Category: Feel Good Story

A Review: The Batman (Mild Spoilers)

I grew up in what on might call a “comic book-rich environment…” Alright, alright, I’m a self-professed nerd and freaking proud of it! I dabbled in a little bit of everything, including DC and Marvel as well as many of the more obscure, unknown comic labels. Despite this affinity to the drawn stories, I was always more of a Superman guy than a Batman guy. Maybe it was because I’ve always dreamed of flight as my preferred superpower. But I digress…

The 1980’s were a pretty big decade for me, having reached my teens and fully grasping the concept of the superhero genre. It also came with 1989’s “Batman,” which starred Michael Keaton as the titular hero. Considering some of the other movies I’d seen him in (not least of which was Beetlejuice) I didn’t think the movie would be much good. Although it won’t be a popular opinion, I never cared for the goofy, off-beat Adam West version of Batman. But i was proven wrong as Keaton not only did a good job and reprised the role in a sequel.

The next couple of movies weren’t really worth their salt, including bat-nipples and over-the-top neon lights and glowing weaponry and shit. It didn’t really fit with the comic-based concept of the Dark Knight. Then 2005 came along and saw Christian Bale stepping into the cape and cowl. I LOVED the background story angle and the flexibility and realism behind this version of the hero and through that Bale did a phenomenal job in all three movies, even though many diehard coming fans would disagree.

When Ben Affleck came along next to take up the role, I believe the first words out of my m ouch were “what the fucking fuck???” This wasn’t a romcom or something out of the “view askew-iverse…“ This was the fucking Batman! I simply couldn’t wrap my head around the concept of this guy becoming a superhero. but he did it. And damn, he did it well.

Based on my reaction to Ben Affleck, I’m sure you can only imagine what my reaction to the actor chosen for this year’s “The Batman.” Now don’t get me wrong; I enjoyed the Twilight movies (And I say that without the presence of my wife forcing me to. They were great movies and I enjoyed the overall storyline). But when I heard a few years ago that they had chosen Robert Pattinson to play Batman, I could imagine hearing the sound of every brick in heaving, shitting itself at once.

Are you kidding me? Some skinny, emo-looking goofball with far too much hair is supposed to play a fearsome, muscled hero who uses fear as a weapon? When all people can think about when they look at him is how pretty he sparkles when he steps out into the sun? I was saddened and disappointed and actually had no intentions of seeing the movie. Then, the trailer came out…

Without providing spoilers on the movie, the trailer I saw involved a gang beating on an innocent civilian and they stop as they hear footsteps coming from the dark. Then, Batman walks out and proceeds to beat the living shit out of the entire gang. It was epic. It was amazing. AND, it was realistic. The Bat took some hits as opposed to being this all-destructive force that couldn’t be touched. Much the same style as how Superman took hits in the Man of Steel, Pattinson was now on my radar.

My wife and I don’t make a point of going to the movies much. It isn’t because we don’t enjoy movies, per se. rather, it’s because the cost versus reward just ins’t worth NOT waiting for it to come to one of our streaming services. But last weekend we both decided that the Batman was a movie we’d both enjoy seeing in the theatres, so we hired a babysitter and made our way out into the world to see this movie, which sat at just under three hours.

Again, without giving away TOO much, the movie started off with the storyline right off the hop. No origin story, no flashbacks. This is a big deal for fans who are exhausted at the concept of seeing Bruce Wayne’s parents get shot in an alley in EVERY BATMAN MOVIE. The parents’ death is occasionally reference but is never shown. The action is realistic in the sense that the hero isn’t using an array of unrealistic and advanced weaponry that has somehow never been thought of by others. There’s also a more realistic tinge to this film as Batman butts heads with local law enforcement, despite befriending Jim Gordon, whom he’s connected with in every comic and movie.

