metawidget | Entries tagged with the big blue room

My rear wheel has a bit of wobble on my bike but I don't think it's the rims or spokes — maybe tire's a bit off?

Got out to see high school friends and parents last weekend — nice to see them all, the kids had fun and I don't think we overwhelmed anyone. The kids are travelling better so long as they can dictate the podcast audio for at least part of the trip.

I've had a few kind of big feelings talks with some of my people lately. I'm really happy to have them, but feeling a bit wrung out as well.

Renovations are going — drywall up and all the right things (plumbing, electrical, fresh insulation) behind it. Plaster on Tuesday! Barbecued for lunch (not the first time this year) but ate it out there (first time this year). Also, did dishes at the garden tap. At least it's nice camping weather now!

We finished our D&D campaign with polycule and kids last week — they defeated a dragon, improved the world, and called it done. It was a flagging game, but it was a fun final battle and they earned the win. Dragon was full of hot air, seemingly — she recharged her breath weapon twice, roasting party members three rounds in a row, fortunately they had divided into clusters out of range from each other!

Looking forward to reports of a mostly-open Gatineau Parkway to Champlain Lookout. Maybe I should line up people for a run at it next Sunday, after this week's forecast weather! Got in some good runs Monday, Friday and yesterday -- 31, 6, and 15 km mostly on trails. I think I'll have a pretty good spring marathon but I'm thinking I should sign up for a fall one too...

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This summer's season of tents is wound down —

dagrim's cottage, Taylor Lake, Kaleidoscope. This year it feels like the parenting responsibilities are less total — I was able to read in various outdoor chairs and hammocks at every campsite, and my KG involved going to workshops and rituals daily, for the first time in years (probably since about 2009). It still takes a lot of energy to prepare and camp, but it was pretty satisfying!

After coming home, though, we managed to test positive for COVID, four of five in our household, one by one from Monday to yesterday. Elizabeth must be lucky and/or have lingering immunity from the spring, but the rest of us are getting through it. The little ones seem mostly better, Oscar and I are still in bad cold territory but are on the mend — we'll probably resume normal life this coming week. I'm feeling a bit touch starved and wanderlust-y so that will be good! Also, I got the bed and Elizabeth got the couch mattress this time, I look forward to sharing the bed again.

My switch-over to the new position was a bit bumpy with the usual IT permissions/compatibility issues, some staff turnover and the unexpected drag of a household COVID outbreak, but I still feel like it was a good move. We have a two-week window to piggy-back on another project in a way that tests one of our creations, and I feel like the new colleagues and clients are going to be easy to get along with and fun to work with.

I'm looking at the volume of stuff — work and union — on the horizon and hoping I'll be smart enough to delegate/trim as new stuff comes in and things get inevitably complicated. I keep trying to filter my projects and ambitions through my Bullet Journal and talking with people and I think I'm making progress... but it's a significant project. Maybe one for my next year of life (after I turn 42 on Tuesday) but probably not so time-bounded as that.

Current Mood: On the mend
Current Music: BreadTube I think?

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Waiting for my weekly rapid test result in the centre at work… today is the first day of the new phase of reopening, where measures go back to pre-Omicron. Still strong on masks and we'll see how many volunteers turn up (it's still almost entirely volunteer unless your job involves moving physical things around). It feels like spring is coming but Environment Canada is warning us we're going to get another dump of winter on Friday.

I'm eager to get out on my bike and run without slipping on the ice soon!

I'm in the late stages of organizing three virtual Positive Space workshops at work… curtains raise tomorrow on the first one. We've done it virtually before and I've got a mix of experienced facilitators and new talent signed up. It should go well!

Current Mood: mellow

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1) What are you doing this spring that you weren't doing 1 year ago?: Making a habit of running or cycling daily.
2) What pandemic precautions are you still taking?: Giving people space, masking up indoors, seeing less of people than I'd like and giving strangers more personal space including stepping off the sidewalk as we pass each other. Also, got vaccinated!
3) What's a safety rule that's very important to you?: Don't surprise drivers.
4) What plants are blooming where you live?: A lot of the spring flowers have come and gone... strawberry flowers are still open, bleeding hearts too, and honeysuckle has some flowers holding on and lots of golden fallen petals under the bushes.
5) What was your most memorable summer job?: Probably working on web development in the mid-to-late 90s as part of a bold little enrichment program which connected talented rural kids with community groups that wanted websites. I discovered ramen, both ends of a job interview, Photoshop and Illustrator, hand-coding HTML, and doing tech projects in teams. I liked how us kids taught each other a lot of what we needed to do and I liked biking to work and having my own money.

