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I can nap just about anywhere, but my body gets really picky about where I can actually sleep, and all the things I need to get a great deeper rest. Nap in a hot car, but absolutely have to have a gale force wind blowing on me at night to sleep. Nap wrapped in warm blankets. Have to have my legs exposed at night or else I overheat. Nap with no pillow beyond my own arm, or whatever is at hand. Can not sleep with incorrect pillows at the wrong neck height. Like what the hell is even going on here? Though i must admit, I usually only nap because my body battery feels as though it has dropped preciptously to zero way too fast and I’m drowsy anyway. Versus going to bed when i am still thinking about work, or tomorrow, or errands I need to run. After having EBV in 2015 I do tend towards physical fatigue even easier than I did when I just had to deal with the malabsorption from Crohn’s Disease. So there is that factor. Something to ponder.

Taking the kids to Sweet Acres this evening. It’s a pig sanctuary. We’re going to visit their two therapy pigs Wellington & Spartacus. My family has gone twice, though not recently. It’s a bit out of the way, off of Vivian Road, but easy enough to get to. It was an opportunity offered to our friend’s son. Yes, that one. The lone survivor of July’s tragic accident which saw fit to take both his mum and little sister. His father has tried to keep him active, busy, and engaged with friends to try to keep him happy during this difficult time. He’s my oldest daughters best friend (or one of the “Tight Five” core group she talks about, plays with, every school day).

Had some last minute late evening projects yesterday, but it has otherwise been a quiet week. Not going to complain about that! Allowed me to do a few things around the house for a change. Domestic Duties Mondays won’t start until all the kids go back to school in September. Plus – new wrinkle, my wife starts her year off officially on September 5th, 2023. So I need to work her continued daily presence into the cleaning schedule too. A helping hand? Maybe, or an additional obstacle to work around? More than likely. Fun times. It is going to be an adjustment. But we got through all of the school shut downs together, so we can figure out a plan for this too. Roll those sleeves up, and dig in!

I have some work to do today, so I best get at it. Ciao Bella! Take care out there on this random friday in August of 2023. I think it is the 18th.

It isn’t often that my wife goes out of town to visit a recently disabled friend from work, but when she does it’s usually right after a night out, and on the same day she has to spend another night at the sleep apnea testing facility. You can lie low all year and then BAM! Everything comes together over a span of just a few days. From what I heard Oppenheimer was good, but had a fair deal of Florence Pugh’s tits in it. Not a mark against in my book, but this is from my wife’s perspective. Robert Downey Jr plays an excellent bastard too. Coming out from under his Ironman shadow – good to hear. The visuals were neat, and that was about as much as I got out of it because my wife was really stuck on just how much you get to see Florence Pugh’s tits, and for seemingly so long at a time. Really made an impact with her. IMAX tits for all! Apparently.

Dinner at the Upper Canada mall was at some swanky pizza place, if such a thing exists. I don’t much care for arugula on my pizza, so no harm done there. I ordered from Domino’s for us playing the home game anyway. Had a tingle of nostalgia while doing so. Been a fair few years since I’ve run a pizza place. I always liked the crusts at Domino’s. Though I do develop heart burn from the modestly spiced tomato sauce, or the corn meal they dust the dough in. Fun times.

So I have the kids to myself today from 8:00am till 4:00pm, then 7:30pm to 6:00am. Going to be a long, long, long day here at the ranch. I’m not keen on yet another Zoo trip. Nor another zip to a local mall. But it might depend on weather. If it’s going to be a scorcher then an indoor destination will be my preferred target to eat up some of these hours. Youngest won’t sit for a movie, so theater is out. Both kids won’t, nay can’t, ride the same caliber of rides at Wonderland, so that’s out too. Watching the two of them myself at the pool is exhausting. Bike rides are out, too hot & youngest is not up to snuff on her big kid bike to go any farther than our own street. Street hockey’s no good, as in the mornings our driveway is too exposed to the sun. Trying not to melt or get burnt today.

Air Riderz or skilled theme parks are out because I can’t guarantee that the youngest will actually try new extreme events, or stand close by if we do (which I won’t do, because she’ll wander away while I’m 20 plus feet in the air, so no go). So that’s out. I wonder if I can find an indoor glow in the dark mini putt, or something low impact for my six year old to also enjoy. I’d love to try rock climbing or laser tag, but it’s hard to say if all three of us will give it the ole college try on the same task at the same time.

So what to do, what to do. First – eat breakfast. Second – gather the troops. Third – toss around ideas for something to do this morning, or possibly a little longer than that. I have no idea where we will wind up today. Could be awesome, could be lame. Just never know.

We have a couple of medical items today in the extended family. My nephew is having surgery in Victoria, and my wife is getting her sleep apnea/airway results this morning too. Fingers crossed for swift healing, and good news all around.

