Just hanging out at the cottage with my big bad bull Moose. TAKEN: SEPTEMBER 2018 |
Sunday, August 30, 2020
MOOSEKOKA MUSING
Thursday, August 20, 2020
A SNACK BRACKET
My very favourite client was in the office last week and he said to me… “Rhondi, just like you, I’ve had Covid-19.”
We burst out laughing after he continued with, “At the end of all of this, I’m not sure if it will end up being nineteen pounds, or nineteen kilograms!”
I don’t know about you, but as an emotional eater, I can generally peg the time of year when circus music begins to chime in my ear signaling me to buy stock in the most profitable potato chip company. And I can assure you, every fall, any and all are generously sampled; as part of my annual stock purchase evaluation.
What can I say. I was a fat toddler. I was power fed homogenized milk, and in those days the perception was the fatter the better. The good news is I shed that baby fat, the bad news is those formed fat cells follow you forever.
I have always been athletic and outgoing but when perimenopause clicked in everything changed. My body absorbed food differently and in one year my metabolism changed exponentially. It was in that moment I knew I was being put to pasture.
Kicking and screaming and the better part of a year later, I lost the excess weight and changed my lifestyle. That was in 2012.
Even with a major change in lifestyle, winters and my seasonal affective disorder in this harsh tundra have me pulling my gravy crutch out of the hall closet bringing the five or ten pound of weight gain that accompany it. The good news is those extra pounds were always shed before I ever had to appear in any sort of summer shorts or swimming outfit.
This year? We locked down. I filled up. The rest is history!
I want to shed the pounds I’ve gained yet I am a creature of habit.
If gravy has a crutch, my philosophy that if I share with the pups I am really only taking in 1/3 of the calories must be a motorized wheelchair. One chip for each of you, one chip for me. One jelly bean for each of you, one jelly bean for me; and trust me, I am always fair in the distribution department.
I guess you could say that the only way the dogs keep the upper paw on me is because they don't have to share their dog cookies with me. Though I must say, on occasion the label on the front of the box has made it cross my mind.
Not gonna lie.... Those gravy covered Milk Bone dog biscuits definitely land within my mid-winter snack bracket!!
#yagottalaughaboutit
It would appear that Annie and I have similar snackage struggles TAKEN: AUGUST 7th, 2020 |
Monday, August 10, 2020
MY MARRIAGE COIN
I read somewhere that marriage is an institution designed to let you annoy one special person for the rest of your life. Yet, I’m sure when you flip my blog and bitch about marriage coin really high into the air it would read: The perfect marriage is between a blind wife and a deaf husband.
I know you’ll probably find this hard to believe, but since opening my own business in 2004, as an entrepreneur I quickly learned to hone two very specific social skills.
1. ALWAYS take a 24-48 hour cooling down period before speaking to whom you’re truly aggravated with, because words can never be taken back.
2. AND...Smile and be thankful for every piece of shit pie eaten that generated revenue.
As you can see from my last couple of electronic offerings, this Covid crap has me crazy cranky.
The cherry on top of that statement is our first official summer vacation together since 2012 was received worse than Bob Dylan going electric and sadder than Levon Helm leaving The Band because of it.
We may have only been at our cottage, but it rained six out of ten days and by this past Saturday morning (when our water pump failed yet again) we both hit the ‘this fecking sucks’ wall. It was clear in our Sunday morning volume alone, we both really needed to take a break.
I moved home with the dogs. He did not.
Now, I should share, we rarely fight nor even disagree.
The two of us at my company Christmas Party TAKEN: DECEMBER 2000 |
In our many decades together we have learned to skillfully navigate each other for continued success. In this instance, our small cottage space, two wet dogs, and a thrice mis-installed water pump got the best of us.
How bad was it? If a successful marriage requires you to fall in love many times with the same person… I’m thinking by Labour Day weekend we might be ready for a lunch date.
That said, I can assure you that it was so bad, my best girlfriend will be making one of those famous ‘escape a really bad date’ phone calls; fifteen minutes in.
#yagottalaughaboutit
Saturday, August 8, 2020
ONE GIANT STEP
Have you ever had one of those days where no matter what you try and accomplish, you take one step forward and two steps back?