Questions: thefridayfive

Current Mood: mellow
Current Location: Basement lair
Crossposts: https://metawidget.livejournal.com/230067.html

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What have you done lately for improving or maintaining your mental health? What more would you like to do?: I have been getting outside and moving almost every day — running, walking, biking — most days for an hour or more. I'm lucky to have that time to do it, and it feels good to move, get fresh air, and see my local area and how it all fits together. I know where my tofu burgers come from! I know how to get between neighbourhoods! Also, I got my first dose of COVID-19 vaccine (Team BioNTech/Pfizer for the curious, although really Team Get Something In My Arm), which is one thing off my mind and a step toward getting to the After Times.
When did you last eat something specifically because it was good for you?: I think the only thing I "eat" for health reasons is actually making a point of drinking water. I'll remind myself to take it easy on something rich or vapid but I try to eat things that I like eating.
These days, what are you learning about, and what would you like to learn about next?: Management, union-ing, exercise training (taper! cross-train! stretch!), 18xx games (mostly 1846).
What’s positive about your physical appearance lately?: I trimmed my hair and beard yesterday! And I'm a bit sleeker than pre-pandemic thanks to all this running.
What will you do this weekend to bring joy into your life and a smile to someone else?: I'm going to play silly online games with a friend living alone, help make nice food appear for Mother's Day, and DM a D&D session with some of my favourite people. And probably get outside on feet or wheels.

From f.riday5.com

Current Mood: cheerful
Current Location: Basement lair
Crossposts: https://metawidget.livejournal.com/229620.html

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I'm taking a week off from work this week. We're going on a Pod camping trip for a few days instead of our usual pagan festival (which has gone online this year) — I hope it'll be a good reset in a similar way; pagan-ing and community are part of the festival but the major draw for us is unplugging, getting outside and slowing down.

We had a park birthday party for Andrea yesterday: we ate the ice cream cake first out of necessity and then much of the savoury lunch came home with us. It was a nice hike over through Gatineau Park and a beautiful day. Maybe next year we can get the same-sized cake and invite more loved ones…

Current Mood: calm
Current Location: Kitchen
Current Music: Radiohead: Nice Dream
Crossposts: https://metawidget.livejournal.com/226673.html

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First: today is a good day to change some passwords, and maybe set up a good password manager to keep them hard and unique.

I dreamt about a surprise union meeting last night, where some fairly high-level union types were talking a lot and showing off their branded tablecloths with pictures of their faces on them. I think for the most part the real ones wouldn't do that.

The chicks are growing and spending more time outside. They have names given by the kids: Black Star, Red Stripe, Red Ribbon and… Chippy. I think they're adding cheer and purpose to life around here.

Ada is going to get a 5th birthday party in conformity with public health guidelines: backyard gathering, 10 people, three households, lawn chairs in clusters far apart. We do what we can!

Current Mood: content
Current Location: Basement lair
Current Music: Night Vale
Crossposts: https://metawidget.livejournal.com/226481.html

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Vivien's first tooth has surfaced! Left central lower incisor, for people keeping score at home. She's still teething-cranky, maybe because it isn't completely in, maybe because there are more coming, or both.
I think we almost heard a giggle from her last night. Or a chortle. Or something. Close enough.
Oscar has a new, bigger mattress, courtesy of Shawn who organizes Atelier Denu. He needed the space for books, and was giving it away. Oscar finds it bouncy and acceptable, and it fits in his room without too much furniture rearrangement.
Oscar's old mattress has been installed in a toddler bed as a "sidecar" beside ours for Vivien. Now we have our bed to ourselves, sort of, and all Elizabeth or Vivien have to do is roll over for baby maintenance.
We'll all have our first Rideau Canal experience of the year (and lifetime, for Vivien, and maybe Oscar's first one on skates) today, with my parents, my sister, her boyfriend, her boyfriend's parents, my cousin, my cousin-in-law and their son (whew, need a diagram?).

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: J8Y 3E7
Crossposts: http://metawidget.livejournal.com/196846.html

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I saw what I'm pretty sure was an ermine in winter fur at the playground the other day. I'd never seen one before, so thought it might be exciting, but apparently they are pretty invasive little critters that have a huge range including here that are in no danger at all, so I guess it was just a first for me rather than particularly newsworthy.

Current Mood: disappointed
Current Location: J8Y 3E7
Crossposts: http://metawidget.livejournal.com/190494.html

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Yesterday Elizabeth, Oscar and I skated (and rode in a stroller, as appropriate) down to Pig Island and back along the Rideau Canal, and had tasty hot food from the Stone Soup truck and ritual beaver tails. No deportation back to Montreal this year :)

Current Mood: content
Current Location: J8Y 3E7
Crossposts: http://metawidget.livejournal.com/169366.html

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June 2025

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Page Summary

Spring Miscellany
Back from the woods and through the woods
First day of something or other
Friday Five: Seasonal adjustment
Friday Five — self-care et al.
On vacation
And Chippy
Kid developments
Wildlife sighting
Outaouais-ness confirmed for the year

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Dispatches from a happy Hullian

sometimes known as Woodgiepapa

Entries tagged with the big blue room

Spring Miscellany

Back from the woods and through the woods

First day of something or other

Friday Five: Seasonal adjustment

Friday Five — self-care et al.

On vacation

And Chippy

Kid developments

Wildlife sighting

Outaouais-ness confirmed for the year

Profile

June 2025

Syndicate

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Page Summary

Style Credit

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