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My youngest to be exact. Every video she watches is of some person yellow “Oh! Ooooh!” About everything they see, say, or hear, so now my daughter is either a mute, or screaming “Oh! Oh!” At the top of her lungs like she’s just want a billion dollar Powerball lottery, where that sort of enthusiasm would be warranted. Seeing a kitten fall asleep does not. Watching a dog take a treat off the face due to a bad catch attempt does not. Seeing somebody slip on ice in their driveway does not. See where I’m going with this.

If she can’t regulate or modulate her voice she is going to get removed from classes for being disruptive. Catch that label and every subsequent teacher is going to hate your guts. Whether they’ve met you or not. Word travels fast in small schools about behavioural issues. Like it or lump it, that shit will follow you around.

Spent several hours on the road yesterday inbetween errands and appointments. Slept like shit too. But, I have turned over all of my work which was requested late in the day yesterday, so I’m all caught up, and clients can review it by 9:00am Monday when they clock in to the office. Nice!

I’m not sure why the artificial elevated enthusiasm levels resonates with my kids so much, especially my second grader, but who-boy! Does it ever, bruh! Bro, what the heck? Jesus Christ! On a loop, every 15 seconds, all day every day. Take the screen away and it persists. It’s very deeply ingrained now. She’s too little for Sigma, Skibidi Ohio Rizz Toilet, and that sort of cultural babble. Pauly Shore wants a word!  Or some mangled variation of them. Slang nonsense has been around forever, so it’s not going anywhere. Learning the new meanings of things is tiring, and repetitive. Not my new favourite pass time!

Summer break is winding down, as we gear up for the return to school & work. Weird time of year if you ask me. Lots of things changing this September. Makes me anxious just thinking about it. Ciao Bella.

Drove home last night, made great time too. Sang the whole way home, much to my puppy’s chagrin. I’m sure he wasn’t too fond of my 2:05 hrs long concert. He’ll have to learn to either love it, or tune it out entirely.

Today we’ve pulled weeds, done laundry, gone grocery shopping, pulled down a stand of trees, picked up prescriptions, and soon head off to a vet appointment for needles, medicines, and a weigh in. I’m making lunch for us in between loads of my kids laundry. I even vacuumed the main floor this morning before we went out on a walk through the cemetery. Lovely day thus far.

I’d love to get all laundry run through the dryer before we head off this evening. I need to check the mailbox, and look over a few things today. I wish I could stay longer and maybe go see Deadpool and Alien as a double header, but the family may not appreciate the delay. Can’t have it all, at least not all at once! Ha.

Happy Friday to all whom observe the first and freshest moments of the weekend! Ciao Bella.

Well, if you are Ross Geller for one, but in my book it’s if you go on vacation anywhere with your children in tow. Nothing like having to do all the same family obligations someplace else where you don’t have your stuff, or your system in place. Laundry, cooking, cleaning, entertainment. It’s all the same, but harder. Fun! That movie you loved, but hated when we were packing to come away? Yeah, that’s a home where we left it. Those snacks you bought and forgot to bring? Ditto. That obscure thing/tool that would be perfect in this instance? Yup, you guessed it, tucked away in a drawer at home, miles away. Might as well be on the moon. Groovy. Gotta love summer break! Smile!?!

Halfway into August, so the school days are getting closer. Home work, packed lunches, new shoes, pencils and whatever else will be back, front and centre in all of our lives once more.

I was just thinking about how we skipped most of November and it’s awful weather by going to Florida, and it’s three months away from being a year ago. Felt like just a few weeks ago. Crazy how time works.

Watching my kids first hand growing up with experiences, and a family dynamic that I didn’t have is… conflicting. On one hand we’ve strived to give them a stable, loving family community with options, and a variety of activities to pursue, and on the other hand I feel as sense of mild resentment that my own early childhood did not contain such things. Oh to be a kid again, remain in the same house year over year, build friendships from Kindergarten, have close family around endlessly, be interwoven into the community via Fairs, the School, and athletic endeavours. Seems nice. I wish I’d had some/more of it myself. Tough pill to swallow that. Giving somebody else that which you didn’t have yourself. I love it for them. I am also saddened to have not had it myself. Is that paradoxical? Maybe that’s not the right term.

We are effusive with love, and time spent, but I’m not rich so material wealth isn’t something I can lavish upon them. I hope that the warm and loving years before five that last the rest of their lives thing is true. I always had time, if nothing much monetarily to give to both kids. I worked during naps, and at night, so I have not been a major earner in quite some time. Not that I ever really was. I capped out at $75K once nearly a decade ago, and that didn’t last. Chasing dollar-dollar bills y’all never worked for me. But this isn’t about money, not really. I agree that experiences cost money.

