Exercise Hard

 

2026 has sure been a year, full of events. 

Some of those have been painful and/or taxing, some sad, and a few have been pretty awesome. All of them though, have completely thrown me off the exercise routine I was trying to start back in the winter. I was doing some walking and workout videos for a little while after my arm healed, but surgery and summer set me back on my butt.

Lately, those around me have noticed drastic changes in my health, and not good ones. Being honest, I've noticed it too, specifically with my weight and overall sedentary behaviour. 

My annual doctors appointments will be coming up before I know it, and I really don't want to be unhealthy when those come around.

I've sat on it (literally) for weeks, but I'm taking the first steps today by printing off a calendar (first since April) to track anything I do, writing this very post to keep myself honest-ish and, for the first time since my surgery, issuing a challenge for myself: slowly get back on the treadmill (I got scared because of my wrist) and watch Season 2 of Buffy the Vampire Slayer by Halloween. Also, start cutting back the junk food again. Several weeks of "I'm downtown again, let's have all the iced coffees!" followed by a two-week vacation of indulging in Pepsi, seafood and ice cream is awesome at the time, but, well...

It'll be tough but, if I go slow and remember what I was doing back in January, I should be okay (maybe).

Cheers!

To Rant or Not to Rant

 

That IS the question!

Over the last week, and especially the past few days, I've really wanted to rant about the Canada/US situation.

As with other rants I've written, I tried to dance around it, make it as broad in scope as possible, and searched desperately for a positive spin. However, every approach I took sounded stupid and, to be honest, I didn't want to be positive or nice. 

But before I unloaded, I thought about work, as well as friends of mine in the States. A caustic diatribe about geopolitics wouldn't have looked good coming from a government employee, and might have soured a friendship or two. Not worth the trouble.

Instead, I put all my vicious opinions in a Word document (which I usually do anyway), deleted that, and shared this post from two years ago.

Cheers!

Summer 2026 part 2: PEI island time

 

Continuing on...

After Nova Scotia, we made it to our Airbnb rental in PEI. Great place! Buggy, but nice views, pretty central, and very comfortable. 

For our first dinner, we went to Malpeque Oyster Barn. My first time, and it was delicious!

The following late morning and early afternoon were spent at a really nice, accessible, shallow beach, where I came away with the mother of all sunburns. Later we prepared our own delicious seafood feast for supper.

The next day, we toured and shopped. First stop, my mother got a special tour of her favourite Island Pottery, then on to PEI Island Preserves for jams and sauces. In Charlottetown, I went a little nuts at COWS Creamery. I came away with two shirts (Macho Man Randy Savage and Avengers: Doomsday. Couldn't decide, got both!), another carton of chocolate-covered potato chips (having already bought one in Halifax the week before), and finished with two big scoops of ice cream.

Wowie Cowie, AFTER the scoop of Moo York Cheesecake

 For our final day on the island, I spent the morning relaxing/recovering while the rest of the family went back to the beach. Later, we went out for one last feed of seafood, did some touring around, and enjoyed a night in.

We stayed over in New Brunswick the following night, and met a friend of my Mom's for pizza. 

A long drive, then we were finally home.

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Having been on my own for most of three previous summers, a family vacation felt very weird at times, being honest. 

On the other hand, the past four months have been a gauntlet and a half, so the socializing and relaxation were very welcome!

Back to the old "routine" next week...

Cheers!

Summer 2026 part 1: Nova Scotia family time

 Decompressing after my first real family vacation in quite some time.

Because of either work, appointments, or my own need for independence, I've spent the past three summers on my own in Ottawa while my parents and sister went to the Maritimes. This time we were burying my grandmother, so going was a necessity.

We left ungodly early on a Friday morning and made it to Dartmouth, Nova Scotia later the following day. My sister and I each got our own hotel rooms, so while those were being readied, went went down to Eastern Passage for some lobster sandwiches, donair bites (something new and delicious my sister introduced me to!), and I found a couple used books.

Later, my mother's cousins and members of their family, who were down for my Nanny's burial, arrived and we showed them around a little. 

I hadn't seen any of them in a good 25 years, so it was really nice.

On my own, I absolutely reveled in having my own hotel room for the better part of a week! 

Writing vibes!

 The service for my grandmother was immediately after the weekend. What was originally planned as an intimate burial with family and a few friends turned into a very respectful funeral attended by many including my cousin, my Nanny's home care attendant who helped her until she went into long-term care, and members of my grandmother's family who I had never even met before!