I don’t want to give away too much, despite having warned of some spoilers. It’s always more fun to see the movie for oneself and enjoy seeing it without knowing what’s coming. But if you’re looking for action, solid storyline and realism, the Batman was definitely worth the watch. And don’t bother sitting around for extra after-credit scenes; there was one, but it was nothing pertinent. Better to look it up online than sit through the credits. Enjoy!☯️

Happy St. Paddy’s

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!In all honesty, I don’t believe I have Irish roots but one really never knows. My father was adopted and it’s thought that our background through his adoptive family included some Scottish and British. My father has been VERY red-headed throughout his entire life, as was I until about five or six years’ old when my hair darkened closer to my mother’s, so who knows? Without wanting to be stereotypical with the redhead thing, people get surprised by their ancestry. But I digress…

Saint Patrick’s Day is an Irish holiday (obviously) held on March 17th that was originally observed to celebrate Saint Patrick, one of the foremost patron saints of Ireland, and the introduction of Christianity in Ireland, In recent times, the day is observed as a way of celebrating the Irish culture in general and usually sees people enjoying parties, festivals, parades and especially the wearing of green clothing. And for anyone who has better information on this holiday, please feel free to hit me up in my Contact Me link and educate me. I’m basically going on what I was told during my childhood and some snippets I’ve read online.

Here in Canada, we have one of the longest-running yearly festival for St. Patrick’s Day on Montreal. My home Province of New Brunswick also sees St. Patrick’s Day as a way of celebrating for an entire week. one can usually see a host of fun activities such as drinking green beer and enjoying traditional Irish meals. As you can see from the photo above, I’ve opted to observe by wearing a green tie to work. That’s about as far as my observance goes since my partying days are long behind me (and because they never existed).

Here’s to St. Patrick’s Day! If you’re out and about today and observing the holiday through some “colourful” celebrations, be safe, be reasonable and make certain you get home in one piece. ☘️

Silver Linings For My Dark Clouds…

Despite all the sad, morbid topics I’ve covered in recent days, last week was that time again; I had a scheduled appointment with my endocrinologist. It seemed like September wasn’t that long ago but here we are, six months later! You may recall my post from a couple of weeks ago complaining about the wait times at blood labs and such… This appointment is the result of that blood work.

Visiting my endocrinologist is usually a mixed bag for me. Although eternally grateful for introducing me to the concept of carb counting and getting me on an insulin pump, my doctor is also the one who provides the results and discusses concerns surrounding all things Diabetic. So I never quite know what I might be in for.

One big issue is the uploading of my pump. The doctor’s office requires the uploading of my insulin pump into a database that they can access. Even though this should be a pretty straightforward thing to do, I almost always seem to have issues when I try. So this time, I got smart and uploaded the pump a week prior to my appointment in the event I had issues I had to work through. I was going to upload again the night before until I realized I had foolishly left my link meter at my office, which I required in order to tether the pump to my computer.

I figured, no harm, no fouls, right? Wrong. I was quickly told to surrender my pump so that the admin could upload the last week of readings. I found this a bit tedious since they already had six months of readings. How much of a difference could the past seven days make? Que sera, I was on their time so I turned it over. Maybe I’m just bitter because she also weighed me and announced I had gained two pounds. But I digress…

The past six months have been a bit rough for me, with losing out on one karate school, which messed up my fitness routine, to losing coverage for CGM, which messed up my blood sugar routine, to starting a new karate school, which messed up my fitness routine to getting back on CGM, which will hopefully fix many of my readings… See where I’m goin’ with this? Basically, i knew my blood sugars would be all over the place with some rather significant highs to explain.

When my doctor walked in, we discussed all these issues and he indicated it explained a lot in terms of what my readings showed. He was glad I was taking steps to fix things but he also made a point of saying that despite some of the high readings, I managed to hold my A1C at a reasonable level of 7.3, which is down from a higher reading back in September. I was pleasantly surprised.

He added some further sweetness to a not-so-bitter pill by showing me how my renal function was back to normal, blood pressure was normal, blood circulation and neurological systems were good and I apparently still have the heart of a horse (and no, I don’t mean enlarged, wise ass!). The only caveat to all the good news is that my potassium, of all things, appears to be slightly higher than normal, which will be fixed with a temporary water pill and some changes to my overall diet. I can live with that.

