25 Questions (16-20)

 It's time for the next instalments of prompt questions, see 1-5 here, 6-10 here, and 11-15 here.

16. What is your favourite book/movie/song?

Do you know it is very difficult to choose just one favourite for these three things?  I really tried, but I think I need to give you top three and even that is difficult

Book - The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver (and I'm reading it again right now!), All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews, A Man Called Ove by Fredrick Backman

Movie - The Social Network, A League of Their Own, About Time

Song - Mr. Jones by Counting Crows, Glycerine by Bush, Love It or Hate It by The Game

17. If you could make one change in the world, what would it be?

I would want everyone to have enough to eat. There is so much food in this world and we move it all around the globe too much.  As much as I love having all kinds of produce at my disposal (often fresh but certainly frozen), I think we would benefit by sticking with seasonal fruits and vegetables and leaving produce in the location where it is grown for those people to eat. I haven't thought too deeply about this to really crystallize my solution for world hunger, but even in our own city, hunger is a problem that we should be doing more about.

18. What do you love to do for or give to others?

I love to prepare food for others. Food is good for celebrations, it's something to do in times of crisis (when you feel helpless), and everyone needs to eat! I also like gifting food related things to people because it's consumable and doesn't lead to a clutter of things people don't need.

19. What excites you?

Seeing beauty in the world. I love seeing pretty trees, flowers, skies, bodies of water, etc. I really do appreciate when I see that natural beauty, I hope my children will remember me as someone who is always calling out "look at that tree, it's so pretty!". 

20. What do you wish you did more of?

This is a hard question because I usually think of it as what I should be doing less - less phone time, less alcohol, less yelling at my kids, etc.  I think I do enough of many of the good things, and even the things I indulge in are worth it to me.  Do you know what I mean?

Weekend Recap

 Just a few photos to cover our weekend.

On Friday morning I took my breakfast outside to enjoy the sunshine.

We had sausages and grilled vegetables for supper.  I love summer weather in April!

We watched the Jays game and then went to our neighbours' for a fire.

On Saturday I had to get up early to go for a follow up MRI from the procedure I had in January.  It was all routine and I was in and out very quickly.  Then I did a few things around the yard while Dave worked on the car.  Our 2009 Santa Fe has been having a few issues and it's a bit of a DIY project now. 

I had though Q had a birthday party on Saturday afternoon but it turned out to be Sunday.  So instead we had a free day ahead of us (E and Dave went to the driving range with one of E's friends).

We first went to the card store and Q bought some Pokemon cards.  And then I said we would take the bus up to get some treats. 

We stopped in at the Golden Gecko, that was celebrating their 6th birthday, so we got a few things to eat, including free birthday cake. 

After that we went to the school where Q found some friends to play with and then we took the bus home. E and Dave were just getting back so then we made the ice cream we were planning to make.   This is the ice cream maker ball they rolled back and forth. 

On Sunday we:

- worked out 

- went to church

- took Q to the birthday party

- bought some things at Nordstrom

- got a pizza at the mall foodcourt

- took the car apart

- packed a suitcase for my trip 

- had leftovers for supper

No photos :)

This is one of our last weekends without summer sports taking over, so we enjoyed just puttering around.

Work Trip!

Today I'm travelling to Mexico for a work trip.  No beach days for me though, I'll be connecting through Mexico City onto Zacatecas which is in the mountains.  I have been wanting to go to Mexico to meet our team there for awhile, but I haven't really had the opportunity until now. I will visit our office and one of our sites, although I won't be going underground this time.  

I'll have a few posts up this week so check back, and follow me on Instagram (@smacto) where I'll try to post about my journey.

Friday Favourites

Friday! Yay!

Check out this sweet potato that we got with our grocery order last week.  I had to take a photo next to my head so you could see the scale.  I'm not holding it out, it's right by my ear.  I managed to cut it up to make sweet potato fries, but it was a pretty ridiculous size!

I volunteered at the school for pizza day this week.  The kids love when I come in and I like seeing them and their friends and some of the other parents who are also volunteering.

The Blue Jays finally had their Home Opener this week, delayed a bit because work was being finished up on the stadium renovations.  We didn't go to Opening Night on Tuesday but we did get last minute tickets for Wednesday's game.  The temperatures were in the high 20s (in April!) so the roof was open and as soon as I found that out I wanted to go. This is a great thing about living where we do, it's so easy to get down to the game, even if it's a last minute decision.

Checking out some cool new features on the 500 level.  Free arcade games!

Hot dogs for dinner.  I tried to get a poutine dog but they were out at the stand we stopped at, next time!

We haven't sat up in the 500 level for awhile, but I like it up there!

We did not need jackets :)

After the 6th inning we went over to Park Social and the Rooftop Patio parts of the stadium.

Video games at the ballpark?! Sure!

We actually watched the game.

Rally caps worked!  Jays won in the 10th.

One of my favourite things from my Easter basket this week was the Kit Kat eggs. Did you have those ones? So addictive!

I also had a full week of posts, if you missed anything, check them out with the links below:

Monday - Cleaning Hacks

Tuesday - Easter Weekend Recap

Wednesday - Work Pet Peeves

Thursday - Reminiscing about the "olden days"

I'm travelling for work next week but will have some posts up!

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.

The "Olden Days"

The other day the topic of taping shows on a VCR came up and I had to explain to E what that was all about, and the woes that came with not getting it taped and then you just simply missed that episode, no way to go back and see it, unless your friend happened to tape it and you could borrow their copy.  There was nothing worse than coming home to check the VCR and seeing your recording had failed - mixed up the AM/PM, the show started late because of a sporting event or something so you missed the end, the tape setting was on SP (2 hours of recording time) instead of SLP (6 hours of recording time), no tape in the machine, and so many other failures! These kids have no clue about the utter disappointment one could feel.

