Getting Out-Out: Two Nights Running.

Been a very long time since I’ve gone out twice in one month, let alone two consecutive days in a row in the same week. I feel like a twenty something again! If only briefly, that is before I feel tired by 10:30pm and want to go home to bed. Had a really good time both nights, so a weekend to remember! Rehydrate Friday with fellow school drop off friends, and the Martin’s at the Meridian Center on Saturday. That’s both Steve, and Short. Still sharp as ever into their seventies. Glad I had the chance to catch them live and in person before any kind of decline in health. Hell we were sat maybe ten rows behind Eugene Levy! Fantastic seats. Great theater. Wonderful show.

Oh course, being out late twice means I feel hung over even though I drank only a little on Friday, and not at all on Saturday. Being up late makes me feel discombobulated and hung over anyway. Whether or not I drink, the late night must trigger my bodies memories of getting totally blotto in my youth and just assume I must need the headache, dry mouth, and a need to pee throughout the night. Oh to be aged. Such a luxury! But seriously, that’s like a years worth of social interaction for me, and I could do with a rest, and hiding from interactions for a day. I don’t include my children, nor spouse in that exclusion. Contrary to popular belief I’m not a total bastard.

I miss going places, and doing stuff, but I also like to not be social, and be at home where my comfortable stuff is, like a no line toilet, food I’ve already paid for, drinks that I’ve already got available. My couch, a blanket, movies and the ability to be lazy! See – so hard to choose! Friends and social interactions, or cuddled on the couch, both are a win in my book. As an older guy with intestinal issues I lean towards staying near by, or at home. Getting caught out is not something I enjoy very much, but my guts keep on trying!

To be honest I thought (when i was twenty or more years younger) that i would be hosting more dinner parties, or dance & drink gatherings than we do. Covid put a stop to everything, yes, but now it’s also difficult to navigate schedules, cleaning, desire for social interactions, and a host of other factors. I grew up with my folks having loud, long parties with dancing and lots of drinking. A tradition I thought I would spend more time doing myself. But I do get up and dance with loud music along with my kids. But, we don’t have people here doing the same until the wee morning hours, just to find our kids asleep under tables or chairs (like I would do, as a child 5 or so years of age). With loud music, food and booze you should be able to have a hell of a night, if you can’t that’s on you! Was the motto I grew up hearing. I have not yet hosted a rager like that, not since high school anyway. Ha!

Sunday Funday today. I think we have some Christmas lights to hang at the inlaws today. They go all out for the season. Had won the local lighting competition multiple years in a row. I know the uncle Fred situation had upended alot of their plans for the Fall, but I think him being back in the hospital to stabilize means they can now focus on something more light hearted for the holiday season. Fred’s in good hands, being well looked after for a brief stint. Honestly it’s the best thing for him. Should certainly make him feel more comfortable knowing all those nurses and doctors are around. Can probably sleep better now too knowing they are all there at the hospital. It’s only Markham Stouffville,  but better than suffering at home alone at night.

I have two more projects with one client left to do this week, and then one large report to do for another and I think that will most likely close out my 2023 year. I look ahead to doing my year in review post about my reading challenge. As I get older I feel more confident leaving books half read. I hated doing that in my youth, but I don’t much feel like grinding through books just to get a cover to cover completion rate. I’ll enjoy what I can stand of any given book and will then move on. I think that shows growth! Not a loss of stamina or patience, or stick with it – ness.

But I digress. Save some for the sequel! Ciao Bella.

It’s My Party And I’ll Go Zoomies If I Want To!

The energy level of a room full of nine year olds, plus some additional kindergarten littles is a spectacle to behold. You may not like it, nor care for it, but the amount of bombast & noise could power a small townhouse complex for a few days at a time. Running, pushing, shoving, games of tag, chasing, squealing, burps & farts, the list of activities is as endless as it is unplanned. Add in some sodas and theater candy and these kids will launch themselves directly into the sun with their energy output. I’m glad they are all happy. Better out than in. Also, glad it’s not at my house. I’d fear for my Christmas tree, and I’d worry about the structural stability of our floors with all that jumping, leaping, and running about. Madness. Absolute mayhem. Chaos incarnate. Other descriptors that are evocative!