By the time we had reached the end of my appointment, my doctor once again called me one of his most boring patients, since I presented no challenge. He further went on to explain that if I continued on the path I was walking in terms of maintaining Diabetes control, when the time came that died, I would be one of his only patients to die WITH Diabetes instead of dying BECAUSE of Diabetes. I may just get that tattooed on my lower back…

Did I mention that my cholesterol is also down by a full point? I’m sure there’s more but I was basically gushing from the positivity so much that I think I missed some of it. In a current world where there’s so much wrong and suffering, it was nice to have some positivity for a change. AND it justifies all the hard work I put in, maintaining my blood sugars and my fitness. This is something we can all do. One your organs fail or you’re on death’s bed, it’s too late. Better to start improving now so you can appreciate the results later. Food for thought…☯️

Modern Day Amenities…

Nathan often watches me as I work on my social media platforms. he’ll usually watch cartoons on his device while he does, especially since watching me write does nothing for him. But while doing some work on my YouTube channel (FYI, I have a YouTube channel, “The Blogging Buddhist.” GO SUBSCRIBE!!!), I usually take the time to watch a video or two afterward. You would think that my preference would be martial arts or fighting videos. And in truth, I DO watch some of those. But i also indulge in a lot of SNL and MadTV clips. Mostly because I enjoy laughing at stupid stuff.

One of the things I do enjoy watching is a channel with creepy stories called “Mr. Ballen.” He’s an ex-marine who tells creepy stories on a variety of topics. I’ve also been watching a variety of scary stories from a few different channels. It’s particularly entertaining late at night when it’s gotten dark out or the wind is blowing. Anyway, Nathan has creeped around a bit and has listened to some of the scary stories. You’d think that a 7-year old would be creeped out by scary stories. Not this kid; he’s become obsessed with them. I know some would probably argue the point that he’s a bit young to be watching scary videos… Actually, there’s never anything shown but a forest background or dim-lit house. It’s an oral telling of a scary story; no different than reading a book.

Some good has come out of it, as well. He absolutely LOVES restoration videos. There’s a particular channel where the author buys rusted out antique toys or items, takes them apart and restores them to a new state. One of the last ones he watched a was a rusted, seized pocket watch. Watching the restoration process was fantastic. The amount of work and the steps involved in taking something old and turning it into something new, thereby proving that all things can still have use, if one is willing to work to make it happen, was wonderful to watch.

Although sitting one’s child in front of a screen is not the best way to occupy their time, I have to admit that it’s been a way for Nathan and I to share something specific. We shared a fascination with creepy stories as well as a love for restoration. There are worse ways for a father and son to spend an hour or two. Food for thought…☯️

International Woman’s Day

All the way back in 1910, a German socialist champion of women’s rights proposed that March 8th be set aside every year as International Women’s Day. It eventually became recognized as a globally observed holiday by the United Nations in the late 1970’s. Through the years I’ve had the pleasure and benefit of being surrounded by many strong, wonderful women. From my mother, who has spent her life caring for her family and children and still does, the women who have carried a badge to help protect the public, all the way to my lovely wife, whom we can all agree needs to be tough as nails in order to put with me after all these years. Here’s to all the women out there! ☯️

Just When I Was Starting To Remember…

Yesterday marked the lifting of all COVID-19 pandemic-related restrictions, here in Saskatchewan. It’s been an interesting run of things, considering that even after two years of wearing a mask, I still occasionally forget to slip one on. Last weekend, Nathan and I went shopping at Walmart and I agreed to get him a happy meal since the location had a McDonald’s. Ironically, he had just received his second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, so I agreed to reward him with a purchased lunch since I was going to make him sit through doing groceries.

We walked in and I had ordered his food and waited for it, for almost ten minutes. We got his happy meal and I loaded him into the cart so he could eat comfortably. It wasn’t until we walked into the store proper that I realized my face was bare! I was wondering why some people were giving me sideways glances. I had my mask on me, of course. I’m usually in the habit of getting as much fresh air in my lungs as I can before slipping on a mask. In this case, I must have simply forgotten.