After a sermon from the minister and a very nice speech from my father, we went outside. Instead of flowers, the family had made a last minute choice to surround my Nanny with dulse (dried seaweed, and one of her favourite snacks).

When everything was done, the family went for dinner at Dianne's, a small Port Greville restaurant with amazing fried clams and scallops.

Over the following days, we took my Mom's family over to Halifax for more touring before the left the next day, went and visited my Grampy MacLellan and Uncle Sean, celebrated my mother's birthday, and I enjoyed one final night of Star Trek and junk food in my room.

After all that, we headed to PEI (See next post).

Cheers

Award of Excellence (plus a bit of surgery)

 

Last week was a whirlwind, to put it mildly!

To begin with, the Friday before last, I was notified of a date of June 11 for surgery to replace the tubes in my ears. I'd been waiting for this for a year so, despite the very short notice, I took it. But that meant dealing with a flurry of last minute calls, meetings, and appointments. And a lot of driving, in the case of my Dad!

After a few days of hearing tests, pre-ops, and putting in a week's worth of work in roughly one day, Thursday was surgery day. A few minor complications with my oxygen levels, but everything went pretty well!

But wait! If you think surgery was the highlight of my week, you'd be wrong...

Amidst all that aforementioned craziness, something pretty awesome happened.

A couple months ago, I was notified by my job coach that LiveWorkPlay was in the process of putting my name up for consideration for an award. They went to several coworkers from CanNor and got more good info than they actually needed. Roughly a month passed, and I was told that I'd won! Aside from my family, I had to keep it a secret until the official announcement.

That official announcement came last Wednesday evening during an awards dinner which was part of the 31st annual conference for the Canadian Association for Supportive Employment (CASE), where I was set to accept the Philip Emerson Award for Employment Excellence, an award that "recognizes an outstanding individual that has made significant contributions to the promotion of full citizenship and personal capacity through employment and innovation within the workplace in Canada."

My parents and sister were with me, of course. Also in attendance were my job coach and several other members of LiveWorkPlay. 

I'll be honest and admit that the scope and significance of the award didn't hit me until the moment it was being announced. Presenting it to me was Philip Emerson himself (really good guy), whose intro touched on my time with LiveWorkPlay, starting at CanNor and eventually moving to Communications, and my work with CanNor's Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) committee. 

I walked to the stage, past a standing and cheering crowd, graciously accepted the award, and gave a small impromptu speech, thanking everyone and emphasizing the independence and joy the job at CanNor has given me!

After my award, and listening to an amazing speech by one of CASE's founders, we were directed to the lobby for photos. 

It was a heck of a night, one that I still can barely fathom nearly a week later! 

I remember a moment a couple days before the ceremony where I actually wondered aloud "Why?" and "What's the point?" But a day or two after, a friend whose family I've known for quite a while now, posted on Facebook about her teenage daughter, who has Joubert syndrome like me, getting her first job at a Lego mini-figure store with the help of a group like LiveWorkPlay. Put things right into perspective!

Infinitely big thank-you's to my family, coworkers, and all the folks at LiveWorkPlay and CASE for making this possible.

Cheers!

Of Heroes and Hosers

 

Heromachine 3, much like the use of my right hand, has been revived! So guess what I've been doing aside from work and wrist exercises lately??

Version 2.5 is really good, but some of my characters just look soo much cooler in the updated hero creator. 

Take, for example, a Canadian super team I came up with recently. Dubbed The Great White Watch (thanks to ChatGPT), the team consists of heroes ranging from an Acadian-inspired warrior woman from Nova Scotia, to a hockey goon (literally named Goon) with strength-enhancing gear (pictured in red and blue), to a humanoid water panther deity. The team already has an origin, several villains, and event too!

I get a good distraction from work and health-related things, and the Scooterverse continues to grow!

Cheers!

A pre-Summer Challenge - Monsters Maintaining Mental health

 

Recent positive test results and doctor's appointments have shown me that my monthly exercise/DVD watching/reading challenges are doing something right.

After a year of waiting, I finally have surgery to replace the tubes in my ears scheduled for later this week. Preceding that will be a few days of short notice pre-op chaos and another special non-medical event which I'll write about later. In the weeks following my surgery, I've got a few other appointments scheduled.

For the month of June, and maybe a little into July, my challenge is a fairly small one: make it through the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and finish The Demon King, the most recent (and also last, I think) book in Peter Brett's Nightfall saga and overall Demon Cycle universe.

Given the appointments, surgery, then more appointments, this challenge is less about exercise, and more of a mental health break.

Cheers!