Well, the fat lady is tuning up to start singing to signal the end of my vacation, and gosh darn dammit if the last seven days haven’t played out exactly like that!
Since we connected water in early May, I have loved living in my little Covid Casita. But if I'm being honest here, the five days of rain last week drove me a tad bit stir crazy.
Usually when I am antsy and frustrated, we hop in the car and go vrooom zoom for a change of scenery. Imagine wet dog everything and misplaced car keys.
I know, right? Two. Steps. Back!
Y'all know I love my pups and that they love me. This is proven daily by the fact that they both have to be within two feet of me at any given moment.
So, this past week, to avoid major rainfall/lake water stinkage, I towel dried them as much as possible, leaving me with a clean towel crisis that offered impressive expletives that I usually save for that crazy orange man south of here.
I kid you not, when an electronic friend checked in via text with, “hope your week off is okay and quiet.” I instantly responded with, ‘I did laundry in the rain this morning... Livin’ the dream!”
Truth of the matter is, when I saw the long-range forecast, I wanted to cancel and take a different week. My husband did not. I get it. He has the privilege of a maid and cook; so I can totally empathize with why we wouldn’t entertain a reschedule.
That said, I read an online article this week about the pursuit of personal happiness. It was from a husband’s perspective. It explained how it isn’t his job to make his wife happy. It is her responsibility to ensure she is happy with her choices and herself, which I agree with 100%.
So, when cleaning out the closets this past week, I came across a two-person pup tent I'd purchased for the kids many years ago. I set it up on the lower deck and looked forward to falling asleep over the water and waking up to the morning fog.
I think I could market this space on Air BnB! TAKEN: August 6th, 2020 |
People on my Facebook immediately joked that my husband had finally sent me to the doghouse but the truth of the matter is I hit the jackpot and got the hell out of the extra large doghouse for a good night sleep.
Then, when heading up to make morning coffee, I broke the zipper on the door, took it down and hauled it into the trash.
Killing the tent after one might have been my two steps back. BUT baby, my night outside alone in the fresh air?
One giant step forward!
Tuesday, August 4, 2020
COTTAGE RAMP UP!
Notice the first step onto the ramp is missing? TAKEN: AUGUST 1st, 2020 |
Sunday, July 19, 2020
SUNDAY STORM DAY
When given lemons? Make a Caesar and listen to Spotify! TAKEN: JULY 19th, 2020 |
Monday, July 13, 2020
LONG LIVE THE VCR
Once again, it's the little things in life that make me smile. TAKEN: JULY 11th, 2020 |
Friday, July 10, 2020
HAPPY TO HELP
Thanks Alberta! TAKEN: JULY 7th, 2020 |
Sunday, July 5, 2020
VAYCAY STAYCAY
Tuesday, June 30, 2020
ELBOW BUMP BLUES
I love this photo. She is clearly matching his wit and he knows it! TAKEN: June 27th, 2020 |
Sunday, May 24, 2020
DEAL WITH IT!
When I was a kid, my summer days were spent by the lake and my evenings spent playing cards or board games by propane powered lights with my mom and extended family. All these years later, those memories are still very fond ones.Naturally, when we purchased our own cottage back in 2000, a wooden game box for puzzles and everything else needed to keep preteens busy was one of the first things created. They would swim through the day and if it rained, the game box was immediately cracked open before the television was ever turned on.As I type, I can hear that classic pop-o-matic sound of a game of Trouble clicking away, or squeals of an exciting game of snakes and ladder in need of a referee well underway.
Their favourite card game was crazy 8's and I feel like they played thousands of those with my Dad before he passed in 2005.As I reflect in my 20th summer at our cottage, I can't help but notice how much things have changed.The kids don't come by very often anymore and the majority of my time is spent alone, yet I still love playing cards and board games. The difference is now it's against downloaded robots or an online audience.
