As I’ve said before, one benefit of my job is meeting new people and encountering new perspectives. In early 2020, I was in another city for meetings (strange to think that was the last time I was on a plane!), which started with several of the attendees gathering at a pub for supper. (As all …
This wasn’t meant to be a new year’s post. But I’ve put off writing in favour of eating a lot of cheese, drinking a lot of red wine and dark beer, and watching a lot of Netflix. And now it’s December 31, and here we are. Last year, I posted a summary of the first …
I’m unsure about ghosts. Do they exist? Maybe. Do they not exist? Maybe. But I do romanticize connections — or what some people might call coincidences. A couple of years ago, for example, I was meant to be on vacation but was instead overthinking and over-worrying a work problem. While I was fussing, I set …
A couple days ago, I learned it was International Men’s Day. I confess: I didn’t know there was an International Men’s Day. The person who brought it to my attention was a woman. Another person in the conversation was a man, and he said he felt uncomfortable acknowledging a day to celebrate men. And then, through the …
Throughout elementary school in the small town where I grew up, I was in Brownies and Girl Guides. Every November, we sold poppies to support the local branch of the Royal Canadian Legion. Selling poppies meant going door to door in northern Alberta, freezing our butts off. This was still when dresses were a mandatory …
I got a puppy this past spring. When I wrote tips #14, 19, and 24 of “how to do a pandemic” post earlier this year, I didn’t think I’d actually get a dog. But after thinking about it off and on for years, I decided this was the best time to go for it. And, …
When we told our grandpa we planned to get married one day, we weren’t much older than in the above photo. Grandpa responded that cousins aren’t allowed to get married, and I remember feeling perplexed. Why wouldn’t I be allowed to marry this boy, when playing together was one of the best parts of my …
I’ve lately had flashes of thinking, “I could write about that.” I take that as a good sign, because since my last, half-joking post about how to do a pandemic I’ve mostly found myself with no desire to write at all. No desire to do much of anything, actually. There are several reasons for that, …
I don’t know how future historians will decide which parts of the internet to review while trying to analyze 2020…I’m sure my blog won’t rank highly. And yet I feel compelled to share some of what happens when a pandemic arrives in one’s city. My last post was about self-care, which has admittedly been quite …
A man named Scott introduced me to the phrase “take good care” near the beginning of my (first) career. Since then, I’ve heard the same expression from others who have all been as warm and kind as Scott. I love this phrase. It’s like a request, obligation, and blessing all rolled into one. It suggests …
