Sharing Our Lives - Day in the Life

 

Happy Monday! Thank you for joining us today where we Share our Lives with you.  My co-hosts are: Adrienne, Dara, Jen, 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.

Today is one of my favourite types of posts - a day in the life.  I documented my day last Thursday. 

My alarm went off at 5:30 so I could get up for a workout.  I was doing a 30 minute Glutes and Legs with Rebecca Kennedy on the Peloton App.

Then I went up to the kitchen to get breakfast and lunch ready, and listened to a podcast.

Always drink my AG1 first thing in the morning. 

Thought it was time to put these bananas away in the freezer. 

I packed up the kids lunches, and a breakfast for myself.

Coffee with a scoop of collagen powder.

Then I went upstairs to shower and put my make up on. On this day I did not wash my hair so that saved a bit of time.

Popped in to wake up Q

Quick photo before heading out.  E was slowly making his way downstairs.

Dave and I were walking to the subway together.  

Settling into my office for the day.

I didn’t take any photos during the day since it was just me sitting at my desk in the morning working on audit requests, reviewing commercial terms for a new contract, and talking to my colleagues on Teams.  We had lunch brought it and a few of us ate together in the board room which was a nice treat.  In the afternoon I was in a meeting for most of it, and then had a phone call with Q’s teacher.  Parent teacher interviews had been cancelled because of a snow storm last month so we had rescheduled.

Laptop closed, time to head home.

Dave was slightly ahead of me so he had time to fit in a workout.  Since we weren’t eating right away I had a little snack of these jalapeño crackers and meat sticks.

Then I helped E make pizza muffins to take to his class potluck the next day.  We made them gluten free so everyone could eat them.

We had leftovers for dinner, nothing fancy. Then I helped Q with his reading.  E was also finishing up some homework, he had to make a video about all of the stuff he likes to do.

I went upstairs to pack the suitcases for our ski trip, and Q followed me up and tried on all of my stuff. You can’t really see but he has about 6 bangles on his wrists too.

Then I purchased our lift tickets for our first day on the slopes, Saturday.

And because I was basically on holiday, I made a cocktail.

After we got the kids to bed, Dave and I tried to watch some TV but I was falling asleep so we gave up. 

  

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January and February Books

It's time for my book recap for January and February - only three books.  

What I Ate in a Year by Stanley Tucci

I am a fan of Stanley's and read one his previous books, Taste, and enjoy his Italy show and Instagram posts.  He enjoys food and drink, like me.  This is sort of like a diary where he writes about different food he has prepared and enjoyed throughout the year, but also talks about his work, travel, and family.  I liked reading about these little anecdotes since I love celebrities so any mention of Harry Styles or Woody Harrelson coming for dinner is thrilling to me.  I also liked hearing about the day to day of a working actor, it is so much draining travel, but despite that, the life is still somewhat glamorous, note the dinner guests above, and the visit to Guy Richie's estate at the end of the book had me salivating. Stanley does a good job of being humble but enjoying the perks of his life. This was a fun little read for me. 

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan.

This is a Christmas book and I had put a hold on it in November with hopes of reading it by the Christmas tree, but it took awhile to come through and I read it in February instead.  I would barely call this book a novel, it felt more like a short story, like the kind you read in university.  It is Christmastime in Ireland in the 1980s. We get the story of a local man preparing for the holidays, a bit of his back story, and some current events.  It really just takes place over a couple of days, which is why it feels like a short story, and nothing really major happens.  That said, it is very well written and the Irish flavour with the way they can turn a phrase stuck out and I enjoyed reading it. It was a bit dreary, as Ireland in winter in the 1980s likely was, and I think I was glad I didn't read it at Christmastime itself.  The existential questions being asked by the main character fit better with our current world this winter. 

The Summer Pact by Emily Giffin

Emily Giffin always provides a reliable book.  I have always appreciated her storytelling.  In this book we meet four friends who met in university, all from different backgrounds. After tragedy strikes in their final year, the friends make a pact to get together whenever they need each other. Years later, that time comes and they find themselves together again.  It is one of those books that skips around between narrators, which is common now, but effective.  I loved all of the characters, and the themes discussed.  I felt like I already knew the characters and wanted more.  

