The end of the Mazda 5

 Back in 2013, I bought a used Mazda 5. It was great. It had storage space or seating, and I took full advantage of both.

When my mom brought the 3 ten-to-twelve year olds to visit, it picked them up at the airport. 

When I started building furniture, I hauled 8-foot-long boards home in it. 

It was there through Halloween parties, road trips, injuries, renovations, storms, COVID, picking up the puppy, and everything else that has happened in the last 10 years.

It was hard to find a replacement! The Mazda 5 had a lot of storage, not to mention the flexibility of the 6 seats. But it was time, so on Friday I traded it in.

It was a good car.

Well, 2022 is over!

 Well, it's been quite a year.

• 5 vaccinations (3 of them COVID)
• 1 new puppy
• 1 new human in the house (my niece moved in for school)
• 7+ days without power due to a storm
• 1 downed tree (that I had to deal with)
• 7 days in Yellowknife
• 3 Girl Guide camps (all in tents)
• 1 new dishwasher
• so very many masks

Here's hoping 2023 brings health, happiness, and an end to the pandemic.

Yellowknife!

 After 3 years - and 2 postponements - my Girl Guide travel group finally made it to Yellowknife. You can read about our trip here. 

It was a great trip! 

COVID made it a much tricker situation than we'd planned. We'd originally planned to go in March of 2021 and sleep in the Girl Guide cabin outside of town.

COVID cancelled that, and we rescheduled for March of 2022. We couldn't do that either, so we rescheduled for July. And, also due to COVID, the cabin was out, so we booked hotel rooms.

We had to do COVID tests the day before we went - all 3 leaders and 15 youth. I warned them in early July to be diligent about masking, because if they tested positive they couldn't go.

We had to figure out what we'd do if someone got sick while we were there (move two leaders into the same room, put the sick youth into their own room). We also had to figure out which leader would stay behind if someone couldn't fly back.

Everyone tested negative, and all 18 of us got on the plane. And all 18 of us got on the plane back.

A belated welcome to 2022

 So I've been meaning to update since the beginning of the year. Maybe even the end of last year.

I had planned to go visit the family for Christmas, but omicron convinced me to cancel my trip, so it was a quiet holiday here. Lots of video games and relaxing. I'd been needing a vacation, and I really enjoyed that one. We did go to a drive-through light show here, which was enjoyable. 

Once January hit, life got back to the new normal. We'd stopped our Saturday hikes at the end of November, and finally restarted them this past Saturday.

Last week, we got a lot of snow (48 cm, followed by another 5 or so a couple of days later). My Girl Guide travel group persists, although we don't know when - or even where - we will be able to travel. Our current travel date is in March, and that's looking pretty risky.

But 2022 has begun, and only time will tell what it brings.

Not quite Thanksgiving, but thankful none the less

In my last post, I hoped the gazebo/shed would be done by Thanksgiving. That did not happen.

We got the excavation dirt picked up the last Friday in October - which was also the absolute last day for it to be picked up. 10 1-metre-cubed bags on the driveway was not something I wanted to have around all winter! That weekend, the patio went in. 

The following weekend, we got the cupboard doors on. On November 9, we got the siding, and it went on the following weekend. The final inspection was last Tuesday.

The left side of the shed is a typical shed. There's one shelf, and storage for a few other things. The double doors on the right cover three shelves, also for storage. Below that compartment is a section you can reach from the right side of the shed; it's made to fit the lawnmower. 

I'm very glad it's done.

And this past Saturday, my Girl Guide travel group ran a day camp for other units. It was a really good experience, and I was really tired when it was done.

End of summer

 The new walkway is done. They sloped the walk so that we were able to get rid of the stairs near the driveway, and covered the steps in the same stone. There is also a small patio beside the stairs now. 

Mom and Miss B. came to visit. We went to Baxter conservation area, and enjoyed the trains and the ice cream boat. We mostly stayed outside for obvious reasons. Ms. A moved in and starts university today. 

The work in the back yard continues. It will hopefully be done by Thanksgiving.

