Camping trip to Presqu’ile

Yesterday we got back from a whirlwind camping trip to Presqu’ile Park – it was quite a fun, short little adventure.

We actually got an actual lakeside camping spot, with all the benefits and drawbacks that come from that – the wind noise on the first day/night was absolutely astonishing, it actually kept me up, imagining the tent being dragged into Lake Ontario. The noise actually died down by the next morning, and the rest of the trip was relatively calm.

On the second day, we went on a huge walk practically across the peninsula – up and down dirt roads to the tip, where a lighthouse was.

COVID protocols were pretty limited, which is a relief, and there wasn’t a huge amount of people around as well, which is the way I prefer it.

Late Outbreak

We’ve been hearing about the SARS-CoV2 virus (coronavirus) for months now, but only stories out of China – not until early February did anything really substantial get shared about how much of a toll it had taken on the city of Wuhan – but it went global very quick. Not SARS global, but Disney global. Restaurants across Canada are shut down, businesses are operating on skeleton crews – I am the only person working in my office right now, everyone else is working from home.

Amy and I have also been doing InstaCart – initially to help pay bills, now evolved into a means of helping people who are basically isolated in their homes at this time. I sincerely hope we don’t catch this – most of what I’ve read about young people is that it tends not to affect them very heavily, but I also hear contradictory news on this.

One silver lining of all of this is that we have been eating out less and getting more activity, which we both very much need. Because of how important Amy’s job is, she has also got a temporary raise, and is working more hours.

I also have a Punky on my lap, which is always a good bonus.

Early Spring?

The various groundhogs have spoken, and I think they’re saying an early spring is on the way. I’m sure they’ll be more accurate than the average weatherpeep.

Wedding plans have been progressing – we are more or less completely committed to Shell Madden as officiant after meeting her at Denny’s in Napanee this past Saturday, and we’ve mostly confirmed the best man situation with my classic bestie Jason taking the role. Just have to finalize the contract with River Mill at this point.

Amy has been pretty solid from a tracking standpoint lately, which I am extra proud of her for. For years, she has fought this important activity, expending effort and energy to avoid facing reality, but this form of accountability has been embraced, and even seems to be working for her, with two full weeks of decent losses at TOPS.

I’ve also been casually lifting weights – kind of lame maybe, but yesterday I did 40 reps of 10 pound weights in each hand, both directly up and to the sides. Obviously I have no idea what I’m doing and am describing it oddly, but I’m hoping to see some benefit.

It’s almost my birthday as well – won’t be much of a deal, it’s in the middle of the week and we have no real birthday plans, but milestones can be fun. Amy is off on Saturday, so we’ll see what we get up to – thinking another trip to Kingston for the second weekend in a row – we will see.

Adventures in O-Town

This weekend, Amy and I went on a trip to Ottawa to see the Senators take on the Canadiens – it was all sorts of different adventures wrapped into one 36-ish hour period.

  1. Drove up in a pretty dismal rain storm in unseasonably warm, spring-like temperatures
  2. Visited the National War Museum and attended all of the exhibitions, which worked out to over four hours of walking around, and lots of learning – it is a surprisingly balanced place, giving a good amount of space to the peace movement and the dark aspects of war that we sometimes forget
  3. Had a donair for the first time in quite a while – why is it hard to find donairs in Ontario?
  4. Watched the Senators and Canadiens phone it in, with Montreal finally putting the Sens out of their misery in overtime. The Montreal fans should have been on the ice, their energy and enthusiasm was jaw dropping and really won the game
  5. Got to see Men Without Hats live, for what that was worth
  6. Experienced Uber for the first and second time, and was blown away at how easy and comfortable it was
  7. Stayed at the Best Western GLo, a nifty little hotel off of the 417, and came back to extra surprises from the people who helped provide this weekend
  8. Woke up to snow-and-ice-pocalypse, which basically turned most of Ottawa into a frozen nightmare
  9. Had to drive home in said nightmare – though it mercifully got much better progressively as we moved west on Highway 7

We announced the date

It’s Christmas eve and I barely got any sleep last night – doubt it’s excitement, just random nerves for the next few days. Being away from Brock and the kitties is hard for me. Visiting my sister and family will be good though, and we’ll get to share more goodness.

We had Christmas with the Dafoes this past weekend and invited them to our wedding on August 1 – there was definitely some excitement shared about this, which I suppose shouldn’t have been shocking to me. We’re going to share with the rest of my immediate family tomorrow and let the floodgates open.

Nevertheless, Merry Christmas to all who read this, likely just Amy, but still. Have some healthy cookies!