Friday Favourites

I have two posts for you today - some Friday Favourites and my January and February Book Recap. 

It was a busy week for me with Toronto's annual mining conference happening (PDAC).  This means we have lots of people visiting our office from out of town, social events, a trade show, and oh yeah, actual work to do!  It is a whirlwind week and I don't even go to all of the events that other people go to.  On Monday I was at Canoe, 54 floors above the city.  Spectacular views, and even better food and drinks being served - beef tartare and negronis, don't mind if I do!

We also had a week of holding strong in our Canadian identity.  It is Justin Trudeau's last week as Prime Minister before the new Liberal leader is chosen, and I was happy to hear from him on Tuesday when Trump instituted the tariffs (which are now gone by the way, for now).  Trudeau always speaks well when he addresses us and I have appreciated it over the years.  Speaking of Canadian pride, our I Am Canadian guy is back with a new commercial. Check it out here.

Dave bought this camel stuffy for a member of his sales team, as an award for getting them "over the hump" on their sales target. 

We have had this Christmas cactus from my cousins' mom's cactus (Jean) since 2022, and despite our best efforts it is finally blooming this week.  I can't believe it.  Pressure is on now to keep it alive.

I also feel like it is time for a Prayers post, which I will try to put together for next week - so many people on my mind lately, and I like to be deliberate in praying for them all.

The link up that I co-host is on Monday, our topic is a Day in the Life, so if you have a blog, capture some photos of your day and link up with us.

It is March Break next week and Dave and I have some days off too.  We are heading to Quebec for a few days of skiing, bring on the poutine! I will have a couple of posts next week, so check back.  And if you aren't sick of the ski photos, check in with me on Instagram. 

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.

Media Wednesday

The media I am currently consuming…

Streaming TV - Paradise, The Kardashians, With Love Meghan, Severance, Pop Culture Jeopardy

Network TV - Curling, CBCs The National

YouTube - Saturday Night Live clips

Library Books - The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne

Podcasts - The Ringer Dish and The Big Picture Oscar recap episodes, Mindy Kaling on Armchair Expert

Instagram Algorithms - Skiing, people falling on ice, Graham Norton Show

News Stories - US Tariffs, Liberal Leadership Race

Music - APT - Rose & Bruno Mars, Paint the Town Red - Doja Cat, All Too Well (10 minute version) - Taylor Swift

Pinterest Pins - Paris, Protein rich foods

Weekend Recap

 Last Friday we went up to the school in the afternoon to watch the student talent show.  Q and his friend were putting on a puppet show of the Three Little Pigs.  They were so excited and did a great job. 

Crouched behind with their microphone.

These were their puppets. Kind of hard to see from the audience, but that's okay.

E was out at a birthday on Friday night.  They went to The Keg downtown. 

On Saturday morning we headed up for the last weekend of ski training for the year.  Saturday was actually Club Championships where all of the athletes race and parents can sign up too.  We hit a snow squall partway up so we were a bit rushed when we finally arrived.  And it was so cold and windy. It made for icy conditions and it wasn't a very relaxing morning. 

Q ready for his race - he wore his race suit under his snowpants. And removed his jacket for the race.  Unfortunately he DNF'd after missing a gate at the top and spinning out. 

E getting ready for his run.  He did really well.

Waiting at the bottom for Dave to do his run.

Well done Dad!! 

After the race and lunch we did do two runs together, but we didn't love the conditions and called it early.

We went to our hotel and managed to check in early.  Some of us had a quick nap and then we donned our pajamas for the end of year ski club banquet (theme was PJs).  We have the banquet at the ski hill and it's always a good time. 

It wasn't cold but E and his friends wore their jackets all night for some reason.

Hitting up the bar.

After the banquet and prizes, we went back to the hotel and had some drinks with our friends. 

Last official day of training on Sunday morning. It was still cold, and a bit icy on the Moonstone side, but perfect conditions on the St. Louis side, and we got lots of runs in.

E and his friend.

Big smile from Q at lunch.

Because it was such a beautiful day we did a few runs after training was done. 

Then finally home, got everything put away, ordered pizza, and watched the Oscars.  I didn't really feel invested in many of the awards as I had only seen a couple of the movies.  I enjoyed the show as I always do.