The wearing of a mask has long been a debated restriction over the past two years. I write about it now because it was my most disliked. I hate wearing a face mask. I honestly don’t know how medical professionals do it. My hat’s off to them. Considering I’ve found myself having to train and do karate with a face mask, I’m well aware that once the skin gets a bit sweaty, that’s all she wrote! The mask basically sticks against my face like someone trying to choke me with a plastic bag. Not least of which is the fact that wearing a mask makes it difficult for me to wear my glasses. Anyone who wears glasses will totally understand the struggle. I know, I know… First world problems.

The thing is, a face mask will block some particles from spreading. This makes logical sense, since surgical staff wear them to prevent the spread of germs during medical procedures and surgeries. The logical part of my brain understands this. The “semi-logical” part of my brain suggests that it isn’t as overall effective as the professionals may think it is. When was the last time you walked past someone while wearing a face mask and were able to smell their cologne or perfume? Or caught a smell of a local restaurant wafting in your direction through the mask?

This would seem to suggest to me that particles are making their way into my nose, regardless of the mask. This wold SEEM to suggest that if COVID-19 particles are being blown in my direction, I could potentially be breathing them despite having a plate of cotton armour across my face. Doesn’t that make sense? On the flip side, smelling particles known as “odorants” and having active virus particles make their way into your body may be two different things. I don’t know, I’m not a doctor. This post is purely speculative and simply an example of me thinking out loud.

Some believe the lifting of COVID-19n restrictions is too early. Maybe it is. Some believe that we all need to collectively reopen the world and let nature take its course in order to move on with life. Perhaps we will. In the meantime, it will be nice when the impulse to slap on a mask has passed, although I must confess that it’s my intention to continue to carry one with me in my pocket for some time to come. The world isn’t done with this bullshit, yet. Food for thought…☯️

Family Day

Considering how poor my week seemed to be last week, this week is starting out quite nicely. I started by taking the second half of last Friday off, giving me the benefit of starting a long weekend a bit early. Last week felt as though even a full night’s rest wasn’t adequate to provide proper rest and it left me wondering if there was something medically wrong happening. I actually got next to no sleep through the Thursday night/Friday morning transition and woke up around 4 am, giving me time to do dishes and laundry before work but left me exhausted and craving sleep by lunchtime.

Fast-forward to my leaving work at noon. I was lucky enough that my two Friday afternoon meetings got cancelled, leaving my afternoon wide open. I spoke with my boss and he was amenable to my using a few leave hours to take the afternoon off. I ran up to my local retail outlet and picked up some necessities for the weekend. When I got home, my wife was basically as exhausted as I was, so we decided to be naughty and put the baby in his crib with a view of Netflix on an iPad to entertain him long enough for us to get a nap. I slept the sleep of the dead and woke up just before my oldest son got home from school. Guess I really did need the sleep.

Nathan and I.

My Friday night typically involves entertaining my oldest and spending the evening with him while my wife finishes working online. I sometimes feel that Nathan has felt the effect of having a second child introduced into the mix after four years of having me all to himself. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the cause of some of his behavioural he’s exhibited in the past two years. But we ordered pizza for the boys and Chinese food for the two of us and we all pigged out on take out food. Not a horrible way to start the night.

The weekend was a smooth couple of days of reading newly-purchased graphic novels, snacking and hanging out. The weather’s been a bit too cold for sledding and spending time outdoors, but whatevs. After watching the Paw Patrol Movie, binging Grey’s Anatomy and Squid games as well as writing and researching, I’d say it was a pretty sweet weekend. And this brings us to today, which happens to be a Monday.

Alex and I

Today happens to be a Provincial statutory holiday designated as “Family Day.” On the occasions where I’ve written about some of these so-called holidays, I’ve been able to provide some insight into how they originated and what started them. Of course, that’s usually for silly holidays like “Coffee Day” or “Donut Day.” But in this case, I wasn’t able to find much besides the fact that “Family Day” is a Provincially-based holiday observed on some given way, shape or form in new Brunswick, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and British Columbia.