Welcome to Saturday morning people. Almost 8:00am after a long & busy week back from our vacation. I’m almost sleeping more like normal now that we are neck deep in our regular schedule, and I am in my own bed. The vacation was a resounding success. Had a bump or two but was ultimately very effective in the use of our time. Could we have used atleast one sunny day for the eight we spent near Orlando/Kissimmee? Sure, one would have been appreciated, but we got none. It was still warmer than home, by a sizable margin, and we were able to swim & sit in the hot tub during the rain, so not a total loss. Our condo was big enough to not feel cramped which was a relief. Our two Tampa hotel stays the started & ended our trip were much smaller and would have been a challenge to occupy the whole fourteen days. Eleven total days spent between three theme parks was… alot. Tired feet and sore hips by the end of most days.

Now we turn towards Christmas once we get past this ninth birthday party, and tonights Santa Claus Parade. We will have to see if the kids can manage both a raucous mid day activity, and a late afternoon, in to the evening one. Especially one where they will have to stand the whole time. Could wind up being too much for them. We’ll see.

Already had a few kids drop out of the party with fevers & coughs, so i have to imagine one, some, or all will have something unpleasant by Christmas break. I could do without that! Ciao Bella!

Down the side road

Yesterday, I ran into a guy I knew from high school. Not terribly fit, but he practiced martial arts quite a lot. Well long story short, he didn’t much care for the exercise, and the belt testing, nor the grading. He just liked kicking kids. Happiest guy I know. Huh.

How’s that for kick starting your weekend!

Happy Friday. Lots going on around here today. Party prep, cake baking, loot bag filling, and working on some new paid projects. Which reminds me, I need to proof my latest report and get that out the door, sharpish.

75 Dozen Krispy Kreme Donuts.

That’s how many we sold for the November prom fundraiser this month. Not as many as had been hoped for, but each case raises $8.00 towards t8he cost of the 2023/2024 school prom. So a win for the graduating class.

The offending cases of Krispy Kremes. Gaze upon them while you still can, for they shall not last long!

It’s also the reason why I am a bit late getting started today as we had to drive down to Scarborough to pick up the delivery for the high school. All told it used up about 90 minutes of my morning. So not awful. We have our allotted boxes in hand, and I have indulged in tasting the wares. Quality assurance you see. Simply must be done. If you don’t do Quality Control then you are bush league. Not a serious player. Ha.

I have two more days on the books to finalize my report, so I need to hop through the bathroom then in to my office for a full days work. Suns out for a change today. Less grey and a lot less snow flurries. I even picked up four loads of frozen pumpkins yesterday. Getting lots done as we draw ever nearer to my eldest daughters birthday/party. Still lots to do there. Gift bags for the kids, cake/cupcakes, drinks, and wrapping presents.

Speaking of which, im6not planning on wrapping any children’s gifts for Christmas until after all the birthday hubbub is done. Just too chaotic at this point. We do have wrapping paper in hand, but I’m not certain of our scotch tape situation. I need to dig through the drawers and cupboards to sus that out. It wouldn’t kill me to sharpen the scissors before starting in earnest either. I do love a good scissor glide through paper. Angh! So satisfying.

Have a great Thursday. Ciao Bella!

Starting to feel a little bit like Christmas- again.

A Question To Authors.

How do you feel about making up new words to suit the world you’ve built (should you write Science Fiction and/or Fantasy). Do you ever get push back from your editors to try an use existing words instead? Does it depend on your fame level/readership base, just how much they would let that sort of thing slide? For example – should George R R Martin decide to create a bunch of new words, (being a very successfully selling author) would he have an easier time of it with his editors/publishers, than say a new body on the scene with their first ever book to be published & no copies sold as of yet. I would be most interested to know.

Also – how connected do you get/feel to the characters, places, events that you create. Potentially applicable to historical researchers and biographers too, as they expend tremendous amounts of energy and time researching all facets of a time period/event/people. Like, do you cry when you kill them off, or they die, because that makes the story better, or is the basis for another event. I’m getting wordy here. Veering off track. I could pull a full tangent right now! How attached are you to characters, reoccurring or otherwise? Conversely, do you chuckle when you do heinous shit to those characters you made that you don’t like – especially if based off of people in your own life – like a former bully, or ex of some sort. I’d love to know!

I’m nearing another full calendar year in between writing a full book of short stories – again. Not that I intend to go for a round three, but…. maybe? Hard to say. Work has been busier this year. Lids are older now. Wife has the year off. Kids are enrolled in way too many extracurriculars that require driving to & from locations. So unlikely I’d write much any time soon. But I get flashes of story lines I’d like to tackle every now & again. I feel like the Covid brain fog from March added some hard breaking to my desire to write a cohesive narrative. I just couldn’t hold it all in my head with enough clarity to put pen to paper. Brain damage on a vascular level, it be like that sometimes. Bet.

