbooks and Pinterest to put together some worthwhile meals.  I like to go to the grocery store but I also frequently do a grocery order for pick up.   Lately I feel like we have been cobbling together meals on the fly, and how can we really live like this?! Haha.  It's fine for now. 

Laundry - I tend to all of the laundry on the same day, rather than throughout the week, usually on Friday when I'm working from home. I find it difficult to actually fold it all and put it away. 

Order School Lunches - The kids have pizza day on the first Wednesday of each month and the option for a delivered lunch on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I order these on a week by week basis since they don't always need to have a purchased lunch, or maybe E has plans to get something with his friends. 

Clean my mouth guard - I have the Polident for retainers and I like to soak mine on Sunday night.  It always feels good to have it so fresh.

Review the calendar of the week ahead - This is done as a family so everyone understands what is required of them.  Currently we have both kids in swimming (on different nights), Q is doing baseball, and E has guitar.  I have choir practice one night, and Dave likes to book a time at the golf simulator.  

Empty all the garbages - The recycling and organics bin seem to be emptied on a more regular basis, but on Tuesday (before waste collection day on Wednesday) I will go around and empty all of the garbages around the house.  We have garbage pick up every other week (alternating with recycling) but I will still do the garbage even on a recycling week.

Set up my blog posts for the week - I usually set up the four or five posts I'm planning for the week, schedule the days for them to post, and add any graphics that I need.  This just gets my brain working on thinking of content so as the week progresses I just need to fill them in.

Workouts -  I like to look at the Peloton schedule to see what fun classes are coming up, or which ones I've missed and them figure out how to fit them into my week.

Things I wish I did a bit better at doing on a more frequent basis: cleaning everything in the house, applying a hair masque and face scrub, telling the kids to tidy their rooms, and prepping food to make it easier to grab throughout the week. 

Preparing for Christmas

Christmas sort of snuck up on me this year.  I heard Christmas music in a store the other day and I was startled. I just can't believe it is so close. I feel like every year I have a different feeling about Christmas, sometimes I am super excited, other times I feel a bit reticent about it all.  I suppose that's normal, but if I compare myself to others who go all in on this holiday starting on November 1, my approach can seem lacking.  

A few things about our holiday season will be different this year:

- We are still working on our home renovations and we are unsure if we will be able to move upstairs by Christmas Day. Our decorations are in storage so we haven't had any thought of putting up our outdoor lights and don't know if we will be able to get our normal big tree. 

- We aren't going to see Santa at the mall this year.  Truthfully the set up at our local mall Sherway Gardens lost its charm over the past few years.  They used to do sessions of about 25 kids where Santa would read a book, they would sing some songs, and then each kid would have a chance to sit with Santa for photos.  But the past few years it's just been photos, which is the norm, but it doesn't seem worth it this year.  We have not had the talk about Santa in our house, although there have been a few questions. 

- We aren't having our annual friends and neighbours Christmas party.  Our house isn't ready for that and we are really sad to miss out.  We have had a party every year since we moved in in 2014 (except for 2020).  We'll be back better than ever next year!  Or maybe we'll do a mid-winter party so we can show off our renovations before too long.

- Because of our lack of party and our current accommodations, it also means I'm haven't put any thought into Christmas baking.  

However the school Christmas Winter concert is back this year!! So although E has aged out of it, Q will be performing and I'll be looking forward to that!

I think above all, no matter how I am feeling about the actual holiday season, I always keep the true meaning of Christmas at the top of my mind. At choir on Sunday, we sang our first Christmas anthem, and the words from the arrangement of "Lo How A Rose E'er Blooming" we were singing really struck me, of course I can't find the exact wording here and I forgot to make a note of it at the time, but it's basically that Mary brought forth a child, and that's it, that's the meaning of Christmas for me. I think I will keep those words as my touchstone throughout this season. 

Christmas Jesus is my favourite Jesus.

Friday Favourites

 

Happy Friday! I'm in Southern Florida this weekend, first South Beach and then the Keys :) A nice little sunny trip before winter. 

On Monday I spent some time at the library.  It was like I was back in university.  I had dropped the kids off at tutoring and then had an hour before needing to pick them up so I set up at the library to do a bit of work. 

I may yell at the kids a lot, but there are moments when things come together.  On Monday I asked them to do the dishes while I got supper ready.  They did a great job!

