January flew by.
Let’s get caught up.
It was COLD this week — a huge snowstorm made it an easy decision to hunker down with my coffee, and cozy new slippers!
The most comfortable feeling, having warm feet! And then I binge watched :
I did it. My guilty pleasure, all 4 episodes of Season 4 part 1, done in 48 hours.
I honestly think it’s my favourite season yet.
Marvin Martian, he greets me this Monday. With coffee.
Today is apparently Blue Monday … the 3rd Monday in January. Supposed to be the most depressing day of the year? I hope not.
We watched Marty Supreme last night – what a great movie. But the extra beauty of it was the soundtrack, heavily 80s, used in this film that takes place in the 1950s. About table tennis! And another thing I took from the movie – I hold my ping pong racket the way the Japanese champion was holding it. My parents were huge ping pong fans (they met playing ping pong) and my Mom is a slayer. I was taught to hold it the “pen” way too.
Here’s some extra bounce for you today… it used to get me onto the dance floor. A good way to banish away the blues..
My kids face-timed me last night. At the same time.
Firstborn: ” Hey Mom, what’s going on? I miss you!” Brilliant blue sky framed his face, his dark sunglasses now part of his SoCal uniform.
I smiled, as I noticed in my periphery, the winter white snow blowing outside my window.
A few minutes into the call, I get a video call request – it’s my not so little G.
“Hold up Mom, I can let her in” said my boy… and in she popped. Her face in frame, from her shoulders I could tell she’s in her usual uniform. Pyjamas.
“I’m being surrounded by crows! What the heck – there are like a dozen of them around me – maybe it’s the new stuff I put in my hair!”
His sister: – “…yeah, they probably think you’re food. They’re coming after you! ”
Me: “I doubt you know this, but reminds me of the movie “The Birds” (which honestly, was made before I was born. I remember the iconic scenes of the birds chasing down Tippi Hendren. Tippi being the mother of Melanie Griffith, and grandmother of Dakota Johnson – who my kids don’t even know. Dating myself and digressing…)
I love the banter that followed, as my son made his way back to his apartment from the rooftop.
“Gonna make dinner now! See this (he opens his fridge) … it looks like sh#t but it’s actually salmon marinating in miso sauce!
“Yum”. says my daughter. I know that she just made tofu and beef for dinner, she had texted me earlier.
Me: “What is up with this, you both cook so well when you’re on your own, but at home ?”
“Adulting while away. But kids when we’re home, Mom. That’s just how it is”.
Well, partly true. They’ll always be kids to me.
Random facetiming. The best.
It’s 7 am on a Saturday. I’m up because I’ve been awake since 6:22 am. Which is late for me. No one else is up yet.
The new normal.
The house is quiet, it’s still a bit dark, snow falls softly outside my window.
It’s the three of us at home right now.
My boy will be leaving this morning to head back to his home in California. We were lucky he was able to visit with us for as long as he could, he spent alone time with my Mom, joined us for festivities with our extended families and met up with his closest friends. He left random drink glasses around the house, borrowed our car, used a number of towels, got a bad case of the flu (ugh-but Tamiflu is a miracle). He even got Mc’Donalds (delivery for him and two of his best childhood friends who hung out with him in the basement), and had a craving for a Tim Horton’s timbit on New Year’s Day (albeit sorely disappointed that they didn’t have any at the drive -thru).
Just like old times. Except not -it was unusual that all the boys were in town to meet up. When his closest buddy came over he gave me a huge hug-I hadn’t seen him in over a year. I’ve known him since the boys were 3 years old. Just like old times.
My son is excited to get back to his life in the new year. He’s got some new friends, work is changing in a good way. His relationship with his girlfriend is going strong. It’s been lovely seeing them establish a life together. Adulting.
So, seeing him fly away? The new normal.
My daughter is coming home later this afternoon. She spent the last few days of 2025 with her new boyfriend and his family. We had most of December with her, some wonderful “four of us” together time, laughs, hugs, their constant teasing of their parents. Binging TV series ( Emily in Paris for us girls , Stranger Things me and the kids – their Dad is not a fan) ..shopping ( just a little). Tonight, it will again be three in the house.
Until tomorrow, when she heads back to school.
Then there will be two. Like it was at the beginning of December. The new normal.
Normal is ok. We can elevate normal- it doesn’t have to be boring.
It’s what you make it. I’m looking forward to thriving in it.
This made me laugh…
The fight between Steve Austin, Six Million Dollar (Bionic) Man, and Big Foot. Heroic white man versus a misunderstood latex and fur Sasquatch character. I loved that stuff.