Us on the other hand will need to head down to the farm to pick cucumbers for pickling purposes. A quick one hour jaunt before the temperatures begin to soar again. The humidity has made a comeback after being really mild for 10 or so days. Unseasonably rainy in these parts this summer too. Lush foot tall green grass in august is unheard of. Not this year though. I can usually slow down to one cut a month come July, but I’ve had a go at it atleast once a week non-stop since May. At $1.73/L of gas that is going to prove to have been a very expensive maintenance item this year. Could always be worse, if you think about it long enough.

What is worse than non-stop growing grass you might ask, I’ll tell you. The all consuming growth of weeds. But I will say this, the rain has kept the soil soft & fluffy, so the weeds and their roots pull right out. Not that my back or knees care much for that fact mind you. Hunched over on all fours pulling several hundred pesky weeds and long grasses out of my flower beds is not my ideal way to spend an afternoon, nor a morning for that matter. Bugs are still really awful this late in the year tells me one of two things. Either the winter was too mild to kill off much of the winged buzzing bug population, or the avian flu has killed much of the winged bug eating bird types that would usually be out here keeping those pests under control. Hm.

Still haven’t read much of book #15. Had a bit of misfortune with a friends passing, funerals and a fund raiser. Then I was feeling really unfocused, and I haven’t managed to get the desire to read back just yet. I’m kinda leaning towards going to sculpt something, but my resin kit remnants is taking up my work bench. Scatter brained as of late it seems.

Roger’s really wanted us to upgrade away from the next box, so much so they potentially fried our box remotely. After a long morning of waiting in line in a physical store, to be told I needed to call a different helpline, I went home and did just that. Waited on hold & chatted for twenty plus minutes, and I think… I think I’m getting a new box, remote, and power cable under the ignite services? My hearing is shit, neighbours are doing tree work, and her accent & twitchy telephone line made it difficult to 100% understand. But it sounded positive, and that it would be fixed in short order. I’ll likely have to call again tomorrow if past issues are any indication. Wonderful.

In other news I bought & watched the BlackBerry movie, and it was really good. I enjoyed the whole thing. Great. Glenn Howerton should be super proud of that performance. He couldn’t be less Dennis Reynolds than that. Loved it. Up next is John Wick 4. Wish us luck!

Trying to do a better job of exposing the kids to talented musicians, artists, speakers, actors and the like. Brighten their horizons a tad. I know they like to watch funny, and silly shorts, skits and such on YouTube with their mum, which is cool too. I just want to make sure they know that a whole slew of different things exist out in the wider world. If they hate it, and choose to pass on it, that’s ok to. As long as they know it is out there, and don’t feel like they have been deprived of it’s presence. If you hate it, you hate it. I have tried many times over my four decades to try and enjoy jazz, in one form or another. I just can’t seem to do it. Too chaotic. It just doesn’t have the vibe I’m looking for. So I cannot blame them if classical, or instrumental music doesn’t tickle their fancy.

Back home once more. Been a couple of days since we were here last. Well – not really. We were home late last week, just under less desirable circumstances. I had to attend two different funerals. And I brought the rest of my family to the second one, which was much closer, and meant more to my children, as it was their little friend whom had passed. Not a fun reason to come home mid vacation, but important nonetheless.

So now that I’m here for a good chunk I am seeing lots that need to be done. The lawn & gardens are popping out at me first and foremost. I also need to try the water softener again. New parts arrived that I will need to swap out for the initial factory parts that could be faulty. Who knows. I think this Ecopure water softener is just a lemon. A near $1000.00 lemon.

Oops, here I was thinking I had posted this already. Run errands and made the gang lunch instead. All the best this sunny Monday in August.

Watching stars off the dock last night after the storms had passed. We all managed to see some shooting stars, so it was well worth keeping the kids up until nearly midnight. Then bugs or steam set off the fire alarm system last night just after midnight giving us all a jolt to the adrenal glands.

I have spent the last few days watching others whom play far better than I ever did, play the trombone and other wind instruments in small groups, by themselves, or in full orchestras. And I miss doing that myself. Music with others I think, more so than the trombone itself. Though I do enjoy classical music, and I played for five years until we moved. I think I could scratch that itch if I could find folks to jam with. Play guitar, bass or drums with other people for a spell, would be real nice.

Lazy sunday here again at last. Time to pack up our stuff and head home once more. Summer break is not yet over, but our time at the lake is done – for now. I think my wife will want to come back since she isn’t going back to work until fall of 2024. So none of her panicked return to work process has happened yet. But it will be doubly bad next year! Ha.

Anybody know the list of music that was on the Time Life Classical Symphonies cassette compilation? Or the Time Life Classic Thunder cd’s? One of the two we had when I was a kid, and I loved a huge portion of that two cassette tape collection. I just don’t recall learning the names of any of the pieces, beyond Wagner’s The ride of the valkyries, in the hall of the mountain king, flight of the bumblebee bees. Jogging anyone’s memories? I listened to those tapes incessantly when drawing & painting as a kid, young teen. I searched the Time Life website but it only ever lists two songs from each cassette, which doesn’t help me much, as I know there should be 18 – 20 pieces listed at least, if not more.

