Today...

Today, in Saskatchewan, my mom is having surgery to remove cancer from her body.

Yes, she finally received an answer as to what was going on but it was not the answer we were hoping for. Thankfully, the doctor seems to think that the surgery should be the only treatment option she needs.

I wish I was in Saskatchewan but I'm not. Mom and Dad said not to fly out, so instead of going to the hospital, I will be going to work.

Please pray that the surgery is successful, that the cancer has not spread, and that my mom's healing goes well. And that the doctor is right and she will not need any further treatment. And please pray for peace of mind for me as I feel very far away today.

Thank you everyone for your prayers thus far. I appreciate them more than you know.

*If you don't know what I'm talking about, please read this post here.

Currently: April 2025

It's the first Wednesday of the month and time for "Currently" with Jennifer at My Joyful Life. You can find Jennifer here. This is the "Sam turned 16" edition of "Currently."

[loving]

I am "loving" how smoothly Sam's birthday party went. He wanted to invite all his friends over for a sleepover and some good food. We said he could invite as many people as he wanted, because normally a few people can't come. Well... only one person couldn't make it at all. So we had nine 15 and 16 year old boys hanging out at our house for almost 18 hours!!!

Sam was "loving" being with all his friends and I was "loving" that they all came to celebrate him while, secretly, I was also "loving" the napkins Rachel picked out for his party! Hahaha!!!

[adding to cart]

Well, what I would be "adding to cart" are bean bag chairs as Sam would like a couple in the basement for when he plays Switch down there, but we can't find them anywhere. It feels like many people have bean bag chairs but no one sells them anymore...

Random picture of Sam, all cozy in his bed, on his actual birthday! 

[reading]

The only part of Sam's party which happened elsewhere, was when they all gathered at Ctrl-V to play a little VR. I spent the time sitting there "reading," and listening to how much fun they were having! I also read while the kids wrestled and play downstairs, and while they went for a walk in the cemetery. Really, all we did for this party was provide food! Hahaha!!!

[watching]

 In Ontario, you can get your learner's when you turn 16 so the day after his birthday, Sam and I went to the driving place. He wrote his test and was issued his licence. So I've been "watching" him drive. It's a whole new experience, that's for sure!!!

And in non-Sam "watching," I was "watching" Cory Booker towards the end of his 25 hour marathon speech last night. Whether you agree with what he did or not, I was amazed at how eloquent and coherent he was after 25 hours of standing, and not eating, and not going to the bathroom. 

[listening to]

Nine boys make a lot of noise! Hahaha!!! So I was "listening to" that this weekend! Also, I loved "listening to" Sam and his friends wake up in the basement on Sam's actual birthday. One of his friends said, "Happy actual 16th birthday Sam!" and then all his friends sang "Happy Birthday" to him. It was so sweet and I just about cried.

So that's what's been up with us "currently." Sam turned 16 and it was a good one!!!

Friday Favourite Moments 2025 #13

I sat down last night to write about my favourite moments from this past week. And then I got stuck.

I checked in with Dave and he confirmed, it's been a "blah week." Nothing awful has happened (thankfully) but there just hasn't been a lot of good. Rachel has been sick, Dave pulled a muscle and had a hard time walking for a few days, the weather has been grey and half snow/half rain, and it's been a week full of postponed plans for me. So again, nothing horrible has happened, but there haven't been a lot of great moments either. So my favourite moments from this week are from about two hours yesterday on baseball Opening Day!

I wore a Blue Jays inspired outfit to work and about five people commented on it! I wasn't the only person excited that baseball is back!!!

I couldn't get home from work in time for "first pitch" so Dave narrated what was happening in the game to me on the phone as I walked home!

We couldn't get to the Skydome for the game so we decided to enjoy some baseball food at home. We had fries and gravy.

Every year some MLB teams have... unique... food they try on their fans. This year the Jays are debuting "cotton candy fries." (Read more about ... interesting... ball park food here.) So we tried some of our own. I don't like cotton candy but the rest of my family pronounced it "not bad."

Sam had his without gravy.

And of course, I had my traditional veggie hot dogs.

 

While the food was really good, the game was... not... as the Jays lost 12-2. Oh well, they still have a chance to go 161-1 on the season. Hahahahaha!!!

 

So those were my favourite moments from this week -- Opening Day food and the two hours of the game when it seemed like the Jays might have a chance.

 

 Would you try cotton candy fries? What's the oddest food you've had at a baseball game?

