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Spent driving, visiting, eating, walking, and waiting before we can make the last and final leg back home. Lots to do tomorrow too, but that’ll all be school admin style work. Checking coats, hats, shoes of all types, back packs, lunch bags, water bottles, pencil cases, and their contents. Paper stocks in the craft cubby, and then another visit & swim with friends. Then come Tuesday and we will be right in the thick of it all once again. Hard to believe it. If it wasn’t happening to us right now as we speak I would assume we still had weeks left to go. Summer time for working adults with school aged children passes all too quickly.

I do find that these nicer warmer months pass far to fast as we have so much opportunity to get out and do stuff, but January and February drag due to the cold, and a general sense of winter blahs and boredom. The pace really picks up in late April and won’t slow down until November, UNLESS November has a weird heat wave, and then we will get out and about to enjoy it while it lasts doing any odd items we didn’t get to during the summer.

Happy long weekend to you all.

Living the dream this long weekend. Summer is definitely leaving us behind as the morning temperatures dip down to single digits. Leaves have started to turn on certain trees, and others have begin to curl. The bugs have seemingly lessened at night as the heat has dissipated these last ten days. The dusk fishing expeditions are easier on the flesh, and the warmth from the fires are welcomed rather than sweat inducing. The final days of week nine of summer break are upon us.

We even received the notices for our kids classroom placements. Good news on all fronts. So that should minimize tantrums where friends, and teachers are concerned. We do have three weeks for the board/ministry to decide there has to be a shake up, followed by a reshuffle of kids and resources, so crisis not entire averted yet. But better to start from a good footing, and hope for the best. We’ll just have to see how it all shakes out.

Spent some time yesterday moving wood piles, making stacks, and tidying up to reclaim space for moving things around by the boat launch. I was glad for the chance to swim once the four of us were done. Lake is down to 70°F , the coolest it has been all summer. It was above 80°F in early July, and then decreased over the following weeks. No major algae blooms this year. This coming weeks heat wave might bring the temperature up a degree or two, but these cold nights really sap the lakes ability to hold on to its heat. Unless the heatwave lasts all night too. In which case forget what I’ve just said.

These poor kids are going to be sweltering at school this week, as it is supposed to feel like 40-41°C for a few days in a row. Yuck. Shame that wasn’t last week when we could have been swimming to stay cool.

I’m excited! We can start our major clean up sessions once the kids are back in school. Turn out all the broken junk, and have more room for what the kids really play with. Make our tiny house feel more spacious. It’s a great time of year. Though I imagine I’ll get busy with work now that all of the summer events have come to a close, and the polling, research data is being compiled. September may just fly right on by! Plus add in our Markham Fair commitments and it will really be a fast paced month. Get your tickets online for the Markham Fair before September 25th and Save 20% OFF your ticket(s)!

Catch you about town. Mask up, take care out there. Ciao Bella!

If you are able to, set your OOO message and go enjoy the last remaining long weekend of the summer. Take the full four days. If you’re one of the lucky ones you spent last night driving to your location so you could wake up later today in the place you want to be. Coffee in hand, drinking it as the sun rises, listening to the loons from your dock, porch, balcony. There aren’t many moments like this, so take the time, when you have it, to soak it all up. Steam rising off the lakes surface, sips of hot coffee, warm mug in your hands. Fresh toasted bagel with garlic & herb cream cheese spread over it. Good times.

If you have to work this weekend, I hope that you manage to find a quiet, peaceful moment to enjoy of your own. I don’t plan on being to active work wise today. All this time of year does is remind me I need a secondary & portable work option. So best to bite the bullet and make that happen this year. Also to invest in more electronic storage for files, and archived work.

Also once school starts I need to get a jump on my Will. If nothing else this summer has really made it apparent just how sudden things can change for the worse. Gotta make sure the kids are covered. On that note, Ciao Bella !

Something that will really grab, and hold a persons attention. Salacious or pithy, not particularly witty, but something that will get the people going. My humps, my humps, my lovely lady lumps and what not. Shout out to George Wallace, the king of “and what not”. Funny guy. Love him on Twitter (x). So what kind of a title should I pick? A long winded one that spells out exactly what is to come? Or something vague, or better yet – mysterious. Ooh. But it should also not be too click bait(y) as that turns people off now. Or do you treat it like a film with a ten minute pre roll and then BAM! Post the title a paragraph or two in, and just let it lie there like a cats sick up in your bed. Surprise titling! You could try to spell it out using the very first letter of each subsequent sentence! Hidden messages – ooh! That’s sneaky. I don’t know. I could pilfer part of some song lyrics. Use a famous quote but bastardize it. Purposefully use a spelling error to draw people in, or to turn a certain group away. A misdirect! So good.

Today is Thursday August 31st, 2023. The last day of August. Summer holidays is just about fine. Breathing it’s last sputtering breathes this holiday long weekend. To think that by Tuesday all of this wonderous summer will be just a memory. Some good, some great, and a few that are heart breakingly miserable. Ope! Can’t let the eyes get glossy. Moving on.

Still hoping to get out to a theater to watch Oppenheimer or TMNT Mutant Mayhem. Either or would be fine by me. Although the animated one is far less of a time commitment at this point. Reading “American Prometheus ” is quelling my need to rush out and see it. With my guts, a home viewing is preferential. All the bathroom breaks I could ever need, and free food & snacks. That and I can take as long as I need to watch it. I can rewind parts, and used closed captions incase I can’t hear what they are saying well enough. If I get a bigger tv, and a much better sound system, we’d never need to go anywhere for a movie ever again. Excepting for 3D films or the iMax experience. Hard to replicate those at home.

