Film: Moonlight Kingdom

Posted on 6/17/2015 by boj Posted in Baby, Film

Trev and I spent the day downtown on Thursday. He had a doctor’s appointment in one of the skyscrapers and then we met up with Maria to eat street food. Trevor went for a burger and Maria and I got sticky buns. We run into Nona and Nada and later Trevor got to chase some ducks that stubbornly decided to live in the Confederation Park fountain. After a nice walk down Elgin street we said bye to Maria and headed off to the Nature Museum to see “Animal Inside Out”.

I feel ambivalent about nature museums in general. Despite the creepiness, I can’t object to taxidermy, I think displaying the animals as close to the real thing makes sense and the museums themselves would lose much of its richness had they resorted to papier-mâché versions of the real thing. I still find it eerie that the objects are kept in some sort of pre-decomposition stasis for such a long time. Plastination resolves the decay issues but is like taxidermy on speed; interest and creepiness both amplified to 11. OMG, a Cerebus!!! No, it is just a camel with its head split open into three…

After we finished the exhibit, Trevor wanted to stay and see all the other parts of the museum which took us to supper time. There were two restaurants on Bank street I have been wanting to visit for a while, so I arraigned with Chris to meet us at the Korean place with the rest of the crew. We rarely go to restaurants any more (other than quick lunches on workdays) so going as a family was an event in itself. The boys ended up eating Chris’ meal, Chris ate Trevor’s dish, I ate the boys’ soup, Owen cried until we ordered him tofu salad and then ate tree forkfuls of it because that’s all he ever wanted, the waitress was spoon-feeding Markus and so on. Surprisingly enough the outing was not a complete disaster.

Now I am sorry I did not take pictures of the day, but it is something that I very rarely do anyway. When I am doing something with the kids I tend to not want to distract myself with the camera, besides, Chris is the designated photographer. It was nice to spend the day with Trev. There have been a number of challenges in school and Chris and I have been racking our brains trying to make the best decisions. It is hard to understand why there is so much of head butting at school when at home he is as easy going as eight year olds come.

Film: Only lovers left alive

Posted on 6/6/2015 by boj Posted in Film, Gardening

I am going to declare the 30×30 challenge a success. Sure, you can nitpick my definition of nature, but I counted any outdoors time that did not involve a parking lot or March Road. I counted March Road if it rained.

Some days getting the 30 minutes was a struggle. Chris and I dealt with it by making it a habit to go into the yard to sit for a few minutes before going to bed. I hope to keep this habit now that the challenge is over.

Even though our garden is a weedy neglected mess, it always surprises me how beautiful plants can be.

Irises and Heucheras are some of my favourites. I look forward to their beautiful flowers every year,.

Film: Snowpiercer

Posted on 5/12/20155/12/2015 by boj Posted in Bike, Film, Gardening

My previous spring challenges include “May – Bike to Work Month” and “April – 30 Days of Biking”. Since I started biking daily in mid March this year, neither of these appealed. But here comes David Suzuki with the 30×30 Challenge.

Can I be in nature for thirty minutes every day for thirty consecutive days? Let’s find out!

Film: Paddington

Posted on 5/5/20155/5/2015 by boj Posted in Bike, Film

We had a great time on the CHEO ride this year. For the first time since the fall I put on my lycra pants and clippy shoes and got on the “fast” bike. We left the house just before 8 and breezed to the War Museum to meet up with the slowpoke part of Team Awesome (slowpoke because we were only doing the 35km).

Now that the weight of parenthood has evened us out, we were even able to keep up with Dan. He almost made a successful getaway at the start but after that we knew to stay close in the group. Like this:

It was the perfect cycling day and with few short stops we covered the 35k in an hour and a half. We have been doing this event for a while but I still get giddy riding through Ottawa with traffic blocked off to not bother us. It is the best!

We pulled into our driveway 6 hours after we’ve left with exactly 80km on the odometer. What a good start of the season!

A big thank you to all my sponsors! Cakes will be coming soon – or late if you are on the other side of the Pond.

Cycle for CHEO 2015

Posted on 4/23/2015 by boj Posted in Bike

We are very excited for this year’s CHEO ride – the weather, of course, is going to be amazing!

Alas, our kids are at the age where logistics are not favourable for the longer rides. Trevor would have to stay on his own bike for the whole trip though he has only completed less than half the distance before. Owen and Markus would have to refrain from knocking each other and/or me off the bike for the two hours or more. Fortunately, nona is here to step in and the four of them are going to have great time at home while Chris and I participate in the event. We considered doing the longer 70k course, but decided to avoid the hassle of trying to find parking downtown. We are biking to the War Museum from home and then doing the 35k with family laden section of the Team Awesome. We should be covering just under 80K. Exciting!!!

Of course, I am fundraising. I feel awkward just asking people for money, so I like to put together some thank you gifts. I was a bit of a lazy reader so I only have two books to give away for donations of $20 or more. “Thousand Years of Solitude” and “My Uncle Napoleon” are both very enjoyable reads. For those of you with sweet tooth, $20 or more can also get you a plate of delicious cake of your choice, just make sure to e-mail me with your preference.

Follow here to donate!

Please, don’t be shy, you know we love to bake cakes around here!

Film: The one I love

Posted on 3/30/2015 by boj Posted in Bike, Film

We managed to get through the winter with only the van.

Here are some thoughts about it:

I was surprised at how well the 93 bus worked for me. The bus service in Ottawa, and particularly Kanata, is a bit of a joke. However, 93 is hip and happening every 10 minutes or less in rush hour.

After about 15 years of mostly car commuting, there were some things to readjust. Dressing in layers is a thing again! I own warm clothes now. I didn’t get to it this year, but I am going to get contact lenses. I suppose this was not a big deal in my teenage years, but now that I am older, I like to wrap my whole face with the scarf which leaves my glasses completely fogged up.

Amazingly enough the kids did not complain about the cold on our walks to the bus/daycare.

We did bike in January and February, but only minimally. By March the March Road bike lanes were cleared and I got back into biking to work on regular basis. Chris started his multi-modal commute a few weeks earlier than me.

Taking care of the winter bike is a pain. Last thing I want to do at -30C is hang out in the garage with a bucket of water going through the motions of cleaning the bike so I did not do it. By the time March rolled around, I brought the bike into the hallway and washed it there. I must say I am jealous of Chris’ bike…