A Very Modest Canada 150 Project

On January 3, 2017January 4, 2017 By Widow BadassIn Goals & Dreams, Good Times, Roadtripping, See the Beauty, The Great Outdoors4 Comments

My beautiful country turns 150 years old this year. I have been wondering what I could do in this special year to celebrate/commemorate the milestone. I was around when Canada turned 100, though at age 7 there wasn’t a whole lot I remember about it, other than that catchy Bobby Gimby song.

And Expo 67, in Montreal. Not that I visited but boy, we sure heard about it in school. I recall there was a mobile unit that toured the country’s schools, giving us a mini-version of it along with other Centennial stuff.

I’m not likely to be around for Canada turning 200. Or if I am, I’ll be too damn old to do much more than watch others celebrate.

SO THIS IS IT, WB. NOW WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT?

I once had a baby on Canada Day – the lovely Mizz J – but I can’t keep dragging that up as my commitment to/celebration of this country all these years later. Or can I? Hmmmm…

I could have been drinking beer and watching fireworks like everyone else, you know.

I have been stewing away on this for about a month now. Then this morning I heard a DJ on my local (rock, what else?) station mention that Parks Canada was handing out free passes to all National Parks to celebrate the sesquicentennial. EUREKA! Maybe I could visit all the National Parks in my province of Ontario as at least one way of me celebrating Canada 150?

I hopped on Ye Olde Interwebs and quickly ordered my pass from the Parks Canada site. Then I checked out which National Parks were located in Ontario.

Only 6 – 5 within an easy day’s drive (or less) of my usual stomping grounds – totally doable, amiright?

OK, OK – so not exactly the stretchiest goal I’ve ever committed to, but that’s not what I am trying to do here. Part of me thinks it would be so cool to hit every National Park in Canada this year, but that objective is not realistic for this (still) working woman.

I think I’ve only ever been to one – maybe two – of these Ontario parks so far in my life. For shame, for shame! Shit, I realize I have probably been to more National Parks outside of Ontario than in it.

I’ve been very close to some of them, driven by others…but actually making a point of visiting the ones in my own province? Nope.

So 2017 is the year this is gonna change.

Rock on,

The WB

Happy 2017!

On January 1, 2017January 2, 2017 By Widow BadassIn Adventures with dogs, Artistic Endeavours, Goals & Dreams, Good Times, Health Transformation10 Comments

I hope everyone had a restful, meaningful and thoughtful holiday this year!

Although I tend not to take any additional days off during the “season” due to the nature of my work (cows don’t know it’s Christmas), the week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve is generally quieter and I can get a fair bit of catching up and tidying done in my office. And thinking about the projects and plans for the next few months while the phone is not ringing.

Outside of work, I use this time to ruminate (cow pun!) on the past year and sharpen up my plans for the new.

On my lunch break, I tried to open up my 10 Year Plan spreadsheet a few days back to review it and add some stuff and IT. WASN’T. THERE. This led to much (inner) screaming and (outer) hair pulling and cursing.

I checked everywhere the damn thing could possibly be instead…every folder in Dropbox, every folder on my laptop…it was nowhere to be found. Fuckity fuckity fuck fuck fuck – to quote a friend.

Then I got home and checked my iMac. Again nothing. I resigned myself to having to create it all over again…from memory (OH SHIT). Then I had a brain wave when I remembered that the last time I opened it up, I was using the for-Mac version of Excel on my home computer. I opened the program and went to Recent…sure enough it was listed! With trembling fingers I called it back up. Success!!!!

Somehow, it had gotten saved to iCloud and, in so doing, the Mac gods removed it from Dropbox instead of making a copy to save (like the PC gods would have done). Hmmmm. I kinda get why this happens…so you don’t have multiple, different versions floating around…but hell-to-the-no…I am not a fan of this enforced document control. I would much rather have multiple versions (backups of backups ad infinitum!) and I WILL MAKE SURE OF THIS FROM NOW ON. Whew.

In happier news, I finally completed my Flower of Life mandala between Christmas and New Years. I am beyond pleased with how it turned out.

