Evening walk

I said yes to participating in a team health/physical activity "competition" with some of my colleagues. The goal is to accumulate steps that is tracked on an app as a walk across Canada.  Problem is that, even if I say "competition", I am competitive and we are walking against 69 other teams. So, I also often find myself talking long walks in the evenings to get some more steps in ;) Darn app ;) Anyway, I have the chance to spam you with some evening walk pictures... my apologies... blame it on the app ;)

Darn app! ;) PS: we are the light blue blob and in 19th place

A while ago

Yesterday, I decided to head into town to go for a walk. I love where we live but, frankly, I think it has long been over-walked (is this a word?). So, deciding to do something different, I went to do a walk that I haven't done in almost a year... my usual old walk to work. While it seemed very familiar, a lot is different: some stores have closed, some stores have opened, road work was actually finished (weird, right?) and there were a lot less people around. I ended the outing with a coffee and scone from my favourite coffee shop (Melk on Stanley Street). Thankfully, that was still open and going strong. Best coffee-crack around ;) 

I haven't done this walk since Thursday March 12, 2020. I remember it clearly... I had just cancelled my trip to Europe so I bought a train pass for the rest of the month. Most expensive trip home ever ;) Hindsight is 20/20. I honestly thought I would be on this walk on the Friday. Guess not... 

Here is some photo spam of my walk... Happy Thursday! xox

Looking at the bright side

Sometimes, it is hard to work from home: I miss the interactions with my colleagues. I miss the walk into work. I miss my favourite cafe. I miss the festive atmosphere along Ste Catherine street. I miss the vibe of being downtown. I miss face to face teaching.

Looking at the bright side: Today, it is snowing and kind of messy outdoors. Being at home, my lunchbreak includes the chance to sit on my couch for a few minutes, cosy, having a cup of coffee before going back to work again. Oh yeah... did I mention that I am the only one at home at the moment? 

Not bad.... 😉

A lovely habit

While I enjoy walking with Andreas, I also love to put on some good music and go for a walk by myself. My favourite time of the day to go is after dinner, just as the sun is starting to set. The evening light is magical and the purple/pink/blue hues of the setting sun are so beautiful. I love the smell of apple blossoms and lilacs along my route. It is calm and quiet, with light spilling from the windows of the homes that I pass. I get to take a deep breath and enjoy the moment. This definitely a lovely habit.

Happy Sunday evening to you all! Wishing you all a good week ahead xox

This morning

Today I got up really early to take the dogs out. The boys were asleep still. A moment's quiet to start the day... ahhhh! Usually it is Andreas that takes the dogs out and, not that I want to take over, but it is not too bad. At least the part after we get home again is not too bad. I am choosing to ignore the "standing in the cold wind while the dogs decide where to pee" bit...

xox

Right now

I just finished a deadline for work and the boys are all out of the house. Andreas is at work... Alexander and Nicklas are in the front of our house, playing basketball... Oliver is out with a friend. I am sitting at my kitchen table, writing this, with a shot of espresso (maybe more to come) and a treasured souvenir of Sweden. You know what... I didn't feel like sharing so this is a perfect moment ;) Ha! I have a soccer game this evening so I don't even feel guilty ;)

Wishing you all a great day! It has been a bit busy here lately. I have been back to work and we (Andreas and I) have been juggling our schedules to allow the boys to have pool time this summer. Hope you are all well xox

This week

Suddenly, I checked the calendar and the week had passed :P

I know.. this seems to happen a lot lately... I make apologies for a busy week and things not happening on the blog front. Sadly, it has happened again... despite my best efforts at keeping "post on blog" on my list of things to do ;)

This week was filled with work... oh, yes, I get paid for doing that ;)... We also had some pretty crazy weather... warm temperatures on Monday and Tuesday... ice storm on Wednesday... freezing temperatures on Thursday and Friday....

Also, on Thursday, I went to see a talk done by Mikael Colville-Andersen of Copenhagenize or Copenhagen Cycle Chic. I have had a bit of a philosophy crush on him for a while (ie: how to get people to see themselves as cyclists, which is very parallel to what interests me; how to get people to see themselves as exercisers). Anyway, he is a great speaker and, despite the differences in focus (urban design vs lifestyle behaviour shifts), I was left with a great deal of food for thought. He is also a great cure for a little bit of reverse homesickness that I experienced when I first moved back to Montreal from Copenhagen. I had a ton more questions to ask him but, for now, that was as good as it got ;)

The bonus about hanging out in town to see Mikael's talk was I GOT TO HANG OUT IN TOWN... BY MYSELF... TO DO SOMETHING... THAT INTERESTS ME... ME... IMAGINE..... Yes, all you mothers out there, you get this. Seriously. I also got to take the bus and metro home, which I haven't done in ages and I absolutely felt like a newbie ;)

Today, I had a departmental meeting at work and then hurried back to make sure that my boys, all home for a day off from school, hadn't committed mutiny at home. They were all in one piece, no fighting... and hadn't locked me out ;) Good sign!

I will be back tomorrow... after my soccer tournament... which will be another story onto itself ;)

Wishing you all a good Friday evening xox