Banging out the classics like a tone-deaf seal.

Some acts should just stay in the studio with the sound boards, and the mixers, and the editors whom can chop up useable chunks of caterwauling and turn it into a top 40 hit. Enrique, Axel, that fat dude from Motley Crue, those folks should all sit down and give their heads a shake. I know that drug habits and alimony are expensive, but sweet cheese bud, pull yourselves together. The leopard seal squeals are making those over inflated ticket prices a real cross to bear. Hard to enjoy yourself when the lead act sounds worse than the average karaoke lounge act in Korea Town. And that’s with folks singing across a language barrier, not old fat dudes forgetting half of the songs they wrote that got them there in the first place. Dreadful. I can not for the life of me impress upon you how disrespectful it is to charge these obscene ticket prices for near has-been musical acts of yesteryear, and they sound like these shrieked, half forgotten mumbled parody accounts on TikTok and IG.

In other news we will be in December by Friday of this week, how wild is that. Oh, and we did put up our Christmas tree on Sunday afternoon as I thought we would. My little minions came home from their overnight Zoo trip with the Girl Guides around noon and the first words out of their mouths wasn’t “hello” , or ” I missed you”, it was “can we put up the tree now?”. Good thing I had brought up all the tree lights and decorations that morning, and brought the tree in from the shed to warm up before assembly. I still had my hands and forearms shredded by the faux tree, as happens every year, long sleeves or not. It extracts a drop or two of blood to feed the holiday spirits. Thirteen years without fail this tree has drawn a blood sacrifice. Every. Damn. Year!

We loaded this bitch up with almost every bulb & ball we own. It’s a very full tree this year. I also added 400 new light bulbs to the tree this go around. In addition to the four hundred from last year. I might even go so far as to buy even more to add next year too. I still see far too many dead spots on the tree. I’m sad that all the blood taken over the years hasn’t resulted in the pre-lit tree remaining functional. Nothing another 1,600 bulbs of white or multicoloured lights couldn’t fix. I want this thing to light up the street! A Griswold Family Christmas Tree!

My minions posing with the newly decorated faux tree.
As much as I like it, I still see dead spots. My oldest blue bulbs are still the most vibrant on the tree, to this day!

Here we are, Tuesday. Snow squall warnings and all that jazz. Glad I don’t have to commute on days like today. Take it easy out there. Ciao Bella!

And so it begins anew.

Yes you heard it here first folks, I’m starting the long slog known as Christmas shopping for children with vastly different interests. Looks like I am going to put some miles under my heels today, walking aisles, and traveling between stores. Do I make a day out of it? I don’t think I have quite that much to do, so likely no. I’ll go in for 2-3 hours (potentially) and then call it a day. I have some paid work due in this week, so I’d rather be at home ready to roll once that stuff comes in.

My goal is to have all the children covered off today, leaving me just an LCBO run later on in December for the adults left on my list. I’m not keen on running around too much. Pre-pandemic I would have traveled to Square One, had a meal out, maybe take in an early movie to fi ish off the day, but no chance I’ll do that now. Plus back then I had two kids not in school, fewer nieces & nephews, and didn’t have to worry about school drop off or pick up times.

Here’s hoping we manage to keep Covid at bay so we can enjoy Christmas on the given day, and not have to push the holidays by 7-10 days due to someone getting infected. Bad enough with flus and other cold bugs about, but the old SARS2 isn’t a welcome addition to the roster of things to have to worry about. Not welcome, but it’s there. Boo-Urns! Hiss!

I gotta get these kids ready, and steel myself for shopping in toy store at Christmas time. Wish us all luck!

Ah, the holiday classics.

Started the season off early while in Florida watching Elf with the kids, with about 12 minutes of commercials every ten minutes or so. Then while I had the night to myself I sat down to watch Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Always good for a laugh. About three days late for US Thanksgiving, but close enough for me. And now, this morning while I have the laundry running, the dish washer emptied, have showered already, and brought up the Christmas tree decorations, and fetched in the faux tree from the shed to warm up, I’m ready to enjoy National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. If the kids stay out for a Zoo visit after the group sleep over, I might even watch Scrooged too! Hard to know at this point in time. I may put the movies on in the background while I do something else. Trying to get back into the holiday spirit. We had a bunch of it rub off during the long hours of holiday cheer promoted at all three of the parks we visited for 11 of the 14 days of our trip. Trying to recapture the joy! Helps that there isn’t sweltering heat, and we are back at home in the colder temperatures, and have family & friends around once more.