I kept going back and forth on how to create this. I wanted to use my new acrylic inks but felt I needed to use my watercolour pencils for the effects I wanted to achieve. In the end I used both – water colour pencils for the actual inner “flower”, and acrylic inks and black fine-point marker for the rest.

New years Eve at Chez Badass was a quiet dinner spent with good friends. New Years Day will be Gourmetten – Part 2, with the family.

About to enjoy a meal with my friends. The kabocha squash got a bit burnt when I reheated in the oven along with the roasting potatoes. Green veg still to come to table. Hey, how did Seashell Jesus manage to photobomb us?!?!

My friends brought me a date for NYE: Sylvester, their grand-doggy. He was the perfect gentleman.

Looking ahead to the new year, I have some plans, natch. I won’t call them resolutions but they are definitely plans.

Such as:

Fitness – The cardiologist recently gave me the go-ahead to resume physical activity, just not to be an idiot about it. OK, not an exact quote but she meant to not go from couch potato to ultra-marathoner overnight. Check! I signed up for more yoga and also added a barre class, both happening down the street from me at the old Town Hall. Very excited to try barre. With yoga and barre, I am hoping to improve my flexibility and gently strengthen my muscles without injury. And to add training with free weights for later on this year. I am having some real problems with my left arm and want to get the full range of motion back. I also ordered a DVD called Essentrics – Toning for Beginners – which is more of the same to do at home. I will incorporate a daily walk back into my life and maybe…just maybe…sign up and train for another half-marathon later this year!
Looking forward to this arriving in the mail next week!
Art/Learning – I’ve signed up for year’s worth of artistic exploration of the mandala via Julie Gibbons’s marvellous Mandala Magic 2017 course. First lesson arrived in my Inbox this morning, as promised. Yay!!
Adventure/Travel – In about a month I will be heading back to Barbados for a week with a good friend, to commemorate 50 years of our friendship. This time, the hotel is fronting a lagoon that is full of reef fish and sea turtles. In the hopes of seeing this ocean life in action, I ordered a snorkelling set to take down with me. I also bought a GoPro camera to take better underwater photos and even videos. Last year’s results underwater with a cheap disposable camera were disappointing, to say the least. I had been dreaming of a GoPro ever since but hesitated to pull the trigger on this purchase because – well – SPENDY! But when I read online about the lagoon last week…what the hell…MERRY CHRISTMAS/BOXING WEEK SALES TO ME, I said. Currently no other definite plans for travel (just some nebulous ones) on the horizon for 2017, but money gets automatically funnelled into my Travel Bucks account every month from my chequing account so I will be ready for whatever the year brings me.
Work – 2017 will be an exciting year with an expansion to the lab and bringing on new types of analysis. I live for and love this stuff!
Renovations – I did about 3 years’ worth of planned renovations on my building in 2016, so this year there will be much less happening by comparison. Some of the projects I had initially roughed in for this year are landscaping, painting the foyer, renovating the second bathroom on the landing (including adding a shower), and FINALLY putting a railing around my rooftop patio. I have some doubts as to whether finances will allow me to complete all of these this year and that will be OK too. The building is looking good; my apartment is finished; there’s always next year.

That’s about it for me. The sun is shining and a walk outdoors is calling! If you want to share your plans for 2017 in the comments, I am ALL EYES.

Rock on,

The WB

50 Years of Friendship Trip

On November 24, 2016November 25, 2016 By Widow BadassIn Goals & Dreams, Good Times, See the Beauty4 Comments

Tickets to Paradise — I’ve got 2 tickets to Paradise…

Dear Bloggie,

I picked up the tickets tonight for the winter get-away Mizz CJ and I have planned, in Barbados. Wheee!

This is a special trip to commemorate our being friends for 50 years. We met in Grade 2, you see.

My daughter Mizz J and I had such a lovely time there in January of this year that I resolved to try my best to make an annual getaway to somewhere warm – if not Barbados, then somewhere that didn’t need a coat, boots and mittens – every winter from now on.

When Mizz CJ heard about our trip she thought it would be perfect to celebrate our milestone there, in 2017. Of course I agreed!

We have a week booked at a small family-run hotel on the beach in Hastings.

Looking forward to those early morning ocean dips and laying under a palm tree devouring a good novel while ocean breezes play with my hair.

