At a time

I watched the MTV Euro awards tonight, and was surprised that I enjoyed it.  The last couple of years I haven’t thought much of the music awards shows.  Perhaps it’s that I don’t enjoy most of the music (and I use that term loosely for some of the acts these days).

But tonight’s broadcast of a show that was obviously recorded earlier in Rotterdam, Netherlands, was full of great live performances, super Canadian content (you gotta love that Best Male category was represented by mostly Canadian boys, Shawn Mendes, Justin Bieber, Drake, the Weeknd)…with both Shawn and the Weeknd winning tonight.

The highlight for me was Green Day. They are back with a vengeance after a 4 year break. We actually went to their concert in Toronto on their last tour, hard to believe that it was four years ago, and to be honest we found their performance a tad disappointing. Shortly after that, Billie Joe went into rehab, so that explained things a bit. The boys aren’t getting any younger either.

Green Day were recipients of the MTV Global Icon award this year, celebrating their band who has stayed relevant all these years, likely the one remaining punk band. Their performance on the Tonight show a couple of weeks back, as well as the one tonight, showcased their classic style. I loved when they closed the show with American Idiot.

In Billie Joe’s acceptance speech, he mentioned that they are still in the same high school band, going almost 30 years and the ride continues. It made me think that I’ve been with my guy 30 years and our ride also continues. The album Dookie came out in our first year of marriage and we played it a lot that first year. They’ve managed to maintain their cool, despite becoming married people with kids.

I’d like to think that we’re also doing the same. If they come back to TO, I think it might be worth another shot to see them again.

My favourite things about the weekend:

1.  I can drink.  Alcohol.  My husband and I recently decided that we are getting older and heavier and a lot may have to do with the amount of alcohol we had been consuming regularly.  So we have cut back to only drinking on the weekend now.  Never mind that we are going through a dozen bottles in two days, it’s the principle, people!  (Just kidding of course, I would be sleeping most of the weekend away if that were the case, and what kind of example is that for the kids, sheesh!)

2.  To combat the extra calories due to food and drink, every Saturday morning I hit the gym for my absolute fave workout.  BodyJam 78. Club hard.  Face Melt.  How can you not love that?

When I work it hard, I can probably burn upwards of 500 calories in 55 minutes.  Not bad!  I had the opportunity to train to be a certified instructor last year, but realistically wasn’t sure I had the time to be committed to a regular class.  So I chose to celebrate my 50th birthday rather than spending a whole weekend working out with crippling intensity with a gym full of twenty-somethings.  An easy decision when you think about it.

I am keeping an eye open for the next training opportunity though, in case it comes our way again, you know, before I break something.

3. BodyJam also provides me the opportunity to dress younger than my kids – whoo-hoo!

These drop crotch joggers are awesome.  Drop crotch – haven’t worn this style since never.  Nice and loose down there, it sure beats wearing a thong to the gym every time.

4. And just because I love this new song, here’s the Weeknd:

When I was a kid the highlight of my week would be the arrival of  Starweek magazine, the weekend insert of our local Toronto Star paper. I lived to catch up on entertainment news  and shows.  The fall preview issue was almost an event to mark on the calendar.  I could have used more of a life, I know.

Today there are so many shows, so many options with streaming, cable, network TV, most of which we didn’t have much time to enjoy when the kids were younger.  Our television was hijacked by our kids with the Disney channel, teletoon and YTV.  When it came time for some R & R in the evenings, I would only have time for the nightly news, one prime time show (Parenthood was my fave) and the occasional Tonight show if I pried my eyes open after passing out on the couch.  Over the holidays, I binge watched all seasons of House of Cards, Grace and Frankie, Master of None.  And reality TV?   Drive by viewings of the Voice, Married at First Sight, Bachelorette …There are only so many hours in the day.

This season, for the first time in a long time, there are shows on network TV that have me hooked.  “This is Us” is number one, with “Designated Survivor” not a bad second.

And hello, there is really great Canadian TV  both in the drama category and comedy on CBC:

“This Life” – great acting, and it makes me cry every week.  More tears than for This is Us, not kidding.

“Kim’s Convenience” – A comedy about Korean and Canadian culture that is actually funny (” Fresh off the boat”please take note).(Images courtesy CBC.ca)

Other Canadian content that has weirdly got my attention?  Reality?  Bachelorette Canada – I don’t really know why … (I’m on team Mikhel…)

I also caught Married at First Sight, for what will likely be the last time as it wasn’t a great season – despite the fact that I could engage via Twitter with the couples themselves.  The novelty was not enough.

There’s still time for some intelligent TV, via Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown and “This is Life” with Lisa Ling on CNN. Watch on a full stomach and with an open mind.

The television show(s) I would like cancelled?  I’d say the US election coverage, which alternates between a comedy and a horror show, and a dash bad reality TV a la Jerry Springer… Just too painful and ridiculous to watch.

Today’s post will be totally random.  I’ve got about 3 baskets full of clean laundry that need to be put away, a bunch of appointment to arrange, the kids lives to organize, and my own future to contemplate.