Q had soccer practice this week (or "training" if you want to be accurate).  This fall league is great because it is two nights a week and they actually get some instruction on one night, with the other being a game.

Dave has been in Vegas for work this week. He had sent some photos and E asked if Vegas was a theme park.  In some ways it totally is.

If you're joining me via the Friday Favourites link up and you love Disney, check out my recaps of our recent trip here (for my regular followers, I'll stop talking about it now):

 Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom, EPCOT and Hollywood Studios, and Universal and My Tips

Join our link up on Monday when we talk about Comfort Foods.

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.

Life Lately

I did not document our weekend this week, mostly because we were able to take it pretty easy, for once. So instead this is more of a "life lately" post.  

This past Sunday was Remembrance Sunday since it falls before November 11.  We enjoyed some bagpipes, a trumpet, and a guest pianist.  You can actually view our service here.  The choir was proud of our anthem (at the 47:15 mark of the link above).

I added a couple of ride photos to my Disney trip recaps, but I won't make you scroll through those again to find them, here they are. (Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom here, EPCOT and Hollywood Studios here, and Universal here)

Speaking of rides, we are really enjoying the Behind the Attractions show on Disney+.  I still believe Disney employs magic to put these parks together, so I don't want to lift the veil too much, but I like hearing about how the rides were developed.  Also, we watched Pirates of the Caribbean on the weekend and I loved spotting the jail dog with the keys in his mouth, just like on the ride. 

Last week I had a couple of more spots on my face looked at by the dermatologist. I did this last year, and although they aren't a major concern yet, it has been their advice to get them lasered off, and then remember sunscreen at all times.  A reminder to you to get things checked out in a timely manner!

 And then treated myself to a pumpkin spice latte as a reward for being an adult ;)

I keep making soup that my family does not want to eat, but at least I enjoy it and get to bring it for my lunch at work.  This one was a cauliflower turmeric soup.  Now to be fair, Dave was heading to the airport so he didn't eat supper at home and E had eaten at a friend's house (and he tasted it and said it was good). Q said it looked "like dirt" and I admit I may have over-roasted the vegetables.  The accompanying focaccia bread was enjoyed though!

We went shopping at Crate and Barrel for some furniture this weekend.  We bought a couch and a couple of chairs.  I snapped this photo of a blanket basket and a few other things that caught my eye while we were there.  We also went to Pottery Barn but was disappointed with their prices and customer service.  Nice things to look at but can find better elsewhere.

A great little show on Apple TV - The Real Wagatha Story about Coleen Rooney (the wife of former English footballer, Wayne Rooney) and how she found out who was leaking her private Instagram stories to the tabloids. 

We finally got E a phone.  He was the last one in his Grade 7 class to get a phone (so he tells us).  He really wasn't bothering us too much about getting a phone. It is nice to be able to leave him texts he can get after school (phone stays in the locker during the day) and checking in on him when he's at a friend's house. 

Have a great rest of your week!

Covid Habits to Keep

I know we are still missing out on so much - family time, travelling, restaurants, etc. - but there are some things that I hope will continue on even after we can lift some of these restrictions.  Now to be clear, I am not an overly social person like others may be, I don't love being in huge groups of people, and I don't like a lot of attention. I like to do things a certain way without being bothered by things I don't like.  Sometimes I don't feel like talking to anyone, which is why living in Toronto is perfect for me since I can be anonymous if I want to be.  So for me, this list is for things I would like to continue, but I'm sure other people feel differently.  

Cleaning my hands more.  I did not used to be as diligent at washing my hands as I am now, and when I think back, it's kind of gross.  I used to take the subway to work and touch a few surfaces on the way into my office, and then go to my desk and eat something without washing my hands. Yuck!

Not hugging as much.  Hugging is appropriate in some situations, but I also think there was too much of it before. I just met you, why are we hugging? (Dave, on the other hand, cannot get enough hugs.) 

Contactless delivery.  Just leave the food, we don't need to have an interaction. I'll tip the delivery person but I don't like the awkward encounter at the door.  

Reduced people in stores.  I'm thinking of places like the meat market or fish store where you need to be served by the person behind the counter.  With less people going in at a time, then it's clear who is first and there is no one cutting the line (on purpose or inadvertently).