And Pathfinders starts tomorrow. I guess summer is really over.

Two-dose summer

 I went to the movies on Friday. (Black Widow, which was good, BTW.)

In a few weeks, I'm going to a cottage with friends.

Life is getting back to normal, but day-to-day life hasn't changed much. I'm still working from home, and I'm still at home most of the time.

I've discovered a buy-nothing group in the neighbourhood, and I love it. I am getting rid of so much perfectly-good stuff that I don't need anymore. It's great!

Soon my front walk will be re-done. There is a gazebo being built in the back yard. Things are a little chaotic, but good. 

Fully vaccinated!

 Just over 2 weeks ago, I got my second shot. (Pfizer, which was much, much better than AstraZeneca. With the first shot, I was sick for 3 days, then had a big lump on my arm that didn't go away for 28 full days. With Pfizer, I had a bit of a headache for one day.)

I'm glad, but it's also weird. I've made plans to go to a cottage with friends in August. People are coming to visit. It's great, but a part of me isn't ready! I'm in my little rut, and I don't want to leave.

(Particularly since the more annoying parts of the pandemic like mask wearing aren't going away. That's the right call, but I still struggle with wearing masks, so some parts of life are still more difficult than I'd like.)

Vaccine

 I got the first dose of the vaccine (Astra Zeneca) on Tuesday. 

I've had many vaccines before - the standard ones, of course, but also things like Yellow Fever - and never had any problems.

This one was not like that. By 11:30 on Tuesday, I couldn't get warm. I spent yesterday asleep. (I'm feeling better today).

Still better than COVID, though.

Ukulele

For Christmas, I got a kit to build a ukulele. I was super excited about it.

The bare ukulele kit

First, I painted it. I drew criss-crossing lines on the ukulele, then painted each section a different colour. After that dried, I pained black lines of various widths between the colours. I added one coat of varnish - I didn't want to varnish too much since it might affect the sound.

Then I assembled it. It wasn't difficult, but some instructions would have been nice!

Goodbye, 2020

 This has been quite an unusual year, so I wanted to look back on what happened.

In January, my Girl Guide trip to Yellowknife was (finally!) approved, and we started fundraising. We had a craft night in February, and started running escape rooms. 

And then in March, the pandemic hit. I started working from home; Girl Guides were not allowed to meet. I created new escape rooms online, and we continued running those until the end of June.

I changed jobs in April, and now work with a bunch of people I've never seen in person.

In May, Wanda and I painted the living room/dining room/hallway, which is always a huge job. Shortly afterwards, I painted the upstairs bathroom, which is much easier.

I got other stuff done around the house, too - I recaulked the kitchen and upstairs bathroom; I glued down the tile that's been loose for a long time; and I built a hammock stand.

And then, in July, I gave in and got a proper desk to work from. It was well worth it. It's a floating desk, and I set it at standing height. I also bought a drafting (i.e. tall) chair. It's working well.

I recertified my first aid, did a psychological first aid course online, and finally did the boater's course. 

Pathfinders started up in the fall, and we started meeting outside in my backyard. That's working well - we may stay outside even once the pandemic is over. 

I bought new living room furniture (which will arrive on Saturday), bought a Nintendo Switch so I can spend time with my friend Luigi, bought more takeout meals than ever before, and bought a pair of slippers that I love.

I've eaten all but 2 meals at  home since March. (I ate in my car during the first aid course, and I ate lunch at a Pathfinder day camp in November.)

This is the first time in my life I haven't traveled for Christmas. 

I've started playing board games online with friends.

I made a quilt for the friend I do Pathfinders with.

I had several trips planned for this year; none of them happened. But I had vacation time to help a friend with cancer, and I had time off to recharge.

I miss socializing in person, and restaurants, and movies. But I'm doing OK.

Bring on 2021.

Totally certifiable

 Back in March, I said "I'm finally going to do my boater course since there's nothing else to do." I finally did it last weekend. I choose freecourse.ca, which is a lot of reading - and you have to spend a certain amount of time on each page, so I kept getting distracted and wandering off. But I finished the course, and ordered my card.