I have the Bridgetown weather (along with Amsterdam’s and that of my area) displayed every time I go to the Weather Network webpage. It is 30°C there. Every. Damn. Day.

Last week, on one day it read 28°C. I almost fell off of my chair when I saw it. I wonder if the Bajans grab for their sweaters when the temperature dips down like that.

I probably would, once I got acclimatized.

Rock on,

The WB

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What the Health is Going On

On November 17, 2016November 17, 2016 By Widow BadassIn Goals & Dreams, Health Transformation6 Comments

Dear Bloggie,

I thought I should bring you up to date on what’s been happening to me since I’ve been under investigation for the 2 TIA-like (mini-stroke) episodes I have experienced thus far in 2016.

I have completed all of the scheduled testing and last week I saw the neurologist to get the news about the results of the 2 MRIs I recently was privileged to receive. No, I am not being sarcastic, Blog. How can you think that?!? Wait. Uh, OK. I have been a bit of a pill IRL about the medications the doctors have put me on, and all of the tests. I’ll own it.

But really Blog, I am also very grateful at the same time that I live in this great country where health care is deemed to be a necessity and everyone’s right and the griping is about being made to wait a bit rather than how to come up with the money for diagnosis and treatment.

So, to describe my results in one word: NEGATIVE.

Negative, negative, negative. All of my cardiac and neurological testing is blessedly, head-scratchingly negative. So what happened to me? Dunno. Will it happen again? Dunno.

Can I get on with my life now? Will my doctor release the restriction on me that I am not to perform any exercise more strenuous than a slow walk? The cardiologist wants to see me again and you bet I will be asking.

In the meantime, I have been focusing on cleaning up my diet for the past 2 weeks using a no-sugar, no grains, low carbohydrate high fat Paleo-ish approach. I’ve done this before with magnificent results but since JD passed I have been kinda loosey-goosey with my diet and here we are 3 years and 20 pounds later. A-HEM!

So, two weeks have gone by and I am only a scant 2 pounds lighter…dammit. I am a bit disappointed it isn’t more but I am not as active as I could be (see exercise restriction, above). And I am older too, meaning whatever magic menopause is wreaking/has wrought upon my metabolism since about 4 years ago could be to blame as well.

However, I feel GREAT! I really do. I am up early (like 5 am early) each day with tons of creative and mental energy to burn. I’m alert all day – no afternoon slumping – and sleep well each night.

No cravings anymore. In fact very little hunger or when it hits, it is so subtle of a nag that I can easily ignore it until I am ready to make time to eat. This I remember very well from the last time I ate this way. Nice to not feel shakey or sick or mentally drained if more than 4 hours passes between meals and my blood sugar tanks. I’ve turned myself back into a fat-burning machine, from a sugar-burner. And no “carb flu” feelings either. I guess my body remembers the good ol’ days when I took better care of it. 😉

So what if it takes me 20 weeks (or more) to lose 20 pounds, dear Blog? The time will be here regardless of whether I try to change my habits or not, and how nice will it be to arrive there and have removed that excess weight? I’d love to train again for another half-marathon (on doc’s blessing of course) and it certainly would go a lot easier with 20 less pounds to carry.

Maybe I can even stop taking some medication. I’m thinking the blood pressure meds, at least. And maybe the blood thinner too. It might take a bit longer and a couple of more blood tests to convince the doc I really don’t need a statin in my life. Hey, a girl can dream, right?

Rock on,

The WB

The Power of Writing It Down

On November 13, 2016November 13, 2016 By Widow BadassIn Artistic Endeavours, Goals & DreamsLeave a comment

Hey there Bloggie Dearest,

Well, yesterday was the last day of the 5 Days of Mandala Magic online course I signed up for, and with the last lesson came an invitation to sign up for a whole year of instruction from Julie Gibbons, starting proper in 2017.

The monthly cost of this course is so reasonable versus the value I have received already in just these 5 days, that I signed up immediately and with absolutely no hesitation.

