Today is my Mom’s birthday. We celebrated last weekend, knowing that this weekend was packed and we couldn’t get away. We delivered the hall tree Derek made for her condo, we had cake and sang, poorly, in our family’s traditional way. Derek sings with confidence, my brother murmurs and I tend to alter the words …
There’s something to be said for keeping one’s mind off the thing that’s being a bother when all you’re doing is repeating the same information on a loop. It’s alluring to keep going over it in your head, again and again. But I’ve found that distracting myself can be just as healing. Instead of running …
Life is hard. Stuff happens that’s out of your control. People move, leave, die. You have to take your cat to the vet and not come back home with him. (Us, on Monday) But people also do amazing things for others with no other motivation than it’s the right thing to do, and it feels …
It’s such a kick to see my book in the hands of so many people on social media.
It’s part of the deal. Pets don’t live long enough and we know that going in. Adopting a senior cat likely meant even less time and maybe that’s why most people don’t want to do it. You know it in your head but no one tells your heart.
Saturday was hotter in London, Ontario than it was in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Dubai, that over-populated, but-it’s-a-dry-heat, desert playground, where 40C+ is the norm. Where millions of people hustle through the world’s tenth-busiest airport on their way to spend their wealth at luxury stores while the sun beats down with a relentless burn. No …
A newish London news source called The London Beat talked to Derek about his career, and it bubbled over a bit into mine.
What you’re about to read isn’t typical of this blog. I’m angry and I’m sad. You’ve been warned.
A great joy in my life is being a Grandma without ever having children. Wait, that didn’t come out right. It’s not that I am joyful that I didn’t have children. But I got grandkids anyway.
If this post makes you a little uncomfortable, that’s part of the reason I’m writing it. It’s evidence of a problem that needs fixing for girls of the present and future.
Thanks to our pal Bruce Barker, we got a trial start on a weekly subscription of Good Food. It’s a meal prep service that delivers all of the ingredients you need to make wonderful meals. Only olive oil, salt and pepper aren’t included.
When I moved into the house almost ten years ago, I ordered a large wardrobe from Ikea. It helped solve the lack-of-closet-space issue that many houses of this era have. If our home was a person, it would be getting its pension and planning its shopping trips for senior’s days.
Sunday would have been Dad’s 83rd birthday. Life expectancy for a Canadian man is just over 82 years, so I suppose he was pretty average in that way. Yes, I looked it up, trying to make sense of it and continuing to fail at making it okay that he’s gone. Reminding myself that it’s the …
I call her Mamasita, Matka, Ma, Mom and other variations on the same theme. And when I’m serious about something, I use her full name: Mother! It’s the equivalent of her using my full name when I was a kid. Strikes terror in her heart! (not really)
As we explored the St. Stephen-St. Andrews-Calais area last week, we took the advice of anyone who offered it. If someone said we should go see something, we went. That included my brother’s suggestion that we head up to McAdam and see the old train station.
There are places in North America where you can stand in Canada and the US simultaneously. A massive, historic home straddles Stanstead, Quebec and Plain, Vermont, for example. You can enter the house from both countries.
Anthropologists probably have something deep and insightful to say about why Derek and I are drawn to water. All we know is that we feel calmer and happier around a body of water of just about any kind. Bigger than a puddle but not necessarily an ocean.
Full tank of gas? Check. GPS? Check. House/pet sitter? Check. Blog posts for next week? Um, uncheck. There might be one or two.