The holiday is observed on the third Monday of February and has allowed me to have today as a day off. It’s quite nice. Nathan is off school as well and we’ll be spending the day trying to keep him occupied as he usually needs constant stimulation to get through the day. But the additional day off allows me some further rest and shortens the work week to come. Even when one loves their job as I do, it makes for an easier frame of mind.

Try to ignore my double chin…

I don’t think I can picture anything better than cuddling up with one of my boys while we watch a movie, play a game or wrestle on the floor. They both have their own individual personalities and can be challenging but they both provide love to their mom and dad in their own individual way. Do I know if this is how “Family Day” was envisioned? No, not really. But I wouldn’t have had it any other way. My oldest, Nathan, has the entire week off. It should make for an interesting dynamic throughout the week.

My crazy, goofy loin-fruit…

Now that the weekend is over, I’ll return to work tomorrow. Rested, spoiled and happy to do so. Life is pretty good, I can’t lie. Enjoying time with my children and my wife is fantastic. Even though I have all of today as a day off, I’m hoping that the work week will go smoothly. I guess time will tell. The big thing to wonder about is whether they’ll have karate class tonight. I haven’t asked about it but given that it’s a stat holiday for the Province, I guess I’ll have to find out the hard way of we have class or not. ☯️

A Little Trip Down Memory Lane…

Every once in a while, it’s nice to let one’s head cool a bit and reflect on something fun and awesome. I had the opportunity to do this a few days ago when I downloaded an album I found in iTunes. The album was Bon Jovi’s “Slippery When Wet,” and the fond memories those songs brought out of my subconscious were worth the low, low price I paid to buy the album. Believe it or not, I first heard of this album while watching a 1987 comedy flic called “SpaceBalls.” The movie featured one of the album’s songs in the first ten minutes of the movie and I was hooked. Let’s take a trip down this old man’s memory lane, shall we?

It was the early 1990’s. I had just sat down with my father on a quiet evening to watch a movie he had rented. That’s right, kids! Back then, you had to pay money to borrow a movie for the night like some sort of beggar. Scrolling through a streaming service wouldn’t be a thing for almost twenty years. I wasn’t much of one for comedy back then, but he assured me it had a science fiction vibe similar to Star Wars. I was reeled in. Although he wasn’t wrong, the shitty effects and poor story line had me yawning within the first few minutes. And then it happened: the scene showing the protagonist’s spaceship with his trusty sidekick rocking out to “Raise Your Hands” came into view. I couldn’t help but be immediately taken by the sound and solid riffs of the song.

I was already aware of Bon Jovi but since this pre-dated Google and the ability to immediately search things online, I had no idea what song I was hearing or even that it belonged to Bon Jovi. By the end of the movie, I had forgotten about the song and the feeling it elicited within me. But I would eventually come back to it. And no, before anyone asks, I wasn’t bright enough back then to watch the credits to the end where they display the songs and artists. And since I held my silence about how much I liked the song, I couldn’t even benefit from the fact that my father might have recognized it or suggested the credits thing. We do dumb shit as kids. What can I say?

In 1994, I purchased my first car. It was a 1986 Toyota Tercel hatchback, 3-speed manual. It was an absolute piece of shit car, but I had purchased it with my own money and honestly I only had two concerns: that it had air conditioning and a tape deck. The car’s body could have been covered in polk dots for all I cared, provided those two items were present. CD decks wouldn’t be a common thing for another couple of years at that point and most retail location still carried a healthy library of tapes and newly released albums.

So in those first few weeks of vehicular freedom, I made my way to my local retailer and decided to pick out a couple of tapes to play in the car. I remember feeling a sense of freedom and it was one of the first times I was able to feel as though I was starting to step into a more mature level of pre-adulthood. This excitement was mildly offset by the anxiety at trying to purchase something I knew was “in” and “cool,” so that any of my counterparts at school that heard the music coming from my car would approve. Such is teenage life, right?