(I have to say also that I really admire the way Julie runs her vocation/passion/business. I think it is genius to offer a free 5 day online course as a lead-in for a year’s worth of lessons. It gives the potential subscriber a good insight into Julie’s personality and teaching style, as well as the quality of the material to be delivered. At the end of the free course most 5 Days of Mandala Magic students would know, I imagine, whether or not this course was a good fit for them at this point in their lives. It certainly has made me comfortable with my decision. When the student is ready, the teacher will appear…indeed!)

Remember quite a few months back, Blog, when I told you I was all excited/inspired by an article about Route 66 turning 100 when I am turning 66, and how this led to the development of my 10 Year Plan spreadsheet and an actual rudimentary budget?

As per my way, I created the spreadsheet in a fervour of inspiration and then didn’t look at it again. But then today I got to thinking about it again as I had this niggling thought in the back of my brain that Art was featured somewhere on the spreadsheet. (Actually I thought I might have written it down for THIS year – 2016).

When I opened it up I saw that I had placed Art in the Learning category for 2017. Hmmm…another reason signing up for a year’s worth on instruction on mandala making and art journalling was a slam-dunk decision for me.

This, dear Blog, is why I love writing down my goals and dreams in some format – whether it be in a journal or spreadsheet. The act of committing the thoughts to paper (or pixels) has invariably resulted in manifestation of the same. And if it didn’t happen, it was almost always because I had changed and no longer wanted it. Or, it just hasn’t happened yet, but I can see it on the horizon. Weird! I know, Blog.

Now, I am not going so far as to say that these are declarations to which the universe has responded to me personally. I’ll leave that to the devotees of The Secret.

But what I think is this: the act of stating goals in a physical or digital sense loads them into my subconscious which in turn then guides me in seeing (seizing!) opportunities and making decisions later on down the road of life.

I may have forgotten what I have written down, but my subconscious doesn’t. And going back months or even years later to see what I had envisioned for myself, I am gobsmacked by how many of my (usually forgotten) stated objectives have actually been accomplished.

So clearly I am a fan.

Just imagine what could happen, dear Blog, if I wrote down some goals regarding you? 😉

Rock on,

The WB

Jumpin’ June

On July 3, 2016July 3, 2016 By Widow BadassIn Goals & Dreams, Home Improvement, MBA, See the Beauty1 Comment

I had a feeling that June was gonna be a bit crazy and it did not disappoint.

First there was the wedding of the son of a good friend, which was delightful and took place on one of those perfect June days that make it such a popular month for nuptials.

Then there was prepping for renovations AND for leaving for Edmonton for my Convocation:

Accepting MBA degrees for both myself and JD.

It was emotionally draining, to say the least. But I was glad I did so that JD got his recognition. He received a spontaneous standing ovation and many eyes were filled with tears. The dean broke down several times while reading the short biography I prepared about JD. Afterwards so many strangers approached me to say how touched and inspired they were, and to offer me a hug.

After the ceremony, with JD's hood draped over my arm. — After the ceremony, with JD’s hood draped over my arm.

Meanwhile, back at Chez Badass floors were being sanded down and refinished! I came back home on a Sunday evening to my planned interior and exterior renovations in full swing.

There was nothing to do but put up with the disruption and hit the trails. Almost every night that week I was at the Dundas Conservation Area for the annual 4 Day-Evening Walk (a Dutch tradition brought home to Canada):

Walkers ahead of me got their Dutch on, wearing orange for the Dutch royal family (House of Orange). — Walkers ahead of me got their Dutch on, wearing orange (official colour of the walk) for the Dutch royal family (House of Orange).

Four 5 km walks earned me my Year 5 participation medal.

Renovation work continued, both inside and out.

New entrance doors and exterior lighting. — New entrance doors, just installed…and new exterior lighting (LED).

Another escape from all the dust and debris and flaking paint, onto the Speed River:

Kayak parking only...hehehe. — Kayak parking only…hehehe.

Breakfast on the water. A grain-free Morning Glory muffin.

Wish Floyd came with a cup holder. Don’t possess a thigh gap really – more of a tea gap 😉

When indoors, I have been working away at the Badass Budget and have set up another automatic savings account (Emergency Bucks) as a result, and in addition to my pre-existing Travel Bucks account. Lest I fritter away all my discretionary cash on stuff like these lovely Fluevogs:

Is this truly the last pair of shoes I will buy in 2016? Check back with me after my upcoming trip to the Netherlands.