A couple of weeks before that, I did a one-day first aid recertification course. I debated on whether to do it or not - you have to go to an in person class, which I wasn't thrilled about - but I ultimately decided it would be worth it, since we have no idea when life will go back to what used to be normal. 

After I did that, I did an online psychological first aid course from the Red Cross - it a short course, but was interesting. 

That's probably enough certifications for a while. 

I'm running out of projects to do around the house - except for the ones that involve cleaning, which somehow never make it to the top of the list. My Christmas gifts have been bought and shipped to my mom, who is wrapping them for me. 

But luckily (?) the house is keeping me busy. First there were the mice - one in March, two in September, and then 2 in November. I called an exterminator after we caught 2 in one day in November, and he set traps everywhere. Since he didn't catch any, he thinks they were just an isolated incident, but he did seal up all of the holes on the house to stop more from getting in.

And then the pipe from the laundry room started backing up, so I called a plumber. He cleared the issue, but that pipe is going to need to be replaced.

And before all of that started, I bought new living room furniture. It's been an expensive month, is what I'm saying. 

(I'm pretty sure I'm going to buy a Nintendo Switch, as well. I need something to get me through what will be a pretty boring winter. I miss restaurants.)

Thanksgiving

 It was a quiet weekend, for the most part. I did some cleaning, made Thanksgiving dinner, had some zoom calls with friends and family.

My cousin and I have been doing weekly hikes, so we did that on Sunday morning. I'm really enjoying them - it's a way to get outside and enjoy the weather.

My Pathfinders are still meeting outside, which also gives me a chance to get outside more. The girls are great - we have a big group (15 girls, which is a good size for this age group) and they're all lovely kids. And they strongly prefer outdoor meetings to online meetings, so we will stay outside until public health or Girl Guides tell us to stop.

We're also selling mint cookies; if you're in the market and you live in Canada, you can support us by buying here: https://secure.girlguides.ca/site/TR/E-Cookies/Region-ON?team_id=2964&pg=team&fr_id=4491

Online shopping

I’ve done a fair amount of online shopping for years, but the pandemic has stepped up the variety of places I've shopped. Some are great; some are good; and some are terrible.

The terrible:

Best Buy - not my purchase, but my mom ordered (and paid for) an iPad early in the pandemic. It did not arrive, as clearly showed by the tracking number, but Best Buy has not refunded her. It's now at a credit card dispute.

IKEA - I ordered a coffee press on April 4. A couple of weeks later I contacted them to ask when they expected it to ship. The rep I was talking to said it had shipped. A month after I placed the order, it still hadn't shipped according to their site and customer service was no longer reachable. I asked them for a refund on Twitter, which also didn't arrive. Another credit card dispute. (Curbside pickup was all but non-existent here last time I looked, and the line to get in is huge. Moral of the story: no IKEA for the foreseeable future, don't even look.)

The good:

Rona - in-store pickups take a couple of weeks last time I tried, but online orders ship quickly. I ordered a desk from them (time to stop working at the kitchen table) and it shipped within a couple of days. Unfortunately, Purolator took a couple of weeks to get it here, but that's on them, not Rona.

Cabelas - Ordered coffee press #2 from here. They were good about telling me when it would ship, and meeting the date. Unfortunately, UPS took longer than expected to get it here; not Cabela's fault, though.

Amazon - back during the coffee press saga, they were forecasting a month for 2-day delivery. That seems to have fixed itself, though. (Although I have now cancelled Prime so I don't buy from them as often.)

Costco - They forecast a couple of weeks for an order, and meet or beat their estimates.

The great:

Staples - I ordered a monitor, keyboard/mouse, power bar, headset, and paper on Monday night; by Wednesday night I had everything except the headset, which is projected to be here on Monday.

Walmart - again, ordered some shirts and a set of shelves on a Monday and had everything by Thursday.

Indigo - ordered some books on Tuesday, had them by Thursday.