I remember buying and playing Holst’s The Planets until I was nearly sick to death of it. And Encarta had a short snippet of in the hall of the mountain king that I loved to play on repeat on the daily. Such bright memories! Music is wonderful, wonderous, and so much more. I hope my kids learn to play instruments for fun. It has brought me much joy, as well as frustration, don’t get me wrong. Practicing new songs is challenging, and plateauing sucks. But the skill and intrinsic value is immense. Love it.

Gastric distress. Wah-wah! Awoooga! Winner-winner chicken dinner. Congratulations on the redecorating, didn’t know you were such a Jackson Pollak fan. Try not to etch the porcelain though, that’ll come back to bite you later on.

Calendar says it’s a Saturday today. Supposed to be the meteor shower at night. We haven’t stayed up to get out to see it yet. Perhaps tonight if the rain stops in time, and the cloud cover actually dissipates. Lots of factors lead to a good viewing. Not too bright of a moon No cloud cover, no rain, no high winds, and being up around 3:00am to see a good block of passing meteors. We’ve had some great nights when everyone gets to see a handful, and others were one persons sees one, and the kids get all grumbly & angry. Hard to predict on our end. I’m sure there are those more in tune that could tell us the best time to view the showers, but eh, whatever.

With an upset gut. One of the few times I’m ok seeing the sun rise. Not that I want to be awake before six am, but at least the mess is in the bathroom and not my sheets. Ha! Winning! As far as I can tell the kids are still asleep. Potentially for atleast another hour, perhaps more. I will try to go back to sleep, but this intestinal cramping, bloating, and rumbling may make that a tall order. I don’t think I even ate all that much yesterday, certainly didn’t consume any dairy, so… huh. Not sure what set it off. The stress from a last minute substantial project might have triggered it, but it’s hard to tell. Last few weeks have been emotional & stressful at the same time. Could of been inevitable. The joys of gut health, am I right?

If I recall we might soon be down to a mere three full weeks of summer vacation left. How time flies. Having slightly older kids is great. Still excited for an outing or an activity, but independent enough to occupy their own time for short stints on any given day. I had hoped we could do a few more family outings before school starts up again, but with the scheduled appointments, meetings, dr visits, lunches & dinners planned that could prove a challenging endeavour. Maybe I’ll take the kids to go see the new animated Ninja Turtles movie. Or at least the oldest child. She may get a kick out of that. The youngest is still not too keen on full length feature films. Takes five sittings to watch a single movie with this kid. Bit of an oddity.

Happy Friday though. By all accounts today is in fact Friday. I haven’t completely lost touch with the calendar, though we do, as a family, tend to drift a bit over the summer. Both of my folks worked, so summers were all day camps, or spent at home in front of the tv, feeling like endless years inbetween grades. Not actually the case, but it felt that way. Video games, tv rerun line ups to chew up the restless hours of the midday. Ah… memories. But not my kids, wife is a teacher, so for their lives they’ll have at least one parent home 24/7 all summer long to do stuff with. I work from home part time, so I’m also around a whole lot too. My daughter was complaining about how hard she was trying on a video game she was playing for 45 minute straight on the WII. I laughed, I said when my brother steve and I were little we spent a whole summer in our basement trying to finish a Baldur’s Gate type game on the Atari 1600. Together we put hundreds of hours into that game, and we finished it too. So no, I’m not concerned about your singular 45 minute stretch that did not yield the exact finish you were hoping for. We were too old for camp, and too young to work. The video game sweet spot for the late eighties, and early nineties. I will say this though, the WII is far more interactive than the game we sat still endlessly for. So she’s moving more than I did.

Plus, he says, plus… we didn’t really have any sort of physical media collection when I was a kid. Our house is stacked to the hills with movies, books, and games of all sorts. So we have far more kid friendly stuff to occupy them, than I ever had access to. So not a hardship for them at all. Like – at all.

Is an unpleasant one. I understand how people become jaded, or cynical, even adversarial towards others. It usually stems from helping others in one form or another. No good deed goes unpunished sort of thing. Trying to help others and having it blow up in your face, sort of thing. So yeah. I guess I have to keep on being told, because I keep helping people regardless. Look like a chump in the meantime. Oh well. Don’t help others, or do, I say. Just know that if the intentions behind it can get twisted, or manipulated, in the minds of those who see your actions, it probably will. Can you live with doing good deeds, if it seems terrible from the outside looking in? Tough spot to be in. We know what we wanted out of helping. But the wider world at large had different optics in mind. Such fun.

Thursday. Last day of summer swimming lessons. Best be off and about our day. Ciao Bella.

It’s like being in a whole new country when the wind, rain and low temperatures dissipate to reveal blue skies and warm sunshine. What a day to be alive. Have to find what joy you can in the stuff that is in your midst. Life is short. Too short sometimes. Find peace wherever you can find it.

Has been a busier week than usual. Not surprising since I had to miss a few days at the end of last week. I’ll get progressively more busy as we lead into fall. The summer events have to all happen first, and then we build the reports after all those surveys are done.

Not much to say today. Ciao Bella!