What's Up Wednesday: March 2025

March was a particularly full month what with our March Break stay-cation, visiting friends, and doing a spring cleaning of our house. Plus all the usual dance, soccer, work things we do. I will say that March has probably been the best month of 2025 thus far, and I'm really hoping that trend continues because 2025 did not start off well.

Answering these questions monthly helps me reflect on the past month and I really appreciate having a record of what we've been up to. The questions come from Shay at Mix and Match Mama and Sheaffer at Sheaffer Told Me Too.

image from here

 

What we're eating this week... March 2025 will forever be defined in my head as the "month of the croissant." We bought a package of frozen ones from Costco and ate them many, many mornings during our March Break stay-cation. And no, I'm not sick of them yet!

We also celebrated Pi Day by eating pizza (pie) and dessert pies and we celebrated St Patrick's Day by eating (vegetarian) Beef & Guinness Stew and Irish soda bread.

Additionally, my co-worker was talking about a fruit box subscription she has and we decided to try it out. This was our first delivery. It's A LOT of fruit and for such a great price too! We will definitely be getting this again!

So croissants and fruit -- that defines our March!

What I'm reminiscing about... Baby Sam!!! Sam turns 16 on Sunday (WHAT THE WHAT?!?!?!), so I'm remembering those early baby days.

Sam at a few days old

left: Sam at a few days old; right: Sam at about seven months old

Sam has invited a bunch of his friends to celebrate him this weekend. I've also been reminiscing about some of his past parties as the guest list is pretty much the same! I LOVE that Sam has a great group of long-term friends.

Sam's 12th birthday (2021)

Sam's 8th birthday party (2017)

What I'm loving... One of the things we did over March Break was make a spontaneous trip to IKEA. Dave and I ended up with new bedding and it is so bright, colourful, and springlike -- it makes me so happy! Even Dave commented how much he likes it. 

 

I also bought new glasses for drinks. I wanted something a little fancier than our plastic Blue Jays cups! The only issue is that they are a little small so even one shot of alcohol makes for a strong drink :)

What we've been up to... March was a full month. We started off the month by deep cleaning almost every area of our house...

...some of our good friends from Kenya stopped by for a quick visit...

...and we got to catch up with other good friends who we hadn't seen in way too long over March Break.

Our March Break stay-cation was really fun from flowers and tea times...

 

...to a musical and seeing championship hockey cups. 

 We enjoyed CAN-struction (as always)...

...and Rachel got her ears pierced!!!

And we had a complete blast at Activate!!!

Sam and Rachel have been playing soccer in the back yard... 

...and I did a new puzzle.

Did I mention it's been a FULL month?!?!?!?!

 

What I'm dreading... I don't know that I'm particularly dreading anything right now so that's pleasant. Maybe spring allergies but I probably still have some time until those hit.

What I'm working on... I am beyond excited that next month a blog friend is coming to visit us with her family!!! I am thrilled to be hosting them at our house and I've been working on figuring out how to introduce them to our city/lives in interesting ways! It's so fun to try and figure out how to be a bit of a tourist in our own city.

What I'm excited about... OPENING DAY FOR BASEBALL IS TOMORROW!!! I'm so excited that baseball is back and I have a fun menu planned for tomorrow. I also have an entire Blue Jays themed outfit to wear to work on Thursday! Hahahaha!!! Since we can't actually be at the ballpark, I'm planning on making hot dogs and French fries here and we'll pretend! I can't wait until we can go to a game in person!!!!!

 

What I'm watching/reading... I started watching Gilmore Girls with Rachel over March Break and we are loving it! I've only seen most of the series once so it's been fun to re-watch it with Rachel.

As for reading, I read a few bigger (more intense) books over March Break so now I'm taking a break with a few romcoms/lighter fiction. Some of my favourite books this month have been The Paris Novel by Ruth Reichl and The Last Garden in England by Julia Kelly.

What I'm listening to... Well, since we went to see Come From Away over March break, I've broken out our CD! There are some really great songs in that musical including Prayer, Welcome to the Rock, and In The Bar/Heave Away.

 

What I'm wearing... I bought a new pair of Converse over March break. They are a greyish green and I love them so much!!! I really love my Converse and I also have red, teal, and grey ones.

 

What I'm doing this weekend... Celebrating Sam's 16th birthday!!! What the what?!?!?!?