Every once and a while I can convince my husband to play but it's not really his thing. In the summers since the kids left home, it has always been a negotiation to gain his interest in participating.For instance, in summers past, though I absolutely hate baseball (which is another post) I would concede that we could listen to the game on the radio if he'd agree to play a board game or a couple of games of cards in return. With this summer season cancelled, I think I am going to have to become super creative.With cottage life officially underway and no sports to use as bait, I'm thinking I may need to bust out a topless option with benefits for Canasta to get him interested in participating.Either way, I'll deal with it.Get it?
Cards?
Deal?That said, feel free to insert eye roll or head shake now.
A solid groan would also be totally appropriate!
Friday, May 15, 2020
KEEPING IT REAL
This is US at Orillia Lake. TAKEN: 2008 |
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Z IS FOR ZAP
Jukebox, Goob, and Sweetie on Huckleberry Rock. TAKEN: OCTOBER 2018 |
Wednesday, April 29, 2020
Tuesday, April 28, 2020
Monday, April 27, 2020
Saturday, April 25, 2020
V IS FOR VIEWPOINT
#yagottalaughaboutit |
Friday, April 24, 2020
Thursday, April 23, 2020
T IS FOR THREESOME
Fourth bestselling author of all time. We ALL can't be wrong! TAKEN: DECEMBER 6th, 2016 |
As you know, I love to read.
Nowadays, I do the majority of it online but there's really something special about being on vacation and actually holding onto a book. That said, I have taken the same author on vacation every year since the year before I got married.
I am pleased to report that the three (new to me) paperbacks that traveled from home, returned to my bookshelf at the cottage the following spring, and they did not disappoint.
Wednesday, April 22, 2020
S IS FOR SWEETIE
My Sweetie and me enjoying a Cafe de Monde beignets in the French Quarter, NOLA. TAKEN: MAY 30th, 2019 |
Tuesday, April 21, 2020
R IS FOR RANDOM
The random gift of a Tim Horton's coffee is always good idea! PHOTO: Me awaiting my birthday flight to New Orleans TAKEN: APRIL 6th, 2017 |
Monday, April 20, 2020
Saturday, April 18, 2020
P IS FOR PAMELA
Pamela and her big brother, TAKEN: DECEMBER 2010 |
Friday, April 17, 2020
O IS FOR OOOOPS
My quest for my waist once again continues! TAKEN: DECEMBER 3rd, 2019 MAZATLAN, MEXICO |
Thursday, April 16, 2020
N IS FOR NEVER
Wednesday, April 15, 2020
M IS FOR MY MOM
My mother, whom lived from 1930-1987 TAKEN: JULY 1947 |
If you haven’t met her via a previous post, allow me to introduce you to my mother Inez.
She was 17 years old when this photo was taken and the only one I own that was taken before she was married.
Though I have very few pictures of her, that doesn't mean that all of my life long memories aren't vivid, colourful, and still very much alive.
She was a fighter.
She won most every battle she set her mind to, but sadly she eventually lost the war. She passed in 1987 of ALS (more commonly known to the masses as Lou Gehrig's Disease).
I love and miss her very much.
Tuesday, April 14, 2020
L IS FOR LOUISIANA
Louisiana times two! The right 2017 the right 2019 TAKEN: APRIL 2017 & MAY 2019 |
Monday, April 13, 2020
K IS FOR KNOWING
This isn't going away tomorrow!
Saturday, April 11, 2020
J IS FOR JAMMERS
My son Jukebox, singing in the finals of Muskoka Voice! TAKEN: AUGUST 2018 |
Friday, April 10, 2020
Thursday, April 9, 2020
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
G IS FOR GRASS
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
F IS FOR FITNESS
Blindfold? Definitely, MAYBE!
Monday, April 6, 2020
Saturday, April 4, 2020
D IS FOR DECADES
Pretty Curls TAKEN: DECEMBER 1969 |
Lake Louise with my Mama TAKEN: JULY 1976 |
High School Daze TAKEN: MAY 1984 |
Tampa, Florida TAKEN: APRIL 1989 |
Labour Day Monday at Santa's Village TAKEN: SEPTEMBER 1996 |
The summer we lived at the cottage. TAKEN: JULY 2002 |
Sweetie & Me ~ Westin Harbour Castle TAKEN: MAY 2008 |
Top of El Arco - Mazatlan, Mexico TAKEN: NOVEMBER 2019 |