That’s where I landed on two cassette tapes. the first one was AC/DC’s “The Razor’s Edge.” this was because I was absolutely enamoured with “Thunderstruck” (and still am) after watching a local martial artist perform a nunchuck demonstration to the song. The second was Bon Jovi’s “Slippery When Wet,” because “You Give Love A Bad Name” was on one of my father’s medley tapes and “Livin’ On A Prayer” played at most of the few school dances I attended. It was enough to earn my stamp of approval and I bought both tapes.

It wasn’t until I played the entire first side of the tape and flipped to “Side B” that I was taken aback at hearing “Raise Your Hands” for the first time since watching SpaceBalls with my father. I was overjoyed at the discovery and pretty much kept playing the song on repeat until I finally wore out the tape, which sucked. Yes, folks! These were the first-world problems of the time. When CD’s became a common thing a short while later, I purchase an adapter to play CD’s through my tape deck and purchased a CD copy of Slippery When Wet.

Why am I writing about this? Well, besides the obvious fact that this is my blog and I can write about whatever the hell I want, I recently had the chance to rewatch SpaceBalls through one of my streaming services. I honestly can’t remember which one and it doesn’t matter. The point is that the days of CD’s and tapes are long dead and gone but my taste in music hasn’t significantly changed. So I immediately Shazamed the shit out that song and downloaded the album. For the first time in over twenty years, I am once again the proud owner of “Slippery When Wet.”

I’ve had the pleasure in recent days of reliving all the teen nostalgia, the campiness of “Social Disease,” the cool story behind “Wanted Dead or Alive” and the raw, emotional richness of “Without Love” and “Never Say Goodbye.” I have a lot of good memories of that music, playing like the soundtrack through my formative years along with Van Halen, April Wine and the Eagles. Some of the memories are great, some are bittersweet and some are a touch on the inappropriate side that I would likely be better off not sharing here.

Memories are particular, because people usually treat them in any one of two extremes. Either they live within their memories, which isn’t a good thing. The only way to move in life is forward. Or they completely forget about the things of the past, which is also not good. Rather, the way to live in a healthy manner is to treat these memories as a lesson to guide you through life and something to aspire to. Good memories serve to show us that not all steps in life will always be mistakes. And the good feelings and good times attached to those memories show us that there is good in life and we can aspire to enjoy it. Food for thought…☯️

Happy Valentine’s Day

Last year I wrote a long-winded post (as if I ever write them otherwise) about the background and history of Valentine’s Day and how it’s typically celebrated. Rather than go through that all over again, I thought I would keep things fresh by writing about how WE celebrated our Valentine’s Day, which was done on Saturday. We made this choice due to a combination of needing a babysitter to watch the boys and the fact that our normal, everyday grind would kick back in on Monday and it would be more difficult to have an enjoyable evening.

Our evening started when the babysitter arrived. We’re blessed in that we have a very trustworthy and responsible young woman who lives across the street. She’s been babysitting for us since we moved here in 2016 and Nathan adores her. We’re lucky in that Alexander has also taken to her. An evening out always goes better when a parent knows their children are in good, trusted hands. We locked the door on our way out and tasted the freedom as we embarked on our evening together.

Laura’s dish, which looked as good as it tasted!

We went to dinner at a local restaurant called the Copper Kettle. Featuring a short menu of items that lean on the greek side, my wife ordered a combination of meat and veggies in a spiced sauce with lemon-seasoned potato wedges. I ordered a Bonanza burger with a side of fries because, well… this is me and I need to sample burgers from every restaurant I go to. I should really branch out at some point and experience other meals. But for now, burgers all the way!

We enjoyed our meal in relative quiet with some fun conversation where we discussed plans to do some things with our boys, travel aspirations and goals we’d like to accomplish in life. our food came soon enough and we enjoyed it thoroughly. In fact, my wife, who usually only eats half of her meal and brings the rest home for leftovers, managed to finish her plate off. We asked about dessert but realistically, we both had enough difficulty breathing from a full stomach that we passed.

My burger, which was delicious.