Options to attend church, workouts, meetings virtually.  I definitely want to go back to these places in person at some point, but I would also love the option to attend from home if I need to.  Some Sunday mornings, there isn't enough energy to get everyone dressed up and out the door, but I may still want to view the service.  Part of these experiences is definitely the in-person camaraderie, but sometimes I just want the content itself.

Beer delivery.  It's great to just get a few dozen beer delivered right to your door and having a good supply rather than having to make various trips to the LCBO or Beer Store.

Outdoor parties.  I mentioned last week that my cleaning hack is to invite people over for dinner so I am forced to clean the house.  However, I also like that we can (or could and will again) have people over to hang out in the backyard with no expectation that they would be going into the house.  Fortunately we have a nice backyard so it works for us, 

Flexible work arrangements. I do want to go back to my office downtown, and will look forward to subway rides, various lunch options, and seeing actual people, but I would also appreciate days when I could work from home without any questions being asked. (And to be fair, I do work in a place where working from home occasionally was fine, but the expectation was to be in the office.)

Doctor visits by phone/email.  For some visits, clearly going into the office is necessary but sometimes you just need a prescription refill, test results, or a doctor's note and you don't want to have to go all the way into the office for a visit that lasts minutes.  A quick phone call or email does the trick.

Friday Favourites

With virtual school happening here again this week, we needed to find some fun at home things to keep us busy (since the JK online school day doesn't end up being that long).  Q and I went for a walk to look and listen for birds.  Then we drew pictures of the ones we saw and heard when we got home.

This little monkey snuck Easter candy all week (but also shared some with me).  It's mostly gone now.

This is what the house looks like at the end of the day. Toys in the living room, table full of paper, markers, scissors, etc. and kitchen with remnants of lunch dishes. 

E does his work on his bed, but it works for him. 

Q has really improved on this bike riding.  He can stop and start on his own and is just a little wobbly to get going.

E saw me across the parking lot and said he didn't think I looked like myself since my hair was down and blowing in the wind. And he pointed out I don't wear white often either, and he is correct.

It is Masters weekend here which is always a highlight of the golf season for us.  The golf is good, but I also just enjoy seeing the flowering trees and shrubs. 

A reminder for students of history that it is Vimy Ridge Day today, a significant battle in World War I for the young Canadian nation. Someday we will get to France to visit the memorial and other war sites. 

I can't believe it is time for another Not Just a Mom Link Up on Monday but it is the second Monday of the month already.  Join me and the other hosts for Favourite Family Memories. 

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.

To Do List

 I have a running list on my phone of things to do.  A few things on that list right now:

- Clean light fixtures (Admittedly this has been on my list since Christmas, I'll get to it someday!)

- Orthodontist Claim (For E, I need to run it through Dave's first and then mine.  Dave's insurance company has paid its share, but mine is dragging its feet.)

- Vacuum dryer vent (I ordered a long skinny vacuum attachment for this purpose and I still haven't tried it out.  It will also be good for our old radiators.)

- Make a pie  (My family has requested more pie, next up is lemon meringue.)

- Summer camps (I have two weeks booked for Q and E is registered for a two week sleep away camp, so hopefully that will happen!)

- Income Tax ('Tis the season. We have it all ready to submit but will spend another night reviewing it all to make sure we haven't missed anything.)

- Clean up for window installation (We are getting four new windows and a new door on Friday.  We did most of our windows a few years ago so these are the last ones.  We need to clear up the front closet and the guest room.)

- E hiking boots. (He doesn't have rubber boots and I don't want him hiking in his regular sneakers so I'm looking for something else he could wear instead.)

- Bulk Barn. (Done! I visited there today to get ingredients for our granola recipe and it is baking in the oven as I type this on Wednesday evening.)

Dry January

 

We decided that for the month of January, we would stop drinking and snacking at night.  When it comes to sticking to an otherwise healthy diet, those things are our weaknesses.  And since December (end of November really) was a free for all in terms of drinks and treats, we needed a reset.   Starting on January 3rd and ending today (Feb 4) we have not had any alcohol and no snacks after supper (with the exception of a Perrier and a square of dark chocolate on occasion).  Here are some of my observations:

- I sleep better when I haven't had any drinks.