With the boy sick from a cold, and then waking up with what appeared to be a major case of TMJ, I had to spring into action to get him an appointment with an oral surgeon.  Thankfully we were able to see someone, have it diagnosed, and now we have a plan.  Which will include a mouth guard and a staged process of removing wisdom teeth that are coming in a little more quickly than anticipated.  Apparently the boy has an interestingly shaped jaw and the clicking in the joint has been exacerbated by excessive gum chewing.   I suspect that he chewed gum during the 6 years of braces- if only I were able to keep a chew-cam on him…

You know what’s tough?  To plan with a 16 year old boy, who hates planning and has no idea of his school schedule in two days, let alone two weeks.  Especially when he has a sore, clicking jaw, and a cold.  Between that and pick up time for my daughter, the day flew by, and I got pretty much zippo, nada done at home as planned.  I did manage to walk the dog and make dinner, and thank goodness for McDonalds drive through for lunch.

And because I’ve discovered the most amazing nut and seed brittle from Costco, which must be healthy because it has flaxseed and almonds (let’s not count the calories!)…OMG it is too good.   There was no way I was going to skip the gym tonight.

Let’s see what I won’t get done tomorrow.

I took an online survey yesterday via Elle Canada which is looking at how ‘happy’ women are today.  Interestingly enough, I found it difficult to answer some of the questions with ease – my life is in a good place, of course, but what really defines happiness?

Coincidentally, as I listened to a radio program on CBC, also on yesterday, the discussion seemed to offer a bit of an explanation as to why I sometimes question happiness for myself.  There is a lot of research being done looking at whether people are genetically predisposed for levels of happiness.  Some believe that if an individual tries to change up their life, with motivational exercises, happiness training, if you will, they eventually come back to their regular normal level of happiness.  I sometimes find that for myself;  I may be content for a bit, but there is an underlying niggling that there is something more, that there is another level of happy that needs to be attained.

I remember as far back as being six years old, I would sometimes contemplate how My life might be happier, if things were just a little bit different.  Six!  I had a happy childhood, but I could always sense, perhaps through my father’s quiet, sometimes brooding manner, that he was rather a half empty kind of guy.  My mother, on the other hand, to this day, is the most optimistic person I know.  At almost 80, there’s nothing she won’t try, and no situation that she can’t deal with, with positivity – sometimes brash, but always positively.

Me, I’m somewhere in between and moving toward more half-full as I get older.   I follow Shawn Achor, try to mindful, exercise gratitude, keep positive for the kids… But does it make a difference?

I watched a movie not too long ago, Hector and the Search for Happiness , which dealt with a journey toward happiness, for a psychiatrist with an orderly life, an orderly partner, who felt the need to search worldwide for happiness.  It stars the great Simon Pegg and Rosamund Pike (a fantastic performance if you consider her in Gone Girl … I digress).  The film comes to a conclusion that is not particularly earth-shattering.

My take on the message? Happiness is what you make it, sometimes you have to look really hard before you find that what you are searching for, was right there in front of you all along.

My very first NaBloPoMo was back in 2007, on my old blog. You’ve got to be kidding me – 9 years ago?  What ????  I’ve since done it a couple of more times, most recently last year for whatever the reason.  I bet I was looking for an outlet to find myself again – it was, after all, a very big birthday for me.

Posting everyday for the month of November, shouldn’t be too hard right-it’s a short month.

Already I’m a bit afraid.

The key to survival will be a mix of free flowing thought, and taking advantage of writing prompts.  There are all sorts of ideas and thoughts milling about in my head, most days, but as you can see from the significant delay from day 1 of this blog, until now, I’ve been easily distracted from an activity I’ve always loved. Writing.

Thanks to the first prompt of the month, we have the subject “mental health”.  A doozy, but very relevant in a lot of ways.  What do I do when I’m having a “bad mental health ” day?   Ways I cope:

1/Exercise!  I am trying to get to the gym at least 4 days a week, alternating between my BodyJam Hip Hop dance workout, and Body Combat, mixed martial arts, kickboxing, tough girl stuff.  Sure my bones and joints are creaky (and I’m now suffering a bit from Plantar Fasciitis), but orthotics, anti-infammatories and sheer will have pushed me through.

2/ Mindfulness – coloring.  Yes, I jumped on this coloring trend not too long ago, and now have inherited my daughter’s old Prismacolor pencil crayons (she’s moved onto a premium set for the cheap price of $50 for 24 – yeah, a great steal…sigh)

3/ Mindless daytime TV.  To be fair, it’s not all mindless, but daytime TV has certainly changed from the last time I was at home.  Lots of commercials for babies, toddlers and seniors.  And an explosion of home, garden, cooking and entertainment and gossip shows.  How is one to get anything done in the day?  Easier to watch better looking more organized people do it on the screen.

4/  Reading – and not only book club choices.  Currently on my list are the offerings from Kristine Stewart (Our Turn), Anne Marie Slaughter (Unfinished Business) and most importantly, “Generation Stressed” by Michele Kambolis, to help my daughter cope with bouts of anxiety that she has been experiencing the last couple of years.  She is only 11 years old.

A big part of my decision to focus on family and home are my kids and their journeys through life as they deal with tween/teen issues.  Stress for me at work was contributing  to their own stresses in their increasingly demanding and complex worlds.  Not that I’ll be able to fix everything for them, but being around a lot more should in theory make things better.  Or at least keep them out of trouble.

The best part of NaBloPoMo was discovering the community of bloggers.  The blogosphere has exploded since 2007.  I’m looking forward to discovering more great reads and hopefully re-discovering some old friends.