Once we had finished our meal, we had plans to go wander the local bookstore at our leisure then hit up the bulk store for some treats to curl up in front of the television. unfortunately for us, the book store was closing less than half an hour after we got to the restaurant and the bulk store closed at 7pm. Seems kind of ridiculous for a Saturday night. You’d think those business would be open a bit later on the weekends to get all the folks who work during the week, right? But I digress…

We topped our outing with a stop at our local retail chain where my wife let me pick out a fun box of hair dye for her to try and we looked at various items around the store. Not exactly hitting the clubs and painting the town red but we know what we like. We went home and relieved the babysitter, who reported no issues with the boys and went on her way. I usually don’t believe her; Nathan is typically a rolling ball of noise and Alexander is a rolling ball of destruction. I see no reason why they’d be different around the babysitter. But maybe they are. Who know?

Laura’s watch

Once we were home and had the boys squared away in bed, we poured some drinks and sat in our living room to binge-watch some Grey’s Anatomy. We got through an episode when I realized I hadn’t given Laura her Valentine’s Day gift. She insisted she could wait until Monday but my plan was to give it to her when we went out to dinner. Unfortunately, the box was large and square enough that I wouldn’t have been able to conceal it anywhere. So, she got it on Saturday night. I got her a Bulova watch. I’m a big fan of Bulova; they’re excellent watches that last for YEARS.

It was an excellent evening, with excellent company. I couldn’t have asked for better. Hopefully, all of you have the opportunity to enjoy your Valentine’s Day. And should you find yourself alone, just remember: some self-pampering and enjoyment can be a great way to spend the day. ☯️

If Only I Could Bottle That Stuff…

Kids provide an incredible insight to where we’ve BEEN, recognizing the youth and energy of life that we gradually lose as the weight and responsibility of adulthood begins to bear down on one’s shoulders. That may seem like a bit of a morose perspective, but an accurate one. Time creeps up on us all, and very few of us have watched a children at play without acknowledging that we wish we still had their level of energy, enthusiasm and flexibility. Personally, I tend to feel a tinge of jealousy at how my son Nathan is viewing and experiencing most things in his life for the first time.

Yesterday morning was atypical for me, considering my pump had only interrupted me once during the night and I was able to ACTUALLY sleep until almost 9 a.m. What was more typical was Nathan’s behaviour. As soon as my eyes opened, he was at the bedroom door asking me how my sleep was. If I didn’t know better, I’d almost think he was sitting outside the door waiting for me to wake up. I responded that it had been decent and he immediately started into a tirade of verbal diarrhea, most of which I didn’t understand. Since the baby’s room was right next to ours, I warned him about waking him and shooed him off.

I was barely able make my way out of bed and to the kitchen to grab some caffeine before Nathan was excitedly asking me if he could wear a particular shirt. I sleepily replied that it was fine, even though it was a short-sleeve shirt and we’re still in the depth of winter. He ran off and it took me a full minute to realize that it was first thing in the morning (relatively speaking) and he appeared to be getting dressed for the day. This isn’t typical for him, with a growing battle ensuing every time I try to get him dressed to go somewhere.

Then it struck me… We had a reasonable snowfall last night and our next door neighbour was kindly using his snowblower on our entire driveway. Nathan is usually a fan of being outside while snow is being cleared. After all, what kid doesn’t like to see a white jet of powdered snow being shot everywhere, right? Plus, our neighbour has a friendly dog, which appeals to any kid. He was dressed and out the door within minutes, which was more than I could say for myself. I made a quick shake of blueberries and spinach and alternated between that and my caffeine, trying to shake off the last vestiges of sleep. I wish I had his energy…

I’ve always had the belief that life brings movement, movement brings energy and energy brings life… Wash, rinse and repeat. But I would be lying if I said that eventually, one’s energy gets allocated to different things in life. It can be a shame, since the prospect of going outside and clearing snow weighs on me and frustrates me, while my son is fascinated and loves the aspect. It’s this difference in perspective that we lose as we get older and this also affects our energy. ☯️