More COVID projects

A couple of weeks after we painted the living room, I painted the upstairs bathroom. I love the new look, particularly because I took down the blinds and put that film on the windows that keeps people from being able to see in. It’s so bright!

I bought a new TV, and Wanda and I mounted it from the ceiling.

 I made donuts.

 I built a hammock stand.

 And I made a quilt for a friend who is pregnant. It turned out well and definitely ended up differently than it would have if fabric stores were easily accessible. (They’re open; I’m not going.)

And I made a fundraising escape room that is open to the public: https://girlguidestravel.wixsite.com/website/laurasecord

Next is probably building a proper work area - I’d like to buy the desk, but it is in short supply so I might have to build it.

Painting

Last weekend was the long weekend, and Wanda and I painted the living room/dining room/hallway - 11 walls, 9 doors, and 4 windows.

It was exhausting!

Now it’s done, which is amazing.

While we were painting, we ate outside in the pergola I bought last year, and we’ve kept doing that. It’s so nice to be able to sit comfortably outside to eat. I’ve used the fire table as a fire-free table all week, and it works great!

In other news, the coffee press from Cabela’s finally arrived. The IKEA refund did not, so now I have to follow up on that.

When we started painting, it was spring; for the last week, the weather has been summer. It’s lovely.

My other project this week was finishing up an online escape room fundraiser for my travel group, and that’s finally done. As part of that, I pulled out a bedspread my grandmother made for a picture. I always loved it, but have never actually used it, but now it’s on my bed.

I miss being able to get stuff

On April 4, Wanda dropped and broke the coffee press. I went on to Amazon, discovered that they weren’t shipping for a month, then ordered on from IKEA. They charged me immediately.

A couple weeks later I contacted them and asked how delayed they expected it to be. The person I chatted with told me it was being shipped that day.

A week after that, I ordered coffee press #2 from Cabela’s. It was supposed to arrive May 6.

In the meantime, I tried to contact IKEA again, but neither chat nor phone support was available for days. I finally tweeted at them and got them to cancel my order (and supposedly refund it, but that hasn’t happened yet.)

I also put a coffee press in my next grocery order. (It was out of stock, so no luck there.)

May 6 came and went, with no coffee press. It appears that it’s lost in the mail, since it hasn’t moved since Tuesday.

Friday I ordered a coffee press for pickup. I got it today. (Canadian Tire came through!)

(The Amazon one would have been faster.)

Hanging in there

Easter was weird. No Easter Vigil, no colouring eggs (we could have but didn’t bother), no guests for the big meal.

We did have a family zoom call, which was fun. And the weather was nice.

This past week I hit a point where I’d had enough. I was tired of having to plan ahead, and of not seeing people, and I just wanted to go back to normal. Luckily, a day or so later, that passed.

I’ve been playing online board games with family and friends on the weekends. We start a zoom call and then go onto boardgamearena.com. We can talk and play at the same time. It’s not the same as being in the same room, but it’s pretty close. I bought the premium membership (which came to $37 CDN) which allows me and Wanda to play at the same time, and also allows us to play all of the games. Well worth it.

Still here

I’m still here, and all is well with us.

I haven’t run out of projects, but I’ve run out of quick wins. My free time this past week has been spent trying to figure out how to move our escape room fundraisers online. (Not there yet, but I’m making progress!)

I went for a walk with a friend yesterday, which was nice even though we had to walk 6 feet apart. Today it rained, so I stayed inside.

The snow is melting, which is nice. Soon I’ll be able to sit outside by the fire table. (For 30 seconds, until I get cold. Still, summer is coming.)

The last couple of days

Yesterday I decided to clean my bedroom. I moved all the furniture, vacuumed behind everything, dealt with the books that I dropped when I had a broken leg ... well, let’s just say a deep cleaning was well overdue.

As part of the cleaning, I found some stickers I bought in November and mounted them in some wooden tiles I had lying around.

Today I started work on some ditty bags that my travel group is going to auction off. (A ditty bag is a bag containing a dishes for a single person.) I made 4 sets.

I’ve been working on the auction site itself, but it’s not ready to go yet.