General

Me wearing a white shirt and black blazer against a brick wall - business portrait style

Chewing the Fat

I’ve battled my weight for most of my life. The gain-loss yo-yo has always been about 20 pounds, until I hit menopause. Hormone shifts alter where body fat will attach itself while also making it infinitely more difficult to lose weight. Cravings that surge like tidal waves can prompt you to put unhealthy food into your pie-hole. (Mmmm. Pie.) Couple that with the older woman’s “who gives a shit” attitude and it’s a recipe for weight gain.

Pandemic Purchases

Online and curbside shopping in the pandemic era has been anything but smooth. For a while, it was next to impossible to get a timeslot for grocery pick-up. Deliveries take a lot longer than advertised. Canada Post has been backed up like a taster in a cheese-making contest. We’ve all had to adjust. Some of us take it better than others.

Great Expectations

I picked up some fruits and vegetables at a grocery store last weekend. We don’t run errands lightly. This will hold us for quite a while. We’ve found a small-town store where they have everything we need without lineups or stress. I was in and out in a few minutes and have become an Olympian in the Don’t Touch Your Face competition.

woman on a windowsill of a large room in a highrise, looking out the window

Finding Our Calm

More than a dozen years ago, when I was at 680 News in Toronto, we had several meetings about what the company – Rogers – would do in the case of a pandemic. SARS came, sickened thousands and killed nearly 800 before it was stopped. Our plans to work from home, and perhaps put 680’s Vancouver counterpart on air, were never put to use.

bare arm held by a gloved hand, ready for injection

The Big Deal

Misinformation about COVID-19 is traveling at the speed of light. Reactions range from hysteria (TP hoarding) to stupidity (See Donald Trump/Mike Pence) to apathy (what’s the big deal?). I find myself getting angry while viewing social media which is not the way I normally react to ignorance.

Three plastic toothbrush heads of varying sizes

You Better, You Bet

Here’s a confession. I love using plastic sandwich bags. You know, the ones with the zip closure? I love them! I use them for everything from food storage to stand-ins for plastic gloves. They’re terribly wasteful so I’ve made a promise to myself (and now to you) that I will stop buying them after we move.

black outlines of people with various disabilities: walking with a cane, ina wheelchair, etc. Above them it reads: some disabilities look like this. Below them it reads, some look like this and the drawing is of a man just standing there.

Diss Ability

When you see me, you’d never guess that I’m disabled. But, with hearing loss and by wearing hearing aids, I have a disability. It doesn’t require anything from anyone else except perhaps a little extra patience when I’m having trouble hearing them.