My last post had summer just beginning - well, it did its thing, and now it is over.
Wendy, Eric, Parker, and Jaclyn headed to Manitoba at the end of July for Eric's mother's Celebration of Life event. One of the first things we did was to visit the National Indigenous Residential School Museum in Portage. It was a great museum and had a very powerful message.
The Celebration of Life and interment at the cemetery was very well attended and was a beautiful day to remember Eric's mom.
Parker brought his grandma's ashes to the cemetery.
Eric gave a brief speech.
Before we headed home, all of us took in a visit to the local Dairy Queen.
Unfortunately, our flight got cancelled and rescheduled for a day later. We had to check into the hotel again and extend our trip by 27 hrs.
An extra night in the indigenous owned and operated hotel.
Ruby was happy to see us when we returned. She learned to play in the sprinkler in the ~40C heat.
Eric and Wendy celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary with some ice cream.
Adam just happened to be in Saskatchewan for work, and he dropped in briefly to see is Grandpa in Manitoba.
At the end of August, Parker celebrated his 25th birthday with more ice cream!
Once September started, it was back to work for all, and this meant a new school year for Eric. This is likely the last time during the year that lots of chalk will be available....
June is gone and July is just barely beginning... and I am still working from home. Wendy was able to go back to the hospital most days of the week. It is a reasonably safe area with everybody being screened and masked at the door.
I have been experiencing a long bout of extreme fatigue the last several weeks. It came on suddenly and I seem to only be able function with about 3 hr of nap every day. We are working on various different ways to alleviate it, but nothing seems to be having an effect. I don't think it is really due to isolation or the extreme heat we have been having. Too sudden and a very drastic change all at once. I will be having another scan to check my lungs in mid July. This time will be a simple x-ray prior to my oncologist appointment. Will also do blood tests a week before - hopefully seeing a change in my thyroid hormone levels as well as my overall energy.
I did decide to get out and do something creative the other day. I went on a solo 5 km hike of the Dundas conservation area and took the time to record another YouTube video (see below). I was mostly just playing around with my DJI Osmo Mobile 2 gimbal (which holds my cell phone steady) and seeing how things worked. Normally an hour long hike, it took me 3 hrs with all the recording and resting. It was a lot of fun, but it was way too hot (38C) by the end of the hike!
July 2nd and the leaves are turning already!
Hermitage ruins along the main loop trail
Yesterday (July 4th) seemed like a big fireworks day in our neighbourhood. I think people were actually celebrating Canada Day, but waited for a Saturday night to have their fun. Maddy was NOT impressed. She was shaking and hiding in corners because of the noise (happens every year). She even crawled away from Wendy to hide and ended up stuck and panting on our end table - she soon realized there was nowhere else to go.
After close to 19 years, I finally gave up my aquarium and fish - just one less thing to worry about each day. We had Adam and his classmate from Canadore College in North Bay work on dismantling and transferring it over to our friends' place just around the corner. The tank and fish are all safely in their new home, with a standing offer to go visit them if I would like!
While Adam was visiting, he and his friend Calvin did a lot of work around the house. Among many other projects, they sealed the driveway and epoxy coated the garage floor.
Of course, the cars needed to be parked on the street overnight. Sure enough, someone broke into our car and stole a bunch of stuff... including my prescription sunglasses and parking cards for the Cancer Centre.
Epoxy coating - done!
Wendy has been baking a few things here and there (muffins, biscuits, etc.) at the same time that I have been doing a lot of baking. We seem to use so much more flour than we used to use (onto our second 10 kg bag since April).
Biscuits
One of the best things I have made in the bread machine were baked Paczki - Polish doughnuts. Normally filled with jam, I used custard. Easy to make and even easier to eat! I have now made them twice since they are so good. Check out my Recipe page for the details!
Paczki (Polish doughnuts)
Earlier this month we had an ice cream BUS (yes, like a city bus) arrive and park directly in front of our house. This has never happened in 25 years of living here. Of course, we couldn't pass up the opportunity. Here are Parker and Wendy getting ready to order.
For those interested, below is my most recent YouTube video (where I, admittedly, get a little philosophical about things). It is just over 10 min long and describes how my perspective on life has changed as I went from cancer scientist to cancer patient. Click the link to open a separate window or the image to play it on this page.
Although we are heading tentatively into spring, it was definitely a busy winter. With teaching 8 classes this term (each 3 hr long, once per week), I let the blog slide into inactivity. To balance out that vacuum, I thought I would show the whole season - all at once.
I know, not the greatest solution, but it is better than making 10 short posts and getting all those notifications at the same time.
Shall we dive right in?
Christmas morning with a 5-year-old who has never experienced Christmas (and might not again) was a blast! Fanfan took no time at all figuring out the process.
No translation needed.
It was great to share traditions but it was sometimes a challenge to explain their purpose.
in January, Parker moved to a single room at Waterloo for his second term. More space and less need to interact with others...
We went to our friends place (Terry & Theresa) for some sausage making and sledding. Yes, sausages (I thought the sled part was pretty self-explanatory).
Terry is a master at making sausage
Wendy chose to make honey garlic
Once you got used to the cold meat, all was well
Fanfan's first time on a sled
The snow cooperated and gave us about 5 snow days where schools were closed - unprecedented in these parts. Sure picked a wild winter for their first winter experience!
Ying made her own birthday cake - a first (she doesn't own an oven!).
Tobogganing was a big hit (video - may have to use link at bottom of post)
Maddy's 8th birthday (dog) cookie
Maddy loved (past tense) her cookie
Potentially the last chance for a winter sport, Wendy took Ying and Fanfan skiing in the Kitchener area. I took photos and drank hot chocolate.
Adam and I went into Toronto (his spring break) for a 1.5 hr experience in a 737-800 simulator. Of course, a lunch at Five Guys was the proper way to start the day.
No MCAS to turn off...
We took a trip to visit Niagara in the early spring. Fanfan sat on a motorbike and got to hold some butterflies. She also got some ice cream from Cows in Niagara-on-the-Lake (much smaller than the one in P.E.I.).
No trepidation - probably gets it from her father (an edible insect scientist)
Wendy taught Ying how to make brownies (her mom's recipe) and just recently discovered DQ orange creamsicle dipped cones!
To finally prove that winter is over, our flowers are already blooming!
What does spring have in store for us in the next few weeks? Well, you will have to wait for some posts from our annual "term is over" trip.
Here is where Wendy and I will be over the next 3 weeks:
Munich
Dachau (concentration camp memorial)
Nuremberg
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Berlin
Barcelona
Lisbon - just the airport :-(
Take a look at this Google album to see more photos and videos from this past winter.