- I may go to bed hungry but I'm not suffering. 

- I didn't actually feel deprived.

- We have both lost our "Christmas weight" and more, and although numbers on a scale isn't my primary motivation, it is nice to see and I certainly feel better and more trim.

- When the only choice for beverage is water or sparkling water (!) then it's a lot easier to decide.  Often I'm deciding if I should have wine or beer, how many glasses, if I should drink on a certain night or not, etc.  

- Same with snacks: chips, popcorn, or cheese and crackers?  Or during this month, none of the above. 

- Healthy habits can carry over to the rest of my day.  I made better choices for my meals and ate less snacks overall. 

- I can do it. Many people do "Dry January" and I didn't think it was for me.  I have told myself lots of stories about how I eat and drink, but I found I was able to change my habits.

- It's much easier to take a break from drinking when there are no parties, dinners out, or work events. 

- I am also looking forward to having some wine tomorrow night :)

- Although we aren't going to become teetotalers, we still plan to continue to take some weeks off from drinking/snacking from time to time. 

I'm not just telling you this to brag, haha, but instead to maybe inspire you to try something new and adopt some new healthy habits.  You may be surprised of what changes you can make. 

Back to School?

The plans for going back to school for many provinces, including our own, Ontario, have been released.

I have my own views about this and I wanted to share them with you and see what you think too, in particular those of you who are parents, educators, and health care professionals.  So please leave a comment on this post, or on my Facebook, or slide into my Instagram DMs (@smacto) and give me your thoughts.

This may be a bit of a jumble and I'll try to organize my thoughts below, but essentially it comes down to this - I am glad that schools will be open for a full school day, five days a week. I have some qualifications to that, but overall I feel excited that my kids can go back to school (Q is starting JK, and E will be in Grade 4).  So what am I missing?  Am I naïve to think this is a good idea?  How do you feel?

From my view it has been difficult to have the kids at home with us while we have been trying to do our full time day jobs.  For my own sanity I need those kids back in school and it needs to be everyday.  We have options of course, if we needed to hire a nanny, we could, but it isn't the solution I want.

I have heard lots of criticism of Ontario's plan and at first I wanted the critics to be quiet, since I heard "5 days a week" and that's all I cared about.  I was afraid too much criticism would lead to clawing back on those days.  But constructive criticism is useful and if the plan can be adapted to improve it, then let's do it. What does drive me nuts is that the government then gets criticized for making a change when it should be applauded for listening and considering different ideas.  They had to start somewhere and no plan will ever be the most perfect plan.

I know everyone has different concerns, but my main one is just getting back to some semblance of normal. Covid will be with us for awhile, even if a vaccine is developed, and we can't just sit in our house forever.  People say the Province is prioritizing the economy over schools but I don't necessarily agree with that; they go hand-in-hand.  Especially for people that don't have flexible jobs or multiple childcare options, the kids need free public school all day everyday for the parents to work.  I do think we could use a bit more creativity for the schools, and maybe we will see that, like more outdoor options until the weather gets bad.

I'm not worried about the kids wearing masks, I think they can handle it, and I know physical distancing will be difficult, so I suppose one of the main issues is class sizes, and that has always been an issue, even without a pandemic to contend with.  I know that the school year will not look the same and that there will be things that are missing, but that doesn't bother me as much. My worry is more that it will all come crashing down and a rise in cases, no matter how slight, will send everyone home for an undetermined amount of time again.  I think we need to recognize that there will be positive cases but we should be able to reduce risk and keep most people healthy. Ontario seems to be trending in the right direction, although the second wave will arrive at some point.

I also see the stories about kids going back to school and it's been a disaster, but I haven't heard any success stories, and I'm sure there must be some, right?! Also each jurisdiction is different in terms of their cases and attitudes towards the virus itself and we don't always know what the exact rules in place are in those disaster scenarios.

So am I totally out in left field here? Is it totally unreasonable to put kids back to school with these guidelines?  Will my kids be the only ones in line on the first day of school?

