Ahoy-hoy! How are you all doing today? Are you watching the Olympics? Because we are. All the time. The Bard Family household is 24/7 Olympics every two years, and I love it. I don't care if I don't know the sport. I learn how Judo works every four years, and Mom and I found out how to play rugby this year, and we talk about the diving like we are experts. We hand off information to each other like we're reporters taking shifts, updating on what happened while someone wasn't watching. When we don't have athletes playing, CBC will show a random event, which is how I found myself watching the table tennis final for the men the other day, and the commentators were so entertaining. There was an American and a Brit and the American one loves table tennis more than any other commentator I have heard loves their sport. You would have thought they held the Olympics solely for table tennis, that everyone in the world was on the edge of their seats waiting for this match, that all that mattered in the world was table tennis. And the Brit was a very calm, interested fellow who was not quite so enthusiastic, but treated it like we were watching a high drama soap opera. It was great. The American one was even excited when the Sweat Squad came out to clean off the table. You go, American Table Tennis guy, you live your Table Tennis life.
It's a good thing we have the Olympics to distract us, because man, have we had a series of unfortunate events around here for the last couple of weeks. It started with a seven-hour blackout during a huge storm, where we didn't have power from 9 PM to 4 AM, and which is inconvenient for my father and me who need CPAP machines to sleep and those need power. Then I broke my toe, or at least sprained it badly, by stubbing it on the dog gate. I let out a scream I have never before screamed. If it is broken, it's not out of alignment, so there's nothing to be done by going to the hospital, according to Nurse Mum. It's very, very bruised, but it doesn't hurt unless I'm wearing shoes. We then found out our much-beloved massage therapist is moving to literally the other side of the country, my dad almost got scammed by a fake tech support person (no damage done, just stressfu), and the new mattress my parents are waiting on didn't come on the truck, so they aren't getting it this weekend as planned. But, at least there's the Olympics.
Other--good--things are happening, too, though. I have Pax's leash putting on licked; he'll do it no hesitation now. We went to see my brother and sister-in-law at the cottage and hung out with her father and his partner, and had a lovely time (we're all double vaxxed). And I'm learning to colour lineart on my iPad, and it's going super well and I'm loving it.
So, that's all. Hope you are well in this continously strange times.
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A few of the ornaments we kept from Spring, as they still fit the theme.
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We are all fully vaccinated now! Including my brother and his wife! I mean, we have to wait for it to be in full effect, but we are on our way to maximum immunity. I had a rough second day, as did Mum, and Dad went mental, but he always does when he has a fever. He stops making sense and gets highly concerned about the dog. It's both worrying and adorable to watch. Last night, he called for help because he couldn't get back into bed, and it turned out that he'd been using Mum's weighted blanket and was just, like, incapable of figuring out how to get back under it while he was on the outside of it. My mum asked he needed to take his pills and he told her they were 'in a file by my chair', by which he meant 'sitting on the dining room table in a row'. Which made sense to me, because that's how I get with a migraine and 'in a row' is 'single file'. Perfectly clear. He also did his Eeyore routine, of saying in his small said voice 'I'm sorry for being an inconvenience'. He seems to be doing better this morning, and it's still better than having COVID, but poor man.
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We were able to see my brother and his wife on Father's Day, with the COVID restrictions easing slightly! We did it outside and it was lovely, and my dad was so happy. They also have a new cat we hadn't met yet, who is so, so cute. They have an 11-year-old cat named Jack who is very aloof and anti-social, and now they have Larry who is about a year old now and came up to get pets as soon as he saw me. He's a riot. They have a cottage they're going to in July, and we're hoping to be able to visit them there around my mom's birthday.