Being open to carting your kids from one thing to another nightly, across town, and to different cities is expensive. I don’t know that I missed out on money related things as a kid, so much as parents whom WANTED to do those things with you, for you, after a full days work. Maybe that WAS asking too much of two full time working parents that commuted daily. Seems weird they’d pay for us to join a club, but balk at the idea of getting us to/from there. Guess I should have sorted out the public transit system when I was six to take myself places. Perhaps that was my own narrow view of how I was supposed to navigate the community spaces around me. Walk, yup, bicycle, certainly, get driven, ok, bus? Not until I was in 7th grade and a pass came as part of my student card did the bus even enter my mind as a thing I would do. Perhaps I wasn’t imaginative enough to work it out myself. Could very well be. Perhaps missing out on soccer practices, games, and the awards ceremonies were my fault because I didn’t think to hop on a bus before I was ten. My privilege is showing me up! I guess if I couldn’t walk there, or ride my bike there I felt I should get driven there. I should be kicking myself for not considering that as a viable option. D’oh!

Either way, I didn’t grow up with a cottage, water sports, access to a snowmobile, farm lands, swimming pool, sauna, hot tubs and the like. I envy my kids childhoods just a bit. Not enough that it becomes a barrier to us bonding, or having a great time, but enough that sometimes I think, “man I wish I could have done some of this as a kid!”. I recognize it. And I’m working through it. Obviously. Ha.

So it’s Wednesday, and my sore forearm, hand, elbow, tendons are still a little fried, but I think I can get back to work today. I don’t know if I fell on it, or bumped it yesterday, but man, spending the last 16 hours with a numb right hand, wrist, forearm, and fingers was unpleasant to say the least. I think I used the Weedeater for too long and aggravated my trigger finger issues from my twenties working 10 hour days using a weed eater on the boulevards of Brampton. Working in a factory prior to that didn’t help much with how repetitive the motions were pulling medical supplies off of an injection moulding machine. The hands, they give me trouble sometimes. The right one mostly. It being the dominant one. For now atleast.

Happy Hump-Day. Ciao Bella.

Just a standard run of the mill tuesday morning in mid August. The weather is looking a little nicer today after three or four cool rain days, with higher than normal winds. Not that I kept the mosquitoes away any, the higher winds that is. Those pesky buggers are still very much present, and a nuisance. Itchy bumps are plaguing us daily, thanks to our blood thirsty mini friends in the sky. I think we need to invest in a super high powered propane fueled mosquito trap that could cover a full 1km radius. If it could also kill black flies, horse flies, and deer flies, Wasps, Hornets, and anything else undesirable, I’d be thrilled.

So yeah – Tuesday. Still very early in the week, but not a Monday. Not many more of these to go before school starts back up. I didn’t count down the weeks this year, like I was doing last year. The deaths and subsequent funerals of last summer put me in a different frame of mind this year. I mean, I still need to know what day it is, and how many weeks have gone by, but I’m not joyfully playing with the kids going back to school. I will miss having them around. I will miss having lunch with my wife. I will miss having someone to talk to throughout the say. It will take some getting used to it being just me and the new dog at home, all day, every weekday. It is going to be an adjustment for all of us, dog included.

I have a long list of projects I’d love to tackle come September. Dog training, table refinishing, fair sculpture project, finish priming & painting my resin model kit, completing my Ninja Turtle bust, finishing all of my children’s book illustrations and posting it here, along side my two other free books. Power washing the windows, and back deck. Purging all closets, and tidying up every single bedroom, my wife’s included. Purging ratty old shoes/boots that don’t fit anymore. Donating clothes we don’t need. Sorting coats (soring/summer/fall/winter/rain/sport) etc… you name it. Thin those down so that we have room in our hall closet for quests. Should we ever entertain any. Throwing away old broken toys, and McDonald’s junk items. I’m sure come fall we will see more new hand me downs from neighbours, so I best get on it sooner, rather than later. I’m not manic about the purging. I know that I could go far harder in the paint than I do, but I know deep down that I’m not a minimalist, even if that would drastically declutter our home, and make it feel larger than it is. I’m far too fond of making custom furniture to eliminate THAT much stuff. Can’t declutter everyone else but leave all my shit lying around. I’m far harsher about my own spaces, than I ever would be about my kids stuff. I may just tackle my book shelves again to reduce my footprint there. If I wouldn’t reread the books I keep just for the joy of it, I probably shouldn’t keep them. Or, he says, OR I need to pack them on the shelves three deep, two high and just condense it all down to open up shelf space for all the new rocks, gems, and pottery bits my kids accumulated this summer.

I did an early purge this summer by bringing a whole bunch of our clothes up to the cottage to leave here. That way we could go up without having to pack too heavy. Space is limited as it is, but now with the dog we really have to be strategic about what gets packed up for those trips. He’ll have his own bag of food, treats, chew toys, combs, brushes, and nail clippers. Which makes it very apparent that I need to buy a laptop because my massive desk top box takes up too much space in the car. Plus my desktop computer is 10 years old, and Adobe & Microsoft products have accelerated beyond what I can update my computer operating system to. Not that I want to throw down nearly $3K for a newer machine, but that forward march of all the apps I subscribe to for work doesn’t show any signs of stopping, or slowing down. I’ll have to budget for it instead of the bandsaw or any new major tools for the wood shop. Unless I can pick up a new client, or draw out a higher marketing spend from my current roster. I will have to raise my prices in the new year, so that might cause a stir among some of the smaller clients I have. Times are tough out there.

Ciao Bella.

