2020 In Review

 

With only hours left to go, I don't want to alarm anyone, but I think we may actually make it through this year!

It was a strange one, with more than a few downer moments, but it had some good times too.

January and February were a mix of sickness, work, and doctor's appointments (positive ones, though), with lunch at a new, local crepe place scheduled somewhere in the middle of everything. At the beginning of March, I attended the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders (CORD)' Rare Disease Day conference. 

If I had've known what was coming, I would've booked myself a room at the hotel during the conference and had a little getaway, because the following week, it happened!

Lockdown!

Yep. That week, COVID reached Ottawa and the city shut down for a month. Over the next thirty days, I got used to working in flannel pants, developed a taste for Tim Horton's iced coffee, and started re-reading every book I own. 

A month or so later and it was Mother's Day weekend, the moment I chose to brave the unknown and quickly venture back out into society, such as it was at the time.

A fairly accurate representation of me about to buy a Mother's Day card and a bottle of Pepsi.

The city entered into its next phase just in time for my birthday near the end of May. My favourite comic book shop opened back up and I could get out to downtown Ottawa again, albeit briefly and with restrictions. Still a giant relief!

While all this was going on in the outside world, inside I was writing a lot! I cranked out a load of blog posts from mid-March to June, did a few writing challenges, and came up with my own fiction-based challenge using Scriptwriting notes and characters I had created, later dubbed the Scooterverse. Very fun!

Over the summer, I participated in a lot on online events, including San Diego Comic-con's virtual convention. Restaurants opened up and I was able to fulfill a goal of walking a short distance from home to get lunch, as well as go out with my family to a pretty fancy dinner for my mother's 60th birthday.

More writing and reading, a gourmet burger or two, and just a hint of time at our cabin throughout the Fall.

And finally a nice, quiet holiday season here at home.

A lot of weirdness in 2020, but I can't really say I'm complaining. I just hope next year brings some of this "new normal" everyone's been talking about.

Cheers! 

Merry Christmas

 

Had to, sorry!

Wishing everyone an extra-safe, enjoyable, Merry Christmas.

Cheers!

Mammoths, Masks, and a Megaloceros Too!

 

Another bit of "normal" restored!

Along with The Works and The Comic Book Shoppe, I can now count The Canadian Museum of Nature among some of my favourite places I've been able to return to.

This weekend, my family and I went there to see their Planet Ice exhibit. The museum's been open since September, with safety measures in place, tickets sold online, and some reduced exhibits, but with the second COVID wave hitting around the beginning of Fall, I was hesitant to go. 

Since Planet Ice is ending the beginning of January, it was now or never, so I went online and booked a time and tickets for us to see everything. 

Masks on, hands scrubbed, and keeping the width of a moose's antlers away from others, and we were good to go.

Good advice!

With COVID limiting the interactiveness of some of the exhibits, the museum had set up a scavenger hunt where visitors could search for a bird hidden in each area. Pretty good idea!

First up, of course, were the dinosaurs.

After winding our way through the museum's floors, we made it to the top and to Planet Ice where, to make the exhibit fun and interactive, yet safe, we were each given a stylus to use at certain displays and activities. Great idea!

Planet Ice was split into three parts, the first being about the cold and ice itself. We all made our own virtual snowflakes and took a heat vision family photo.

Section 2 was all about the Ice Age, and was my absolute favourite part of the day. I don't think I've gotten so many photos in one place before!

Greeting people was that mammoth at the top of the post, followed an interactive display where you could wave your hands in front of a screen, "waving" snow away to expose mammoths.

There was a similar experience later on, but with an American lion.

I got a selfie (elkie??) with an Irish Elk (aka a Megaloceros).

Looked as ferocious as I could while wearing a mask and Fall jacket with a giant short-faced bear.

Photo of a prairie dog, because they're awesome and were one of the few things on display that haven't been dead for thousands of years.

I learned that I have roughly the same body as a Neanderthal (short, smallish limbs, barrel chest, and hairy)

And saw more really awesome extinct things

The third and final part of Planet Ice was about climate change, global warming, and environmentalism. 