Like many of my generation, I spent any of my free time plunked in front of the TV as a kid. There’s a local TV station that runs some of these old shows like the above, including Leave it to Beaver, Happy Days, Laverne and Shirley, Mod Squad, All in the Family, A-Team…
On my last official day off of work today, I decided to watch what the young kids are streaming today.
Aside from “Stranger Things” (I watched the series finale with my son last night, I’d give it a solid 7.5. I will miss those kids), the biggest ticket draw for kids this past year has been this:
A fight between K-Pop Demon Hunters and demons (inner and outer).
Times have changed, in a good way. Representation. Asian female heroes. Who sing!
It’s been nice to have some time off before the new year.
It’s been an interesting transition back to full-time work -I’ve gotten used to it quickly. So yesterday, after being at home for over a week, I felt a little stir crazy and decided to go to Value Village to look for a glittery outfit to wear for a big BodyJam-a-thon happening on New Years Day (that”s a 2 hour dance class with my best dance friends!!!).
I’m a little into thrifting, keeping an eye out for an occasional little treasure. I am dedicated to decluttering, but when I see something a little different, I
Which I did! These cute little tapas plates, Royal Doulton, cost me $12 CAD.
Full retail price online is $79 on sale. Score!
Also, I found this:
Super cute, eh? A lady passed by me when I slipped it on in front of a mirror. She said “I love that!” A solid endorsement, glittery and under $7. SOLD!
This is the first New Year’s Eve in years that we are celebrating alone, just the two of us, in the longest time. Both kids are off with their friends. A quiet evening as a couple. A glass or two of wine and some bubbly to ring in 2026. I’m happy with that.
What is up for you this New Year’s Eve?
Trying not to think about shopping. I decided to do another workout today, baby steps.
The thing that crossed my mind though?
That blue is really nice – I wonder if Adidas is having a sale?
Well, at least there’s a lot of red and green!
I haven’t been to the gym regularly in a good 3 weeks – first it was the awful cold that I couldn’t shake! Then I went back for a few classes which was wonderful. Until it wasn’t. My son noticed that I was favouring one foot, hobbling a little, the day he arrived home almost 2 weeks ago.
I tried to ignore it, and went to another couple of workouts. Bad idea. I was hobbling around at work for the last week, avoiding stairs. Icing and heating, and even some Chinese Woodblock rub on the top of my foot. Is it tendinitis? A ganglion? Bone spur? I Chatgpt’d the symptoms and the first thing that came up – “quite common for those who exercise and dance”. Bingo – but how annoying.
This won’t be a “woe is me” post – I decided to ease into some BodyPump classes online. I enjoyed doing a little workout, something to wake me up while awaiting the rest of the crew this Christmas morning.
Merry Christmas to you and yours!!
At a time 
Country People – a book review
Country People by Daniel Mason
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
A family of four travel from the comfort of liberal California to the country, Vermont when Kate, the mom, takes the opportunity to be the visiting English professor at a renowned college. Miles, the dad, is still working on his PhD on Russian folktales – it’s taken about a dozen years, he’s still struggling to finish it. With the advent of a couple of kids, he’s willingly taken on the bigger caregiver role, taking a back seat while Kate moves forward with her academic career. Their kids Olive and Wesley, and their dog Guiseppe round out the crew. So maybe this year in the country, will be the perfect time for Miles to finish up his thesis and live up to his potential to make his family (ie. his parents) and wife proud.
While Kate gets settled into work, Miles continues his stay-at-home Dad duties, including school drop offs, running errands, and exploring with his trusty Guiseppe at his side (the author had me at Guiseppe – gotta love a dog with that name!). But rather than focus on his writing, something always gets in his way and there are distractions galore, as he gets to know the neighbourhood, town, countryside, meeting the most interesting folks. Kate encourages him to get out, she knows her husband well enough to know he needs the social interaction. Miles also gets involved with the school, the parents, who are very different than their California equivalents, and even gets invited to secret meetings with locals who are in search of evidence of local legend.
I can’t do any of the characters justice, each one of them is so different and unexpected, and I often laughed out loud reading what was going through Miles’ mind as he made his own judgements and measured people up. It is so often hilarious, and yet very realistic in the day to day – having spent some of my own time as a stay-at-home parent, with my identity quite tied to work/career, I found the perspective of Miles’ Dad experience very refreshing. Also, the very clever use of the radio phone-in shows dialogue– so true to life, when you’re in and out of the car!
And finally, the way the marriage was portrayed, with basic insecurities even after a couple has been together for a very long time. The author weaves in some serious bits about health, scares with the kids, what love and dedication mean, but not in a dramatic way, just very realistically, as life is like that.
This was a solid 4 for me (I would have given 4.5 stars but not quite a 5 because some of the pacing I found a little slow.)
Thanks to the author, Random House and Netgalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. The book will be published July 2026.
View all my reviews