Not since playing B Team rugby in university have my hips been so sore at night while trying to sleep. But back then, it was from being dump tackled to the rock hard compacted soil of our raggedy fields, and not just from pushing the pedals on an elliptical. The decades, they do change us boy!

Now that wasn’t my first run this year even, but it was the longest. I chased my oldest around a track 2 or three times in May, and a few more times after that, but that would have lasted 10-12 minutes tops. I think the issue stems from the 98 minutes of run time yesterday. I stretched a bit afterward, but I failed to stretch before. I trained just about to limb failure, which I probably should not do. Live and learn.

Problem was, after the first 33 minute weight loss run, I felt incredible, so I did an extra interval run for 65 minutes, and as soon as it was half way through I knew, just knew that I should call it quits, but I was breathing ok, and my feet didn’t hurt (even though I was barefoot), and I was sweating, but didn’t realize I had sweat through my hat, t-shirt & shorts causing a puddle to form under me on the floor. Eew!  That was all news to me once I stepped off.

I rarely EVER feel good during a run, so I thought I should keep going. Next time I’ll quit while I’m ahead!  That was a good portion of my Sunday mid morning, the running that is. Not much else went on after that. Back to Monday now. Have a solid week. Ciao Bella!

First run results, after a 28 minute run, with 5 min cool down period which was still on the clock.

And about 30 sec after 8 finished that, I did an interval training session for 60 minutes, with a 5 min cool down period, for a total of 98 combined minutes of running today. My hips are a bit sore. No doubt.

So 943 calories, 98 minutes, and just over 13,000 steps. I was sweating profusely after that long of a session. It dripped off my elbows to pool on the floor under the elliptical. I really need to go mop that up. Running in bare feet in the elliptical is kinds fun. A bit slick after you get into it and start to slide on the foot plates. I had music to listen to this time which made for a more fun experience. I wish I had my JBL Boombox 2.0 to blast tunes directly into my bones, but alas I do not. Although I will say this, being able to sing along with my eyes shit is a benefit I don’t get when running on a track. Can’t go eyes closed when running properly. Not unless you want to run into somebody, or something, such as trees, garbage cans, and fencing!

School will start soon so maybe the public track will have fewer people at in during the day. If I could be assured that the dog would actually run, I’d bring the fuzz ball with me. But he’s not keen on walks, so I don’t know if he’d care for runs. I’ll give it a try, and can make a determination from there on how to proceed.

Can’t go barefoot when I run on the track. I’d have a hell of a time not pulling toe nails off if I tried that.the elliptical has a strange gait, but also less stress on my ankles (which I appreciate). So it’s a bit of give & take. I’m well shy of the 3,500 calories needed to drop a full lb of body fat. Maybe a gym with freevweights would help me get closer to a caloric deficit, if I also keep up some jogging/running. We’ll just have to wait & see.

Had to dip out for a dog food run early today. Luckily I found a reasonably priced bag that should last the week before I take him to the vet on Friday. I can grab his real food then. For now, we’ll just have to make due with what I could find. Slim pickings round these parts, especially on a Sunday morning.

Tried to look at the meteor shower last night, and I fell asleep wrapped in a thick fleece blanket. Besides the mosquitoes buzzing my face it was rather peaceful. I rarely ever see anything anyway. So no harm done here.

33 minutes on the elliptical.  4524 strides, 211 calories, on intervals of ; incline 4, resistance 1, to incline 10, resistance 8. I was sweating profusely afterward. First time I’ve completed 100% of a listed program. I’ve done 3 mins, 5 mins, 8 mins, 18 mins, and now a full 28 plus 5 minute cool down. Not much, but it’s a start.

And you can check the description for a bunch of vague swats at a pat answer, if the post contains anything at all besides a call to try my system, course, book or retreat where answers are promised there instead. What a crock. I love the stitches where people debunk in seconds what appears in longer video posts. A real time saver, life hack for sure. They suffered momentarily so that the rest of us don’t have to. Wicked.

Click-bait really has gone too far. Who got destroyed in a rebuttal. No one. Not really – ever. This isn’t the wildest thing you’ve seen. Those aren’t banned videos of car accidents. It’s all a lot of noise. Junk information to soak up your attention 10 sec at a time. Distraction. Nonsense. Empty fun at your finger tips. Easy enough to swallow up a few hours of your day. Whose getting paid for all this? By the sounds of it only the top 1% of content creators like Mr Beast, or Joe Rogan.

Saturday morning is here again. The dog threw up on my bed spread. What fun! Nice way to wake up before the sun rise to a retching puppy. Looks as though he got into some play dough, or perhaps kinetic sand, or mushy felt. Either way it was a chemically vibrant unified orange colour. Unnatural to say the least. More laundry! Glorious day. Love it.

Have to take the puppy to the vet on friday for a booster shot, and the next heart worm pill based on his weight when weighed in the office. Shouldn’t be an expensive visit this time around. But you never know. Gladly his neutering bill is paid for already through the adoption people, so the new vets can’t upsell us on their procedure instead. Phew! I love my pets but I don’t love the vet bills. Part & parcel of the whole experience though.

Bait & switch is step #3, check out my bio for more. Ciao Bella!