And that got me thinking of some joys in life that are missing now.  A few of them below:

- Only hearing a great song every once in a while just because you happened to catch it on the radio, at a dance, or in a movie/TV show.  I don't mean the current hits that you probably owned on tape or CD, that you probably listened to on repeat, but those oldies or obscure songs that only showed up every once in awhile. One that I can think of is Under Pressure by David Bowie and Queen.  Now I can listen to it anytime I want, and it's still good, but it doesn't come with the same excitement that I managed to catch it somewhere randomly. 

- Going to the drug store to get your photos back from being developed and seeing what you managed to capture. We would rip into the envelope before we even left the store to devour the photos.  

- Finding movies on TV just by flipping around the dial. There were a few movies that I always stopped on, Shawshank Redemption or A Few Good Men.  I don't even think I have even really seen the beginning of those movies since I'm usually catching them after they've already started.  When I stay in US hotels and am watching regular cable, I find they still have those random movies playing so I'm always happy to tune in.

I saw a TikTok video the other day (reposted on Instagram because that's how old people like me watch TikTok) that said people of my generation have this serious nostalgia problem.  Our parents and grandparents definitely reminisce about certain things from their childhoods, but for some reason, the "elder millennials" really feel that nostalgia when we think back to how we grew up.  

Let's Look - Pet Peeves

Today I'm linking up with Shay and Erika for Let's Look.  The topic this month is Pet Peeves.  Incidentally, the link up that I co-host is doing pet peeves next month (great minds!) so I've decided this post will be work related pet peeves and the rest of my pet peeves will be saved for next month. Luckily a lot of things annoy me so I have lots of content!!

I work in a traditional corporate office setting - lots of emails, Teams meetings, Powerpoint presentations, etc. A few things that irk me throughout my work day:

When someone internal phones me but then doesn't leave a voicemail or send a quick message that tells me what they wanted.  It helps to know the urgency of their call and if I should get back to them right away or if they just needed me to send them a document.

Reading the slide in a presentation. I'd prefer the presenter to expand on the points on the slide rather than just reading what I can read for myself. 

People that stand right at the subway door or elevator and don't let the exiting passengers off before trying to squeeze in. 

Taking a photo of the restaurant bill for expenses while you're still sitting at the table. Dave and I are divided on this point.  He thinks it's better to take the photo of the receipt immediately after paying while you're still sitting at the table.  Then you don't forget or lose the receipt.  I think it's rude because even though we all know that the meal is being expensed, the host doesn't need to make it so obvious and transactional. I think it's just better manners to deal with the receipt afterwards.

People that send me a Teams message that just says "Good morning" and then write nothing else until I've responded with "hi" or "good morning". This is a Latin American thing I believe, they want to exchange pleasantries and I just want to get to the point. 

When people capitalize terms that aren't defined terms. Any good lawyer knows that when a non-proper noun term is capitalized it means it has been assigned a meaning.  You can't just go around capitalizing non-defined terms because you think they are special.

Grammar mistakes in formal letters. Sure, mistakes happen in emails or in regular conversation (although only slightly more forgivable) but someone should proofread the formal letter before it gets sent out.

Easter Weekend Recap

 Easter weekend was packed with activities!! On Thursday night we went to a potluck at the church.  There was some music and reflection time as well. 

I had picked up some fun lamb shaped cakes at a local bakery so we enjoyed those for breakfast on Good Friday.  I attend our church service in the morning

A special delivery arrived while I was out.

In the afternoon we went on a hunt for an Easter tree.  These boys didn't want to come with me, but I eventually convinced them and they had a good time. 

Throwing some sticks in the water.

And then we came home and finished putting out the Easter decorations.

These are Ukrainian Easter eggs that I did when I was little.

That night we went to the golf club for dinner so we could get fish and chips. It was a nice evening out.

On Saturday morning we were up bring and early so we could do our errands before it got too busy. We picked up our Easter dinner (ribs, coleslaw, and potatoes), hot cross buns, and some flowers. 

We played a bit outside, including tetherball at the neighbours'.

And then we came back in to decorate our Easter cake. I told the boys to take over the decorating this year and they had fun with that.  The idea is to make bunnies out of marshmallows and put them all around the outside.

And then we dyed some eggs.

The finished product.

Then we settled in to watch the Masters and even had a nap.

At the end of the day we drove up to have dinner with my cousins in Shelburne.  Always a fun time with that crowd.

I was up first on Easter morning and snuck down to see what the Easter Bunny had left us (and to make coffee).

A few hidden eggs.

Including one by the coffee so it must have been for me :)

Using whatever tools necessary to get up high.

Even Vladdy was holding onto one.

Then some breakfast in amongst the chocolate.

We went to church of course and then took it easy watching the golf and curling the rest of the day.

Ribs, coleslaw, and potato salad for our Easter meal.

We were not mad that Jon Rahm won the Masters, but sorry to see Canada lose the curling.  We watched Harry Potter 5 after that because E had just finished the book. 

Monday was a holiday for the boys, but Dave and I had to work.  The boys had a few chores to do, but they spent quite a bit of time outside as well.  We made our resurrection rolls in the afternoon and walked up the street to do the scavenger hunt put on by the local stores.

I always love Easter because there are lots of fun things to do, and this year was no exception, with the added bonus of the Masters, plus the weather is really starting to warm up, spring is here!