March’s Mixed Messages

I’ve failed miserably at my March challenge to walk 10,000 steps a day. I did great when I was in Portugal, reaching 18,000 steps a couple of times, 15,000 a few times, and averaging close to 11,000 per day for the first half of the month. Then I came back to Canada, with its rain, sleet, wind and snow. I’d hoped that publicly challenging myself would motivate me to get outside in March. It didn’t. And there hasn’t even been much internal debate.

Me: Remember we posted that we’d walk 10,000 steps a day? If we don’t do it, everyone will know we failed. Better get out there!
Me: No.
Me: Right. I’ll put the kettle on then, shall I?

March is the worst. It’s not even bi-polar, it’s poly-polar. Sunny and plus twenty one day, rainy and windy the next, and then minus ten and snowing. It’s the unpredictable moods that make March so unlikeable.

The venue we rented for Ray’s 65th birthday last year had a really cool river table in the dining room. Ray decided to make a couple smaller versions for the house, so that’s been his latest project. He watched a ton of Youtube videos, sourced the wood and epoxy resins, then worked his magic to build them. There were many rounds of sanding involved, with increasingly fine levels of sandpaper to get the clear ‘water’ look.

This is the smaller version, intended to be my side table in the sunroom, but it’s too pretty to cover up with all my junk, so instead it’s sitting on its own like the piece of art it is.

This is the coffee table version for the living room, using a base that Ray made for a play table when Nick was three.

Nick turned 25 a couple of weeks ago. He and his housemates threw a joint birthday party to celebrate. Nick decided it would be a pajama party, complete with pillow forts, and apparently it was a big hit.

Nick and Mikella (the other birthday celebrant) popping their champagne bottles; Megan looking lovely in her jams.

I recently came across the letters my mom and I wrote each other after I moved to Stockholm. I was 25 and my parents were in their 50s. Reading them has sent me into a strange time warp where I realized that I’ve become my parents and Nick has become me, so to speak.

When Nick talked about going out for pizza with his friends after the birthday party and then staying up chatting until 5 am, I was reminded of the letter where I told my mom that I’d been out on the town in Stockholm with my friend Bill and we’d missed the last subway so we decided to walk back to the university, but then realized we’d walked in a big circle and were completely lost and didn’t get home until 4 am. My poor mom probably lost sleep over that one.

My mom’s letters to me talked about going for nightly walks with the neighbours, dinners out with George & Josephine and Chris & Neil. Cathy was turning 50, George was turning 60. Barbara and Allan (my future in-laws) were heading to Portugal for the winter. It all felt so similar to my current life…except that my parents were old then and I’m not.

My mom also wrote: “We were over at Scully’s last night – their son Ray brought them back a small rug from Morocco – lovely colours & he apparently bargained for 2 hours to get a price he was happy with.” Strange to think I read those words without the slightest inkling that five years later I’d be married to him.

Nick and Megan stopped in for a birthday lunch. Juno was beside herself with joy, but they never stay long enough for her liking.

60 at 60 list:

1. January challenge: 30 days of Flow Yoga
2. Memory challenge: Identify all 195 countries in the world on a map (using Seterra app) 
3. Sunbathe on the au naturel island
4. Try pickleball
5. Climb a waterfall
6. February challenge: study Portuguese (use Duolingo daily)
7. Initiate coffee with someone you don’t know
8. Calabogie mini-vacay with Tim & Pamela
9. Get an iPhone
10. Spa afternoon with Joanna
11. March challenge: walk 10,000 steps per day on at least 25 days this month (FAIL)
12. Visit Portugal with Karen