It’s almost Christmas, how did that happen?

The year has zoomed by, and we’re about to have a bit of time off for Christmas, with lots of upcoming dinners and weekends and whatnot.

Last weekend we went to a little restaurant in Bewdley on a whim that was pretty nifty – good food and reasonable service – the French Canadian server was a little lost from time to time and it took a while for a nearly empty place, but the food made up for it – when a place nails the basics, I think it’s good – and I usually start at a little diner place like that with a burger to see what they do with such a basic item. It didn’t taste like it was frozen, Amy’s fish and chips were mostly stellar and the place was clean, and the view was pretty decent – is probably astonishing in the summer, as the view is right out onto Rice Lake.

This weekend will be a quiet one I hope – Amy does have Saturday off, but I think we have some plans to complete. Next weekend is visiting the Dafoe household for an early Christmas, and the weekend after, the Dunn/Deslauriers place for a weekend trip. Leaving Brock and the kittens in the care of another is very hard for me, even if I know the person is a good one.

Remembering our neighbour Linda Duff, 1948 – 2019

Our next door neighbour since we moved in passed away on Remembrance Day of all days. She was too young to go in my experience, but apparently she was sick for a very long time – since before she even moved into this building, long before Amy and I ever showed up.

As usual with people on the outskirts of my life, I didn’t know her nearly as much as I would have hoped, being the closed off peep I am. She was a good one though, very boisterous, loud, smiley and warm. Vern, her partner, was much more visible in our lives because he is able bodied and outgoing himself, and personally, I was happy to see him trying to be strong at the service today. I can’t imagine what he’s going though, but I suspect he’s had it happen more than once in his life.

The service itself was almost standing-room only, they had to track down extra chairs, and I think people were still standing in the back, and I loved hearing the stories of this exceptional person.

Kitty overload at the Toe Beans Cafe

Today we went on more epic laundry adventures than normal – we went all the way to Port Hope, with my actual destination being a local curiosity called Toe Beans Cafe where they have a great little “cat room” to socialize with some fuzzy felines. My favourite was most likely a resident Maine Coon named Princess Zelda who was a giant treat-hogging jerk who was also very cozy despite their evil tendencies.

This worked out in our schedule, because the laundromat we chose ended up being in the exact same plaza, and theoretically we could also get lunch and do grocery shopping in the same general area. Instead of all of that of course, we drove down the road to Cobourg and had Big Boy Burger, which was actually a bit much for our appetites, though it was very good. Next time we will share some food.

We also did a customary weekly Walmart trip for clothes and food and cheap CDs – it seems like they’ve refreshed their standard cheap bin and thrown in some more modern classics like Eminem’s Slim Shady LP and the Nirvana ICONS album, each for 5 bucks – no complaints from me.

Amy was busy prepping her food for her Beachbody program which she is going all in on. I have my reservations about the company itself, but she is seeming dedicated. As long as she can stay away from naughty eating out during the week I think it will work.

Toronto on the Train

Today we did a semi nostalgic trip, driving to Oshawa to intentionally board the Go Train – we actually haven’t done this since we bought our Hyundai Santa Fe many years ago. This trip was a rare journey to downtown TO with virtually no destination in mind.

Probably my favourite part of the trip was the actual train station in Oshawa itself – quietly busy on a dismal Saturday morning with lots of trains and no crowds. The train trip itself was good, though not having to drive makes me reflect and brood a little much.

Toronto itself was mostly a bust – the Eaton Centre on this day was a mess, the bathroom toilets were backing up, the lines were long and I’m not even sure if we went anywhere here. Isn’t the Eaton Centre the cool mall? Or is that Yorkdale? Maybe we need to revisit in the summer.

The homeless situation in Toronto is pretty terrifying – it’s always been scary, but people under comforters in the middle of the sidewalk, and throngs of people just tiptoeing around them. Seemingly mentally and physically ill people with nowhere to stay, some of them shouting loudly for attention or reasons, and being confronted by a hard on his luck fellow inside Pizza Iolo on Yonge street who was vocally upset that we wouldn’t help him. Not that we’re in the same situation, but realistically, we can’t afford to live in Toronto either.

The best part of the downtown experience was likely the Hockey Hall of Fame which we visited after mentioning it every time we’re in the area. It was fun in a curiosity-itching sort of way – I’m not the most ardent hockey fan, but I enjoy history and Hockey is cool, and passionate people have a rubbing-off effect that is infectious, so it was good. Amy got a keychain, as she likes to do, and I got a train ride home that I ruined with my trademarked brooding and oversharing and whatnot.