It's nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel to get us out of the pandemic. They've opened up early second dose vaccine appointments, but, in the typical way the Ontario government likes to handle things, they just said 'it's open, sort it out yourselves', so it's a free for all, and so far it looks like my parents won't be getting their second doses any sooner than their already scheduled appointments. They had Moderna and that's in short supply, though they're now suggesting you can mix the two mRNA vaccines if necessary. I might be able to get mine sooner than my appointment, though, as I had Pfizer. Though apparently, that supply is going to get low, so they're considering giving Pfizer people Moderna now, and, c'mon, just make a plan, government! Anyway, hopefully by the end of summer things will be starting to look back to normal, and it's nice to have these baby steps.
Pax is throwing a hissy fit about putting his leash on again, and God I wish I knew what goes on in his little Scottie brain. It's like I'm torturing him to put it on him, and he gets so stressed and won't come near me. I don't know if it's the leash or the walk, or something else, but it's just frustrating for all involved. We've tried two different types of collar, two different harnesses, slip-leads, and they are all equally traumatizing to him. The slip lead seems the least horrifying, so we've gone right back to the beginning and training him over again. I invested in some treats he loved so much as a puppy we had to eventually stop using them because he became like a little addict, and I hope by making them 'special treats only for leash time', we might be able to convince him that it's not so bad. Yesterday went pretty well, so fingers crossed he won't figure out the plan and stop cooperating like he has all the other times we got a routine going.
In good news, I've been feeling pretty good lately. Stones are still kind of iffy, but I'm managing, and I'm sleeping well and in a good mood and have more energy. Though I have to induce a period after three months without one (screw you, PCOS!), and I think the lack of period might be why I've felt so good, lol.
Hope you are living the best lives you can right now!
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Another recipe from the Bard Family Vault which I'm putting down here for posterity.
Mom's Dip! Also known as Aunt Connie's Dip in the previous generation. Now known as 'Auntie [My Mom's Name]'s Dip' in the current one. It's the number one requested item when we're invited places.
Ingredients 1 bunch of Green Onions 1 TBSP Mayonnaise 1 TBSP Milk 1 TBSP White vinegar 1 TBSP (or equivalent) Sweetening agent (sugar, stevia, Splenda, etc.) 1 8 oz pk Cream Cheese (softened)
DIRECTIONS Chop onions into small pieces, set aside. Cream the rest of the ingredients together in a bowl until smooth and combined. Fold in onions to cream cheese mixture. Chill for 3-4 hours in the fridge. Enjoy with chips, crackers, vegetables, etc. Also good on toast!
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Hello, world! I speak to you as a wise woman of 35 years, and not the immature 34-year-old I was when last we corresponded. As of June 1st, my age is now a blue-yellow number in my synesthesiac mind and not a blue-raspberry colour, and honestly, that's the biggest change. I don't feel any different. My mom says she's going to be depressed when my brother turns 40 next year, though. :-)
We're still in lockdown here in Ontario, so no get-togethers, but I did have a nice day. My mom got me some strawberry plants since I kept eying strawberry seeds when we were out flower shopping earlier, and now I am tending them and they are very cute and growing little tiny, dopey-ass, deformed strawberries and I love them. I'm not growing them for anything other than entertainment; if they make edible goods, then yay, if not, I'll just have fun looking after them. My brother got his first dose of vaccine on my birthday, too, which is also a nice present. My sister-in-law was vaccinated on the 5th, and we're hoping by my mom's birthday in July, we might be able to get together outside to celebrate if laws allow. I think Ontario will start to open soon, but we're still getting a fair amount of cases per day on average, so we'll see.
I was fine after my vaccine, thankfully. A little fluey for a few hours, then a mild itchy throat over the weekend and really tired, but nothing horrifying. I'm generally a sensitive person and react to everything and figured I'd be hit hard, but it wasn't bad at all.
Stone-wise, things are okayish. Still passing a lot, but I'm managing well enough. I honestly don't know what makes them flare and I wish I did so I could replicate or eliminate what I'm doing. But it's a mystery.