Hard to believe looking back that the whole family would gather in the family room to watch a movie on a 27 inch or small crtv, bulged screen in like a 4:3 aspect ratio. I feel like we’ve all gotten altogether too comfortable with 55″ or larger, screens for our homes. So weird. How times have changed. Anyway, best get back to work. Ciao Bella!

Try as you might you just can’t outrun other people’s effects upon your own life. Currently in a holding pattern with several hours of a drive left to go while I tackle a professional hiccup in our plans. Weather is cool and dreary so not the worst timing for something to happen. Could always be much, much worse. So take it in stride, do your hardest to set everything smoothly back into forward progression, and carry on. Life of a freelancer! Never said it wasn’t exciting!

I think it’s Wedneaday today. So Hump-Day, Middle of the Week Day! You are almost through it at this point. Good on ya!

Next week school starts up again. And the temperatures are to go through the roof! Oh what timing! I’ll be picking up cherry red tomatoes from school each day. Ha. With cranky tantrums to follow I’d wager.

Take care out there. Ciao Bella!

A cooked breakfast feels too heavy for me today. The fridge was on the blink for several days, so I no longer trust the quality of our eggs or bacon, for safeties sake. I don’t have any non sugar filled cereal on hand, just the kids stuff which does me no good. I’m not keen on oatmeal. I have to be craving it, and have fresh mixed berries on hand, the right kind of syrup, and cinnamon or brown sugar too. I know, I can get pucky, and finicky. I also don’t feel like toast, or a bagel either. As I don’t trust the eggs that means that both pancakes, and waffles are out too. Perhaps just a glass of juice, and some of the kids Bear Paws. Decisions, decisions, everywhere I turn we have to make decisions.

Had what felt to be a pretty decent fair advertising meeting last night. Got some useful feedback on the posters and road signs. Criticisms that were actionable, and that I can put into motion. Getting very close to fair time. One month to go. I have my item of mixed media & painted ceramics ready to go into the crafts section. One of my joys is having a one of a kind sculpted and painted item on display at the fair. This will be the first year that I’ll have had an airbrushed sculpture on display. Very excited. I am going to go with my Ogre Rogue bust.

I’m sure to post more about the Makham Fair as it approaches. But right now my main focus is getting these kids prepped to return to school. That means double checking indoor and outdoor shoes. Coats, hats, and boots. Finding working back packs. Cleaning lunch boxes. Cleaning water bottles. Sorting out pencil cases and all that in class gear. Grocery shopping for lunch materials. Luckily the extra curriculars don’t kick in for a week or two more. If every other year behind us is any indication, I foresee two to three weeks of tantrums about getting up and going to school. Hating lunches regardless of what is or isn’t prepared. Hating any homework that has been given. On and on. Until the Fair arrives, and then Thanksgiving. Magically after that with the wind up to Halloween and then Christmas school becomes less of an issue. Throw in a few birthdays, snow storms, traveling and pumpkin carving, and we will hit 2024 in a blur of activity.

Today is Tuesday, which means recycling, and this is our week for garbage collection too. Best get our junk out to the curb. Ciao Bella!

Currently riding the Dino Train Tour out of Uxbridge. Listening to the Jurassic Park sound track on a near constant repeat, watching animatronic dinosaurs roar, and sway. Kids are in their element. I feel a tad motion sick due to the rhythmic swaying of this old fashioned train car. Glorious lazy Sunday morning. Sunny, blue sky, and a cool brisk breeze. Perfect weather for shorts and a hoodie.

Getting a little hotter as we fall further into the day. Saw a small turtle, a tiny snake, a larger snake (boa) and then J Rex the walking, talking, interactive dinosaur. Kids had fun. There was talk of a bouncy castle, but we didn’t see one. Pricey for what was there, glad we went though.

So that writers strike is still going strong, which means we will likely not see Dune Part Two until sometime in 2024. But, I have to side with the union folks here. When something like near 80% of working actors don’t make 26k a year to reach the minimum for health insurance, but like nine people at the top clear hundreds of millions – you’ve got a problem. In general I’d tell people to unionize wherever possible. BUT, you have to keep those internal union positions working for the good of the worker(s) and not for shmoozing to make themselves an entrenched benefactor. Once those higher ups get a taste of the power, perks, and prestige the union starts to get a bit shit. Why the teachers unions didn’t fight for better air quality, ventilation, higher quality masking, is beyond me. But that’s a different argument all together, so I digress. I have been a part of a few unions at college/university, and working in print media, and they always did right by me. I can’t complain. If you are in a position to join one, I’d do so, regardless of union dues. That small pinch will pay vast dividends in the end.

So no new shows come September either, not unless the studios have a bunch in the can to release. But that also means no press tours, or junkets to drum up excitement for such properties either. Going to be a cold fall with reruns, and unscripted reality tv, or winged & off the cuff late night tv. We all remember Conan spinning his wedding ring to fill time on his show during the last strike. And how awful the big reveals on the show Bones became during that writers strike. Think, like Season Eight of Game of Thrones quality, but for every show that once had complex, intricate plot lines. All smashed with a hammer, and dumbed down into nonsense. It was as if Ben Shapiro scripted everything single handedly into the stupidest ending possible.

I was up a bit later than usual last night doing some last minute mock-ups and renders, so I feel a little slow this morning. The temperature is supposed to get up to 35°C with humidity today, so we may try to spend as much time as possible in our in-laws pool. So have a great Friday. Enjoy your weekend. Ciao Bella!