And I have placed myself on a shoe moratorium for the remainder of 2016, after having to find new homes for my clothing and shoes during the apartment renovation. I’m not approaching Imelda Marcos territory with respect to shoe collecting but damn…I realized I do have many pairs….and many pairs I cannot or will not wear any longer. So I did a bit of purging in June also.

So badass yet so practical. Yes, those are skulls on the buckle.

And finally, on the last day of June, my dining room dreams came true as I took delivery of the table I had custom-made, from reclaimed threshing mill floor planks (hemlock):

Dining room furniture: check! — Renovate room and acquire dining room furniture: check!

A bit of mixed feelings on this one, as this room was last in regular use as my mom’s bedroom. But I know she would be very happy that I have a table again at last, for everyone to sit down at.

Party ready for my Canada Day baby's birthday on the 1st. — Party ready for my Canada Day baby’s birthday on the 1st.

Hope everyone had a lovely June and has an exciting July on deck!

Rock on,

The WB

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A Plan is Born

On May 21, 2016May 21, 2016 By Widow BadassIn Goals & Dreams, Roadtripping5 Comments

I love to plan things. This is no secret to those that know me. The J in my personality profile (INFJ) needs decisions to be made, like NOW.

The sooner I get shit nailed down, the better I like it. I’m OK with changing plans – even at the last moment – but I want there to be a plan in place to begin with. I am not happy with drifting along aimlessly. Course corrections/deviations are always allowed but there needs to be a flight plan first!

I have just come off of a long period of my life in which my ability to plan or control it was extremely limited – living with someone with OCD meant “the plan” was always gonna be his plan. And try as I might to have some control over my life and jointly plan our future, there was very little input I had as the disease had the final say on just about everything.

Then, after JD passed away I was left with the issues that the OCD had created…to clean up this huge mess literally and figuratively. But at the same time I was feverishly planning my new life as a widow.

Confession time: the planning actually started as JD’s disease progressed and my tiny fragile sliver of hope for his survival evaporated. That sounds cold but it is the truth. While caring for him as he withered away from the cancer, a part of my mind was also busy drafting a plan for dealing with the aftermath of his passing. This is how I was able to hit the ground running right away and get his messy, chaotic life and hoard cleaned up in just under a year. They say not to make any major decisions in the first year after a spouse passes away, but in my circumstances these decisions were absolutely necessary and thought out well in advance.

My new life plans only existed about a year or two out up until yesterday, and they lived in my head and nowhere else except for some brief mentions on ye olde blogge. I was flipping through the new National Geographic Travel Magazine while eating lunch at work when I came across this article:

Route 66: The Mother Road turns 90 this year.

Holey moley! It hit me all at once. In less than 10 years I will be retired from full-time work if all goes well. In 10 years Route 66 will be turning 100. And I will be 66 for part of that year. Getting my kicks on Route 66 when 66…how can I NOT do this?

As I was thinking this and looking at the article, I felt like I’d been really close to a lightning strike and a huge thunderclap was reverberating through my body. I knew I had to make a long-term plan to get from A (now) to B (The Mother of All Road Trips) successfully.

So then I got to thinking about retirement and how I don’t really have much of a plan from now until then either. Except for some vague thinking about what to fix on my building for the next couple of years AND to start putting the equivalent of my car payment into savings each month once Edward II the Sparkly Prius is paid off next December…

I realized I didn’t even know the year of my retirement off the top of my head, except that it is about 8 years away (that’s 2024 for those that are still reading).

So WB (I said to myself), how ARE you gonna get from here to adventuring off into the Western sunset in your hippie van/Airstream Bambi/ragtop convertible/Harley Davidson/Mercedes Sprinter Camper/whatever? Aha! The zygote of a game plan was conceived at the moment I asked the question.

That night the 10 Year Plan spreadsheet was born. Not only that, it’s fraternal twin (surprise!) – the Badass Budget – took its first breath as well. Both babies are doing well and Momma couldn’t be more thrilled. More about them later…

Rock on,

The WB