Which reminds me I need to wrap my daughters birthday presents some time soon. Then I will have to do an about face and leap into Christmas shopping. Luckily I have five people off my list already with gift cards, due to distance. My kids have three gifts each already purchased. I have a few more to go get and i can call it a day, comfortably, i feel. Which is a load off my mind. This year I’m going to do a better job of keeping track by filling out lists of what i buy for whom. So i don’t panic shop, and wind up over spending like in years previous, because i forget all of what i already have picked up for the kiddies.

Spent an hour or so yesterday and added a second wrapped maple tree trunk with colourful lights, and then reworked my extension cord situation so that I could put the gecko & Christmas mouse out beside the tree. I think the Santa train can stay packed up this year. I need to get bricks or rocks to keep it from falling over, so that might be a random side quest to achieve next spring/summer/fall before another Christmas. I should draw up plans for how I want the lighting set up executed. I’m always having to switch & swap out cords, so a numbered diagram would alleviate that issue if I put in the effort to prepare one. Add it to the list of “nice to haves”.

Now I might make it seem like we do a lot of exterior decorating for Christmas, and that isn’t really the case. More than some, less than others, is where we sit. One string of lights along the eaves, two 4 ft lit wreaths, two partially wrapped maple trees, a gecko and a mouse. And if I can stand to constantly fix it, a Santa Train that falls over constantly. I’d love to have blow ups, and rows of candy canes, and even more lights up on the house, boughs with lights on the railings, but I don’t know how you’d work all of that in, or power it all up. That kind of display is for the independently wealthy, which I am not.

Later on today when the kids get home, I’ll put on some music and we can assemble the tree and decorate it as a family. I’ll give my wife a chance to have a nap after her girl guide outing with the kids last night, and this morning. Hard to believe we are back to Lazy Sunday again, so soon. Ciao Bella!

End of November all ready!

Taking a two week trip out to sunny Florida really feels like we hit the “skip the dreary month” button on life. I just paid all these Bill’s like a few days ago! It feels like. But that was actually a whole month ago. Time distortion from breaking routines, and traveling and upending our regular schedules is incredible. We quantum leaped over the entirety of the month of November it seems like. Weird. We will be into December by late next week.

I think we are planning to put up the tree on Sunday. I was lucky enough to get all three massive piles of brush removed from the property yesterday. I might tackle the last of the leaves today. And then add in our finishing touches on the exterior lighting for Christmas too. Possibly. I have this lazy feeling about me today. We will have to see if I can muster the enthusiasm to get outdoors to do more manual labour. I did my inlaws leaves yesterday, and have lost interest in it. This is the fourth time doing our own. I just knew the last 1.5 trees would shed their bulk while I was away. If the sun is out, or if it didn’t rain, I guess I can do some of it. Blargh. Sick of leaves.

This years accumulation of brush, tree trimmings, broken Lilac shrubs, rose bush trimmings, and cedar hedge tops.

Most likely to be sick of snow soon too! Do I invest in a snowblower this year? Hard to say. If we get 6 inches of snow or less per snowfall – no need for one. Have another 16 inch or more plus snow drifts and I’ll have to get one or risk heart failure in the strain of all that lifting & exertion.

Makes adjusting to the new cold temperatures more difficult when I was just revisiting my bodies methods of dealing with high heat, sweating profusely, and staying hydrated. Now I have to dress mich warmer, drink less, and think warm thoughts. It was trying to snow (however lightly) when I was doing leaves and brush yesterday afternoon. I understand snowbirds so much more now. I get it. Avoid the cold if you are wealthy enough to do so. Brrr.

Just had our SARS Covid-19 shot #6, and boy is my arm tired.

I will say this for the boosters, they don’t make me feel anywhere as bad as the first shot of Astra Zeneca or Moderna, woah baby, those two jabs made me feel absolutely awful. Now all I have is a sore left upper arm/shoulder. Do I expect this to help me out all that much? No… not really. Better to have it than not, but I’m still masking indoors, and we upgraded the hepa filters at home, and still don’t party or hang out with other people much, if at all. So, same as we’ve been for the last nearly four years. I did let up and travel for the first time since 2017/2018, so that indicates a slight change in attitude. I can still do just about everything I want, with a mask on, so no harm no foul. It’s all good. Seems us being gone has let us miss some of the “flu/bug” going through the kids school right now. That’s an upside!

It is Friday, and I have a few items on the books, and a school drop of drawing close. Best be about my business. Ciao Bella!