We were sitting in our living room this morning enjoying the sounds of spring – the soft tinkling of freezing rain lashing against the window, the playful sounds of ice chunks thunking onto the roof from the trees above, the gentle howl of the spring breeze as it tossed songbirds through the air like mini-boomerangs – when I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye. I turned to see a large maple tree falling, seemingly in slow motion, and landing directly on top of our beloved Toyota Yaris. Ray was kicking himself because he’d just been thinking that he should get out and move the car, while I was breathing a sigh of relief that Ray hadn’t been out moving the car when it happened. The car will be a write-off. Not a stellar start to the day.
With the weather as miserable as it’s been, Nick’s mostly been playing video games. I came in the house the other day and heard him call out so I went to the top of the stairs and said, “Did you need something?” He responded with, “I don’t even have a shotgun!!!” Took me a second or two to realize he was talking to one of his friends through his headset. He had a friend over last night and they played video games. A half hour after his friend left I went downstairs and he was playing video games with the same friend, remotely. Reminds me of when I was a teen and I’d get home from spending a day with my best friend and then five minutes after getting home we’d be chatting on the phone and my mom would just roll her eyes.
Ray and I have both been getting out of the house a bit more this past week. Ray was invited up to a friend’s cottage for the day on Friday and joined another friend at a different cottage from Saturday to Sunday. They watched hockey playoffs and put up drywall and drank beer and male-bondy stuff like that.
I met a few friends from work for our now traditional lunch and margaritas on Wednesday and met another friend for lunch on Friday. It was good for me to get out of the house for a change and catch up with people.
My birthday was on Saturday, but I celebrated with Ray and Nick on Friday night – shrimp ring for appetizer, home-made linguini with a smoked salmon and leek cream sauce, plus brownies and ice cream for dessert (and I got books, of course). The reason we celebrated on Friday was because I was starting the Whole Life Challenge on Saturday – a 6-week program intended to build healthier habits. After several months as a couch potato with no problem rationalizing all the comfort food I wanted, it’s time for a kick-start back to healthy living. So I loaded up on the cheat foods on Friday.
On Saturday, the ladies – Heather, Sue, Jen and Traci-with-an-i – took me out for a birthday celebration. We started at an art show in Manotick where we visited Tracy-with-a-y, who had an exhibit there, then they treated me to a great lunch at the Black Dog, followed by some browsing in the shops. It was over seven hours of female-bondy stuff, but the time flew by.
I was really feeling the absence of my dad and sister-in-law on my birthday, so it was great to be distracted for the day by my BFFs. The emails from the handful of friends who somehow knew it was my birthday despite the lack of advertising or Facebook notifications also brightened my day.
And, in case you’re wondering, I ordered a fully-compliant salmon salad for my birthday lunch. And if it hadn’t been for that darn waiter with his ‘you get a free dessert on your birthday, oh and, by the way, we have sticky toffee pudding on the menu’ schtick, I’d have done just fine, thank you very much. It’s a good thing calories don’t count on your birthday…
OH NO about the car! I’m WFH today and all the sounds coming from the roof (which I’m assuming is ice chunks falling from the tree but sounds WAY worse inside) are worrying! You should have told us about the Whole Life Challenge and we would have ensured you stayed compliant by eating ALL of your dessert ourselves 🙂
Well…yes, I could have told you about it…and watched you all eat my dessert…but that might have made me sad…
Well, Carolyn, first off, let me say, oh my gosh….Happy Birthday to you and, until I read the end where you said you had salmon salad for your entree, I was thinking how strategic you were, having the champagne bottle hide your plate! Haha! And nope, calories don’t count on your birthday, or Christmas or Easter or Victoria Day or Canada day…or…well, you get the idea 😉
Secondly..oh my God! The car!! How crappy for you! I have been out taking pics of the mounds of ice everywhere, too, with my newer baby trees in the front yard bent in half ;(
BUT….they didn’t have my car under them! Poor little Yaris…so pretty too ;( Time for a new one….hope the insurance is generous…..Ray???
Glad Nick and all of you are getting out a bit more. Nick…all the best, love….Hugs!
Yes, the Yaris was a great little car. We’ll miss it. It was a 2008 though so don’t think we’ll get all that much for it. Might see how we manage with one car for a while. Hugs to the family.
Words almost fail me. I’m so sorry about the car and I’m so glad that Ray wasn’t in it at the time. This weather is crazy! There are a couple of other big branches down on the other side of Pineglen but I am pleasantly surprised that we haven’t had a power failure this time (unlike many neighbourhoods in Ottawa). Not the most convenient way to obtain firewood. Ray let me know when you’re going to tackle that monster and I’ll be over to give you a hand.
Thanks Murray. I’ll pass the offer on to Ray. Yes, lucky we didn’t lose power – it’s out in parts of Pineglen and north of here too (dentist at Merivale & Hunt Club cancelled my appointment for dental work due to lack of power so it hasn’t been ALL bad).
Sucks re the car – when life ain’t going your way it can just stack up. But it is only a car and can be replaced. Keep calm, you are due a load of positives, hopefully soon. All our love Liz and Clive xx
Thanks Liz and Clive. Very true about the car and let’s hope you’re right about the positives!
Today’s blog made me laugh out loud (except for the car part, of course, but I’d already been updated on that). Interesting that you neglected to mention the complete and total “Day 1 breaking of the rules schtick”. 🤔
Glad both you and Ray are getting out a bit more and that he wasn’t IN the car as the tree gently floated down to the ground and smashed it to pieces!
I got a perfect score on Day 2 though!!!
Wow. Not too often that us Manitobans are having better weather than Ontario! Gotta say we are loving our balmy temps, even up north! 🌞Here’s hoping the rest of your new year is filled with more pleasant surprises!
Stir crazy can’t even touch it for you all, I imagine.How sad about your lovely tree but thank goodness no-one was hurt.Its great news that Nick has his game player. For all the criticisms people throw at them, I know it’s stopped Seb feeling isolated and there’s often good ‘ banter’ and sharing amongst him and his friends while they’re playing and I imagine they same goes for Nick?
Belated birthday hugs xxx