In other news, I got an Apple Pencil with the money I got for sending in Issie for recycling, and am having fun playing around with it. I've been following drawing tutorials from the Drawfee crew on YouTube and, like, making not good drawings, but, you know, faces that look like faces and stuff, so that's nice. I had to be talked into making the purchase (my parents are far too encouraging of me!), but I'm glad I did. When you're chronically ill, you have to keep yourself occupied somehow. In the same vein, we're also making some summer ornaments for the Tree of All Seasons.
Hope everyone else is doing well!
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Got my first dose of the vaccine today! I managed to snatch an appointment by obsessively refreshing the page until one was available. Went very smoothly; I hope the side effects will be mild.
Yay!
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Hello all! I hope you are doing well. It's been kidney stone central here again, unfortunately. I passed a huge 5mm stone and then a bunch of littler stones have followed. Thankfully, the pain wasn't too awful, there was only one period of about three hours where I was in that 'I don't know what to do with myself' state. Otherwise it's been more 'this is very unpleasant, but I can distract myself from it' and 'man, I am FULL of adrenaline today! Whooo! Listen to that heart pound!'. Not sure what changed, if anything, but hopefully it's just a little flair. I suspect it may be due to missing massages for about a month because of a series of unfortunate events. It hasn't been pleasant and am I very tired and not sure it's over yet, but fingers crossed.
Pax is also having a rough go of it. We're not sure what happened, but we think something must have spooked him outside, because he's been really reluctant to go out and having accidents in the house, which is not like him. Once we got him trained, he never had a problem. But we've had to give him a day in the kitchen to settle down and go back to the basics of going out with him and encouraging him, since he's so nervous. He seems better now, though. Poor boy. He hates the rain and it's been raining almost every day for two weeks now, so that may be playing a part. When he goes out in the rain, he has to stop halfway to hide under the barbecue where it's dry to steel himself up. Which is both adorable and heart breaking.
In better news, I have been playing Lord of The Rings Online again and really enjoying it. I used to play it several years ago, but it wouldn't work on Issie, so I've installed it now that I have Flynn. It's likw World of Warcraft set in the world of LOTR and is a lot of fun. The community is, on the whole, pretty chill and kind, though you do see some nastiness here and there. For the most part, though, chat is always trying to help each other out and making jokes and discussing lore. So, that's been a lot of fun. I'm also getting my singing voice back in shape again. I had an awful chest virus a few years ago and couldn't sing without coughing for several months and the time lost there really messed with my breath support and head voice. But it's starting to finally come back, so that's nice.
Hope you all are doing well and if you are celebrating Mother's Day you have a nice one, in a manner safe for your current state of vaccination.
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My parents got their first dose of vaccine today! They were able to get into a clinic almost as soon as the notification was sent, though my mum said the appointment slots kept getting taken as she tried to book them. But yay! One layer of protection activated!
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Hello there! Happy Passover to those celebrating and happy almost Easter to those celebrating. I hope you will be doing so in a fashion most safe for your current state of vaccination and/or COVID caseload.
We're still really behind on vaccinations here. Despite the fact that my parents can now both be vaccinated, there is no vaccine to be given, and the one that they will likely get is the AstraZeneca one which no one can decide is safe or not, so yay. My dad is looking at late April for his first dose. I have to say, I think Canada did, like, okay on COVID. Not the best, not the worst. But the way they've handled vaccinations sucks. It's confusing and complicated and annoying.
/rant
We finished our Easter tree! Pic:
It's in our window, so I closed the curtain to get better lighting for it. I think it's cute, and it was super fun making everything.
I have my new glasses. They were a bitch to get used to, but they are helping. I've had way fewer headaches since I got them, though the first four days were so painful I was almost in tears. My eyes were so confused about what I wanted them to do. I usually have something similar with a new prescription, but this was worse than anything I'd had before. Switching between the two pairs isn't as hard as I thought it might be, though I still realize I'm in the wrong ones occasionally. I've made a glasses case to hang around my neck and carry whatever pair I'm not using.
Finally, here is a picture of Pax, being his smiling self:
See you soon!
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