Life Lately

I'm back to feeling like I don't know what to say so I'm not going to say anything, but that isn't the tack to take.  I had this post planned for yesterday but then decided not to post it.  Rather I was feeling bad because I posted a black square on Tuesday, like many people did, but then I read things about how it really isn't doing anything.  And of course a simple black square doesn't do much, and usually I am loathe to participate in these social media challenges since I know that.  I do think however that it does help people to come together to show their support and it is a symbol of something to link people together, I was happy to see how many people in my circle posted it and also shared great posts and links in their Instagram stories.  And even though my circle is pretty white, I know that I hang with good people.  I did remove the square from my feed at the end of the day; I made my point but it wasn't serving a purpose anymore.

Another thing I felt bad about was that I used the phrase "diversify your feed" in Monday's post when I talked about following black voices on Instagram and Twitter.  This is again an instance where I meant well, but where I now understand this phrase hurts people as it suggests POC faces are there to colour white peoples' worlds.  I still think it is a worthwhile exercise to see people that look different and to hear what they are saying, although I may refer to it differently in the future.

One thing I wanted to do with this post was to recognize my own implicit bias and racism.  It's time for us to get uncomfortable and recognize the systematic racism that is built into this country and how it affects us, even if we know better and act better on a mostly regular basis.  This will likely be an instance where what I say isn't perfect, but I wanted to try (and "fail better").

We watched The Best of Enemies on Amazon Prime last week, and there is a scene when everyone is in the town hall meeting and when Ann Atwater (played by Taraji P. Henson) is speaking, the black people in the gallery start speaking up and interjecting with "Yes m'am" and "Amen", and my original thought was that they should be quiet.  But that was wrong of me.  Lending support to a speaker (whether in this setting, church, or others) by repeating what they are saying is just a way of communicating.  White people tend to be quiet, which we consider being respectful, and that's fine, but if different people do different things, that is not wrong, it is just different.  I immediately caught myself and said, "no, that's just how they were supporting her, and it is fine", even though it felt jarring to me at first.

Then on the weekend, while we were at the park, a group of about three black people were walking through, and stopped near us for a minute to talk.  They had three big "scary" dogs with them.  Pitbulls are apparently banned in Ontario so I don't know what kind of dogs they were, but to me, they were intimidating. And although it was the dogs that caused me to look at the group twice, and feel a little afraid, I made some assumptions about that group of people in the park, for absolutely no reason, and I recognized it and felt ashamed. I didn't have any thoughts of calling the police at all, but this is what happens, black people are minding their own business, and a white person calls the police (or worse in the case of Ahmaud Arbery and Trayvon Martin) because they feel scared (although in the case of those two men I just named I don't think fear was really a factor).  I think about this episode of This American Life all of the time.  W. Kamau Bell talks about how to talk to his kids about racism, and particularly how black people are perceived when they are "white spaces".  Take a listen.

I'm writing about it because I'm guessing other people have these same racist thoughts at times, implicit bias and systematic racism are ingrained in us, whether we like it or not and we need to identify this and fight against it.

I'll be back next week. It is my birthday and I will be asking something of you, stay tuned.

Weekend Recap

Friday night meant pizza night.  Dave tried a new method of making four individual doughs for each of us rather than dividing a bigger dough into separate servings.  We all made our own as usual and they were delicious.  

This was mine, black olives made it even better. 

Then we put on Star Wars for movie night.

On Saturday morning we went out for a hike.  We took along the Animal Bingo that Dave had put together, customized for what we could actually see in our neighbourhood.  Note the winter jackets, it was chilly!

It was pretty nice while we were in the woods, but then the flurries came down!  Crazy weather for May.

After lunch we watched a movie and some of us (ahem, the adults) fell asleep.  We ordered supper from La Cubana.  They do Cuban food really well and their restaurant is always so cozy.  I went down to pick it up and wished I could stay.  Everything was delicious. 

Some pics with my kiddos in honour of Mother's Day.

On Mother's Day I got to sleep in a little bit and had breakfast made for me when I got up.  I decided to tackle the front closet, because although we had snow the day before, I was confident we could put away the winter clothes. 

This it the before (note the plants I'd brought inside to protect from the frost)

And after.

Meanwhile the boys made donuts. 

Then Dave went outside to start his project on the back porch, the kids played and I cleaned the boys' rooms.   Then we went downstairs to watch a movie.  Q is not sleeping here but looks like it.

We had a lovely supper of steak, roasted potatoes, and kale caesar salad.  After supper I played a game of crib with E. 

We finished off our night with a bit of wine and SNL.