On the way out, we stopped by the museum's gift shop, where I HAD to get myself a souvenir. 

Just look at him!

So glad I chose to go when I did, seeing as how the province of Ontario is going into a month-long lockdown (yay...). Can't wait for the next time.

Cheers!

Christmas Lists

 

I've read a couple prompts about doing this particular holiday-themed post so, here are my Top 5-style Christmas lists.

Top 5 Christmas Carols:

1. Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer 

2. Frosty the Snowman

3. Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer

4. Away In a Manger

5. Jingle Bells

Top 5 Christmas Songs (covers of classics and originals):

1. Fairytale of New York by The Pogues

2. Carol of the Bells by Trans Siberian Orchestra

3. The Night Santa Went Crazy by Weird Al Yankovic

4. Christmas Don't Be Late by The Chipmunks

5. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings by The Barenaked Ladies and Sarah McLachlan

Top 5 Christmas Movies:

1. Alf's Christmas (best ever, no contest!)

2. Mickey's Christmas Carol

3. Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer

4. A Muppet Family Christmas

5. How The Grinch Stole Christmas (Jim Carrey's version) 

  

Top 5 Memorable Christmas Presents:

1. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles sewer playset (I was six, and I still remember the excitement)

2. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The complete original series on DVD (I sense a theme here!)

3. Kobo eReader

4. Money from my parents and grandmother towards my first trip to Toronto for TCAF

5. A lynx (a few years ago, the whole family donated to World Wildlife and sponsored one animal for each of us. The lynx was my favourite from the list they had.)

Top 5 Favourite Christmas Treats:

1. My grandmother's ginger cookies

2. Chocolate almond bark

3. Hot chocolate

4. Piroulines

5. Pumpkin cheesecake

 Cheers!

Quickest. Appointment. Ever!

 

Yesterday, I had an eye appointment. Normally, those can take up to three hours, with my longest being close to four. 

The idea of sitting around a clinic with a mask for that long scared me a bit, but I was assured it wouldn't take long at all. And I trust the Ottawa Eye Institute.

I got there just prior to my appointment, and was seen almost immediately. I was taken to get an OCT test, photos of my eyes, which was a lot easier to do as they had me standing for it, rather than sitting on a stool that had a habit of wheeling away from the machine.

After that, I was taken for an ultrasound of my eye, which is exactly what it sounds like. The technician had me lean back in a seat, froze my eye with some drops, then moved an ultrasound wand, with gel, around my eye. It was weird, but painless.

Then I was done. All that in half an hour!

Cheers.

Plague on the Brain

 

Has this happened to anyone else?

I just noticed a weird trend with the types of entertainment I've been consuming over the past nine months. Unconsciously, or subconsciously, I've been gravitating towards apocalypse, especially plague-related, media. I've re-read The Stand by Steven King and watched the 90's TV movie based on it. I've read Edgar Allan Poe's Masque of the Red Death. Of course, I've been watching The Walking Dead. Even my preferred non-fiction picks lately have followed this trend, watching a documentary series over Halloween about plagues and ancient medicine. 

Fun, but pretty weird.

Cheers!

Losing A Few

 

Last Spring, I had a couple doctor's appointments where I was instructed to lose some weight, for good reason. At that time, I was about 195 lbs., was having trouble breathing, could hardly get my shoes on without sweating and, according to some blood work, was likely on the verge of having other, more serious health issues.

Just prior to Christmas, my family doctor arranged for me to speak with a dietician. My first meeting was via phone call in March. She set me up with a weight loss goal (about 20 to 30 pounds, at least) and gave me some tips for healthier eating. 

Since then, I've been exercising, going for a walk when it was nice out, using the treadmill in lousy weather. 

As of my last weigh-in two days ago, I'm at around 170 lbs. There've been periods of serious laziness, but that 170 has been a pretty consistent average for a while now.

It's a challenge, and I can stand to lose more, but I'll get there eventually.

Cheers!