What I'm looking forward to next month... The thing I am most looking forward to, of course, is our friends visiting! We can't wait to see them!!! Also, I really hope it warms up enough that I can get some yard work done. I hope I'll get some afternoons to sit in the sun and enjoy a drink after work but again, I need it to warm up! So I guess in April I'm looking forward to more sun and more warmth :)

So that is what is up with us this last Wednesday in March. I'm glad that March has been so much better than January and February were and I hope April continues the trend. How was your March?

25 Questions (21-25)

I'm answering the last of 25 questions I saw on Sarah's blog. Sarah blogs at Toronto SAM and you can see her answers here. If you want to see my answers to previous questions, you can go here to read questions 1-5, here to read questions 6-10, here to read 11-15, and here to read 16-20.

21. Pretend money is no object, what would you do?

I would travel wherever I want and take my friends and family with me. I would go to way more Blue Jays games, including away games so I could visit other ball parks. I would renovate our house. I would also fly to Saskatchewan at least once a month to visit my parents and I would donate a lot more to the important causes in my life.

I would also buy a fancy drink at every Jays game! Hahaha!

22. What area in your life, right now, makes you feel the best? Why?

Our house is fairly clean right now so I'm pretty happy about that! Also we're not stressed about money right now, so I'm thankful for that as I know not everyone is in that situation. I'm also fairly happy with my job situation, and it feels very stable, so I'm also thankful for that. I see myself in this position for a number of years as I don't think I'll get bored! Hahaha!

23. Let's jump forward a year, what would you like to have achieved in the next year?

I would love to have taken some major steps forward on getting our house renovated. We've been dreaming about doing "something" for about four years now and I just feel really stuck as to what the next steps are. If we could be doing something about it, rather than just talking about it, that would make me really happy! It just feels really big and overwhelming.

24. What piece of advice would you give to five year old you?

Life may not work out like you are hoping it will but it will still be pretty darn awesome! (I think five year old me wanted six to ten kids! Hahahaha!) I would also encourage her to start building a flossing habit :)

25. How do you want to be remembered in life?

I want to be remembered as someone who loved well, was kind to others, and stood up for what was right.

Thanks for reading my answers to these questions. Let me know your thoughts on any of these -- either responses to my answers or tell me your own answers.

Friday Favourite Moments 2025 #12

In some ways this first week back at school/work after our March Break has felt very long. However, this edition of my Friday Favourite Moments kind of snuck up on me so take that for what it's worth! I have a short and sweet edition of favourite moments this week. (Also, I meant to post this early Friday morning and forgot to hit "publish." It's been that kind of week!)

1) Activate Games

When I posted on Instagram stories how I couldn't do VR because of my monovision contacts (I have one reading contact and one distance contact and thus, don't need reading glasses. However, my eyes couldn't focus on the VR and supposedly, 3D movies might not work for me either.), my Instagram friend suggested we check out Activate. This is a place where you are "in the video game." That's really the best way to describe it. You sign up for 75 minutes, are given a wristband, and then enter rooms where you play a game for 1-3 minutes. We loved the laser room (where you're trying to get through a laser maze), the grid room, and the hoops room. We were all hot and sweaty by the end but we also laughed A LOT and we can't wait to go back and visit. If you have one near you, you should definitely check it out!!! My Instagram friend's friend was the creator of Activate so it was especially fun because of the local connection.

 

2) St Patrick's Day meal

 

A number of years ago, I started making (vegetarian) Beef & Guinness Stew for St Patrick's Day. This year I also baked soda bread. This is one of my favourite meals of the year, and it's actually the only meal I cooked over our March Break.

 

3) Making summer plans

Sam is (mostly) in charge of our summer vacation this year. He picked the destination a few years ago and has been dreaming about it, and soliciting input, ever since. This past week, he and I sat down and booked a few things and our trip is really starting to come together. I'm starting to get really excited!!! How long until summer?!?!??!!?

 

 4) Kids playing together

 

I've said fairly often over the past few years that I'm extremely grateful that our kids waited until our long Covid quarantine was over to start their more intense sibling rivalry. It's nothing huge but just the constant sniping at each other, which is normal for two teenagers. It makes me extra grateful though for the times they do get along. Ten minutes before I took these pictures, I had both kids helping me do dishes and was about to go insane from the bickering. Then they headed out to kick the ball around and I wanted to capture these moments before it devolved again!!! Also, a favourite moment this past week is that all the snow has melted!!!!!!! Whooooo hooooo!!!!

5) Muffin from co-worker

Anytime a co-worker brings me food, it is a favourite moment! Hahaha!

So those were my favourite moments from this first week back to school/work. Have a great weekend everyone!